Andor Is The Best Star Wars Has Been In 40 Years 

You are right. A couple of notches to be sure.

If only he had been chosen to steer the franchise in stead of those JJ something or Ryan something.

@@98999899 there is Hope. i hope he gets the keys to the kingdom after S2. first course of business, nuke whatever shit David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will be cooking up

@@Shishkebarbarian They are cooking up nothing, they were fired years ago

@@inigoiraetau1903 fantastic news. I thought I read something about them getting a d+ show recently

Andor feels a lot higher budget than the Kenobi show.

@@QuirklessShinobi Seriously, where'd Kenobi's budget go, Ewan Mcgregor? lol

@@QuirklessShinobi because it is. it was around 20 million per episode, around 250 million.

The director of Empire Strikes Back, Irvin Kershner, had a very similar attitude towards Star Wars lore. He created what is critically considered the best Star Wars movie to date. The situation is a bit different because now there is 4.5 decades of Star Wars content to wrest with. But Kershner also had to come up with a sequel to the most popular movie of its time.

@@ericepperson8409 This series is what a lot of us original series fans were expecting when we heard the prequels were coming out and would cover Vader's rise to power. Instead we got a winy kid and a weird alien played through three really long toy commercials. The Palpatine arc was okay though, and TCW did a decent job at damage control in restoring Vader/Anakin to being a badass again and not some sad emo kid that hates sand and wants his mommy.

Andor is the only representation of the Imperials that actually seems like the imperials from the OT. Look at something like TFA or TLJ where the first order look like a bunch of buffoons.

@@takanara7 couldn’t agree more

Andor feels like the first 2 levels of KOTOR. My introduction to SWU.

Nah, i think you grew up with the prequels

@@docker31c 😂

+

Yes!

Maarva's speech was gold! Right up there with the Luthen and Saw conversation.

I never noticed that detail/thought about it like that

And wasn't it the other way? That Saw didn't want Kreegyr to die, so when he counted those men, Luthen purposely reminded him the cost when he counted Kreegyr. As he would said: "Do you have the guts for it?"

#CadualFan

Agree. It was also necessary for Cassian's evolution. Really well done.

This show makes a heist arc more impactful than money heist.

Also the arc sets up the idealist Nemik as a solid reason for Cassian to gradually move towards active rebellion. It couldn't have worked as well with one less episode. The emotional climax would have felt forced.

@@IshtarNike - Yes, the influence of Nemik on Cassian cannot be understated. These are the people that come into our lives for a short time make a massive influence on who you are and then leave. The unsung heroes.

Worth remembering Lucas himself intended the Empire to represent American imperialism and the rebellion the Vietcong specifically and anti-imperialist armed resistance more broadly

​@@keeran697Lucas was a bit of a dumbass, wasn't he? Of course, the simple fact of the matter is, regardless of whatever Lucas believes personally, the Empire, like Star Wars (and specifically the OT and PT) parallels a great many things, not one in particular.

You and me both man!

I hope they bring in Lars Mikkelsen to play Thrawn, this show is evidence of how good a show can be when they pay for top talent.

nothig would still avoid someone to watch rogue one it was the last better SW movie before that series , although solo, and mandalorian weren't bad

It absolutely is. I can’t find any fault with it. 10/10

@@HamishsRobot i can, it has now set my stands for SW too high

Well said!

You don't even need to be that smart to watch it, you just need to be an average adult.

And the main character DIES ... woohoo. Such drama!

Yeah I think you used the right adjective, mature. This series is not made for children. There is little fan service. It’s primarily about politics like Star Wars has always been but it’s even more about politics than the OT because it tackles so many political topics: bureaucracy, prison labor, military occupation, authoritarianism, diplomacy, and all by showing how real people interact within those systems.

Dumbass tiktok generation would never understand about fighting tyranny in real life.

Yes it is time to reject Star Wars with all of it's fascinating, silly joy and triumphant, exciting, otherworldly fantasy for more Earthly depression and anxiety. New generation wants to watch crime dramas more than Star Wars.

@@heavyvacation9826: Must everything be boring and sad!

@@heavyvacation9826as someone who’s been a fan of the prequels and clone wars, I have to admit I was starting to lose touch on why I loved Star Wars. Rogue one and Andor gave me that love for Star Wars original spirit of the rebellion back, and made me love Star Wars even more.

I also was amazed Disney decided to make this and leave a lot of commentary on social and politcal things in. Especially the commentary on Coporate towns leading to corruption that doesn't care when their own employees get murdered and instead try to cover it up to hide it from the Empire. Considering Disney runs their own coporate towns.

Lucasfilm actually has quite a bit of autonomy. I think the only exception is the movies, but they have more control over the shows and books.

I know, I still can't believe that a show with such a revolutionary mindset was produced by Disney. The presence of a character like Nemik and how they treat him seriously instead of simply being a goofy goober "extremist" that Cassian dismisses was extremely surprising, usually any character that drops any sort of political thought is mocked or demeaned by media.

Exactly, Andor is so good that the story would still rock in another universe than Star Wars, thus everyone could enjoy it.

He is poster boy for Banality of Evil type people. These type of people are what allowed functioning of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Communist China or Imperial USA.

@@archangel5361 Yep. Thanks for reminding me of that expression.

Amazing. You have just described an average russian z-patriot. And like Cleaver pointed out - material gives plenty of food for thought regarding fascism/authoritarianism. I, personally, saw lots of parallels between Andor characters and people in russian reality of generations under the empire.

Ironically he's just as oppressed by the Empire as the rest of the galaxy, although in a different way than most.

He's written w sympathy, which is good writing, this is humanizing. His intentions are noble in his mind but don't get it twisted, this dude is a fascist. He's a problem. He's Andor's foil--thematically, situationally...Right down to his inverse relationship w his mother. Both of them are in their arcs toward their ideological conclusions. If he gets redeemed, fine, I can trust the writers to get us there, but so far there is nothing to suggest he's trying to be redeemed, or has earned it.

100% agree

The imperial philosophical dialogue was pure gold ..... They were erasing Aldhani culture with bribes and distractions. Then eventually physically erasing them.

I think he should rewatch the heist episodes. I didn't like them at first, but after a rewatch I felt the first 2 episodes really made the 3rd heist plot shine and it's my second favorite episode of the season other than the finale. I think they were the most subtle and slowly passed episodes of the season, but that in no way makes them bad. I dislike that he called it lackluster as that implies it was bad or poorly thought when they are clearly not.

@@someguy3167 agreed!

@@MonstersNotUnderTheBed The dialogue in the series was gold. Pure gold.

His turn was always believable. Anakin lost a mother whom he could not visit because of the rules of the Jedi, even then he destroyed the Tuskens and ceased to trust the order. The Chancellor always treated him well and encouraged his ambitions. Further, he angrily killed the unarmed Dooku, breaking the code, was not given the title of master and was forced to spy on the chancellor, was not allowed to battle with Grievous, he saw Padme die, as he did with his mother, and Palpy promised to save her, plus promised strength, power and immortality, he was jealous of Obi-Wan, while Windu wanted to kill unarmed Palpy before his eyes, although the head of the Jedi himself ... Well, when Windu slammed, there was no turning back, only to complete the work of the empire.

Disney also did like no fucking marketing for the show. I'm a huge star wars fan and I didn't even know it came out until 5 episodes were already out. Most of the marketing for the show has been word of mouth from other star wars fans, unlike boba fet or Mando where they market that shit for months before it comes out.

@@user-xx6vy9ri8p "His turn was always believable" lol, watch some real movies, it was always stilted and cringy af. Some good ideas in theory, realised extremely poorly - that's the prequels in a nutshell.

@@ImVeryOriginal Any real arguments and examples?

Please don't jinx Andor. I'm not sure I can take another exponential deca like GoT without getting major PTSD

It gives me serious first three seasons of GOT (I’m still sad how that show turned out).

There's a clear antifascist message, which is unfortunately quite timely.

@@mediumvillain More so a very timely coincidence. Did we expect anything else when the Empire is an autocracy and beings are rebelling against it?

@@mediumvillain I would say fortunately because it’s needed for the people to see in the present moment. I see my rights slowly being taking away and ultra partisanship reaching hysterical levels. It’s not whether you are team blue or team red, it’s if you are team people. And those that wish to silence you, and take away hard earned rights, regardless of which team is doing it, need to be called out and pushed back against. But that’s the genius of tyrannical forces, divide and conquer and confuse truth along the way. Regardless from what angle it’s looked at, it becoming harder and harder to speak freely, and war is more and more becoming an every day reality. This show also shows the indifference of the struggle of the average person at the whims of political ambitions and struggle for power. It is from the commoner that we need to look at things because that’s what we are, and it’s WE that need to pick up the pieces after they are done playing God. For me it’s simple: is it for the people or against the people? Are one side being demonized and dehumanized and to what end? Is there justice or is it for hire? Do our rights matter and does it mean anything, or is it something that we never had and can be taken away for the benefit of the powerful? All the other stuff is fluff and smoke and mirrors. Cheers.

​@@soakedbearrd well said!!

Agreed. The prequels were dire, such a waste. (Let's not mention the last 3 sequels either)

Mando and any parts of Kenobi being regarded as 'good' in even the slightest sense of the word is some funny stuff.

@@papapalps2415 Life is too short and I too busy to hate everything.

@@dspserpico By all means, enjoy the goyslop, nobody is stopping you.

Not at all lol

Not much of a Star Wars fan, eh? No joy or excitement, fun and amusement expected in your favorite TV shows, eh? Tony Gilroy said he wasn't much of a Star Wars fan either. Depressing and anxious just what America needs!

I think maybe the opposite. I haven't done it yet, but I think when I see "Rogue One" *and "A new hope" again, they will be better with the background provided by "Andor". And there is still the second season...

@@heavyvacation9826 What do you even mean by this?

I think it is a testament to the show that the most nitpicky thing about it is the weird star wars names. lol

@@gordonhowett7529 I hate when they give characters in Starwars "normal" names, like "Ezra Bridger" or "Rose" So annoying.

By the time the prisoners were in any position to grab boots, the floors had already been shorted out.

Boots slow them down

This is the reason I love the show. I recognize OT is objectively good and certainly entertaining. But I’m not *feeling it* until you give me something more grey, more complicated. I actually think all the Disney shows have attempted that and for that reason I appreciate all of them, even though I know some are much weaker (BOBF). Andor’s damn near flawless.

@@thestarseeker8196 Thanks for the positive comments, that is so refreshing to hear. I agree with your assessment of the Disney Star Wars era. I honestly like much of what they have attempted to do. I suspect make great Star Wars content is a lot harder than it looks. Quite a few talented film makers have taken a shot at it now and they have shown that to spite the on line fan base talking like all of us fans could do better if given a chance, I think we would realize that the fan base is so vast and broad we would make some happy and others hopping mad.

Nemik is my favorite character, and it's strange that an accurate representation of political theorists is so rare in media but that one was showcased in _Star Wars_ is insane.

Hell yes. Mando S1 was fun, but this is excellent

@@peterstedman6140Andor is what we would’ve gotten if Jon Favreau doubled down on the grit he flashed at us on the surface of Mando. If there was no Grogu. No Saturday-morning cartoon plotlines. I love Mando, but Andor is what I’ve been asking for for years.

@@ImTheReverse I like that both can exist in the Star Wars universe.

Sounds like our world today...

It’s fantastic but don’t forget Better Call Saul. Missing out if you dunno

@@robhughes8198 Ehh, I know it's well liked, and technically very good, it just never grabbed me for whatever reason

Such a shame we're only getting 2 seasons

@@JLeezy95 Agreed. The flipside, is that it's unlikely to get stale. Many a good show went stale by making too many seasons (glares at Supernatural)

@@JLeezy95 Guess that's the fate of any good show... still thinking of Firefly :(

I'm with you 💪🏽

Same, particularly after I read who'd been assembled as the creative team and then the cast!

Hmm... is it a flex that as soon I heard this series was in the making I got very interested? Bcs contrary to many (most?) SW Fans I'm not really one (too old, was in my 20's when the first film, then only called Star Wars, premiered... which means it didn't "change my life") and I REALLY liked Rouge One and especially Cassian Andor, so well portrayed by Diego Luna. I was very intrigued by the little we got to know about him, and wanted more. Getting to know about the more sordid/realistic side of rebellion. To put it simply: I'm a sucker for spy stories, which means "Andor" is right up my alley. That it turned out to be SO extremely well put together gave me so much joy!

BUT IF YOU LIKE IT, WTH cares what a RU-vidr says?! And by boring. what do they mean? How do they detail that description? What they see as boring I see as methodical and meticulous character development by the writer's room in conjunction with the production designer and the composer. We all knew this was planned to be a slow burn spy thriller FROM ITS ANNOUNCEMENT!

@@glenncreimer4245 Unfortunately, there’s been so much conditioning through the majority of available media put out for younger viewers over the years to throw in bells, whistles, loud noises and explosions filling in and drowning out all quiet moments. I’m not just talking about Star Wars. Also, unfortunately, influencers not ‘getting it’ can and do sway popular opinion to a degree…and I am confident to suggest that everyone who has been amazed by this humble show would love to see this level of quality writing and production become the new standard by which future Star Wars is measured. With plenty out there seemingly not understanding why this show breaks new and important ground for the franchise, it’s highly unlikely to be the case. It’s not going to win points on marketing potential, that’s for sure.

Said youtuber is a prequel child, that's a big handicap, IMHO. I grew up with the OT, I loved the space wizardry in it, (got emotional watching Mando S2 finalé), but I'm absolutely shocked by the quality Andor was able to pull off without that in the same universe.

opinions are just that The 3M plus youtuber's section for comments demonstrate that subscribers can seem as though they as a group have largely decided to fully disagree( refreshing , amusing to a point no one is dead wrong ) ~ Andor qualifies as a triumph( Witwer voices a shoretrooper only fan service that was required )

That game single-handedly made me a Star Wars fan. What Andor did for rebels vs empire and liberty vs tyranny, that game did for me the essence of force and what it truly meant to be Jedi vs sith.

She’s great, believable and human. Complex as in dutiful but with ruthless moments like with bix and torture. She’s not entirely evil, but she’s certainly not good.

Jon is that corvette that you take out once in a blue and enjoy the ride but don’t overindulge because if you crash you dead. Andor is that reliable Toyota Corolla that you would use every day that’s reliable, maybe not as flashy but ground you to your everyday life and you can crash and not die. I don’t mind fantastical from time to time, but I don’t relate to it like I relate to real life people in believable roles.

Exactly and we’ll said! I think many of us older folks recognize SUBSTANCE, and have the maturity and life experience to know there nothing that truly good vs evil. Maybe in overall theme, but in not in the average politician, or rebel, or imperial, or city or alien or human race. It’s nuanced and grey. This show understands that and humanizes culture (ferrix customs felt real). These small details make or break a story and Andor hit it off the park.

Yup, there's nothing wrong with Han Solo blowing up Tie Fighters and Luke fighting Darth Vader, but those moments were preceded by alot of ordinary courageous people organizing, sacrificing and laying groundwork. I didn't miss the Force or Jedi at all in this series coz the human drama is so compelling.