Andor Season 1 Review

Brief Overview

The latest show in a galaxy far far away was different. It felt less like Star Wars and more like a unique TV series set on other planets. Even before the series began it was pitted against other Star Wars shows like The Mandalorian and of course, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The series was designed as a spy-thriller action-adventure series set 5 years before the events of the Rogue One movie. I will admit, the series did have its moments of “WOAH” but ultimately fell into the slowness territory.

Longer than a typical Disney+ series, I’ll break down the sections and my reasoning as to why I gave it that said rating.

Story – 8/10

The story was unique. It dived into the part of Star Wars that we truly haven’t seen yet, the politics and the plans behind the reason why Palpatine wanted to create the Death Star. A good portion of the series saw Cassian in prison creating parts for unknown reasons but we come to learn that it’s for the Death Star.

Mon Mothma played a huge part in the story, often overshadowing the main character Cassian. While he was in most of the scenes, it felt like this could have been a Mon Mothma story about beginning the Rebel Alliance from within the shadows of the Galactic Senate. This is the reason why Palpatine wanted to create the Death Star so that he could get rid of the Galactic Senate and fully control the galaxy.

The story also dived into the early days and the introduction to the Rebel Alliance from Cassian’s point of view and why he had to join it. In some episodes, the story was truly powerful and moving but in other episodes, it just fell flat and lost all momentum.

Action – 4/10

Action is a weird section. Similar to the story, the action was removed in about 70% of episodes. The series developed a system of running two to three episodes of none stop story with little to no action and all of a sudden it would give an action-packed episode that was truly incredible but then would disappear. I do not know if that was just me but I absolutely hated it. It took the “spy-thriller action-adventure” out of it and just purely made it a political series.

Characters – 10/10

The characters were absolutely incredible. Each member of the cast was incredible and played their respective characters insanely well. Each character showcased different stories, actions, emotions, and more. I think some of the standout characters for me were Cassian, Mon Mothma, and Luthren.

For more information on the full cast list, you can visit IMDB by clicking here.

Entertainment – 5/10

When the episodes delivered some incredible action I was very entertained, but when it was just purely story, I often fell out of the episode and began to drift away and do other stuff because the entertainment was not there, something that should always be in a Star Wars project whether that’s a game, series, or movie.

Episodes – 7/10

The length of episodes was fine, it was just the episodes going from nothing happening to action in one episode and then back to nothing. It was just a bad decision. Some of the episodes felt like they could have just been skipped over altogether. The episodes needed to have more action and I hope that is what series 2 has.

Antagonist – 10/10

I don’t think there is a better antagonist than the Empire within Star Wars. They were absolutely brutal throughout this entire season. We saw many aspects of the Empire that we typically haven’t seen. The politics, the torture methods, then the relentless pursuit of gaining control of the galaxy.

Quality – 8/10

Honestly, the quality was truly incredible. There was a big meme situation because of a comment made by Star Wars Theory on Youtube. He mentioned that the quality of the set and some weapons didn’t feel like Star Wars and he was completely ridiculed online for it but the more I thought about it the more I agree.

I’ll speak about the setting of Ferrix first. It didn’t feel like a Star Wars town. Take Mos Espa for instance, when The Mandalorian or Luke steps foot in that town you know it’s Star Wars, with Ferrix you didn’t. I know the galaxy is different but the setting has to be right and if it throws you off then it’s a big issue.

Another issue was the weapons in the raid in one of the earlier episodes. With Star Wars you have weapons that are typically created and modified to show you that it’s quite clearly a blaster, whereas in this episode you could quite clearly see it was an AK-47 with a couple more bits added to it. Other than these bits, the quality was fine.

Favorite Episode

Episode 6 “The Eye” would be my favorite episode. It took me instantly back to Star Wars Rebels and how the Ghost Squad would go on heists and infiltrate many Imperial bases. The quality and CGI in the scenes were incredible. This episode also delivered a unique perspective on how the pilots get into the tie-fighters.

Worst Episode

Narkina 5 would definitely be my worst episode. Re-reading the review, it was just a horrible episode. No action, a boring story. The only decent thing that this episode gave was the cameo by Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera.

Episodes & Their Ratings

Episode 1: Episode 1 – 8.8/10
Episode 2: Episode 2 – 8.2/10
Episode 3: Episode 3 – 9.8/10
Episode 4: Aldhani – 7.6/10
Episode 5: The Axe Forgets – 7.8/10
Episode 6: The Eye – 10/10
Episode 7: Announcement – 8.6/10
Episode 8: Narkina 5 – 7.5/10
Episode 9: Nobody’s Listening! – 8.2/10
Episode 10: One Way Out – 9.6/10
Episode: 11: Daughter of Ferrix – 9.2/10
Episode: 12: Rix Road – 8.9/10

Average rating – 8.7/10

Our Overall Rating 7.4/10

The show could have easily become a 10/10 had it delivered more action, better scenes, better quality in setting and weapons, and became less political. Another thing that would have made it better is if the story was more primarily focused on Cassian rather than spending a good chunk with Mon Mothma.

Does It Deserve Another Season?

Well since we know season 2 is coming and will lead into the Rogue One movie, it’s safe to say that 2 seasons is the limit. Could it have got a few more seasons? Possibly, but you’d most likely need to cast a brand new actor and a much younger Cassian and have it set around just after the events of Revenge of the Sith which would have made for a boring series in my personal opinion.

Availability

Andor is available to watch exclusively on Disney+.

Season Trailer