Cassian gets a job offer and makes some new friends as the series stretches out and a larger picture of the wider galaxy begins to form in “Aldhani”, episode four of Andor!
Austin Gorton: Adam, in our last review, we both had some mixed feelings about the show’s three part, occasionally plodding, premiere. But even though this episode is clearly just the beginning of another multi-part arc and mostly concerned with setting the table, I thought it moved with some much-needed briskness. What are your top-level thoughts?
Adam Reck: Episode four moved more like a tauntaun than a bantha, and I for one appreciated that things were moving right along. Especially since I am a noted sucker for heist stories, and Luthen dropped Cassian right into one. Plus, we got more Karn and the character I was most excited for – Mon Mothma! So, lots to cover. Letâs jump to hyperspace and get started!
The Pitch
Austin: The episode wastes no time, picking up right where the last one left off with Cassian and Luther racing away from Ferrix. We get a look inside Luthenâs cool Millenium Falcon-esque ship, and he starts pitching Cassian on the idea of putting his skills to a bigger use, to strike one big blow against the Empire rather than a bunch of big ones. The brevity with which we dived right into the next plot and the broadening of the showâs world is much appreciated.
Adam: I loved Luthenâs ship, especially the little Ring Camera droid in the cockpit and Raelâs secret drama-kid costume closet where he transforms into his public facing look. And youâre right, we are moving much faster now. Luthen has clearly done his homework on Cassian, though how the heck he knows so much and in such detail is beyond me. Itâs enough to call out Cassian and catch him in a lie, which is pretty intense. Call me skeptical, but Iâm not sure I quite believe that Cassian has this overwhelming need to take down the Empire. Luthen seems convinced, he manages to convince Cassian as well, but Iâd like a little more backstory to understand why he wants to rage against the machine. Regardless, weâre quickly on another planet where Cassian is about to be handed off to his new boss, Vel Sartha, the first of several strong women we meet this episode. From here itâs a lot of intelligent and quick world-building through show not tell.
Austin: I agree; I was a bit puzzled by Luthen’s portrayal of Cassian as this devout hater of the Empire who spends all his time picking fights with them. The first three episodes did a good job establishing why he needed to get off Ferrix, but it didn’t really do anything to establish his feelings towards the Empire. He was on Morlana looking for his sister, and everything that followed after that stemmed from his encounter there with the (non-Imperial) Pre-Mor security goons. I guess the show’s way of establishing Cassian hates the Empire is just this bit, where Luthen tells us that.
Adam: With Cassian off to make new friends, Luthen is free to get back to his cover as a flashy antique salesman, which is the perfect opportunity for us to check in on a new and familiar ally and a whole group of new baddies.
More Baddies
Adam: If youâre like me, you immediately found yourself wondering where youâd seen Anton Lesser (who plays Imperial jerkwad Major Partagaz) before. Sharp-eyed nerds will recognize him as Game of Thronesâ creepy Dr. Frankenstein, Maester Qyburn. Here, heâs the district manager on a whole different level of bureaucracy in the imperial police state. Which means weâve got a room of fascists eager for career development. Iâm sensing a theme here. Most importantly, the focus is on Denise Goughâs Dedra Meero who seems intent on retrieving Andorâs stolen CGC 10.0 sealed gizmo from the last episode, even though the Pre-Mor catastrophe is outside her jurisdiction. She clashes with Ben Bailey Smithâs Lt Supervisor Blevin, whoâs eager to put Meero in her place. Whatâs up with Dedra? Is her interest in the box personal? She also notes thereâs a pattern to these thefts. I suspect there is more going on with this character and we may find out sheâs a spy, but maybe Iâm reading it wrong. Austin, your thoughts on our increasing cast of office authoritarians?
Austin: I am absolutely here for inter-office Imperial squabbling. All the sequences with the Imperial Security Bureau (the same org to which Krennic belonged in Rogue One) on Coruscant were basically like an extended riff on the briefing room scene from A New Hope (when Vader chokes out Admiral Motti), filled with petty people angling amongst one another for supremacy, and I love it. Kudos to the costume and make-up department for replicating the late 70s aesthetic of A New Hope; all the sideburns and jodphurs on these fascist bureaucrats is like catnip to me.
My immediate suspicion regarding Meero’s obsession with Cassian’s stolen collectible is that she was trying to cover her ass by retrieving it, but she openly discussed her desire to retrieve it enough in the course of the episode that it seems unlikely now. So now I’m not sure if there’s more to it, or if it is just, as Blevin suggested, a case of Meero angling for advancement. At any rate, I’m excited to find out!
The other big thing happening on Coruscant is the return of everyone’s favorite Rebel leader, Mon Mothma!
Adam: When the trailer for Andor came out, aside from the aesthetics, the thing I was most excited for was Mon Mothma returning! Genevieve OâReilly has played the character twice now in Revenge of thetS and Rogue One, and sheâs test case zero for successfully recasting a character from the original trilogy as she bears a striking resemblance to Caroline Blakiston. No CGI/Deepfake/AI Voice for Mon Mothma! What Mon Mothma represents is this amazing thread throughout the Star Wars movies, and now we get to see her actual life as Senator and Rebellion leader. First off – what a car! That sky limo felt right out of the prequels, and the contrast between that opulence and the communities weâve been focused on so far is striking. We also start with big tension for Ms. Mothma – sheâs been funding Luthen Raelâs activities but it seems her colleagues and the Empire are starting to suspect something. Her backroom dealings with Rael are exactly what I signed up for with this show. And we get a little spousal squabbling as Mr. Mothma turns out to be a real bum, surprising her with a dinner party with some of her most hated political rivals. Props to the set designers who brought Mon Mothmaâs exquisite home to life. The cherry blossom branches extending along the ceilings, the intricate detail in the walls, everything to the smallest detail is gorgeously made. I was over the (two) moon(s). How great was it seeing Mothma again?
Austin: Pretty great. I love Genevieve O’Reilly’s story, of having petitioned for the role in Revenge of the Sith, having her scenes cut, then coming back for Rebels and Rogue One and now Andor. And the character serves a useful function in the story, connecting the series on a macro level to the larger history of Star Wars while in-universe, serving as a means to bring all the different rebel threads together. I’m looking forward to seeing how her and Cassian’s storylines come together in a way that ends with the pair standing in that Rebel briefing room on Yavin 4 in Rogue One. The whole sequence with Luthen was a delight, from their (literal) backroom dealings to the way Luthen’s assistant worked to keep Mothma’s (clearly planted to watch her) driver distracted. And given that he’s never been mentioned before, I’m excited to see how her shitty husband plays into all this.
Adam: In sharp contrast, former lead baddie Karn has not only been fired, but has cost his entire company their security contract with the Empire. So he . . . goes to live with his Mom.
Austin: We had wondered whether last episode was the end of the line for Karn or not, and as I said then, I’m glad to see he’s sticking around. Not only is he a thematic counterpart to Cassian, but as you say, the sequence of him returning home, hat in hand, makes for an interesting contrast with the opulence of Mon Mothma’s home and the crisp efficiency of the ISB. Karn expressed an appreciation of the Empire earlier, but it is clearly doing him no favors.
Adam: Karnâs fall from grace, even down to being smacked in the face by his own mother, was both hilarious and sad, and now Iâm hopeful we see more of this downtrodden weasel, if only to see what other kinds of messes he can make outside of his previous position. In short, all of this is working for me. I love the give and take between the different socio-economic ends of the galaxy, and the hints at the organized rebellion in its infancy.
Austin: One of the ways I think this episode is an improvement on the first three is the way the cuts back and forth between the different settings/storylines (Cassian on Aldhani, the ISB and Mothma on Coruscant, Sadboy Karn going home to mama, etc.). Plot-wise, not a whole ton more happens here than in episode 1 (both are similar table-setting eps). But the increased scope (we’re following more characters than just Cassian) and the cuts back and forth between the different plotlines and settings inject the episode with a brisker pace. Not a ton may be happening, but it feels like things are happening, and that’s an improvement.
Speaking of those cuts, let’s jump back to Aldhani, where Cassian spends the majority of the episode.
Luthenâs Eleven
Austin: So most of the Aldhani material falls broadly into the “assembling the team” portion of the heist movie, as Cassian is introduced to the gang and we get brief snippets that quickly give us a rough idea of who each person is. As a sucker for heist stories, what worked best for you here?
Adam: My favorite touch was probably the younger, potentially force-sensitive kid who can just âfeel stuffâ and is very worried about the structural integrity of the model they made of sticks and mud. This show is pretty dry, so a small bit of humor here and there doesnât hurt. Also, the tension between the crew who obviously know bringing Andor on is weird and in turn Cassian being forced to say heâs all in on something he is clearly unsure about makes for good narrative tension. The heist plan itself is also something novel: theyâre going to steal the Empireâs payroll? Assuming this is some kind of physical currency, our crew here is essentially trying to tip-toe into Fort Knox, steal the gold, and escape through the gap in a hippie convention down the street. Every good heist story needs the âhow itâs going to go downâ scene before the heist actually happens and things inevitably do not go as planned. Iâm excited to see if they can succeed and how they may be foiled. At the very least, Iâm expecting a better outcome than Rogue One since we know Cassian will survive. Any of the team or their plan stand out to you?
Austin: Mostly just the kid you mentioned; everyone else, so far, fits into pretty stock tropes (the Skeptic, the Reluctant Medic, etc.). Though Vel herself is a notable presence. Played by Faye Marsay (who, in another Game of Thrones connection, played the creepy-ass Waif that hunted Arya during her training in Braavos) brings a kind of barely-simmering intensity to the role. I’m curious if the series will end up drawing parallels between her and Jyn Erso. Beyond that, I would have liked to see at least one or two aliens amongst this crew, if only because so much of the core Rogue One cast was also just human, and one of the things that sets the Alliance apart is that it is more welcoming to non-human species than the Empire.
But I suppose there’s time for that yet, and in the meantime, there’s enough to appreciate in the way this episode sets the table for future episodes without feeling like a slog.
Force Facts
- Luthen mentions that Cassian fought for the Empire (reluctantly) on Mimban, which is the muddy world on which Han Solo first meets Chewbacca, as seen in Solo (and whose Star Wars history stretches much further back, making it one of the very first “expanded universe” worlds). Quick math â which may not be the same as accurate math â suggests that Cassian may have been serving on Mimban at the same time as Imperial Cadet Han Solo.
- Luthen also references the Rakatan, galactic conquerors from very early in the history of the Star Wars universe who featured in the beloved Knights of the Old Republic video game.
- Scarif, the future site of Cassian’s death, gets name-dropped in this episode.
- Mon Mothma mentions the Empire cutting of Ghorman shipping routes, a nod to/setup for the Ghorman Massacre, in which the Empire brazenly cuts down a mass of starving, peaceful protestors on Ghorman, prompting Mon Mothma to publicly call out the Emperor, leading to an arrest warrant and her flight from the Senate.
- Diego Luna, who plays Cassian, noted this week on Jimmy Kimmel that for most of his young life he and many of his fellow Mexican Star Wars fans believed R2-D2âs name was âArturitoâ or âLittle Arthur.â And that is just adorable.
Did Diego Luna Get to Touch Jabba?
- Not yet
Adam Reck is the cartoonist behind Bish & Jubez as well as the co-host of Battle Of The Atom.
Austin Gorton also reviews older issues of X-Men at the Real Gentlemen of Leisure website, co-hosts the A Very Special episode podcast, and likes Star Wars. He lives outside Minneapolis, where sometimes, it is not cold. Follow him on Twitter @AustinGorton
