The excellent website Den of Geek has a list of Easter eggs for the broadcast episodes so far. I’m more casual fan than hardcore, so most of these went over my head, but they made for interesting reading.
Luthen is a remarkable character - so well played by Stellan Skarsgård. The guy’s got a garage lab neatly filled with all kinds of gadgetry and what looks to be a HAM radio of sorts.
I am keen on the use (spoken & accents) of the English language: the empire nobles speak in upper-crusty received pronunciation and from there on you can rightly tell where someone is on the spectrum of good-v-bad. I will lol if they keep that up and some rebel says “sked-yool” rather than “shed-yool”
Indeed, the only “antagonist” we’ve encountered so far without an English accent is Karn - one reason why I suspect he may end up either joining the Rebellion, or nobly sacrificing himself.
I put the word “antagonist” in quotes because he really hasn’t done anything wrong. He investigated a double murder, which is his job. He hasn’t been shown to be cruel or evil.
Sorry, just remembered the Sergeant Major (was posting in a hurry). Make that “the only antagonist without a British accent.
I’ve just come off the back of trying out “The Rings of Power” and dumping it, for many reasons but when watching ep 5 of Andor immediately after I was struck by how much better the writing and delivery of dialogue is for this.
It is a slow pace for this as well but I don’t find myself looking at my watch or rolling my eyes. The scene at the start with Syril and his mother could be twee and clunky but I came away with a much clearer idea of him and his world without it ever being forced down my throat, “show don’t tell” in action I think.
I’m not turning this into anti-TROP, (I wanted to enjoy both of these shows) but I was just struck by the difference between them when watching them in close proximity.
Two other things, How did my teenage daughter get a part playing herself in this as young Mothma, and why wasn’t I told?
The rebels camp looked very Scottish to me and familiar and sure enough, on checking I have been hiking in that very area. Lovely place.
Also, the name “Andor” is so close to “Nandor” from “what we do in the shadows” that I can’t help imagining a place for him in the Star Wars universe. We had Ade Edmonson in “the last Jedi” so why not.
I’d think Nandor the Relentless would be perfect as an inept and not fully evil dark lord of the Sith.
Edited: I just realised you were talking about Mon Mothma’s daughter. In a brain-fart moment I thought you meant the Senator herself.
I didn’t go so far as to check, but yes, I thought it may have been filmed in Scotland. I’ve seen comments in the geek press that Andor has been marked out by a willingness to film on location (the other SW series were filmed on soundstages using fancy tech). I think it benefits from the decision.
The link I posted above talks about what some of that stuff is… Luthern’s got some cool kit in his shop.
ha! the way I worded it was potentially ambiguous and yes, my teenage daughter can sometimes act like a world-weary 40 year old but no, far more often she’s moody and mopey like a proper teenager.
I’m wondering about his antiques. I think I saw 1 or 2 lightsabers in the weapons section.
And there haven’t been any non-human main characters yet. Not that there needs to be, since I imagine that’s partly a merchandising angle for those movies. And yes, this is the first usage of “shit” in Star Wars. Is the blonde Resistance leader Luthien’s daughter?
(I think it’s “Luthan” isn’t it?) I haven’t heard that suggested. Could be, I didn’t get that vibe from their interactions but he is obviously extremely nervous as the raid approaches and there is clearly a whole, unknown area of how he knows and manages such rebellion groups. Is this one of many? Is this the one that he is intimately involved with?
And why throw a new person into that group? Does he not trust someone? Maybe you’re right and this is his only scheme, but he feels too jaded for that to me. And Star Wars slipping in a very minor same-sex couple (or so it seemed to me) as usual. Ah well. Be nice to have more.
So far acting-wise there really haven’t been any weak performances. Stellar Skateboard (to steal an old joke) doing a bang-up job and Diego Luna selling a lot just from his eyes and posture, but everyone is doing what they can, even if their roles are very small.
I didn’t notice that. Of course when you inhabit a universe where Jabba the Hutt is getting it on with all and sundry, same sex between humans seems positively mundane.
agreed, Syril’s mother is a great example of that.
It was just the way the shot was framed when the two female rebels were shown in the morning. Might be just me, but the blond young lady seemed a trifle jealous when Andor was talking to the other one (I’m terrible with character names on this show!)
Oh I see, that passed me by. I confess that love interests generally aren’t the bits I find particularly interesting in movies and TV.
Hadn’t Andor been told just moments before that he didn’t have a chance because she was “already sharing a blanket”? Then he walks up to their tent and the women are hanging up a blanket.
So even on Coruscant, they drink blue milk, but apparently the dray (space goats) on Aldhani don’t have blue milk. I didn’t see much info on Krayt Head* so I’m still not exactly sure what the tattoo is supposed to mean (slavery? space Seals?)
Emperor’s Hand.
I have to say, Luthan’s disguise reminds me a bit of the disguises we used to see in The Americans, except he is disguised in his day job and in he uses his real face in his undercover activitiws. It’s Lightly disguised, no one who knows him would be fooled, but any description that goes out will be very different from his public persona.
Well that was damn tense, and quite good. It looks like the show is settling into a rhythm of one exposition-heavy episode to set up the scenario, one leisurely paced episode devoted to character development but not much story advancement, followed by one action-packed thrill ride. Bodes well for the second season, which will supposedly cover the 4 years leading up to Rogue One with a 3 episode arc for each year.
One huge source of tension is the fact that other than Cassian and Mon Mothma, we have absolutely no idea what happens to any of the characters, so any of them can die at any moment. It’s the exact opposite of the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, where we knew going in that the only possible outcome of any Vader vs. Obi-wan showdown was a draw, so big yawn. I’m really hoping they put off bringing in any Rogue One characters until much later for that reason. (I know Saw Gerrara and K2SO’s actors are confirmed for Season 2). This is the Star Wars show I didn’t know I wanted, and I’m loving it. Although, as I mentioned to my son, for all the things this show is doing differently, why did they have to use the hoary trope the brother always dies first
I need to rewatch the last 10 minutes or so, as there is one character whose fate I’m unclear on. My son had the same issue. We both noticed they just weren’t there anymore, so we both think we missed something.