Andor: “A Staggering, Unyielding Masterpiece”

It’s the ’70s storytelling. It’s the slow burn, the backstory, and then the payoff. All that time building the foundation is exponentially repaid because everything mattered along the way.

– Source

I continue this evening with my series of posts celebrating what many people consider one of the best TV shows ever made – Andor.

As I’ve noted previously, Andor is a prequel to the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which in turn serves as an immediate prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).

Andor stars Diego Luna (left), reprising his role as Cassian Andor in Rogue One. Like Rogue One, Andor has a much grittier look and feel, and far more complex characters than any other movie or TV series in the Star Wars franchise. This definitely goes a long way in accounting for my interest in, and appreciation for, both Rogue One and Andor.

The first season of Andor was released on the Disney+ streaming platform in 2022. The second (and final) season is scheduled for release early next year.

In the lead-up to season two I’m sharing a series of posts celebrating Andor. Tonight’s installment features two Andor-related pieces. First, an excerpt from a January 4, 2023 Wired article that asserts that Andor is “a masterclass in good writing.” The piece goes on to say the following.

The Star Wars series Andor, a prequel to the 2016 film Rogue One, is a dramatic examination of the early days of the Rebel Alliance. Science fiction author Matt London was impressed by the show’s sophisticated characterization and dialog.

“There’s so much subtext in the dialog of Andor, and there’s so much communicated in the silences,” London says in Episode 533 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “It’s not passive viewing. I think it takes an active mind to engage. It’s not a kid’s show.”

TV writer Andrea Kail agrees that Andor is a mature, complex piece of storytelling. “In every other Star Wars, there’s black and there’s white,” she says. “There’s no crossover. Everything in this show is about moral ambiguity. It’s about the gray tones in every single situation. And that, for me, is why this is an adult show. Nothing is black and white in the world. Everybody makes choices, and some of those choices hurt other people. That’s the way life is, and that’s the way war is.”

Andor largely eschews many Star Wars staples, such as wacky creatures and funny droids, focusing instead on the realities of power and violence. Fantasy author Erin Lindsey, who worked for many years as a U.N. aid worker, found the show’s depiction of politics to be completely believable. “I think there are clearly people on the writing team who are students of spy novels like [those by] John le Carré and who are students of politics and students of history, who are really looking at how revolution has happened here on Earth and what that looks like,” she says.

The second thing I share this evening is a 16-minute video review of Andor by “Spaceman.”

This review, entitled “Andor is a Star Wars Masterpiece from 1978,” received the Dilectio Sapientiae Award at the 2023 Miami International Science-Fiction and Film Festival. Its title reflects the late-1970s look and feel of Andor, which of course was the time period when the film it serves as a sequel to (1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope) was made.





For more about Andor at The Wild Reed, see:
• The Revolution Will Be Televised
• Andor: The Star Wars Franchise’s “First Piece of Universally Excellent Television”
• The Brilliance of Andor

Related Off-site Links:
Why Andor Is So Important for Star Wars – Kirk Mihelakos (Designed by Kirk, November 23, 2022).
Andor Is the Best Star Wars Has Been in 40 Years – Cleaver Rebooted (November 23, 2022).
Why Andor Feels So Real – Thomas Flight (November 23, 2022).
Why Andor Boldly Goes the Distance While Most High Profile Star Wars Adaptations Fell Short – Melanie McFarland (Salon, November 25, 2022).
Evil in Andor: The Banality of Evil – The Canvas (November 27, 2024).
Is Andor Actually THAT Good? (Yes, and Here’s Why) – Ben Arndt (A.M. Cinematics, November 28, 2022).
Andor: A Marxist Allegory Brought to You by Disney – Damien Walter (Science Fiction with Damien Walter, December 8, 2022).
Just Go Watch Andor – CameroN xM (December 28, 2022).
How Andor Became My Favorite Star Wars Show – A Short Ginger (January 2, 2023).
Andor Is Star Wars Perfection – Caprisanh (January 6, 2023).
Why Is Andor’s Dialogue So Much Better? – The Writer’s Block (January 14, 2023).
The Poetry, Power, and Philosophy of Andor’s Monologues – Master Samwise (February 21, 2023).
Andor Season 2: Everything We Know – Josh Rosenberg (Esquire, August 12, 2024).
Diego Luna Says Andor Season 2 Turns Rogue One Into a “Different Film” – Dalton Ross (Entertainment Weekly, August 15, 2024).
Everything We Know About Andor Season 2: Release Window, Plot, Cast, and More – Fran Ruiz (Space, October 16, 2024).
Rumor: Andor Season 2 to Bring Back Andy Serkis as Kino Loy – Ishita Verma (Super Hero Hype, October 28, 2024).
Andor Is a Message for the Future – Spaceman (November 21, 2024).
Andor’s Luthen Rael Is Basically the Rebellion’s Emperor Palpatine – Allen Xies (Generation Tech, November 22, 2024).
Andor Season 2 Is About to Break Records – Nyft (November 23, 2024).