Finally caught up and I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed this series. Just continues to hit all the right notes for me and largely avoided common pitfalls that usually drag down SW properties.

Red Five said:

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Aggie_Journalist said:

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My only quibble is it felt a tad contrived that almost everyone was on Ferrix at the same time. It doesn't really make sense for the empire to go all out on the funeral assuming Andor will show up; it doesn't really make sense for Andor, knowing he's a very wanted fugitive, to go to the funeral; and it didn't makes sense for Luthen and the two rebel ladies to all be there either for a job one or two of them could handle. It was all just a tad "we need these people to be here for a finale, so it's going to happen," when really a small imperial force keeping an eye out, 1 or 2 luthen agents and No Andor would make more sense if folks were all making the smart moves. But this is a very small quibble because the climax putting all those folks in one place gave us was quite fun.
Oh, and Andor seemed to get in and out of the garrisoned hotel wayyy too easily. Even with the riot drawing troopers outside, I'd have still expected more command and control inside that he'd have to deal with.

I also really liked how organically the riot happened. It's not clear how much of an uprising was planned at all. The people were feeling tense and defiant, sure, and one kid wanted to avenge his dead father (?) with a pipe bomb, but if the imperial agent hadn't flipped out and knocked over the droid, there might not have been a riot at all. Really liked the way they showed chance and opportunity play out here. And the way they showed it was chaotic, but this didn't end in an "empire driven off the planet!" Moment, or anything silly like that.

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The Empire didn't go all out for the funeral. It was 1 ISB agent and her assistant along with the local garrison that was already on planet to take over security/governance from the Corpos following the first riot. The garrison was deployed due to the high tensions and risk of another riot.

I'm not sure Andor knows he is a wanted fugitive to that level. He was wanted for the murder of 2 men, but even the failed raid by the corporate security forces was mostly covered over by the first riot. He came back after Aldhani and was able to slip in and out without trouble, so it's reasonable to think he could do it again. Until arriving on Ferrix I don't think there is any reason to think he would know that the ISB considers him a high priority target since that is only due to his connection to Axis, which he doesn't even know is Luthen.

Cinta was always there because her job was to wait there until Andor came back and then kill him. Vel makes sense because she is actively being brushed off by everyone when she thought she was important, so she is trying to get people to pay attention to her even if it compromises other people's cover/mission.

Luthen is the one who shouldn't have been there, but even his assistant tells him that and he says he needs to see to it personally. Maybe the business with Kreegyr and Saw unnerved him and he felt like going there to recruit Cassian instead of killing him would ease his conscience. It's certainly acknowledged by the show that he shouldn't have been there.

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All of this. Plus, I don't think Cinta could find/kill Cassian on her own with the funeral going on and the substantial imperial presence. Too many people to follow and too much ground to cover. Vel would have been needed as an extra set of hands, and the same for Luthen to an extent. I think Luthen was also close enough to it that he wanted to be hands on. It makes sense for all three to be there.

Honestly, it makes absolute sense for everyone to be there. Cassian isn't going to miss it, and everyone looking for him knows it.

We finally saw the final episode yesterday and it kicked ass. This entire series is fantastic. Here's to hoping, as has been stated already, that Disney catches on and puts the same effort into future SW shows. Enough of the Bobba Fett/ Obi-Wan disappointments.

I also finished this last night, and I thought the whole series was amazing. It reinforces my thoughts that the folks running Star Wars (back to RotJ) worry too much about making stories about the main characters kid friendly and kid accessible. Once they get past established characters and canon, there's a lot more room to explore and be creative.

Awesome. Now I'm going to re-watch it all again with my wife (her first time through). I typically 1000% hate re-watching shows/movies, but this is the very rare exception. So much detail, complexity, canon, easter eggs, etc. that I suspect I'll like even more a show I already love. And I can also expect I'll be budgeting another couple of hours after the Season 2 Final to re-watch Rogue One again, which I suspect I will equally love more as well.

BBRex said:

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I also finished this last night, and I thought the whole series was amazing. It reinforces my thoughts that the folks running Star Wars (back to RotJ) worry too much about making stories about the main characters kid friendly and kid accessible. Once they get past established characters and canon, there's a lot more room to explore and be creative.

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The issue I have with this is that the franchise's commercial success has been based around being kid accessible. Without those kid accessible stories, you don't get everything else.

Look at Clone Wars. It touched on some really deep subjects, but only to the point that an animated show made for kids could. However, it paved the way for The Mandalorian, the financial success of which paved the way for Andor. I think if Andor has been first in that progression, it would not have worked.

Wookies and ewoks benefit from not speaking English. I wonder if it would be harder to accept Chewie if he talked like Barf.

They can go the Poochie the Dog route and say Zeb died on the way back to his own planet.

Denise Gough (Dedra Meero ) has an interview with Empire today. A couple of really cool things to take from it.

1) She only got cast on Andor because the Game of Thrones spin-off with Naomi Watts didn't get picked up, as she had been cast in that. She is confirmed for Season 2, happily!

2) Her first DAY shooting was the season finale in the couryard with Aunt Petunia's hologram, as has made the story around the Internet:

The rest of this post is straight from Empire.

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"My first day was Ferrix… I was given my two Death Troopers one of whom had to be trained to run like a Death Trooper and not like a musical theatre star and I couldn't help myself, I just started doing the [hums the Imperial March]. Then, everyone started doing it. Fiona's voice was over all of us. Except, at the end, she didn't say, 'Fight the Empire!' She said, '**** the Empire!' Which we were all really excited about. But we weren't allowed to keep it, obviously."

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One of the biggest hurdles for her was that infamous Star Wars dialogue. While Andor's dialogue is likely a bit more grounded than what George Lucas asked of his actors and actresses, playing in the Star Wars world was a challenge for Gough. She said:

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"I had to say, 'I need a multisector data blend going back two years.' And I couldn't do it. I couldn't get my mouth around the words. Ben Caron and I sat in the corner of the set, and I was like, 'You don't understand, Ben, all anyone has told me for the past five years is that I'm really excellent at acting. And now I'm really not. This is terrible.' I realised I needed muscles that I only usually use on stage. Tony says Anton Lesser [Imperial boss Partagaz] makes exposition sound like sonnets. Once I got it into my body, that language became really fun."

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After getting into the Star Wars mindset, it became easier. The villain came to life, and something Gough's mother would tell her became a common thing again:

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"My mother used to say to me, 'You need to smile, because you can look quite sour if you don't.' I have a naturally downturned mouth."

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We didn't see much smiling at all from Meero over the course of Andor, although she definitely took satisfaction in torturing Bix Gough said she also took pleasure in performing that scene:

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"By the time I got to the interrogation, I was just like, 'Let me at it! I love this so much!'"

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Denise Gough will return for Andor season 2, although her role is still a mystery. Ironically, shortly after getting the scripts for season 2, Gough said that she ran into Ian McDiarmid in an unrelated setting. While not an indication that the Emperor will make an appearance in season 2, Gough touched on her wishes for Meero. She said:

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"What I'm really hoping for is Dedra out of uniform. I would look at Genevieve's [O'Reilly, Mon Mothma] costumes like, 'Oh my god.' Michael [Wilkinson, costume designer] deserves a real shout-out. I did one of my fittings and I put on an outfit and said, 'This is so Mon Mothma… I can't wear this, can I?' He was like, 'No.'"

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On the more serious side of things, Gough made a declaration about what she will bring to the table next season. With a more appropriate F-bomb for good measure, she had this to say:

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"I am going to Dedra the **** out of the second season."

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Nice. She was really great in her role (as were the rest of the cast)

I think I would have literally jumped out of my seat had they actually kept her f-bomb. Man, that would have been cool...

Andor Was Ready to Drop Star Wars' First F-Bomb https://t.co/H6s2F8bdpQ pic.twitter.com/5VWicTg8bG

— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) November 30, 2022

Considering the planet they're on is called "Ferrix," people probably would have just been confused more than anything.

Too close Ferix. Personally, I'm glad they didn't. SW has always done a good job of using slightly different words for things we would understand.

Slicer instead of hacker
Caff instead of coffee
Refresher instead of restroom
etc.

I would have been pulled waaay out of the moment with the F word.

I want to be made into a brick when I die. Then used to beat people in a riot.