Created by Tony Gilroy
1.07 “Announcement”
Written by Stephen Schiff
Directed by Benjamin Caron
Starring Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Genevieve O'Reilly, Faye Marsay
New episodes Wednesdays on Disney+

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

“The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.” -Episode I, The Phantom Menace

There’s been a lot of flak from prequel haters over the last twenty years, specifically around the above line in the opening crawl of The Phantom Menace. It sounds boring. People can barely get riled up about tax policies in the real world, let alone fake, space ones. But one thing that has always been great about Star Wars is that the ability to balance the fantastical and the grounded is baked into the series’ DNA from the beginning. But Star Wars politics has never been as thrilling on screen as it was in the seventh episode of Andor.

The standout was the conversation between Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) and her lifelong friend, Kolma (Ben Miles). The dance between the two of them, trying to assess how “extreme” the politics of the other is while under observation from the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), is exquisite in terms of tension and real stakes. Mothma reveals that her public persona as a Senator who tries to push back on Imperial human (or other beings) rights violations legislatively is a cover for the operations like the ones on Aldhani. She doesn’t know the details, to keep up with plausible deniability, but she feels like even that is becoming too much of a risk. She wants to bring Kolma in as a way to move money around and support some of Luthen’s (Stellan Skarsgård) Rebel cells. It is both a chilling and exhilarating conversation and speaks to Stephen Schiff’s previous work on The Americans. As does the revelation that Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) is more than an assistant shopkeeper. We see her meet with a newly made over Vel (Faye Marsay) to talk about Cassian’s fate as a loose end. One of the advantages the Rebellion has is that they have operatives who can blend in on many planets. We haven’t seen any ISB agents out of uniform (yet), even if we are told about them by Mon Mothma.

The biggest threat so far seems to be Dedra (Denise Gough) as she shakes things up with Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser). She continues to push back against the bureaucratic structures in place. She knows the Rebels are playing by asymmetrical rules, and arbitrary assignments are getting in the way of the ISB seeing the bigger picture. Denise Gough is absolutely captivating in this role, and the way the show is balancing us wanting her to succeed as an underdog against sexism, while making it clear that she is simply a more efficient fascist, works so well because of her performance. Seeing the ISB awaken from its slumber is equally exciting and scary. But little does Dedra or Colonel Yularen (Malcolm Sinclair) know that they are playing right into Luthen’s plans. Aldhani was an announcement, and the more the Empire reaches out to control every system, the more people Luthen can rally to his cause.

The character least impacted by the Aldhani news is Syril. The latter is starting his new job in the bowels of the Imperial Standards Bureau. It’s an endless span of cubicles, calling back to The Apartment, and certainly feels like a dead end. But he hasn’t forgotten the events of Ferrix, even as he sees the ease with which his record is expunged. If you are the rules, they don’t apply to you. Such is the Imperial machine.

Cassian also remembers Ferrix and heads back there to share his good fortune with Maarva (Fiona Shaw) and B2EMO—and help them find a new place. Seeing Stormtroopers on his adopted home again reminds him of how his adopted father Clem (Gary Beadle) was hung in the square just for trying to ease tensions. Maarva isn’t interested in leaving as much as she is in putting on her best clothes and striding through that square with a smile. She wants to stay and fight. Cassian departs Ferrix after a heart to heart with Bix (Adria Arjuna) only to find himself swiftly arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Aside from navigating space politics as a metaphor for real world issues, perhaps the most impressive thing about Andor is the way it is balancing this massive cast across several locations and storylines. Each episode offers echoes and parallels between them, but are told with a clarity that echoes the good seasons of Game of Thrones.

Stray thoughts:

I would like to travel to the beach planet Niamos! The designs look cool and I bet they have an annual podrace.
Very cool to see Shoretroopers again, and the explosion of trooper types is one of the best things about this era of Star War.
While he kind of sucks, I am loving Mon Mothma’s husband Perrin, and Alastair Mackenzie’s performance is note perfect.