Created by Tony Gilroy
1.08 “Narkina 5” and 1.09 “Nobody’s Listening”
Written by Beau Willimon
Directed by Toby Haynes
Starring Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Genevieve O'Reilly, Faye Marsay, Denise Gough
New episodes Wednesdays on Disney+

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

With the eighth episode of its first season, Andor starts to move into high gear. The end game of this season isn’t clear just yet, but we continue to see the ripple effects of the Aldhani heist. We open with Syril (Kyle Soller), on the open floor plan Standards Bureau that doubles down on looking like The Apartment, and he is quickly brought in and introduced to Dedra (Denise Gough). He believes it is an interview—she reminds him it is questioning. Like Javert, Syril has been doing everything he can to track down Cassian (Diego Luna), even though this isn’t even implied in his mandate from Pre-Mor, let alone after he’s been sacked. Dedra sees him merely as a potential loose end, despite him deducing some correct points from her very presence. By the ninth episode, his obsession has tacked onto her, as he waits for her outside of the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) office like a scorned suitor. He’s back on his ambition, renewed in his quest, but doesn’t have a clear path forward just yet. He’s trapped by his mother now, stuck at his desk job.

On Ferrix, we see the effects of the occupation. Things are tense, and Bix (Adria Arjona) is trying to use the radio to see if her contact can help Maarva (Fiona Shaw). Her health has taken a nosedive in the month since Cassian left, and she’s gotten hurt trying to gather intel for the Rebellion. She doesn’t have a direct contact, but she speaks about them in hushed and awed tones, like a citizen of Nottingham talking about Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Aldhani has given hope and hurt to the citizens there. Vel (Faye Marsay) and Cinta (Varada Sethu) are keeping an eye on things and seeing if anything can lead them to Cassian, or if the Empire can discover Luthen’s identity (Stellan Skarsgård). After a bit of a spat about splitting up, in which Cinta calls Vel a spoiled rich girl running from her family, the two part ways. And maybe just in time. Bix’s radio usage has been discovered, and Dedra arrives to handle the interrogation, with sonic torture being used an incentive. Bix is the only connection to Cassian and Luthen, whom the ISB has dubbed “Axis,” and Dedra plans on using her to get to them. Ferrix has also become a cage, with Bix potentially being bait.

“Are you a fish or a thief?” Dedra asks Bix. She wants to determine if she is a real lead or something to be tossed aside. The ISB is casting a wide net all over the galaxy, but Dedra has a more surgical and direct approach with her newly approved resources. These two episodes underscore that Denise Gough might be giving the best performance in the cast. She is walking a fine line, and gets it right in every scene.

On Coruscant, we get more of Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O'Reilly) background. She and Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie) were wed as teenagers, in accordance with the customs of Chandrila, their home planet. Mon teases Perrin about being a former firebrand, and these quick moments do a lot to paint in the details of their marriage. Perrin has softened into someone who prefers cocktail parties to political ones, and Mon has become radicalized in the face of fascism. We see her again at the Senate, pushing back against the new anti-Rebel directives, a lone voice in the wilderness, everyone else either too afraid or uncaring enough to use their power. Also revealed is that Vel is Mon’s cousin, which gives Cinta’s remark in the previous episode an even more hurtful bite. The new regulations are also infringing on Mon’s ability to move money to the Rebels covertly, and this has set her on a path to have to work with some of Chandrila’s more unsavory characters as she feels the walls starting to close in.

Now that Luthen has woken up, he sees his role as trying to bring the various factions of anti-Imperial groups together, starting with a familiar face, Saw Gerrara (Forest Whitaker). Luthen proposes a job in exchange for spare parts, but Saw declines. He protests that if he took Luthen’s job, he’d have to work with a former Separatist. Saw also rattles off some of the other political outsiders, like human cultists, and those who want to break up the Empire for smaller sector-based government. He says that he “is the only one with clarity of purpose,” as an anarchist. Luthen acknowledges that this absolutism is seductive, but isn’t going to help with what comes after. Saw seems like he enjoys the fight, but has no plan for governance, which makes sense, as he’s been a soldier since the Clone Wars. Is ideology a cage, or a way out?

Cassian, meanwhile, has been taken to a prison on Narkina 5, home to an underwater factory prison. Like the sonic torture, we see the creativity that the Empire has put into control via violence. Here, the floor is ‘lava,’ as the whole prison has electrified floors, requiring the imprisoned to be barefoot at all times.

Inside, Cassian meets Kino Loy (Andy Serkis), who is a prisoner in charge of the factory room Andor has been assigned to. There are 7 men per work table, 7 tables per room, 7 rooms per floor, and 7 levels in the prison. In antiquity, 7 was considered significant by the Pythagoreans, as it joined the spiritual (3) with the physical (4). The prison being underwater, and looking like a giant hole in the ground also maps it to an underworld. The Empire uses electricity and productivity games to keep the inmates under control as well, creating cages for the mind as well as body. To get out of this cave, Cassian will need to use his body as well as his spirit, and it will likely shore up his attachment to the cause. He starts by learning the rules of the game, gathering information while looking for an opportunity to make a break for it.