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S02E15: Alertly Analyzing Andor Season 2, Arc 1
0 Playsin 13 hours
Woohoo! Andor is back with a bang! (Or should that be a blast?) Join Bob, Ben, and Phil as they dive into the first three episodes and get ready to dance the night away at a Chandrilan wedding reception. Niamos!
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Transcript
Introduction and Andor's Return
00:00:01
Speaker
Andor is back and we're going to talk about it real quick. Aren't you a little short? Aren't you a little short? Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome back to Short for a Stormtrooper. Ben and Phil and I sat down today to talk about the first three episodes of Andor season two. If you have not watched it yet, this is your spoiler warning. And frankly, why are you here in the first place?
00:00:26
Speaker
Go watch that for crying out loud, then come back here.
Extended Episode Lengths Discussion
00:00:29
Speaker
Also, just so you know, we go a little bit long and I gotta tell you, these next few weeks while we're watching Andor, I'm gonna reserve the right to go up to about 20 minutes instead of 15.
00:00:40
Speaker
And also, if it really gets deep, I might wind up doing a couple episodes in a week. So just so you're fair warned. Anyway, here's me and Ben and Phil.
First Arc of Andor Season Two
00:00:52
Speaker
Ben, what was your impression of the first arc? Wow, really interesting. ah One of the things that they did a lot in season one, and I think they really show that they've use that effectively to start here in season two is this idea of intercutting to help you see kind of a meta story coming out. So um just a couple examples, obviously, there's the the cutting and the inner cutting at the end of the third story, which is huge.
00:01:20
Speaker
But I also thought it was really interesting the way that they cut. I think this is in the first episode where they cut between like these very fractious rebels who are breaking down and this Imperial meeting room where they've got a plan and they're very organized and they've got a strong hierarchy and structure.
00:01:36
Speaker
And you're just looking at this and you're going, oh man, these guys are never going to get their act together. There's never to rebellion at this rate. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's kind of like five plot lines going on right now,
Plot Lines and Perspectives
00:01:50
Speaker
right? there's On the Imperial side, you've got the Krennic, the Imperial boardroom, whatever's going to go down in Gorman and working that plot and all of that kind of stuff.
00:02:00
Speaker
Then you've got the whole Cyril and Dedra thing Romance? Oh my gosh. Those guys are together. did not see that coming. The Wote power couple of all time.
00:02:13
Speaker
um But amazing performance from Catherine Hunter again as Edie as his mom. that That was amazing. So that's on the Imperial side. Then you've got the elite rebellion. So Mon Mothma and Luthan.
00:02:27
Speaker
You've got the kind of middle of the road rebels, which is um everything that's happening on the... the what I was calling the Illinois planet before, but it is not the Illinois planet. Mina Rao, I think is the name of it, right?
00:02:41
Speaker
But with ah with Bix and Brasso. And then you have what ah Jake from The Learning Geeks referred to as the idiots in the jungle. Yeah. Uh, which I think two interesting things is number one in the audio, ah the audio description track, which the way I watch these things, you guys is I watch it the first time, just normal.
00:03:06
Speaker
And then I watch it a second time. I turn on the closed captions and I turn on the audio description because there's a lot of like little extra details so you can pick up from there. That's interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Audio description calls those the gorillas.
00:03:18
Speaker
So the idiots in the jungle, we're gonna call the gorillas, which is a good name for them. time Also, we'll come back to this. The fact that that whole thing was happening on Yavin, but it seems about half of social media didn't understand that.
00:03:32
Speaker
didnt I'm looking at Ben's face. I don't think Ben picked that up either.
Cassian's Role Critique
00:03:35
Speaker
Did not get that. Interesting, okay, we'll come back to that. But then the third one, well, that was the third one, right? though It was those three, the the idiots in the jungle.
00:03:44
Speaker
all the different plot lines and the the intercutting between all of them, I thought was fascinating.
00:03:51
Speaker
The two Imperial, we had the three, the three rebellion ones. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I'm doing a little counting in my head and I think, okay, cool. I think I've got it. And actually if I had a little bit of critique, I think it would be that is that they opened up a lot of plot lines, right. And this thing. And I,
00:04:07
Speaker
I feel like I don't necessarily want to go broad before I go deep. Like we've gotten to know these characters now. And i kind of feel like Andor himself gets a little sidelined.
00:04:20
Speaker
ah Ben, that's my main critique of these first three episodes. We don't get enough Cassian. And frankly, when we do, he's just like chained to the ship with the, we'll call him the gorillas, with the gorillas just fighting each other.
00:04:33
Speaker
I personally did not care about this insurgent like back and forth splitting up. It really wasn't doing anything for me. I was so happy when Cassian broke free because I was like, he he feels very much sidelined, I think.
00:04:48
Speaker
We spend more time on the politics of the Mon Mothma wedding than we do on the actions of Cassian. And that for me was a little bit disappointing, I think. um I'll just say like on a broad sense, I love the start.
Pacing and Plot Development
00:05:00
Speaker
You know, I love just us immediately diving into the action. That was really exciting with Cassian stealing the ship, masquerading as the test pilot. I loved the third episode, but I would say the stuff in the middle. So I'm talking like the first half, oh, sorry, the second half of the first episode.
00:05:15
Speaker
and the second episode, just was a little bit underwhelming for me. It felt very stale, and it also felt like all of these different plot lines that are getting introduced, it was very stagnant. It didn't feel like there was a lot going on, and I feel like that was the case across the board from the wedding to the things with like Bix and crew on, sorry, i Illinois planet as Bob and called it. Mina Rao. Mina Rao.
00:05:37
Speaker
I think that's the name of it. I'll have to look it up. yeah I'll correct it later if I didn't. It just felt very stationary. And I felt like, yeah, I really did not need this much focus on the turf war amongst the insurgents.
Rebel vs Imperial Focus
00:05:47
Speaker
Yeah. I think it would be, I'll say this, I'll push back just gently and small in a certain way. I think that's a great thing to counterpoise against the, as I said earlier, what's going on in this highly disciplined and organized empire, but I didn't think it needed as long as they gave it.
00:06:06
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you my, my general reactions were, um, I did in fact watch the first one a couple days early at Star Wars Celebration. And so I was with a huge crowd of raving fans watching it, which helps a lot. So I loved it.
00:06:24
Speaker
I thought episode one was great. I agree. I thought episode two kind of slowed things down a little bit. I was like, okay, what wasn't quite as good as episode one. um And I realized I probably had about the same reaction to it that I did the kind of the end of the first episode and the beginning of the second episode of season one.
00:06:47
Speaker
you know, where i was like, okay, this is good, but like hasn't quite captured my imagination. um But it was setting up for the future where in fact it did. um I thought episode three was great as well.
00:06:59
Speaker
And I thought it was very powerful. And of course there's some some very specific things in there that I wanna come back to. um I'm curious as to how you guys watched it, right? Cause I just outlined the way I watched it to to pull everything together that I've said so far.
00:07:14
Speaker
Saw it with the crowd. Episode one was dying for parts two and three. Although, you know, I only had to wait a few days. um It was ah while I was waiting for my flight out of Tokyo that i downloaded all three episodes. So then when I was on the plane, I watched all three.
00:07:35
Speaker
It didn't have the audio. I didn't know this was it. It was the Japanese version of Disney Plus didn't give me the English um audio description. So I only got to watch it with the CCs. So I did that on the plane.
00:07:49
Speaker
And then um when I came home again, I watched it with the audio description. So I've watched... everything about three times so far, but I'm curious as to what you guys
Speculation and Story Arcs
00:07:58
Speaker
do. Did you see it all in one setting?
00:08:00
Speaker
Did you watch them? Did you space it out? How do you like the, we're dropping a whole arc on one day is what I'm getting at. Yeah. So I watched the first one first originally.
00:08:11
Speaker
And then um later in the day, like, so maybe I watched the first one in the morning and the last two, I watched back to back in the evening time. So a little bit of a break between one and two, but then two and three back to back.
00:08:24
Speaker
um and in terms of how they're dropping it, you know, this sort of speaks to a larger point, which I'm ultimately gonna be really curious about, because I think, as I said, the third episode for me was great. It was the best of the three in my mind, and I'm really excited for where we're going, ultimately.
00:08:39
Speaker
i am wondering how they're going to cover, you know, the amount of time that's suggested in the second season leading up to the events of Rogue One in nine episodes. Like, how are these arcs going to connect? That's what I'm ultimately really curious about.
00:08:53
Speaker
yeah I too did not binge. I watched, I think three episodes over four nights or so. Okay. ahh So it's still close enough that I didn't have any problems keeping track of the story or losing details, I think.
00:09:07
Speaker
um But I, I agree. I think what's interesting is that it's, it's, very bookended.
Character Moments and Development
00:09:13
Speaker
you know i came in into the initial sequence in the first episode and I immediately was focused on Andor and I thought, oh, it's really interesting how he's coaching this person who's just helping him out and who may be making that choice that he made last season you know to join this rebellion or or to become something else. And he's somebody who now has these kind of inspirational words and he's coaching somebody and
00:09:39
Speaker
And that was really interesting. And so we're seeing a really great character moment for him. And then at the end of the sequence in episode three, we see Mon Mothma just losing her mind and loosening up in a way that she just cannot ever do.
00:09:53
Speaker
She's so guarded all the time. But, you know, I guess two drinks in and a good bang and dance number and and you're doing great. you can Yeah, let's let's talk about that scene and your guys' reaction to it, because...
00:10:07
Speaker
I saw it and I thought it was one of the coolest, boldest things that Star Wars has ever done of having Mon just basically be like, my life is now in shambles. Life is bad.
00:10:21
Speaker
Screw it. I'm just going to kick back and let loose and basically express my sadness and my outrage by getting drunk and dancing like a crazy person. Yeah. it It was great. I really loved the closing sequence. I think the music, as you said, and, you know, obviously you are more well versed in Star Wars media than I am. That being said, it felt very out of character. And I mean actually mentioned in a good way, it felt very out of character for that like really heavy techno music to be going throughout the entirety the sequence. And even the music continuing amongst the intercutting with like Cassian and the crew escaping from the Empire.
00:10:57
Speaker
um I thought it was great. I thought the inner like intercutting was really great. I love the music that the dance sequence at the wedding itself. Very chaotic. um And yeah, Mon Mothma feels in a really dark place. She's like, I think, in a lot of ways, repeated everything she tried to avoid with her own daughter. And yet, as fate would have it, she did the same thing, I think, really wrecking the relationship she had with her daughter.
00:11:22
Speaker
in a really heartrench heart-wrenching way. And she seems very alone at the end of this arc. um And I'm wondering, yeah, where it goes from there. i I also speculate. I think she's also realizing she's becoming the person that Luthan Rail is.
00:11:37
Speaker
Yes. She has this moment where he says to her, she says, you know, He says, you need to be protected. She says, I don't know what you mean by that. And he says, how nice for you. Yes, that was huge. And you're like, oh my gosh. And you see, she gets it. She knows that means the end of her childhood friend.
00:11:53
Speaker
And I thought, wow, what an amazing. And she she goes and she then has all of this pain. And the only outlet for it is that dancing scene. And I thought that was really, really well executed.
00:12:04
Speaker
You can actually see in her at that moment, the... the Mon Mothma from Return of the Jedi. You can you can almost hear that many Bothans died to bring us this information, which you know is kind of a punchline of a bunch of things, but really in that moment, it's a pretty heavy thing.
00:12:21
Speaker
She's like, hey guys, like there's stuff at stake here. Like there's a lot of people who died to make this happen for us and we need to recognize those, which which I love. I felt so sad for Mon at the end of that. I felt sad about Tay because I thought Tay was such a great character and just to see him spiral, it was it was understandable. I bought it, but it was sad.
00:12:44
Speaker
And oh my gosh, I was so sad when Brasso died. Yeah. Because he was just such a great character.
Theme of Sacrifices
00:12:51
Speaker
I think that's part of what this whole series is, right? it is.
00:12:55
Speaker
Series of sacrifices. It's, it's trying to get to the finish line and losing little parts and pieces of yourself along the way yeah and figuring out how you're going to overcome things.
00:13:06
Speaker
And you know, what's interesting is that when you watch the original trilogy, it's a lot of coming together. Hey, we found a new ally. Hey, we've managed to succeed here. Hey, we've managed to, you know,
00:13:17
Speaker
They're growing, they're expanding. Here, they're not. They're getting smaller. They're losing parts and pieces. They're losing people. There's fractiousness and and people coming apart.
00:13:29
Speaker
And so you haven't seen the hope that Princess Leia talks about at the end of Rogue One yet. Yeah, that's right.
Episode Releases and Quality Anticipation
00:13:38
Speaker
All right, guys, we're at the end of our time.
00:13:40
Speaker
So thank you. We'll do this again next week. We'll watch arc two. This will actually be published on the day that our two will be coming out. So i it'll give people a last chance to get some insight before our two comes out. Any quick predictions?
00:13:57
Speaker
Nope. Nope. I have no idea what they're going to do but I do think Bob, you were telling me that they will jump. A year in each arc? Yeah. So it'll be a year later when, uh, when the episodes start tomorrow night.
00:14:12
Speaker
Um, the other The other thing, I'll just say this really quickly, this is part of the meta conversation, is they released all 12 episodes to critics in advance.
00:14:23
Speaker
And that basically means like two things is number one, they're very confident in the whole series that they're willing to let everybody see everything. Also that they know that it starts a little slow and then picks up later, which they wanted to make sure that the critics had the whole picture.
00:14:40
Speaker
The critics have absolutely raved about it, and I've seen a lot of reviews that say ah it does start a little bit slow, and it just keeps getting better. So actually I think we're in for a treat for the next three weeks. That's good.
00:14:53
Speaker
And I i've ah just may say, you know it that is that was a concern of mine going in, or I should say after having finished this first arc, that, hey, you know we have time jumps coming. This feels very like...
00:15:06
Speaker
feels very like a slow start, and now we're just we're not going to continue this. It's going to be a time jump, right?
Conclusion and Invitation
00:15:11
Speaker
That being said, if it gets better from here, and again, as I said, the third episode i think ends on a really high note. I am excited to see what comes. All right, you guys, before we go, one last thing. i want to take bets right now. Does Luthen Rail make it out of...
00:15:26
Speaker
The Andor season two. Oh, I don't think so. I think he's dead at the end of this. no thumbs Thumbs down. Yep. All right. That's it for now. Thanks, Ben. Thanks, Phil. And thanks to you for listening. Make sure you hit like, hit subscribe, do all the things.
00:15:40
Speaker
May the force be with you. We'll see you next week for more Andor. Bye-bye. Who's got mindless toys to do? Podcasts, hope you see them through. Star Wars is your favorite unit. Let's chat for 15 minutes.
00:15:51
Speaker
Aren't you a little short? Aren't you a little short? Aren't you a little short for scorn trooper? Aren't you a little short for a slur?