AndorMakes Star Wars For Grown Ups Again
The new prestige-feeling Disney+ series isn't for kids, and doesn’t care about manchildren either.
If you’re looking for a Star Wars show that gets you excited about the pew-pew swashbuckling action of the 1977 movie or the Western gunslinging action ofThe Mandalorian, then don’t watchStar Wars: Andor.这是一个严重的显示没有feel the need to give Star Wars fans a little cookie every five minutes with a callback to pre-existing installments. That’s right: there’s no cutesy baby Yoda, and there’s not a huge desire for this show to sell a bunch of nifty Star Wars toys. It’s also a wonderfully written series and you should watch it, not because it’s a good Star Wars show, but simply because it’s a goodshow.No spoilers ahead.
For longtime Star Wars fans,Andor会觉得刺耳,不同,在其three-ep吗isode premiere — whichdrops on Disney+on Wednesday, September 21 — the show has very little of what would be called nostalgia or fan service.
To put it another way, this is a great show to watch with your partner,especiallyif they don’t care about Star Wars. If you enjoyedThe Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett,andObi-Wan Kenobias a Star Wars fan, there’s a chance you’ll likeAndortoo, simply because the visual aesthetics are similar. But tonally, this series isn’t anything like those shows, simply because it’s much more focused on people on the ground and much less focused on space battles and lightsabers.
Andordares to do what Star Wars movies and shows have been threatening to do for years: Treat this complex world and its characters as real people. UnlikeObi-Wan, the series doesn’t assume you know or care about who Darth Vader is, and in fact, the machinations of Darth Vader are so far removed from this series that it’s hard to believe something so theatrical as lightsabers even exist in this world.
The series is also smart enough to limit the space-travel abilities of pretty much everyone. Commuting in space would be a pain in the ass, andAndoris here to make that famous gritty, lived-in Star Wars universe actually tangible. While the “dirty” aesthetic of Star Wars has been praised for its sci-fi realism — that served as a counterpunch to other shiny sci-fi back in 1977 — that feeling isn’t the same as actual realism.
The biggest problem with most Star Wars characters isn’t that they’re uncool, it’s just that they tend to only be unrelatable. Nobody actually feels rage atAnakin Skywalkerlevels. Nobody would ever really behave like Han Solo. The sequel films (mostlyThe Last Jedi) tried to unpack what these cookie-cutter characters might be like when they were a bit older, but because that was just one movie, the result was mixed.
BecauseAndorhas way more time to explore its titular character, the series has more potential to actually connect with a contemporary audience than most of the other shows.
As played by Diego Luna, Cassian Andor isn’t a mythological hero or a pulp fiction trope repackaged for a slick TV show. He’s a down-on-his-luck, complicated, messy, and veryrealperson. Through a combination of mature writing and nuanced acting,Andorgives us the kind of layered character study that you’d expect in prestige shows likeBreaking BadorSuccession.
Smartly,Andordoesn’t rely onmore violenceandmore deathto prove that it’s a grown-up show, and pound-for-pound,The Mandalorianis probably way more violent.Andoris still less kid-friendly than the other new Star Wars shows for a few reasons: The first scene takes place in a brothel, Cassian is coping with very troubling childhood trauma, and overall, the show is more suggestive than other Star Wars shows or movies.
ThoughMandoacts like an adult show, it’s really not. That series gave Star Wars fansa positive parental fantasy,but is still essentially a popcorn show, full of cheap thrills and false danger. Nobodyactuallythinks Baby Yoda is ever in danger inMando.The show ultimately plays out like various levels of avideo game.Obi-Wanalso went formore serious vibesthan other Star Wars projects, but likeMando, defaulted to a Baby Yoda-esque plot device in the form of the 10-year-old version of Princess Leia. Although the stakes of that show were more emotional than physical, there’s still a stilted quality toObi-Wan, the nagging fear that this story can only go so far.
Andorhas none of that baggage. Although we know what happens to Cassian inRogue One, this series isn’t about connecting nerdy dots. It’s a story about a normal guy, and he doesn’t really give a flying f*ck if the Force is with him or not.
Andordrops new episodeson Wednesdays on Disney+.
