Andor Episode 5 review! As per the title I’m still greatly enjoying Andor. There’s always a but though. I’ll be staying SPOILER FREE within this review, so have no fear there. With that all out of the way, let’s discuss what I thought about Episode 5 of Andor.
I Want More
It’s unfair to keep laying the same criticism at Andor every week. However, I feel like this is going to keep coming up two out of every three episodes from this point forward. We know why, you know why. The story was broken into three episode chunks. Therefore, Episode 6 follows on perfectly from Episode 5, and will no doubt fall seamlessly into Episode 7.
My bet is, that next week I won’t feel the same notion of someone turning off a song I was enjoying before it ended. This so far, other than using Earth looking weapons, has been my only real criticism of Andor. I can’t say it any other way, it feels too short. It makes me wonder whether Andor would have been superior if it was released in four feature length movie episodes? This would have allowed the three episode structure to remain intact.
I’ve never enjoyed double episodes in TV series. Again I always wished we just got one less episode per season and make the length longer. I did however understand why this was not always possible in network TV. In the endc, the dreaded double episode was a good thing, because it gave the writers a way to tell a larger story. Then we began getting season long arcs, and before you know it streaming was here.
Lucasfilm, Disney, please, for the love of Mark Hamill’s beard have the guts to release Andor Season 2 in a different format.
I’m Here For Episode 5 Bro – Get On With It
Okay, rant over, I’ll still have a moan in week’s to come, but never to that depth again, pinky promise. All I can say is that my views have remained consistent throughout Andor. I love the tone, I love the visuals, I love the performances and cast. The score and the sound design is phenomenal. All of these things haven’t changed. However we are no perhaps starting to get an idea of who the main players will be in Season 1 of Andor.
Luckily the characters who seem to be sticking around for now are the ones we want to see more of. At least, that’s my view on the cast so far. Currently I feel like there are four characters who will have arcs across Season 1 outside of Cassian himself. Dedhra, Sylas (Inspector Javert), Luthen, and Mon Mothma. I am definitely interested to see the journey each of these go on alongside Andor.
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The acting as said remains top notch. Watching Mon Mothma interact with her family might not be what made Star Wars popular. However drama, human and familial drama is what makes stories to begin with. I’ll say again, I feel like I’m watching a serious British TV drama series, but with a budget they could never afford.
Ergo. Have you found Andor too slow, and not enough pew pew, kapow for your Star Wars needs so far? If so, then there’s likely not anything in Episode 6 to change your mind. I don’t get you whatsoever, but I respect your right to have bad opinions.
Sounds
The audio experience of Star Wars is in my mind special and often overlooked. The mix of the score with the strange noises discovered by Ben Burtt make the franchise iconic sounding. What Andor is doing isn’t rewiring the sounds of Star Wars. Instead the directors seem aware of the power this franchise has in sound and leaning into it.
The themes are darker than we get in the movies, because this is not a grand story. This is not Emperor’s versus heroes, but low level officials against poorly trained freedom fighters. However the actual sound effects are the best we’ve had here in a while. There is one scene where everything comes together. Magnificent scenery from locations shoots, great cast. staggering CGI and it sounds a million bucks.
Overall though all I can say is, to grade again, with my only issue that it ended in a situation that felt old fashioned, rather than as a natural place for an episode to end. I’m still though, very much a fan of what I am getting with Andor.
Grade: A-
What did you think of my spoiler free Andor Episode 5 review? Leave your own review of the fifth episode below. Tell us what you think, were you as positive about Andor as I am? The Cantina Reviews will be recording later today, hopefully for your viewing pleasure tomorrow. Catch last week’s review in the link above.
