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A Complete Unknown is far from the worst thing you'll see this Christmas season, and many people will probably like it simply because of the various performances.
Posted in: Disney+, Kaitlyn Booth, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: andor, disney, lucasfilm, Review, star wars, tv
Andor Season 1 Ep. 9 Review: What's Left When You Have Nothing To Lose
Andor continues its absolutely excellent first season with more time in the imperial prison with Cassian as he continues to be the talk of the town and completely unaware that anyone gives a shit about him. It's probably one of the funnier dynamics we have seen in a long time if the stakes for the rest of the show weren't so high. Cassian really is the main character of this story, but he thinks he is barely a side character. He isn't trying to be anything special, but as more episodes come, he keeps getting put on this pedestal of being this truly conniving murderer. In reality, the Cassian who will become Fulcrum when Rogue One comes around is still in the making. While everyone else is focused on him, Cassian is free to only focus on himself and what happens when the Empire takes away a crucial part of keeping prisoners in line; hope.
The Empire Is About To Learn Why You Never Take Away Hope
There is an excellent line in the fourth episode of The Sandman where Lucifer is saying that Dream is in Hell, surrounded by her minions, and he has no power here. Nothing is stopping her from keeping him in Hell right where he stands. Dream replies with a fundamentally great line that says a lot about the power of hope, which he just used to win the fight against Lucifer, win back his helm, and secure his freedom. "You say I have no power here. Perhaps you speak truly, but to say dreams have no power in Hell… Tell me, Lucifer Morningstar. What power would Hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream of Heaven?" If those in Hell lost the ability to yearn for Heaven, then the torture of Hell would become meaningless.
The prisoners of Narkina 5 are people imprisoned in Hell, and they just lost their ability to dream of Heaven. The hope that they will someday finish their sentence and be free is an important aspect of getting up and taking a step forward. However, as Kino, Cassian, and the others are learning, they aren't getting out. The prison is big enough that even if someone "finishes" their sentence, they are just moved to a different section to start again. The news got out in a section, and men with nothing lose to reacted exactly how you would expect them to, with rage. Kino telling Cassian how many guards are on each floor is the moment we know that all Hell will break loose in this place. Cassian has been planning, but now he has the one man with little power and nothing to lose. It looks like a prison riot or takeover is in the future but with the floors the way they are? It's going to be ugly.
Andor Introduces Us To Sound Torture In The Star Wars Universe
We've seen that Star Wars and the Empire are willing to torture people, but Bix and her scenes give us a new lesson about what these people are doing to the prisoners. Dedra, however, seems to know the value of making sure that you don't break people apart entirely. She knows that Bix and Maarva could be valuable down the line, and the more intact they are, the more tantalizing they will appear as bait. The Empire had all the pieces now, and they are just looking for a way to connect them all to Luthen. They did disconnect the line, but we also don't know what Bix ended up sharing under duress.
The Empire parts of Andor continue to show what a giant dweeb Syril is while also not shrinking away from the fact that he is fanatical to the point that he is becoming dangerous. We haven't seen Dedra rattled, but getting accosted by Syril and finding out that he had essentially been stalking her related back to an innate, uniquely female fear. Dedra is a woman in a job surrounded by men trying to find her place, and now she has this creepy dweeb following her around as well. The moment with her gathering herself in her office after the encounter was probably the most human we have seen her in the entire show. The first time the metaphorical hair in her bun came loose. It's still unclear where Syril's story is going to end up, but he could just end up going rogue if he thinks he can get away with it. He's a fanatic desperate to prove that he was right and his worth. Dedra is the first person who seems to recognize how dangerous that could be.
Making A Vast Universe Feel Small
Usually, a move like Cassian meeting Melshi in prison would be another Star Wars move that would make a vast universe feel incredibly small. However, in this case, it made a lot more sense. We know that the two of them will become close enough that Melshi will follow Cassian to Scarif. In prison, we are almost watching Melshi's arc into rebellion just as much as Cassian. It would make sense that, should they split up after this, Cassian would recruit from people he previously knew. Is it a stretch? A little, but not egregious. What is egregious and does make the universe feel much smaller is finding out that the rich family Vel has been running from is Mon Mothma's.
It's probably the closest to fan service that this show has done, if it could be called that. The constant critique of the various trilogies is that the entire galaxy revolves around a handful of family lines. The fact that Rogue One had nothing to do with those lines was one of the things that set it apart. Linking Vel to Mon is one of those "galaxy revolves around a handful of family lines" storytelling. Perhaps Vel will serve as the final motivation Mon needs to be completely committed to the cause because right now, she is still wavering. It would be a shame if they ended up killing off a queer woman to help further the story of another woman. The gays deserve better than that.
With how separated Cassian has been from the rest of the story, it will be interesting to see him eventually reenter it only to find himself at the top of Empire's Most Wanted and have no idea how that even happened. This doesn't seem like the sort of show that is going to end in a spectacle; we got that in the third episode, there is going to be something else that acts as the finale for the first season of this series. We have three more episodes to go, and three episodes are what they used to start off the show; will they go with another three-episode arc to wrap things up? Andor has three more episodes to see if it can be the rare Disney+ show that actually sticks the landing.
Cassian Season 1 Episode 9 "Nobody's Listening!"
9/10
Disney+ & Lucasfilm's Andor episode nine, "Nobody's Listening!" sets up the Empire to learn how hope breeds obedience and makes a story choice that makes the universe feel smaller, not bigger.
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