This review contains full spoilers for episode five of Andor, now available to view on Disney+. To remind yourself of where we left off, check out our Andor: Episodes 1-4 Review.
Tensions run high in Andor’s fifth episode, which bubbles away as relationships are built, strained and broken. It continues to successfully operate as a paranoid thriller but lacks the bite of earlier episodes as the pace slows to a new low. It’s still an engrossing 40 minutes of world-building with small-but-effective character moments, but feels very much like a bridge between the season’s thrilling opening act and what’s to come.
We spend more time with Cassian than ever this episode, as most of the other characters we’ve been introduced to have moved to the side of the stage. We get to know a few members of Andor’s new gang in more depth, no doubt sowing the seeds for us to feel a deeper connection to them when they die in near-future adventures. They’re more Mild Bunch than Wild Bunch, preferring to talk about the issues at hand and how to properly prepare for them than go in with a blasé attitude.
The one outlier is Skeen, who isn’t afraid to thoroughly question Andor’s motives and work out why he’s truly there. Cassian is still very much on his journey to making the ultimate sacrifice for the cause in Rogue One, and his admittance that he’s only accepted the Aldhani job for monetary gain effectively shows that not only does he not currently care about the rebel cause, but also isn’t afraid to let others know. He’s still very much a solo operator and learning how to be part of a team won’t come easy to him. This reluctance to conform is shown expertly in Diego Luna’s face, who continues to show much more to us than is written for him on the page.
It’s hard to keep such a rag-tag group of people all happy, something that Cassian is finding out the hard way. He gains the trust of some by proving his worth by providing information key to the job ahead, which in turn sows doubts in others. It’s a delicate balancing act to play but one Gilroy excels in. Of course, in-depth knowledge of Imperial systems would spark suspicions in some, but the script does a great job at navigating Cassian out of these sticky situations. You’re never going to keep everyone on side though and his eventual admission that he values profit over prophecies may have strained his relationship with the perennially unsettling Alex Lawther’s Nemik to breaking point. There’s just something I just don’t trust about him, although he does have the episode’s best line with, “a surprise from above is never as shocking as one from below”.
As intent on how much the burgeoning resistance is on tearing down the Empire, that desire is mirrored by Dedra Meero in her aims to bat out those young rebel flames. Her cold, snarling face only matched for fear factor by her willingness to take on unpaid overtime. She barely gets any screen time, but Denise Gough makes full use of it when she does, plotting trouble not only for Cassian and company but also for her superiors. Maybe it takes a rebel to hunt a rebel?
One of my favourite aspects of Andor’s first four episodes was the behind-the-scenes bickering we saw within the Empire. It’s a shame this is pretty much non-existent this time around, as we barely spend any time within its oppressively shiny corridors. Hopefully, this gets back on track soon and our two Imperial leads in Dedra Meero and Syril Karn get to meet and combine their Andor-hunting obsessions. Right after the latter has finished disappointing his mother, that is.
Adding new shades to Star Wars’ spectrum of parental issues, the Mothma and Karn family dynamics show how much the two sides share, further blurring those lines between good and evil as Andor has enjoyed doing so far. Mon Mothma continues to find herself in the unenviable position of having to switch between her many masks while keeping her aspirations hidden from sight. Genevieve O’Reilly continues to elegantly embody the role throughout but is never having as much fun as when we see her with Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen, who is all but missing in the episode. All in all, too many characters feel like they’ve been separated from each other at this point in Andor, which doesn’t make it quite as fun a watch.
Back on Aldhani, the sight of a TIE Fighter skimming along at head height is as daunting a spectacle as ever with its unmistakable death rattle screech following swiftly behind. That’s about as much action as we’re gifted in the episode, though which is fully committed to recreating the ready, set, go rhythm of the season’s first three chapters. It very much feels like the calm before the storm as clouds of uncertainty gather over Cassian and his new-found allies. Let’s hope it all picks up again next week as we build to a potentially thrilling heist set to explode at the series’ halfway point.
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