Give Me Those Star Wars 46: ANDOR Season 1 Review

"This is what a reckoning sounds like..." And THIS is the sound of a brand new episode of Give Me Those Star Wars! Ryan Daly returns alongside guest hosts Neil Daly, Omar Uddin, and Chris Zegunis to discuss the first season of ANDOR, the new Disney+ series that cranks up the political allegory in the galaxy far, far away to light speed.

Warning: This chat skirts some contemporary political topics, and some language is NSFW. Listener discretion is advised.

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.

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9 responses to “Give Me Those Star Wars 46: ANDOR Season 1 Review

  1. GREAT discussion gents. My family sat down to watch the first 3 episodes of Andor on the Saturday after they dropped. Everyone walked out on it by the end of episode 1 but me. I kept watching, and I told my 15 year old daughter she should give until episode 3. She took my advice, then she got hooked, and she was asking me “Can we watch Andor?”. She’s got good taste, and honestly it made me happy and proud she wanted to watch something that was actually intelligent, and well, relevant!

    I agree with much of what you said. My only diversion is with the Syril/Dedra relationship. I think while she may be SLIGHTLY intrigued by the attention, but I think she’s mostly frightened by his obsession with her. She’s an awful person, but it still made my skin crawl to think this man was stalking this woman, and for more than just professional interest. I took it as the creators exploring how someone as powerful and controlled as her can still know fear and be threatened. It was pretty uncomfortable when he saved her, in my opinion. Yes, he saved her from a worse fate, but where’s she going to go now? Now he REALLY holds some power over her, and she may feel obliged to give him what he wants, even if she doesn’t really want to, whatever that is.

    I saw online someone said Syril’s Mom looked like late actress and former Bounty paper towels spokeswoman Nancy Walker. I can’t get past that now.

    I enjoyed Obi Wan, and I was entertained enough at the time by Boba Fett, but that one was quite a mess, really. It especially looks awful compared to this.

    I don’t buy into the “sequels now completely suck” mantra that a lot of folks have adopted for the Disney era Skywalker saga films, but I will say that now I see how awful the Empire REALLY is, and what life under them is like, I really resent the First Order. The sequel series basically negated all the hard work and sacrifice the Rebels gave across the films and series set in this era. Yes, evil regimes reemerge, but it seems so sloppy and lazy that the First Order rose to so much power THAT quickly. As Sgt. Slaughter once said “The price of liberty is always eternal vigilance.” I think someone else may have said that first, but who cares. It was Sgt. Slaughter.

    1. That’s awesome that your daughter got so invested in the show. Great sign of maturity and clear-headedness!

      As for your point about Syril and Dedra, yeah, I think you make a good case that she is right to be a little nervous about his intentions, and now the emotional power he might wield over her could be very dire. Can’t wait to see how it plays out.

      Cindy would recognize Syril’s mother as Harry Potter’s neighbor, who watched over him in secret while he grew up. And Cassian’s mom Marva was also from Harry Potter, being Harry’s aunt/adoptive mother. She’s… much more loving to Cassian.

      1. Oh yeah, she caught “Mrs. Dursely” right off the bat as Marva. MUCH nicer character to be associated with, so I’m glad she gets to be an inspiration, and not a horrible irritant, in another huge franchise.

        She was only casually watching Andor while we did, but she didn’t notice Syril’s mom and her connection to Harry Potter. Now I can spring a factoid on her!

    2. I agree with you Chris, except about the rise of the FO being quick. We’ve got at least 20 years since the end of Jedi, and only 15 between RotS and Andor. We also don’t know how effective the Alliance leadership was at maintaining the New Republic when Imperials are still actively out and about during the time of the Mandalorian.

  2. Great show! I was really impressed that you knew the names of ancillary characters and everything. Real passion.

    The real epiphany for me was whether we should embrace it essentially being called And/Or because there’s something to that if you really think about it.

  3. I was 4 years old on 1977, when my parents took me to see Star Wars. Of course, it has become a live long passion. And even then, I had this feeling that someday, an incredible TV show about a character that stole the plans would be made. And that there would be a podcast that would nail it in their discussion or said show. 😉

    Seriously though, gentlemen, loved the episode and agreed with just about everything you said. Omar, I’m glad that there are people like you that had faith in the show from the beginning. I had approached Andor thinking “12 episodes?” I didn’t have a warm fuzzy that it would hold my attention.

    It took about a month to watch the first three episodes. Then I watched episode 4 and was a bit more intrigued. Then I watched episodes 5-9 in two days.

    Your political commentary was spot on, and that’s what I used on my father – who is a WW2 buff – as a discussion point to get him watching the show. He’s a casual Star Wars fan, only watching the films. He was hooked immediately and watched the first 6 episodes in two days time.

    This show has been so good that I’m doing a rewatch – and I don’t ever rewatch tv shows.

    So kudos to the Andor team, and kudos to the four of you for a great discussion.

    1. Thanks for chiming in, Dave. I think it’s awesome that you got your dad interested in the show because of the real world socio-political allusions.

  4. What a fantastic show, everyone! I’m finally catching up and just wanted to say I enjoyed the discussion between all of you.

    I really liked Ryan’s comparison of Luthen to a good Darth Sidious. I hadn’t really thought of that when I watched the episodes but looking back, I think that’s bang on. While he is working for “good”, he definitely is pulling the strings of everything behind the scenes in hopes of turning the tide of power.

    I also agree with Ryan about how Disney should be marketing Star Wars. Put out a couple series a year, with different themes, on Disney+ and release a high adventure movie every 3-4 years. This may sound weird, but one of the things I used to like about Star Wars was how long it took between movies. It made the movies feel more special, for some reason.

    I really enjoyed the discussion and can’t wait to hear what’s next for Star Wars AND Give Me Those Star Wars! Keep up the great work!

  5. Phenomenal show, guys. I’m a bit late to the party in commenting, but I wanted to mention a few of my thoughts about the show. Andor is, at its core, a show about how fascism radicalizes all that it touches either in opposition to or support if it. This is embodies by the title character, who we know will begin Rogue One a true believer who is willing to die for the cause and will make whatever moral compromises he must, up to and including sacrificing his own life, but has a ways to go to get there. But every other character that we encounter is somewhere along the path of their own journey. Luthen starts off where Cassian will end up. Mon Mothma starts out believing that she can work within the system to a degree, but has abandoned this idea by the end and sacrifices her own family for the greater cause. And on the other end of the spectrum we have Dedra, who his Mothma’s dark image in a sense. Her motivation at the beginning is to rise in her position and doesn’t give the atrocities that the Empire is doing much thought or if she does, she most likely makes excuses for them, but by the end, her single e-minded with getting power has led her to a place where she gladly works with a sadistic torturer in order to get what she needs. I do not agree that her reaction to Syril was supposed to indicate sexual tension, but more likely a level of fear in seeing the end result of the path she is on embodied in the creepy lunatic who just saved her life. And Syril. What a character. Syril starts out as radicalized on paper. I agree with the Proud Boy analogy, but it goes a little further. He’s the guy who read the literature, saw the videos, and absolutely knows that he would be the most valuable asset the Empire could ever want, if only he had a chance to prove himself. Then he gets the chance and fails miserably, which fills him with an obsessive need to get another chance and every obstacle radicalizes him even more, to the point that no one in their right mind would want him to have the opportunities he craves. He’s kind of “Kylo Ren done right” if that makes any sense. An Empire fanboy whose drive to be something he cannot be ruins everything around him. This show could be my favorite piece of Star Wars media and I include the original trilogy in that assessment. Again, great show, and I look forward to both the second season and your eventual takes on it.

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