SERIES: Star Wars: Andor
EPISODE: S1:E3 – “Reckoning”
STARRING: Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Fiona Shaw, Adria Arjona, Antonio Viña
WRITERS: Tony Gilroy
DIRECTOR: Toby Haynes
PREMIERE DATE: September 21, 2022
SYNOPSIS: As the manhunt for Cassian comes to a head, he gains a new ally in Luthen Rael.

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Our opening scene with young Cassian (Or are we just flat out calling him Kassa?) inside the ship features a nice contrast between the boy’s ragged clothes and the highly technological spaceship interior. Oddly enough, I really like his shoes, and that hey have to be held together with a rope or a vine or whatever that is. It’s nice visual storytelling.

That first scene between Cassian Andor and Luthen Rael is a strong one, as the two characters feel each other out. I liked their dynamic immediately. Very well acted by Diego Luna and Stellan Skarsgård.

I usually don’t like Disney+ releasing more than one episode at a time. The Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere, for instance, consisted of two episodes. In that same vein, these first three episodes of Andor all came out on September 21. But while I’m not a fan of the tactic, I can see why they did it in this case. It takes three episodes for the plot of Andor to really get going, which doesn’t happen until Cassian and Luthen meet.

“Rule number one: Never carry anything you don’t control.” That’s a good line from Luthen. Very apt for Star Wars, particularly this type of Star Wars content.

So Stellan Skarsgård’s character is obviously going to be a mentor of sorts for Cassian, as evidenced by the various rules he starts spitting out quite early on.

Perhaps this is a weird thing to notice, but I liked Cassian’s blaster in this episode. It reminds me a little of Rick Grimes’ gun on The Walking Dead.

The falling debris sequence in the warehouse was memorable. Probably the first truly memorable thing about Andor. I enjoyed it.

Great character moments for Syril Karn, as he quivers at having a blaster held to his head by Cassian, then gets tied up. I wouldn’t be surprised if that serves as a motivator for him this season.

This episode is a marked improvement over the first two. It felt like business really picked up, and the plot started moving along. As I’ve discussed, my big desire for this series is that it make me like and care about Cassian Andor. I can’t say it’s done that yet. But at least I had a decent time watching this episode.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.