SERIES: Star Wars: Andor
EPISODE: S1:E2 – “That Would Be Me”
STARRING: Diego Luna, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, James McArdle, Antonio Viña
WRITERS: Tony Gilroy
DIRECTOR: Toby Haynes
PREMIERE DATE: September 21, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Cassian must work discretely in the shadow of the Pre-Mor Authority.

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

About 15 minutes in, I had to stop the episode because I was falling asleep. I think this is the first Star Wars movie or show to get me to do that. That’s not exactly an honorable distinction…

But let’s give it the benefit of the doubt and say I was tired.

Fiona Shaw plays Maarva Andor, Cassian’s (presumably adoptive) mother. She’s been in a variety of things. But Harry Potter fans will recognize her as the actress who played Petunia Dursley, Harry’s aunt.

If I’m not mistaken, Shaw and Warwick Davis are the only two actors to have been in both Star Wars and Harry Potter movies. Jude Law will join them when Star Wars: Skeleton Crew comes out next year.

Alex Ferns plays Sergeant Linus Mosk. He has a pretty decorated resume. Most people might recognize him as Commissioner Pete Savage in The Batman.

It’s a little frustrating that these flashback scenes with young Cassian don’t have subtitles. Generally they’re used when someone speaks a different language in Star Wars. I’m not sure why they aren’t being used here.

I don’t dislike the tribe stuff itself, though. Occasionally I’ve pictured young Anakin being from a tight-knit tribe and jungle environment like this in Episode I, as opposed to recycling Tatooine from the original trilogy. It might have been a very different movie. Perhaps a better one?

Stellan Skarsgård joins the Star Wars universe as Luthen Rael. He’s a solid addition to any cast. Granted, he doesn’t do much of anything. But he’s there…

That’s more or less the story of this episode, actually. Nothing really happens. We set a few things up, like the alliance between Syril Karn and Linus Mosk, Bix lying to Timm about what she’d been doing, etc. We also introduce Luthen Rael and Maarva Andor. But as far as the plot actually moving along? The spot we’re in at the end of this episode isn’t much different from where we were at the end of the premiere.

I can’t deny that there’s an audience for this darker, more gritty side of Star Wars. One might, tongue in cheek, call it “the dark side of Star Wars.” A lot of people liked Rogue One. And as we now have various Star Wars TV shows coming out, there’s a place for this kind of thing. But here’s one thing I’ll say…

Mrs. Primary Ignition is a casual Star Wars fan. She really liked The Mandalorian. She tolerated The Book of Boba Fett until it essentially became The Mandalorian, at which point she enjoyed it. She was initially interested in Obi-Wan Kenobi, but eventually lost interest. After seeing these first two episodes of Andor, I realized I can’t put this show on for her because she’ll fall asleep. I’m the big Star Wars fan in the house, and if it put me to sleep, what hopes does she have?

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