Dedra Meero

Image: LucasfilmMuch has been written about Tony Gilroy’s excellent Star Wars series Andor, available on Disney+. It’s being rightly praised for its complex characters and its multilayered plot. However, what jumped out at me, as a veteran of the intelligence business, was its knowing depiction of the role and execution of espionage. No surprise, given Gilroy’s affinity for the spy genre and political thrillers. (Warning: there are spoilers ahead.)As I watched Andor, I was struck that the writers did got the dynamics of…

Screenshot: LucasfilmOne thing that always confused me about Andor was why Fiona Shaw—a Shakespearean actor extraordinaire and multiple award-winning star of stage, screen, and TV—would have accepted the small, muted role of Maarva Andor, Cassian’s adoptive mother. That is, until I saw the series finale, where Shaw’s massive talents were put to perfect use—well, almost perfect, if Disney’s censors hadn’t gotten in the way.According to Denise Gough, who plays dedicated Imperial Security bureaucrat Dedra Meero in the TV…

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor.Image: Lucasfilm/Disney+Prior to Andor, the Star Wars universe never really got down to the grit of how and why the Rebellion came together outside of the Skywalker saga. Disney+’s Rogue One prequel series led by Tony Gilroy has injected the franchise with complex, heady themes that have astounded and made Andor can’t-miss, weekly appointment television. It’s an impressive feat—Andor is maybe even the greatest show on air right now—so with that in mind,io9 talked to writer Beau Willimon (who…

Image: Disney+ With this week’s “One Way Out,” Andor takes its place as masterful modern myth-making, every frame a powerful statement. We have missed, you good Star Wars, and it’s great to have you back! Star Wars: Shatterpoint Announcement Trailer02:27The First Things To Do In VR, Part 3Today 9:39AMDirected by Toby Haynes and written by Beau Willimon, this episode—the conclusion of the Narkina 5 prison arc—solidifies Andor as not only the best of recent Star Wars, but the best of recent television.When Cassian Andor…

Screenshot: Disney+The creatively cruel ways the Empire tortures Rebels have been vividly showcased on Andor, like floors with the power to fry people. But there’s none more disturbing than Imperial Security Bureau officer Dedra Meero’s weapon of choice: headphones that play the sounds of a species that can transmit their painful death rattles to any living thing through their cries. 01:05Star Wars: Shatterpoint Announcement TrailerToday 1:23PM02:27The First Things To Do In VR, Part 3Today 9:39AMYeah, that one has risen…

Image: Disney+There’s really nowhere to run for most of our heroes in “Nobody’s Listening!”This episode of Andor, directed by Toby Haynes and written by Beau Willimon, oozes the shameless evil of the Empire as its loyalists find more unconventional ways to shake out anyone who stands in their way. The facade is almost completely stripped away as their true ugliness across the Star Wars galaxy is exposed. In Dedra Meero’s (Denise Gough) world she’s the main character of this story. The Imperial Security Bureauofficer is…

Photo: Disney+Episode seven of Andor traces the ripples of the Rebel strike on Aldhani across the galaxy. Every side sees the lines drawn, and action begins to build in another tension-filled hour of the events that lead up to Rogue One and Star Wars. The Stephen Schiff (The Americans)-written episode was directed by Benjamin Caron (The Crown); it finds Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) hoping to make a clean break, but things are never as simple as that—especially when all sides begin to mobilize around him.There’s a reason we…

Screenshot: Disney+This week’s Andor picks up on Cassian (Diego Luna) and Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) getting out of dodge and leaving Ferrix behind for now. The Tony Gilroy showrun Star Wars Universe series picks up speed in “Aldhani”, which continues to set up the brewing rebellion in a thrilling episode directed by Susanna White.Screenshot: Disney+The hero’s call becomes harder to ignore for Cassian this week, as he barely got out alive from being on the run from Syril. Try as he might, his motivation to live and find…