Dedra

Image: LucasfilmIn the wake of Disney’s wave of content deletion on Disney+ in the last few years, physical releases of the platform’s original shows are more important than ever. Especially so when it’s physical releases of the far and away best piece of media to come out of the platform’s entire existence.That is, of course, Andor, which will finally receive the lavish treatment it deserves when it releases on 4K UHD Blu-ray on April 30. It’s not the only Disney+ show to receive a release—the second wave after The…

Image: LucasfilmAndor’s scale is a personal one, and for much the series, the Empire appears undefined by the familiar iconography that is plastered over the rest of Star Wars—Stormtroopers largely replaced by lightly armored grunts, Star Destroyers fleeting, and then the TIE Fighter, so rarely seen that when one does appear, flying over the Aldhani cell’s encampment, it’s the scariest a lone, screeching starfigher has ever been. Image: LucasfilmAndor’s scale is a personal one, and for much the series, the Empire…

Image: Disney+Andor’s season one finale, “Rix Road,” capped off a journey taken by many, not just one, in a perfect hour of television. Diego Luna solidified Cassian as one of the most important characters in the canon—retroactively at that—and the Lucasfilm series, led by Tony Gilroy, proved it’s simply operating on a level that’s unmatched in expanding what it really means to be Star Wars. It’s going to be a long wait until season two.I’ve watched the season finale, which was directed by Benjamin Caron and written by…

Screenshot: Lucasfilm/Disney+No time is wasted in the penultimate episode of season one of Andor. “Daughter of Ferrix,” directed by Benjamin Caron and written by Tony Gilroy, is a breakneck build to the finale that drops you right into where everyone is in the final moments before their lives forever change. And you see just what they’ll do to fight for freedom as the Rebellion—or defend their control as the Empire.There’s no going back now for the Disney+ Star Wars show, and as always, spoilers ahead. What is freedom but…

Image: Disney+If there was any doubt at the end of last week’s episode of Andor that things were going to get worse for our heroes, this week’s doozy of an episode makes it clear that the Empire has everyone in a chokehold. With an unexpected arrest leading Cassian (Diego Luna) to a new prison, and Dedra (Denise Gough) coming down hard on Ferrix, there still must be a way for the tide to turn back in favor of the rebels... right?Episode eight out of twelve really took a turn to some truly dark places and it’s aptly…

Photo: Disney+Episode six of Andor provided one hell of a payoff to the heist that’s been brewing over the course of the last couple episodes of the Disney+ series. “The Eye,” directed by Susanna White with a script from Dan Gilroy, is likely to go down as one of the greatest hours of Star Wars committed to screen.The Diego Luna-led, rebellion-era tale from Tony Gilroy has really set itself apart and we’re only halfway through!The episode opens on the morning of the Aldhani cell’s heist, in a brief exchange of ideologies…

Photo: Disney+Everything is moving into place as Andor edges closer to the heist on Aldhani. This week’s episode, “The Ax Forgets,” directed by Susanna White, delivers another tension-filled slow burn of a Star Wars story. The Dan Gilroy-written preamble to the heist really digs into the inner workings of strangers being brought together for something they have their reasons to be a part of but need to trust each other to pull off... at least somewhat.In an appropriately truly pathetic fashion, we open up on Syril Karn…