Kyle Soller

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+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…

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 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…

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…

Screenshot: Disney+With Andor, showrunner Tony Gilroy masterfully sets up a new Star Wars universe that drops us on the ground level pre-Rebellion and explores the lives of the disenfranchised in the shadow of the Empire. No need for space wizardry here: this is a story about people. Centering on the origin of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story lead Cassian Andor— with Diego Luna reuniting with Gilroy and reprising his role—the Disney+ series takes us five years before the fateful events that led to Andor and his band of heroes…

Image: Disney+Series creator Tony Gilroy clearly knows how to jump into the Star Wars sandbox without the need for fan service, and really that’s the key in Andor. Premiering this week, the Disney+ and Lucasfilm series tackles the events five years prior to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, where we initially met rebel spy Cassian Andor. Because of that, we already know he ultimately sacrifices his life along with his squad of rebels to ensure the Death Star plans are delivered—setting off the chain of events in the original…

Andor — premiering Wednesday on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — revisits Diego Luna's title character Cassian Andor, first introduced on Rogue One nearly six years ago. (It's set five years prior to that Star Wars film though, where the Rebel Alliance is in its infancy, and Andor wants nothing to do with a grand resistance.) Fittingly for a movie that was darker than everything in its universe and expanded the definition of what Star Wars could be, its TV prequel spin-off is more grown up than anything we've seen before…

Andor — out Wednesday on Disney+ Hotstar — in essence, is a spy thriller set in the Star Wars universe. Created by Tony Gilroy, the latest chapter in Lucasfilm's space opera saga is a prequel to his spin-off film, Rogue One — following the Rebel spy Cassian Andor, five years prior to the 2016 movie. While initially, Gilroy was attached to direct the series, plans were changed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, sidelining him as the creator and head writer of the show.Despite being titled Andor, the Disney+ series sheds…