Andor Season 1 Episode 11 Review : Prepping the finale

Andor Season 1 Episode 11

THIS RECAP & REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Melshi (Duncan Pow) are on the run, trying to evade the Empire’s eye after their escape from prison. Till the end of the episode, Cassian is oblivious to Maarva’s passing on Ferrix while preparations are made for her funeral. Various interested parties keep a close eye on he will react and if he’ll show up to see his adoptive mother one last time. With that in mind, Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) proposes that the ISB allow Maarva’s last rites to proceed under restrictions and tight scrutiny. Even Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) catches a whiff of this and is last seen contemplating his next move.

Following an excellent prison break escapade last week, the penultimate episode slows substantially to bring the focus back to various characters as they seemingly converge for the finale. So much is made of this that Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly) arc is relegated to the background. Even the meeting between Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) & Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) doesn’t feel as intense as their first time. Using the mysterious Anto Kreegyr as someone Luthen is ready to sacrifice for the ‘greater cause’ falls flat as there’s no connection to this character or his role in the scheme of things. Luthen’s encounter with an Imperial cruiser makes for a brief yet exciting action sequence. Still, it doesn’t propel the plot further other than to display the badass weaponry on Luthen’s ship.

Acting as a bridge building up to the season-ender, much of this second-last entry doesn’t feel as impactful as the past couple of episodes. Granted, the stakes are still high for these characters, but they don’t resonate as much as they ought to in the Rebellion’s uprising. Sure, it certainly helps that all the performers continue to bring their best to the proceedings. The show’s steadfast approach to keeping the plot more grounded feels somewhat stretched out since there’s not much character development, especially with the likes of Syril Karn, Mon Mothma and Vel. That said, we have one episode left, so there may still be some tricks up the sleeves of the showrunners who’ve put together a 'Star Wars' show with its distinctive feel and tone.