Episodes 8 and 9 of Andor see the titular character endure the authoritarian restraints of an ISB prison, having been sentenced to six years for non-existent crimes against the Empire in Episode 7. The clinically white institution tethers its inmates to the ground by means of an electrified floor that prisoners are forced to walk upon barefoot. Forced to produce unspecified industrial parts for the Empire (their colour and size reminding this viewer of Tie-Fighter parts) as slave labour, Cassian reluctantly finds himself part of the Imperial machine under the watch of fellow inmate Kino Loy (a scene-stealing Andy Serkis who has previously appeared in the Star Wars universe as Supreme Leader Snoke), a man whose eyes-down, mouth-shut complacency with the status quo is undone by the end of episode 9 titled ‘No One’s Listening’, following stark revelations about the nature of their imprisonment.
This is the dark heart of the Empire’s fascist regime, propagated not through a sincere belief in its totalitarian mission for the galaxy but upon the broken backs of disposable slave-prisoners. If the fallout of the Aldhani heist failed to fully sell Cassian upon the necessity of the rebel cause, his continued disillusionment and quickening radicalisation in these episodes is made palpable to a far greater degree.
Elsewhere the bureaucratic pawns of the ISB continue to double down upon the need for authoritarian control of the masses, whilst ISB officer Meero’s continues her specific quest to bring Cassian to justice for the murder of Pre-Mor officers back in Episode 1, something she sees as a precursor to toppling the entire rebel network. Mon Mothma’s attempts to secure funding for Luthen and his rebel network are also front and centre across these two episodes in extended sequences that see her work undercover on Coruscant, just as paranoid about her husband’s interference as she is about the might of the Empire itself.
Like the Aldhani heist episodes before it, the real tension here can be found in the central prison-set storyline, with the three-episode narrative arc structure that shaped episodes 1-3 and 4-6 clearly suggesting that next week’s episode 10 might bring about an action-packed breakout climax. But every moment of episodes 8 and 9 feel essential to the show’s overall commentary and vision. There really is no filler here, which readily reflects the quality of writing seen across the series. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this might be the best iteration of Star Wars outside of the original trilogy, and it might just surpass The Mandalorian for me, although they are two very different shows. What The Mandalorian provides in the action-adventure genre, Andor instead offers in the thriller format, a series of impeccable political commentary and ambition which continues to inject a now forty-five-year-old franchise with a new kind of contemporary relevance and real-world insight.
Notes from the Multiplex 