Andor Episode 11 Review: The Empire’s Grip Is Tightening

The penultimate episode of the season didn’t disappoint. Andor Episode 11 was yet another tremendous success as the Empire’s grip of tyranny and control continues to tighten around the budding Rebellion…as according to their plan.

It’s going to be a real bittersweet moment when Episode 12, the Season 1 finale, comes out as it is not only the final time we’ll see this awesome story for a while, but it also might be the final time we see Andor.  Like I mentioned yesterday with the Andor to ABC announcement article, it’s no secret that the audience for Andor just hasn’t been there like it was for The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett’s relative failure (in terms of storytelling and critical acclaim) had turned off audiences prior to the show’s release, which hurt its popularity and reputation in spite of its excellence. Nevertheless, I’m glad the show has gotten the attention and praise it deserved from the beginning as the weeks have gone by, while I also hope many casual fans and families will see it on ABC during the Thanksgiving holiday.

And hopefully convince Disney to greenlight a second season.

As for this episode itself, I’d say it would be better to categorize it as the ‘build-up’ episode rather than a ‘penultimate’ episode as its placement suggests. Sure, there was a funny fight scene that I will get into in a second, but it was mostly characters getting into the positions that the season finale needs them to be in.

Namely, Cassian Andor has finally become a free man again.

After months being locked away on the ocean-world prison island, Andor finally found a way off world and back to his Aldheni fortune left on the vacation-resort world. Now, the scene of Andor getting captured and then released those massive, slug-like aliens by talking them into taking him to the resort-world really didn’t make any sense to me, but that might just be because those aliens made no sense when they spoke.

I mean, how did Andor convince two huge, angry slugs, that were intent on killing him for trying to steal their ship, into bringing him back to the vacation-resort world for free? I don’t know.

Nevertheless, Andor (conveniently) found his fortune still intact and then sent a message back to Ferrix to let his mother know he was still alive…only to find out that she was dead.

Yup, back on Ferrix, Maarva’s Rebellion-driven ways had finally gotten the best of her as her body withered and gave way from her constant neglect of her health for the Rebellion.

It was extremely emotional watching B2EMO withdraw from Maarva’s old friends and grieve the loss of his owner, and then watching Andor come to terms with the death of his mother on world far away as he stared off into the sunset (which is really common in this universe).

You could really feel the pain and sadness of the close friends and family of Maarva, which is the sign of fantastic writers. This whole Ferrix-Andor story arc has just been phenomenal and should serve as a model as to how to write characters and plots for the future writers and directors in the Star Wars universe.

Anyway, Maarva’s family and friends were not the only ones invested in her death as both Luthen and the Empire were keeping close tabs on her as a way to find Andor.

With their interrogation of poor Bix not going so well (she looked horrible), Dedra Meero and the Empire have resorted to staking out Maarva’s home in a hope to find Cassian Andor. That and baiting the Rebels into making a huge mistake, which they are counting on Anton Kreegar to do with his attack on Spellhaus.

I know we’re supposed to root for the Rebels and the Rebel Alliance, but Dedra Meero and this version of the Empire are just too sinister and charismatic for me to despise them as I should. They’re just too good of characters to hate, which is all down to the brilliance of Denise Gough and the rest of the Imperial actors.

Like many others, these guys are stealing the show.

Speaking of actors stealing the show, how about Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. I’ve said this a thousand times before, but she’s my favorite actor and (and character) of the show by far.

With only a few scenes, O’Reilly had the best moment as she had to tearfully reveal to her cousin, Vel (Faye Marsay), that she resolved to ‘sell’ her daughter off in a betrothal to a fellow Chandrillian’s, the banker Davo Sculdun, son in order to fund the Rebellion. The weight of such a painful decision was so visible and gut-wrenching that I couldn’t help but to clench my fist and rue fate alongside Mothma.

Unlike the OG Trilogy, this show is actually demonstrating the real costs of organization a revolution against a brutal, tyrannical, all-powerful regime. Oh, and her daughter being turned into a radical by some Chandrillian elder doesn’t help the situation either.

Nevertheless, back to Luthen and the Rebellion, this was easily his best episode of the series to date. Yes, his regretful confession to the ISB officer in the last episode was his highpoint of the series (for me at least), but his role in this episode tops that as it showed why he’s so influential.

Essentially, Luthen goes back to Saw Guerra to tell him about the fate that awaits Anton Kreegar, but ends up proving why he’s so influential as he exposes a glimpse of his vast spy and informant network to the warlord.

The pair then have a back and forth over the morality and ethics of allowing Kreegar, who is a fellow rebel like them, to die an avoidable death at the hands of Meero, Major Partagaz, and the Empire. Eventually, Luthen and Guerra agree that it is ‘for the greater good’ that their ally dies, but Luthen secretly remained unconvinced.

Just like Mon Mothma, Luthen continues to make terrible sacrifices in the name of the Rebellion and for the future of hope for an unborn generation. And, like I said with Mothma, these choices just show how brilliant the writers, directors, producers, etc., behind the scenes really are. They don’t sugarcoat the evils and tragedies that come with war and rebellion like many Star Wars projects in the Disney era have done.

Instead, they showcase them for all to see, whether or not it paints the Rebels in a positive or negative light. In my opinion, it’s the hallmark of a great storyteller.

Oh, and having Stellan Skarsgård and Forest Whitaker in a scene together makes everything 50X better. Plus, when you follow that scene up with a hilarious tractor-beam battle-escape scene, that’s the sign of a fantastic show.

Creator Tony Gilroy, EP Sanne Wohlenberg, Diego Luna, and all of the rest of the writing, directing, production, and acting staff should be commended for the dedication and effort they put into this show. Everything they have done has worked to perfection and has set up a grand-stand finale next Wednesday.

Andor Episode 11 gets a 9.4/10.

Images Source: Featured Image: (Disney/Star Wars) (Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+ – YouTube)

In Text Image 1: (Disney/Star Wars) (Andor | Cassian’s Story |Disney+ – YouTube)

In Text Image 2: (Disney/Star Wars) (Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+ – YouTube)

In Text Image 3: (Disney/Star Wars) (Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+ – YouTube)