I like what I’ve seen from Andor so far. It’s a very good take on parts of the Rebellion we’ve never seen on screen before, though has been in books or comics. With that being said, the fandom is easily the worst Star Wars one I’ve ever seen.
If you’ve seen the first arc of season 2, you know a low level imperial officer tries to rape one of the female characters. I don’t think that belongs in a property like Star Wars. At most, there are ways to imply an attempt without needing to show it onscreen. This is not a “the empire wouldn’t allow it” problem because let’s be honest, stuff like this does happen with armies far from their homes. Always has, and sadly always will. My issue is purely that it does not tonally fit with Star Wars, or specifically most Science Fantasy/Soft Sci-Fi. Hard or Military Sci-Fi can get away with it, usually due to their more realistic or gritty tones. When I consume harder Sci-Fi, I am almost expecting more mature themes due to the genre it is apart of.
This take, that rape does not belong in a Sci-Fantasy setting with the tone of the original 3 or 6 movies, is considered blasphemy to a large portion of Andor fans, who will viciously attack you for having it. To them, even if you like the rest of the series but disagree on the inclusion of this scene, you are nothing more than a manchild who wants to see two people duel with lightsabers and nothing more. It’s a level of snobbery and elitism that you only ever see from the “media literacy” crowd that tried and failed to make people hate Starship Troopers, Helldivers 2 and Patrick Bateman. It’s one thing to enjoy a show without the Force or Jedi/Sith, I think it is a great change of pace compared to Ahsoka, which while I did enjoy it, did suffer from making too many characters have force powers. It’s another to lecture Star Wars fans on why attempted rape is good in a relatively light-hearted Science Fantasy property.
The other big aspect that makes the online Andor community the worst is how they spend more time talking about Trump than the actual show. The first arc of season 2 has a group of characters, on the run after the riot on Ferrix, hiding on an agri-world as illegal workers. A small imperial inspection team drops by to check work visas, and they capture many people who are there illegally. As you may guess, this has meant all conversation that’s not about why rape in Star Wars is a good thing and we should see more of it, is about Trump, evil right wingers and the poor undocumented laborers. The Empire is well within their right to want to know who’s there legally and who’s not, they make the laws and to our knowledge they are not shown arresting random people for no reason, only those who are breaking the law. This is a terrible way to show the empire itself being evil, and there are so many other ways to do it when you have a government that’s only a front for a cult of evil space wizards who want to control every person down to their individual thoughts (sounds familiar). The community at large has decided that this is an excellent way to attack Trump and those who want mass deportations, and thus won’t shut up about what is ultimately a shallow comparison that rips out all the nuance of the argument for a cheap dig.
How would I fix these issues?
- Take out the rape scene, this isn’t Law and Order SVU this is Star Wars.
- The plot needs a reason for our Ferrix characters to stop hiding and join the rebellion, while showing the Empire are evil. Instead of having the Empire arrest those who are there illegally, why not have them take everybody they can, after all the Empire needs the labor for the Death Star constructions as well as continuing to increase military production while decreasing costs. Easy, no political controversy.
TLDR: The Andor community is the most elitist Star Wars fandom I’ve ever seen, who like to watch rape scenes and complain about Trump.
Currently reading a book called Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the 60s by Tom O ‘Neil. The book that I just finished was Flowers in the Attic.
I made a post last week about how disappointing the first 3 episodes are. You've probably seen others talk about it on YouTube or through the grapevine, and it's pretty much all true. The clunk plot points, sidelining the main character for nearly the entire arc, a focus on pointless wedding drama scenes that go on for far too long, the male leads who really drive the story not really being involved while all the women steal the show for pretty much the whole arc. With now six 3-episode arcs out, the first arc from S2 is by far the worst. Honestly, you probably don't even need to watch them (if you plan on watching Andor at all) as they cover the significant events in the "previously on..." segments in the beginning. Or you can watch a 10min video from Drinker or Theory or Disparu or the rest and have a good idea of what you 'missed'.
This second arc in S2, eps 4-6, really takes off though. Each arc in S2 takes place a year after the previous one, so this one is in 3BBY and is nearly entirely disconnected from the previous one except for why the character are where they are at this point. It is a lot better written, much more interesting overall, and the male characters really shine so far. Andor himself, Luthen, and Syril (who is a surprisingly interesting character this time around) are the stars of this arc and it's the women character who are in the background most of the time. There is a very cold-war era spy/infiltration story, and some nice nods to events that took place in the EU without being key jangling memberberries. You wouldn't know they were referencing the EU unless you already knew the Ghorman story from those books. But it was a clever way of working in the previous EU iteration of the Ghorman Massacre into the story of this one.
Diego Luna actually gets to act this time, and he's not bad at it. I guess someone heard about how he was the most boring character of his own show in S1 and decided to do something about that. Shame they didn't try that 3 episodes ago instead of removing him almost entirely from the episodes. I still can't fathom how e1-3 got made and who thought that was a good idea. But if you liked S1 of Andor, e4-6 are a lot more like that and a lot less like whatever tripe the first 3 episodes were. Especially the heist arc. It definitely has some of those same feelings, though in a more espionage way and not a robbery way.
As far as wokeness, the lesbian couple from S1 does get some screen time in ep6, but that will be the last we see from them. Or one of them anyways. And there is a girlboss moment where one of the berates a young newly minted and reckless rebel on Ghorman who later ends up being a fuckup.
Benjamin Bratt makes his appearance as recast Bail Organa, only as few lines, but he's a good actor and he does a decent job.
There's a whole mini-storyline with Saw that crops up here and there, and I have a feeling it relates to something that will happen later as well.
Overall, these three episode were worth watching. And as always, never give Disney money. If you're an able seaman, find yourself a tall ship and set sail.
I don’t know why I had to find a Time sir India Article to get the full story. But thought folks here might appreciate it.
Firstly. Yes lobach is ultimately responsible, and fucked up. But it never sat well with me that the air traffic controllers identity was never revealed, and that stronger measures weren’t taken by the tower to alert and manage traffic. This article seems to suggest that air traffic has some culpability here, based on poor route/traffic planning and choices. Just thought that was interesting.
Would be curious to know if ATC was a diversity hire too.
