Forget Star Wars Fatigue, ‘Andor’ Is One of the Best Shows of 2022
There’s one scene in episode 7 of Andor that sent me reeling.
It starts out weird. Cassian Andor, our titular antihero, having pulled off an impossible heist on the Galactic Empire, was doing what any reasonable criminal would do in the aftermath: partying it up in what can only be described as “Space Ibiza.” Getting boozed up by night, lounging off the hangover at the beach by day. A strange vibe for a universe usually dialed in on space wizards duking it out with laser swords.
While lounging, Cassian – a passerby in a completely new, separate crime he has no involvement in – gets pulled up by a Stormtrooper and is interrogated on the spot, accused of taking part in a crime he merely witnessed.
Anyone watching that scene who’s been interviewed by a rogue cop almost certainly had a knot in their stomach. Cassian, polite and forthcoming, frantically tries to avoid trouble as he is slowly ensnared by a calculated series of leading questions, resulting in him being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. It’s a scene both brutal and baffling in its truthfulness. What feels initially like parody slowly unravels into something horrifying. The outcome feels depressingly inevitable: This is what happens when you allow fascism to flourish without recourse.
It’s funny, but Andor – a spinoff show focused on a character from a spinoff movie – is literally the first Star Wars