Andor 101-103

I'm six degrees from Godzilla. A barber I regularly went to also cut the hair of Russell Johnson, the Professor on "Gilligan's Island" along with Alan Hale as the Skipper; who is the brother of Barbara Hale who played Stella on "Perry Mason" with Raymond Burr, who of course was in the original "Godzilla" movie.

Commenting After Three: One, Two, Three, Comment

Timm is a cautionary tale about what happens when you collab with fascists.

Dude Longcouch

The person who voices B2EMO is my old childhood friend's Dad, Dave Chapman, he is a puppeteer from England. One of the nicest people ever, he doesn't do voice work much but he is great in Andor.

Caynes

The young officer searching for Andor played such a whiny and irritating character in Poldark, he still doing such a great job here. I've never watched any Star War movies except Rouge One and I'm enjoying this so far.

MarisoL

Oh so we are going from one prequel to another, nice! 👍😉

MarisoL

Our host's reactions have helped me get through the slow pace of this show. I hear that it gets better.

LazyBoy Stays Up Late Watchin Video Tapes

Babylon 5 yes please

SbE

My Elon number is 2. ( I have talked to someone who is friends with Elon)

Brien Kliver

Simone, since you’re a Star Trek fan, it’s not unreasonable for you to think of Andor as a place. In the Star Trek universe, Andor was one of the founding Federation worlds and the people are the blue-skinned Andorians. The is an amazing series and I’m looking forward to your guys’ reactions

oldcdog

Yeah. I love these two but they have called them Corpos in the show so many times. Not once did they wear imperial clothes. They’ll catch on soon.

Rokkor X

And also the Knight from the Vale is the head security officer in episode 1.

Rokkor X

Please, go straight into season 2.

Joe Stacey

The wall with everyone's gear before a shift definitely reminds me of the factories i've worked in. Whoever did the wardrobe for Andor deserves all of the awards. Everyone looks great.

Patrick

I might be completely alone in this, but, Everytime the Ferrix bell guy shows up, I hear "Stop. Hammer time!" In my head. 😂 If you were born after 1975, you may not have that reference at hand. In 1990, famous Oakland California rapper, M.C. Hammer, released his single "Can't Touch This" which featured the line, "Hammer time!" The video was on heavy rotation, and both the song and video won awards, and was ever present in early 90's culture. FUN FACTS about the bell guy of Ferrix: portrayed by actor Neil Bell. (Can't make this stuff up 😂) The bell is made of Beskar! Holy crap! The Bell Guys title in Ferrix is: "The Time Grappler." The more I look into the layers of Andor, the greater it becomes! Happy weekend everyone!

Jon Johns

This series has several Chernobyl actors. You've met two of them so far, but Skarsgard is the most obvious. Also, glad that you've picked up on Syril being an interesting character. He's potentially the most complicated and nuanced character in the entirety of Star Wars.

Justin Leone

You do recaps for the millions of people who barely can cram in half an episode into their schedule - that and it kind of serves as a bit of a palate cleanser "distilling" the important points. This is kind of an unspoken thing about marketing and audiences; just the fact that George (and this is not remotely a dig, we all have it in all kinds of languages with all kinds of media) struggles to understand things and items that barely ask to even be explained, kinda showcases how difficult watching any sort of entertainment is for the 30% or so of those populations in developed countries (!) - be it dyslexia, all sorts of (partial) aphasias, simply common disabilities along the blindness spectrum, cognitive shortcomings... all of a sudden, watching a show is taxing. Not being a native-speaker and not having agreeable localization options available --> comprehension obviously drops --> how about a nice recap? And again, people immediately lose track of what happened, even in short, memorable shows. Not only that, "recaps" are very much so a literary device, and it comes in all shapes of forms: showing the same plot through different eyes twice is great (nothing beats repetition of information). Sometimes you simply refer back after one or two chapters and mention again (saying stuff like "it bears mentioning again") that the protagonist had a banana-shaped... forearm - and all the different variations. Or Tarantino voiceover in, and SPOILERS, Hateful Eight; which is a bit of a different trope but still strengthens the audience's understanding of the various interweaving plots - which you can btw subvert by prominently doing it and then, let's say, have the narrator reach for the fourth wall. Point being: recaps belong into their own seat in this endless debate of "telling everything" vs. "sparse as could be". I personally can enjoy boring and obscure cinema, lingering moments telling a story through the camera or simply what it captures... but I like "not being an art snob" more and would always at least provide aids to make my material accessible. Which is fair enough, seeing how the show obviously is a bit "tech mumblecore"-y and going the hard "no subs for indigenous languages"-route. By all means, offset it with at least repeating the interesting or necessary beats, I bet the first one in particular might retain a bunch of viewers alone, lol

W T

So excited for this series with you guys, I just finished season 2 last night and I honestly have to say that Andor is my overall favourite Star Wars *thing*.

Tommy Megaffin

The Women of Andor SLAY🔥🔥🔥

Jon Johns

💯👏🏻

Jon Johns

Others have, or will, explain that the B2 droid is like a pet dog in so many ways. Almost every droid in any SW film or series has emotion, and agency, but B2 has a type of innocence, and a different type of loyalty than I've ever seen before? It's bitter sweet. I love him so much. I would put him on my desk next to the Portal companion cube. 😂

Jon Johns

I hope so, too, Logan. I believe it is important. Not in the "Star Wars" kind of importance? But more of, the social commentary? But also, for the production value of the show. It's brilliantly made, amazingly performed, and masterful storytelling. Like many great TV shows, the whole is more valuable than the parts? Anyhoo, I'm an ANDOR fanboy, so, take with a healthy handful of salt. 🤷🏻

Jon Johns

Iss guuuuuuud ❤️❤️❤️

Turnt SNACO

I'm so glad I can re-watch this great show with you guys before I binge Andor S2, I've heard its also pretty great, hopefully you guys can do S2 as well at some point down the line.

Khan1001

The two guards Cassian killed in episode 1 are not Empire, they're just corporate security.

Muir Lyman

It doesn’t help that the Ewoks lived on Endor😂

Anamondaris

Really enjoyed this reaction! So much fun watching along. :) I'm thinking that I'll enjoy this Star Wars show, hopefully at least.

Logan Kerlee

Yeah, and to reiterate what they said: the Bacon number is NOT just randomly seeing him live as George seems to believe, it's about co-starring in legitimate productions. Much like the Erdős number is not about having gone on a year-long speed bender but about co-authorship of papers.

W T

Another set of reactors called Syril, "Try Hard Trent". And it fit perfectly. Especially at the beginning.

Paul T Hewes

Andor is so much better than most modern Star Wars since 1999. I was already an adult when the first movie was released in 1977, so I was never invested in the lore, but I like to think I can tell the difference between good and bad story telling. The Star Wars universe is fundamentally Taoist and it does not deal in deontological moral absolutes like Tolkien's Legendarium does, for example.

GAB

Few suggestions: Long Show: Babylon 5 (1994) - Sci-fi/Space Opera 5 Seasons, 110 episodes Short Show: Dollhouse (2009) - Sci-fi/Mystery 2 Seasons, 27 episodes Joss Whedon's post Buffy/Angel/Firefly show Movie: Short Circuit (1986) - Sci-fi/Comedy Since you liked B2EMO

AVATAR-X

Looking back at season 1 episode order I think 3 episodes for the first and second week (i.e. 1-3 and 4-6) is best but after that you could easily drop back to 2 a week and still have a good experience.

GoodManTheDan

My favorite detail is that the sensitive, sweet, caring droid is B2EMO, by definition, an EMO droid. I love him. I want to read all his poetry.

Simon Pegged Me

Only watched season 1 of the Mandalorian, so this will be new to me as well... will be interesting since I have not kept up with star wars since.

romai

Episode 1: “Brasso” is also excellent metal for brass, silver, copper, etc. Episode 2: The hanging up of the gloves makes me think of when miners hang up their name tags outside of a mine entrance before starting their shift. That way you know who’s still in the mine if there is a problem… Episode 3: It looks like Maarva still has Cassian’s childhood blowgun. You can see her carrying/holding it after the soldiers leave her home.

REDR58

I've watched this series many, many times and am happy to do it again with y'all. Andor is one of my favorite shows of the last 5-10 years and definitely my favorite of the Disney Star Wars content. I hope this lands better with you guys than The Expanse; both get some of the same criticisms and there are similar themes through. I find this rewards attention and doesn't lean on fan service. Being a media literate attentive viewer serves you far better than being a Star Wars nerd.

James W.

…instead we got some of the worst TV I’ve seen in a very long time. Right up there with the first 2 seasons of “Picard.”

REDR58

Welcome to my most favorite Star Wars media.

David Lonewolf Wright

I didn't like Rogue One much. It was too "tell" over "show", most of the characters are extremely one-note and I just don't care when they all die, it just moves from setpiece to setpiece without much connective tissue, and it's all in service of explaining the backstory of something we already know without much original to say itself. Versus Andor is also technically a prequel, but it's all show don't tell, all the relationships feel lived in, and it actually has a lot to say.

dys

Well I’m so happy for you guys for re-starting your Star Wars content!! I have few show favorites from Star Wars and this show is #1! Simone the Rebel Alliance insignia was created by a female Mandalorian, that’s it I’m not gonna say more 🤐🤐.

FranciscoGios

Oops, I was just scrolling on IG and just happened (out of nowhere what a coincidence lol) to come across a mash up of scenes I guess are from Andor, and this looks like it's going to get wildly awesome, especially for Star Wars nerds, and that would be me. By nerd I don't mean I know everything about the canon etc. I mean I just get really psyched about some Star Wars stuff like Mandalorian and Rogue One, and this, but if they show a Jedi and/or a lightsaber, I may get something in my eye 😂

MacGuffinStuff

I can see why Simone thought that Andor was a place, it's like he's from Kenari and/or Fest, maybe that's how he got his last name, who knows lol, hey there weren't any adults in that village which was small, maybe they don't have surnames, but the Empire has a census which requires something like a surname. I'm joking I think he's called Andor because it sounds cool. No but I'm loving this, I watched the first two episodes by myself around the time it first came out but I stopped to wait for a reaction I've since been hoping for, and after that third episode I'm glad I did, this is gonna be a fun ride I think. Speaking of rides, I really miss Star Tours at Disneyland, and I haven't even been on the new version. I'm not a Disney adult or whatever, but I do like the Star Wars stuff there, the rides etc., and the food too lol

MacGuffinStuff

Wow, Star Trek and Star Wars at the same time? All we need now is Star Search! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuMOg7sTluo

Gary Fixler

Seing how happy you were with Stellan being here, reminds me of how much you need to watch the movie Ronin

Bertrand Belisle

This is how the Obi-Wan Series should have been treated.. instead we got.......

24fps_

Agreed.

REDR58

FYI just in case you guys are unaware but BBY stands for Before the Battle of Yavin. That's when the first Death Star is destroyed in A New Hope. You'll see it more in the title cards.

Lemons

Also giving this another shot, your pleasant company can only help, at least with me not falling asleep like the first time around^^. What I find a bit tiring is the direction, constant vagueness and tension building with a payoff only landing every 3 episodes is straining. Overstays it's welcome in my eyes, as well as the non-subtitled scenes, where I cannot read everything from the suggested acting in the flashbacks. Though got into the edit a bit better now, introduction to characters and concepts is rather quick but efficiently written. Will see if this only gets better.

Philipp Roensch

He also played Pvt. Vest in Band of Brothers (the mail guy)

Jeff K

My college dorm neighbors were Tim and Kurt, and the sign they put on their door said Timb and Kurdt. Now I'm wondering if they were from the Star Wars universe, and I just never knew.

Gary Fixler

Just starting Episode 1 now, but I want you to ready this and remember always: If you ever have the chance, be like Brasso. Everybody needs a Brasso.

Jameson Yates

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

micah

It's Diego Luna time

Ari Ramirez

Can't wait until you guys meet Mon, Dedra, Kleya, Vel , etc...

Saifu

BTW the bearded guy with goggles in the scrapyard was also Jamie Tartt's dad in Ted Lasso

zak

"There are some who call him...Timm?"

Odd Thomas

And/or that would be me.

Gary Fixler

Andor are two of my favorite logic gates!

Gary Fixler

I watched this entire thing before, and I've still been thinking ever since that Andor is the place 😆 I forget names easily, especially the older I get.

Gary Fixler

I know people have problems with it, but I'm hoping you guys do Mandalorian s3 at some point, would be a shame to leave it unfinished

zak

As at least one other commenter has pointed out, Cyrill and the rest of the “cops” are private security, not Empire. While they still ultimately report to the Empire, they technically work for the corporation. They’re outsourced security for the settlement, which the corporation has direct jurisdiction over.

Will Sofer

Some of the new Star Wars stuff is absolute garbage (movies 8,9 and The Acolyte) come to mind. However except for those 3 I would suggest forming your own opinion on everything else and not listen to others.

King_Panarisi

Endor is also a moon, the "Forest Moon of Endor" or the "Sanctuary Moon" of the planet Endor. So yeah, the moon and the planet have the same name.

REDR58

I found the first season half very good and half quite boring so maybe this second watch will change my opinion more to the positive.

REDR58

Disney ALWAYS puts a “previously on” even on shows they dump because they don’t know when you’re gonna actually watch it. You might break it up week to week. The app knows if you’re watching all at once and will skip the recap automatically and has a SKIP button available on the app.

djKENTO

Glad you liked "Rogue One"! I'm in that tiny minority that thinks it's literally the best of all Star Wars films. I like the cleverness and the emotion of the story and the acting is a bit above average for Star Wars. But the main reason is it lacks the Anakin/Luke/Kylo character who is simply too much of a whiney child to fully embrace. I don't have to constantly watch lines delivered and say "oh yea well it's okay because uh... it's Star Wars and we we forgive awful whining over-acting in this franchise". Andor does all the whining in this series as I recall, but we can forgive it as a traditional part of all of Star Wars.

James Melton

Im not really a show person so honestly besides the two Breaking Bad shows this was the only other show I was wanting you guys to check out! So happy y'all are doing it now! After this show Im just in it for the ride. Especially since y'all are doing Star Trek that's perfect for me. Lol but I like watching these because honestly I would not watch any other tv show if it wasn't for reactions. I never check out shows on my own!

Daniasaurus

As someone else mentioned, in the first episode on Morlana there’s text that says “BBY 5”. This means “Before the Battle of Yavin” when the first Death Star was destroyed. In canon it’s kinda like the BCE/AD nomenclature in our world - a dividing line anchored on a significant event. In relation to the series, this nomenclature becomes more important in S2. Just as a heads up.

RogueRN

I honestly do believe I like all of the non magical stuff from this universe the best! Mando show had a good mix but it was mainly human stuff for the most part. But I just think the space wizards thing doesn't capture my attention as much as a group of rebels going against a huge empire. or smuggling stuff or crime shit. I just enjoy it more, I also never was the biggest Star Wars fan besides liking a good amount of the movies and asthenic. I always felt Star Wars was always good asthenicly but the stories aren't as good as most sci-fi. (At least for me the narratives within Star Wars has always been the weakest element for me. Other sc-fi like Star Trek is good cause the stories are really great, but I prefer the asthenic of Star Wars but the storytelling of Star Trek.)

Daniasaurus

Andor sounds almost exactly like Endor. Which leads to confusion.

Mastervodo

its interesting how good Star Wars is when you take the fantasy element out and add a human one in. Both are good but just goes to show that if you have a great setting you can tell any story you want and have it be amazing. I don't think the same would work in star trek or any other sci fi esq setting.

michael denny

I watched a few episodes and lost interest but I'll give it another go

Odd Thomas

George gets to Kevin Bacon pretty quickly too. George’s old job quickly gets him to Sasha Grey who worked with James Gunn on PG Porn (a short comedy series) which gets you to Kevin Bacon on the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

djKENTO

Awesome! Looking forward to your thoughts on the series.

Mark Huber

The first season, the first 3 episodes were released the first week, then weekly after that. S2 was released 3 episodes a week for 4 weeks

Tay Schumaker

You are not wrong Simone, Endor is indeed the place where Luke, Han and Leia fight the Empire in Star Wars Episode VI. While Andor is the last name of cassian.

King_Panarisi

Hmm I had skipped this because of how bad modern star wars had become, I just assume everything they do now is garbage. I'm still skeptical but with all the positive comments about it, I might give it a chance at some point now.

Chris Davies

I'm really enjoying your commentary on Syril. He's an excellent character and we're about to get even more incredible characters.

Lars G

I'd like to suggest "The Good Place" as a possible multi-season show to take the place of "Better Call Saul". It's a basically a philosophical comedy, and very much worth watching. And later, as a short shot kind of show, "The Sandman" is incredible...to me, anyway. Cheers!

mky

Agree that 3-3-2-2-2 makes a whole lotta sense.

Chris

I always saw Kyle, but now you've complicated that for me.

Chris

You really only need to watch Ep IV at an absolute minimum. It's set in the years running up to Ep IV/A New Hope (you'll see the 'BBY' dating system used in the show, BBY is Before Battle of Yavin - AKA the destruction of the first Death Star). This starts in 5 BBY. Technically this series is a direct prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One, but you can watch that after watching both seasons of Andor if you prefer.

Phalanx

I've said it on other comment sections, but really, the 3 episode arc thing is really crucial for season 2, just because it was specifically written and released in 3 episode arcs. Season 1 (and not that I expect you to do this) it's more 1-3, 4-6, 7-10, 11-12. 7 is kind of a standalone but ties in to 8-10. So you could probably do 1-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12. But obviously up to you

Tay Schumaker

Quick question: Is this a show I can jump into without being fully caught up on Star Wars lore, or does it require a lot of background knowledge? I’ve seen the original trilogy and prequels years ago, and I watched Rogue One when it came out, but I haven’t kept up with anything else in the Star Wars canon since.

Cincassette

You know, it could have been a fun surprise for them to see that actor? I guess discussing such a brilliant theory simply couldn't wait until after they had seen that episode. Hopefully they already have watched it.

CT

Bit of both. Plus Star Wars has basically been filmed in studios in and around London since the very first film so that's where much of the casting is done.

Spacedone

Watching this is making me wanna go back and play Star Wars Outlaws again (not a GREAT game, but fun in the standard Ubisoft open world way). That game shares so much of the same aesthetic on display in the cities and outfits in this show.

Jeff K

Just need to nerd out a bit here, since you guys might not know or maybe missed it; Cyrill an his strike team are not really Empire, they are part of the (private) security force of one of the mega corporations that were given administrative rights to certain planetary systems by the Empire, they basically have free reign to an extend. The mining desaster on Kenari is what most likely killed the adult colonists when they were at work, wich is the reason why we only see children and teens left there. Also the ship that crashed was a Separatist one, not Republic as Maarva said (wich places the timeframe of the Kenari flashbacks in the Clone Wars, Empire didnt exist at that point). The reason why they call it an imperial mining colony is either sloppy research by the writers or the imperial propaganda regarding the Republic that came before worked a little too well :) Anyway, glad to see you guys tackling this show, wich in my opinion comes very close to a masterpiece. Have Fun with this one ;)

Mr_Jordan

These are the weakest episodes of the series and still so good.

Robert Cooper

I hadn't made the connection with how much that dude really does look like a young Kyle MacLachlan. First time I watched this all I could think of was Simon Tam from Firefly. He's like the lovechild of young Kyle MacLachlan and Simon, really.

Jeff K

I didn't know that!!! Cool beans! I only know about the languages created in future episodes 😉 (no spoilers)

Jon Johns

Yavin is a planet, the large orangish-red gas giant and Yavin 4 is one of its moon, and the location of the Rebel Base.

REDR58

Except for episodes 7 thru 10. If they continue with a three episodes its gonna split the finally to the third arc

Popsmcgraw

Lucasfilm changed their logo after they were bought by Disney. The new logo debuted with The Force Awakens.

Scott CineRam

Big Bang

You know George, it’s funny you mention how weird it would be to hear Spanish in the Star Wars universe, but Kenari’s language is based in part on Spanish (which, if I’m not mistaken, they did in part to explain Cassian’s Mexican accent).

Jeff K

You might recognize the "wide" Sargent guy with Cyrill as the naked coal miner from Chernobyl? And George, so many of the imperials are British speaking actors, I'm not sure why, but often, imperials in Star Wars are portrayed by Brits 😂 maybe because of the history of imperialism? 🤷🏻 Or because they are just damn fine actors...

Jon Johns

I just have to say, after completing the series, season one is just somehow better? And watching (rewatching) with others lends to new perspectives, reactors catching things I missed on the 1st or even 2nd watch through! I do love this series so much. It's so rich, and deep, and subtle, and layered...

Jon Johns

thats the way its supposed to be. on disney plus itself its not subtitled, youre meant to just watch them and get the meaning from their performance.

lalaland

FYI, the scenes on canary (Kenari? Kinari?) are not subtitled, we do not know what they're saying. 🤷🏻

Jon Johns

Both of you comment on Costumes! Michael Wilkinson (sp?) received Emmy nominations for costume design, and at the end of this series, you will want to see his Instagram account, as he shares a lot of details, and it's quite impressive!

Jon Johns

Almost done with better call Saul then I’m gonna watch this with you guys. Gotta let you get ahead a little bit so I can binge and catch up.

david

Hey there, something many newer Star Wars fans may not know is the date referencing. You see, in the original Star Wars movie in 1977, Luke Skywalker and the rebel alliance battle the Imperials at the Death Star over the moon, Yavin 4. (I think? Maybe it's a planet?) Anyway, this is commonly referred to as "The Battle of Yavin" and many times, we are given time references to properly position ourselves in the timeline! For example, Anakin becomes Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith, which happens in 18 BBY, or, 18 years before the Battle of Yavin! Empire Strikes Back takes place in 3 ABY, 3 years after the Battle of Yavin. You will be seeing this reference in episodes, so you can better understand when you are!

Jon Johns

Cool, now I can see season 2 without giving the mouse a cookie.

Tales From The Underside .com

This is going to be about the 4th set of reactors I've seen do this series and normally I get fatigue from watching the same series four times in the last six months. But, honestly, Andor is right up there with some of the best television ever made and like others have mentioned, I'll take any excuse to experience this again. Season one is excellent. These episodes really sink their teeth into you with every three-episode arc. All the writing, all the acting, and the visuals are just so perfect that this is easily my favorite Star Wars project. But the anticipation to see all the groundwork pay off in Season two is very compelling. I can't wait till that's on the docket however many months from now.

mojo shivers

S1 is phenomenal, but I’m so so so excited for them to watch S2. It’s an absolute masterpiece and their jaws will be on the floor!

KyloJames

I'm thrilled that you guys are watching this. Absolutely thrilled. Perfect reason for me to re-watch the series.

Scott CineRam

Fun Fact! Tony Gilroy, the show runner/ creative director / writer / director... He is an amateur historian! Specializing in the histories of revolutions, rebelians, resistances, and the biographies of the instigators, rebels, fascists, imperialism types, etc. Some folks think season 2 (and season 1?) hits a little too close to home? But was written years before the current US administration. (Season one was filmed during COVID!) Anyway!!!! The "message" of this show is timeless. Fascists always happen, resistance is natural. And I am giddy with excitement to watch this with you two, and hear your interpretations, and observations. 🥰🥰🥰

Jon Johns

Oh wow first 3 episodes yesss. Can't wait to get get into your thoughts on this show, it's superb

Max Carter

Star ... Space.... shows back to back! Woo Hoo!

Mastervodo

I've seen 3 reactions to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul already and I'm definitely excited to watch through again with your guys reactions and now that you've finished them i can binge watch seasons at a time 🤣 I'm so happy you're doing Andor, looking forward to your reactions

Matt

Thank god for the NoSync version cause I wasn't gonna pay a whole subscription just for one show lol

Inkpendude

YESSSS

Danny B

Desperado 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😁

Korpse

they announced it was going to be 3 episodes several times already no?

lalaland

Yesssss Andor!! Watching 3 eps at a time is perfect

AdmiralZhou

Nice. 3 episodes! Was expecting 2!

dudewheresmycar