Warning! This review contains spoilers forAndorepisode 11.
Following last week’s thrilling prison break, Cassian is a fugitive once again in “Daughter of Ferrix,” the penultimate episode ofAndor’s first season. Ahead of the latest installment in theStar Warsseries, Disney announced that it’ll be airing the first couple of episodes ofAndoron ABC, FX, Freeform, and Hulu over Thanksgiving. The Mouse House knows it has a great product – a series that deserves a place alongside the very best of “Peak TV” – and that all they have to do to market it is get it in front of as many eyes as possible to allow them to get hooked. “Daughter of Ferrix” only provides further proof that Disney has a TV masterpiece on its hands.
Benjamin Caron returns to the director’s chair for the first time since“Announcement” explored the aftermath of the Aldhani heist. Thanks to real shooting locations, gritty handheld photography, and effects shots framed from a plausible camera perspective,Andorhas been much more immersive than the usual VFX-heavyStar Warsfare. Planting the audience right in the middle of a galaxy far, far away,Andormaintains the escapist tradition of theStar Warsfranchise while playing with darker themes and bleaker storytelling than fans are used to.
RELATED:Andor Is Bringing New Influences To The Star Wars Universe
Showrunner Tony Gilroy receives his first writing credit sincethe series’ triple premierewith the script for “Daughter of Ferrix.”Andorcontinues to have arguably the best writing of anyStar Warsmedia sinceThe Empire Strikes Back. The characters are well-rounded, the political discussions are nuanced and two-sided, the themes are clear as day without being preachy, and the dialogue sounds like things people would actually say. Gilroy has such a strong command of his supporting cast that there’s no dead weight – even when the title character is pushed to the sidelines. Whether a scene follows Dedra Meero or Luthen Rael or Mon Mothma or Syril Karn, the audience is captivated.
Stellan Skarsgård sharesanother powerful scene with Forest Whitaker. It’s always a joy to see two great actors sharing the screen, especially when their characters are this three-dimensional and their dialogue is this well-written. Luthen Rael and Saw Gerrera – the former a sophisticated revolutionary with a solid cover and the latter a dangerous extremist – have to overcome their conflicting ideologies for the greater good of achieving their common goal of taking down the Empire.
Genevieve O’Reilly continues to givea stellar performance as Mon Mothma. This character is in the unique position of being a part of the bureaucratic government that the Rebels are trying to take down. Serving in the Senate that she’s secretly plotting to overthrow is putting a great deal of stress on Mon, and each week, she gets a little more overwhelmed and a little closer to her breaking point. Like Cassian, Mon’s fate has been determined by previous media, and the show is doing a fantastic job of charting her journey to renounce the Empire altogether and join the Rebellion full-time.
Voice actor Dave Chapman is one of the episode’s standouts. When Cassian’s droid B2EMO was introduced in the show’s first episode, Chapman played every comedic beat with a robotic deadpan. This week, that same line delivery style gives the audience an emotional gut-punch when he says, “I don’t want to be alone. I want Maarva.” This heartbreaking scene turns B2 from dry comic relief into a vulnerable dramatic character. His fear of being left alone makes him just as human as any other character on the show.
This week bringsAndor’s first straightforward dogfight sequence, and it doesn’t disappoint. Luthen has established himself as a badass with impassioned monologues and undercover Rebel dealings. But up to this point, he’sdelegated all the anti-Imperial field work to mercenaries like Cassianand diehard Rebel operatives like Vel Sartha. In “Daughter of Ferrix,” he’s accosted by an Imperial patrol ship and held in its tractor beam. While he calmly stalls the Imperial officers interrogating him, Luthen readies his ship’s hidden gadgets and weaponry. Within moments, he destroys the tractor beam, takes out every single TIE fighter sent after him, and disappears into hyperspace, leaving the Imperials with egg on their face. This show doesn’t indulge in action scenesas often asThe MandalorianorThe Clone Wars, but when it does, those action sequences are well worth the wait.
Cassian himself doesn’t appear much in the episode, but he does get a poignant moment in the final scene when he finds out his mother is dead. There’s still hope that Maarva’s death is a fake-out and that she’s alive and well in hiding, but that seems unlikely, given the bleak tone of the show, and it would undermine the heartbreak of this reveal. Diego Luna nails the emotions of this scene; Cassian is quietly devastated, but masks his feelings and tells his fellow escapee that everything is fine.Like Luke Skywalker, Andor has lost everybodydear to him and all he has left is vengeful rage against the Empire.
