70:Andor-Arc 2 (S2E4,5,6)

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[00:00:57] A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. You think I'm crazy? Yes, I am. Revolution is not for the same. Look at us. Unluck.

[00:01:26] Hunted. Cannon fodder. We'll all be dead before the Republic is back. And yet, here we are. Where are you, boy? You're here! You're not with Luton, you're here! You're right here! And you're ready to fight! We're the right, old kid! We're the fuel! We're the thing that explodes when there's too much friction in the air!

[00:02:07] Let it run! Hello and welcome to the Star Wars TV cast, broadcasting around the world and across the galaxy. This is Episode 70.

[00:02:37] I'm Jonathan. And I'm Obi. No, I'm not. I'm James. And I'm Jason. This week we're covering Andor Season 2, Arc 2, directed by Ariel Kleiman and written by Tony Gilroy. So join us as we discuss Episodes 4, 5 and 6 of Andor Season 2. And bonjour mes amis, bienvenue à la Star Wars TV cast. Bonjour, bonjour. Or as they say on Gorman,

[00:03:08] La Révolution! That was my fake French. Well, here we are, halfway through the final season of Andor and I must say I'm left wanting more. There are amazing sets and props and costumes, the establishing shots of first class, but I finish this episode feeling once again a little underwhelmed. Where is the adventure, the drama, the tension?

[00:03:33] Don't get me wrong, I love a terse conversation with Mon Mothma as much as the next person. But how does the squadron of X-Wings take off and end up as a scene extolling the virtues of petrol sniffing? Where the hell is K2SO? This series promised so much. Next week will be good, we promise. But here we are six episodes in and it feels as slow as the service in a Parisian cafe.

[00:03:58] But you may feel differently and I'm glad to have my two co-hosts here to correct me. So let me turn to our fearless leader and creator of hundreds of podcasts and see where he lands. Jason, how are you mate and how are you feeling about the series so far? I'm really good. I'm happy to be on. You guys, I probably would be way behind on this series if not for this. So I'm thankful that you spurred me to watch it because I'm loving it.

[00:04:27] I thought the petrol sniffing was weird too. And honestly, I don't really like soccer. I don't know what you're talking about. It's great. Petrol sniffing. I mean, it's cool. Whatever, you know, I don't want to shame anybody's... So far you've dissed petrol sniffers in the whole of France. So we're losing people. No, what are you talking about? Oh, je t'aime la France.

[00:04:52] But no, I, yeah, his character is just off putting to me in a way that... I love it. I've tried to like it, but I just... We can have a good discussion about this. I think he's polarizing. Yeah, no, I know you're going to talk a little bit about him and I'm glad because he's got a lot of backstory. Yeah. And I'm sure that'll help make it better. But the only reason I'm bringing him up is because that's the only part I didn't like. I loved everything about it so far. I'm really into it.

[00:05:20] I'm not feeling like there's a lack of adventure just because I'm into the intrigue and the presentation and the intelligence, the dialogue is really good and the relationships and just the way they treat us like grownups, you know? I mean, I'm back in, man. I love this show. It's so great. James. Yeah. No, I mean, I... Same as you, Jonathan, it's like, oh, we're on the slow burn, we're on the slow burn again. But I mean, it's playing out like a political thriller. Yeah. Like, I mean, the first act. Oh, yeah.

[00:05:49] And there's some great world building and the story building and, again, the sets and the planets and everything. And you, as I always say, you trust in the Gilroy. You know there's a reason for the slow burn. You know why we're doing all of this. And it's... And I can't wait for it to happen. I did think we would have a little bit more action. And we'll get into that later on as we chat through it and stuff. But, like, I...

[00:06:19] Again, I was like, oh, I wanted there to be more. But then when I get to the end of it, I'm like, I really enjoyed that. Yeah. There isn't, like, there isn't anything that I thought... I didn't think there was any fluff in any of this this week. I didn't think you could trim in it. I think I moaned last time about, like, the marriage thing and we could have trimmed that down a bit and all of the party thing. But I think this time, I think it all plays out really well. I think there's an awful lot going on.

[00:06:44] And it's all dealt on such a highbrow level that, yeah. Again, I feel we're halfway through and I'm pretty sure it's going to pop off next week. As we said last week. Yeah. Yeah. But look, I'm really enjoying it. And I don't want to... But I just want more. I feel we've been at a canter and I wonder, I just occasionally break into a gallop where...

[00:07:14] Like when that half a dozen X-wings take off. Well, that... Exactly. I mean, that was, you know, I was going to talk about it later, but that's it. I was like, right, here we go. And then it cuts away. And then you think, hold on a minute. Next week is a year later. So we don't get to see any of that. I'm like, what? So... Was that a budget cut? Kathleen Kennedy? Was that a budget cut? I guess I still... If there's anything wrong, it's clearly her fault. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I still blame Rian Johnson to be honest.

[00:07:44] Rian Johnson! We haven't done one of those in a while. Well, we're a lie. I just feel... I just... I think it's great for what it is, but I still don't feel from all of the Star Wars I've had since Rogue One, a moment where it's just been pure, pure Star Wars bliss. Like the... In Rogue One where they had the space battle.

[00:08:10] That was just so Star Wars-y and exciting and fun and it felt old school and new at the same time. But yeah, for what this is, I'm enjoying it for what this is. And I love all the intrigue. I love all the world building and the props and the costumes and all of that. And Jason, you're right, the conversations are fantastic and the dialogue, but they keep promising it's going to kick off next week.

[00:08:37] Well, that's it. It's promising more, isn't it? It just keeps us all hooked in. I have to say, Jonathan... I'm really not feeling that at all. Okay. I'm not... Actually, now that you're saying it, I'm sort of like, oh yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of balls-to-the-wall action. But I really, really wasn't... I just feel like I should speak up in case there's listeners who feel the same way. No, absolutely. I wasn't missing that at all. And I wasn't even thinking, when's it going to kick off?

[00:09:06] I was just like, oh wow. I just... I feel like they have such a great command over every detail of the show. That do. The environments are just incredible. Yeah. And the acting and the dialogue and the relationships and the character. Like, they know each of these characters so well. And so there's a lot that can be said without spelling it out. That's true. I always appreciate that. And just the body language of the different... Like, I know we're going to get into it, but I love watching Dedra and Cyril as a couple.

[00:09:36] And they barely have to say anything. And they're all like stiff and buttoned down. And yet you feel all this heat between them. It's just a little bit of a movement, you know? No, just stuff like that is really welcome for me because there's so many shows that are just so clumsy and you don't feel like they understand people very well. And I think this show understands people. And I like that. I think it understands people. And more than that, it understands an intelligent viewership, I think. And that's why we get this.

[00:10:02] And it's like, okay, we don't have to spell it all out for you and lead you down every single step. And yeah, I mean, I don't want to be... I wasn't being negative, Nelly. Sorry, Jason. I mean, I... It's okay. I enjoyed every minute of it. I just get to the end and go, I wanted to see pew, pew, pew. Where's my... Now that you're saying that, I am thinking like, yeah, if we're going to do that, we're going to And if we don't get that by the end, it's going to be a huge disappointment. There will be a rebellion. Yeah.

[00:10:29] Well, it was presented as, you know, four movies. They're like saying, oh, this is going to be four movies with... And self-contained every, you know, jump forward in a year, but... It's two boring ones and two good ones. They didn't say that part. But if the... Yeah, exactly. But if the end of this movie was the heist, which was pretty kind of not that exciting, you know, it was just unloading some crates.

[00:10:57] And I'm like, that's the climax of this movie? Then I've got to look at it as now it is actually 12 episodes. Yeah. I think they probably just meant more like four arcs, story arcs. Yeah. But when they put it like that, then you're expecting a big climax. And Jason, I was just going to ask, do you have another co-host I can work with from next week onwards? Don't make me destroy you. Because I don't think...

[00:11:26] I mean... Am I on the wrong podcast? Jason, hear me... Well, no, hear me out. Jonathan, are you actually going to come back next week? Yeah, of course. Because... Well, I don't see how you can. Because you've insisted that glasses do not exist in Star Wars. Oh, yes. And all three of us are here wearing them. No, not us. Cassian wears glasses. Oh, yes. Yes, he did. But when that happened, I just... But that's the break in the... As a fashionista.

[00:11:53] That's the break in the basics of Star Wars. That's when you... Although it was fantastic, that's when you could go... I love your backtracking. I love your backtracking. Well, there's a... You know, like in Star Trek, they have a Star Trek Bible. And for the new showrunners and the new directors, so they know what is expected and what the basics of the show are and the relationships of the people.

[00:12:20] And in the original Star Wars, the costuming were given the thing like you could do whatever you like, but we can't see any zippers or any buckles. Yeah. And there are no glasses. So they're just kind of breaking that, which is fine, but it does... You know, every... It's like death from a thousand cuts. We're just getting more and more away from the original established look and feel.

[00:12:47] I felt like watching The Phantom Menace and The Padres, which was really good, but the stupid announcers that felt like they came right out of, you know, Hey, everybody, we're here at the... ESPN. And that breaks the immersion and with Andor... Because it was Howard Corsell, right? Yeah. And I'm like, they don't know about him. Yeah. But, you know, with Andor, I didn't even notice the glasses, but what kind of breaks the immersion for me is Cyril's tie, which they made it look like a space tie, but still.

[00:13:28] A space tie. Yeah. And maybe I should just... Let it go. Well, that's what I'm beginning to learn. Yeah. And I'll correct myself from last week, listeners. The original series, which I love so much, and the original Star Wars came out in 1997, so it was nearly 50 years ago that I saw it. 47 years ago. And so...

[00:13:52] And I guess that's just, you just keep looking for that feeling of home, you know, that you're chasing that first rush that you got. You know, I'm like a Star Wars addict continuously trying to chase the thing. But it is a long time ago and things change. And I guess if you look at it in that context, they've kept a lot of it.

[00:14:14] You know, they've kept a lot of the original stuff and, you know, having the glasses here or a belt there or kind of like, you know, they just went to the gap in the sequels and picked up a few hoodies in that one. But, you know, I will always fight to keep the feeling of the original because I think it's important. But, yes, I do need to move on a little bit. I know. But have you read the...

[00:14:43] So there's a couple of quotes from an interview with Tony Gilroy. And he explains it. He says, there's a few things you can't have. Apparently, you still can't have a knife. So there's no knives in Star Wars. That's interesting. There's no wheels. Yes. And there's no paper. And he said, there's a guy called Pablo Hildago who tells him what is allowable. There's a guy literally, as you said, the original sort of book, the Bible. Yeah. There is a thing and he's like, you can't put this in the top of that. He writes like the encyclopedias and stuff. Yeah.

[00:15:13] Oh, does he? All right. And he also, the other one I saw on the list was Hinges. Right. Because all the doors are sliding, aren't they? Yeah. You always see slingles. There's never a door on hinges. And mirrors. The only exception is when Rey looks at herself in the, when she sees the dark mirror of herself. Apparently, you don't see mirrors. But now I'm pretty sure we had all we've seen mirrors. But then we have Cyril just standing in front of these five mirrors. Exactly. Weren't they cutting something too?

[00:15:41] I thought there was, yeah, when Andor was cooking. Yeah. He was chopping up some stuff. Well, that's the odd thing now is seeing all the cooking and eating as, you know. The domesticity. Yeah. Which is, which I like. Well, we always had the blue milk. Yeah. They did have the blue milk, I guess. Yeah. But there's a lot of eating in this one. Yeah. And which is great because that was a great part of, of Lord of the Rings and with Game

[00:16:09] of Thrones, like the food scenes were some of the best scenes. And so it is kind of fun to see space food. Absolutely. And one of the, I think, strengths of this series because it's 12 episodes is it can breathe a little bit and show some of the smaller moments in the Star Wars universe, you know. I agree. And it also, it also means that available next week is cooking with Cassian, a new four part podcast. I like the, the toaster stroke microwave they had there.

[00:16:39] Like the. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just, I mean, it's a little, it's not as dark and it's not a smoky, but it just reminded me so much of Blade Runner. Yeah. That sort of dingy side of Coruscant, I love.

[00:17:06] But with that Star Wars-y design, it just looks super cool. And the view of Coruscant and everything. Well, boys, let's get into it, shall we? Let's strap in. Yeah, let's strap in and hop into our starship and head out into space and break down arc two of Andor season two. And here we are on Coruscant.

[00:17:35] And we open with Bix in bed with Cassian dreaming again about a torture. And it does seem like they are together. But we do have this amazing opening shot of the exterior. And you're right, it feels so Blade Runner-y and still so Star Wars at the same time. And that's one of the great things that they do in this series is all the second unit stuff. The establishing shots that they do are incredible.

[00:18:04] So detailed and true. And they do feel like Star Wars a lot. All right, so James, the Blade Runner-esque feel of it. What were your thoughts on that? I love it. It makes so much sense. If you think about it, Blade Runner and the original Star Wars, it reminds me so much of Sid Meade, the concept artist who sort of worked on Blade Runner. And I believe he did a bunch of the original concepts for the original trilogy as well. Oh, really?

[00:18:29] And so it kind of makes sense because, as you said, it has that great gritty feel. The same as Blade Runner does. So Coroz on this sort of level, you have that sort of dirty box-like apartments, but with the curved edges and all the notches and stuff. And I think it just looks spot on. And it really helps people of a certain age like us to pull you back to 77, like you're saying, 40, 50 years ago.

[00:18:58] And so, yeah, so again, loving the whole world building that's going on. And also, I mean, we used to hear so much about Coruscant, just reading the books. And I don't even know if it was ever even mentioned in the original trilogy. But after that, you heard about it in the comics, the books, the prequel. Well, then we finally got to go there. And I always, just in my imagination, it was brilliant.

[00:19:23] And I'm so glad that now the tech has caught up where we get to spend more time there and different aspects of it. It's just such a great idea. A whole planet that's a city and different levels can be grittier, as you said. Yeah, exactly. The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets. And there was actually a series that had been started and written. And they had scripts for 60 episodes that George Lucas had done on basically the underground of Coruscant on the lower levels,

[00:19:52] which would have been incredible. So hopefully one day they find those 60 scripts and just get AI to produce a really good animated series. Whip it up. Yeah. But the thing is, even with this kind of dark, dingy safe house, it still was an awesome apartment that I'd like to live on at any time. The views are incredible. So then Bix, they want to go out.

[00:20:20] They're being kept up too long and they go down to the shops. And I like seeing Coruscant shops, which reminded me of Hong Kong or Japan or somewhere like that. Again, Blade Runner again. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Where are our fluorescent tube umbrellas? I've been waiting years. Like, when can we get one? Well, they're called lightsabers. Oh, sorry, you mean in the real world. Actually, and they must have them now, right? Because you get... I think they're a little impractical.

[00:20:48] Because I don't think you'd be able to see this. If you were holding a fluorescent tube on a dark, rainy night, all you would see... Your vision would be blown out. But if everyone had them, you'd see everybody else. Oh, that's true. That's true. And if you had a special one that had a dark and stripped towards you so that it was only the exit... Anyway, let's stop now. Let's stop now. Concept design. Move on. We'll be moving them too. So, yeah, so...

[00:21:16] And Cassius says, not everyone knows this yet, but we're all in a war and people will die because Bix was feeling terribly guilty after having killed her attacker from the week. No, but it wasn't that, was it? When they have the conversation, it's some guy had recognised her, right? And so Cassian had killed him. So it's literally... Any corner shop she goes to more than twice, a good old Cassian just whacks them. Yeah.

[00:21:43] And that's sort of like, this sets up his encounter with Luthen, right? Later where he's like, hey, he said you were all in, but now you're like worried about Bix, so you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. And they're just stressed out going to dinner here, right? They're just living a life of pure stress. And she's got PTSD because of her attacker.

[00:22:09] But with him in particular, I think this whole thing on a small and a big scale is about, okay, we're sacrificing for this rebellion and how much sacrifice is okay in Andor's personal life and then on a bigger planet-sized scale. And here with Bix, he's just... He's so... Like, I think he'd be willing to give up his own life and she'd be willing to give up her life, but he's not willing to give up her life or risk her life. And that's where the problem is.

[00:22:38] And I think that problem is going to have to be solved one way or the other before the series is out, you know? Yeah, that's true. So they seem to want more freedom and Bix seems to feel stifled by Cassian and laying low. But that is the sacrifice. You not only possibly sacrifice your life, but your normal life. So there's no going out. There's no popping to the shops. There's no let's just have a nice dinner somewhere, you and me. When the Empire... But wouldn't you hold up...

[00:23:07] I mean, a little bit like they were on the Weak Planet last arc. I mean, wouldn't you... I mean, I get it right under their noses and all the rest of it on Coruscant. But wouldn't... I mean, what's up with Dagobah? Yeah, that's true. Well, I guess they need to be close, as we saw when the Luthan signal went off. The bat signal. That's the thing. It's the hiding in plain sight.

[00:23:33] But when you're in a safe house and you have to lay low, you just can't go up. And I think this is kind of the difficulty, we say, with Val. And Bix is they want all the danger and the intrigue and the adventure of being in the rebellion. But if it interferes in their personal life or their personal relationships, it really grates against them. I mean, Sinta knows it and Luthan knows that you give up everything. You have to give up everything.

[00:24:02] And also, you have to be ruthless. Well, that's the question is, what level of ruthlessness? Like, Saw Gerer was ready to kill somebody because they knew too much. They just killed anybody. Right, pretty much. And Luthan will sacrifice anybody for his cause. And even possibly the whole planet of government. The whole planet. It feels like, yeah. And so, with Andor, like, he kills this soldier because he saw Bix. Right.

[00:24:30] And didn't he kill somebody early on? Are you talking about Rogue One spoilers? Because you already covered it, right? Yeah. That's all fair game. Did he kill someone early on in that movie? Yeah. It was kind of a shock. Like, because we're just getting to know him, right? It was when he was meeting with the other rebel player and the other, the rebel, and he'd hurt his leg or his arm or something. Yeah. And the Imperials are coming in, you know, we'll just climb out of here. That's when they had a strange obsession with climbing.

[00:24:57] And then he just goes, yeah, it's okay, we'll get up there. And then just shoots him in the back. And that's the moment when I thought, we are off here. This is going to be a great movie. And it turned out to be because of the ruthlessness. And we've seen Andor. I don't know if he started off quite like that in this series. Although we just pointed out he killed the guy. But that was more an antagonist. But we've seen him come to that now. Like, he'll be pretty ruthless when he needs to.

[00:25:24] Well, we've been having a bit of fun with that on the podcast because it just seems that Cassian's solution to everything is murdering whoever he comes in contact with. I was surprised that if the shopkeeper didn't have some change that Cassian would have just shot him. In my head, I had them walking away from the shop and him just like nuking the shop. Yeah, exactly. Click a button. I thought that was where the walkaway explosion had come from.

[00:25:52] But after seeing the Luthan signal, Cassian goes and meets with Luthan. And we see them together at last. Finally, we have them back, Luthan and Cassian back together. And he gets assigned to Gorman and to kind of meet with the Gorman front. And Luthan wisely tells him to leave Bix at home.

[00:26:21] And then we have a montage of Cass and Bix romance, including some space dancers and some making out and then a very unexpected ending where it seems that she's dropping some drugs. Well, she is an absolute victim. And at this stage, it seems that she's a victim not only of the Empire, but of the Rebellion as well. Yeah.

[00:26:48] I feel like she's the Theon Greyjoy of this show. You know, it's just, God, when will it be enough suffering? Yeah. And they keep this piling in on the dungeon. Don't they? Well, that's what I found. I mean, I found that quite un-Star Wars as well. I mean, I think we'll talk about other things. I mean, I thought that the romance and the kissing and the love scene was a little bit mature for Star Wars. But I mean, fair enough. But then...

[00:27:16] Not for this show, but for the rating they've given it. Yeah, because it's a 13-year-old bit. But the blatant opioid usage is a bit like, wow, okay. Yeah. Because she does kind of take it and then nod a little bit, you know. Yeah, pupils are dilated and it's like she's off. Yeah. And we have loads of those staring out the window sort of vacant moments. Yeah, it's tragic.

[00:27:46] Honestly, too, like we've seen this kind of a story so much. I always feel when we start to see someone who's going to be an addict, it's like, okay, they better do it well because I'm tired of these stories, you know. And from my experience... You want to buy some death sticks? You don't want to sell me death sticks. I don't want to sell you death sticks. You want to go home and rethink your life? I want to go home and rethink my life. But yeah, it hits close to home now. But what was I going to say?

[00:28:16] Oh, as far as like Star Wars-iness, they're putting out all these shows. And my original thought was I'd like different tones and different maturity levels and try a few different things rather than just try to keep replicating the Star Wars movies. Exactly. You know, although I do agree with you, Jonathan. It's great to capture those moments. We can't lose that. But still like different shades of the flavor, right? And I still feel that way. And so I like that this show is going in a more mature place where they have...

[00:28:46] I mean, what Bix has had to go through. I mean, it's horrible, but it's a mature show. And I like that. And I love The Mandalorian. And that's a whole different tone and style and age level. Season one and two. It's been mostly misses though for me for the other shows. But I still stand by that. I like that they try these things. They just need to do it well. I have no problem with different styles of story.

[00:29:14] But what I would like is the universe to be consistent through all of them. And I feel that it kind of goes back and forth. And the concept of the force should be constant rather than just changing to suit individual shows and storylines. Like in Ahsoka when Sabine had the force. She couldn't do anything with the force.

[00:29:40] And then a week later she's force pushing people across. You know. So it just was... The whole sequel trilogies. Yeah. No, exactly. I'm like, that's... Like the best part of the sequel trilogy was when Han says, that's not how the force works. And I'm like, he should have been saying that all the way through those. And in some of these, you know. That's not how the force works. Shut up, Han. What do you know? You just have a blaster.

[00:30:10] I'm just glad this show doesn't even have the force or Jedi. Because they lean on that so much. And I love Jedi and I love the force. But I'm so glad to say, no, there's so much else we can explore. Let's do that. Yeah. That's crazy, Jay. I hadn't even... That hadn't even crossed my mind. It's nuts, isn't it? This is Star Wars. And I hadn't even... With all my moaning, I've never at any point thought, I want to see a lightsaber or a force push or pull. This is true. It just doesn't need it.

[00:30:40] There's so much else in this universe. Yeah, it's perfectly not needed. The final scene on Coruscant with Bix is after Cassian goes to Gorman. She's just at home and there's a knock on the door and she draws a pistol to open the door. And surprising, it's Luthan. And I thought the great reaction was she thought for a second that Cassian had died.

[00:31:04] And so, there was really good and clever that they added that little moment of like the commanding officer at the door. And he goes, it's not that. And again, Jason, as you were saying earlier, it's a lot of very good dialogue because they didn't actually say it out loud. You had to pick up on that's what was happening. And it was very kind of nice that he was familiar with the safe house. And she goes, oh, really?

[00:31:31] Did you happen to just use it for those reasons? And he says to her again, this will never end. We will bring them down or we will die trying. With Luthan there, he seemed to know about this drug, right? He tried to take it from her. That's right. And he said it will work for a while, but then it won't. And then the dreams will come back stronger. And it seemed like he might have had some personal experience with that. That's true. I hadn't thought about that. Yeah.

[00:32:01] No, I think you're right. But also because I think he was going to assign another project or mission at that point and then picked up the drugs and goes, maybe not. Maybe we'll keep that one for later, which they did, I think. James, anything you want to add? No. I mean, I was just going to mention just that how Bix's nightmares from the first arc had now developed into full-on hallucinations.

[00:32:29] She's wandering around the apartment with a loaded gun. That very first scene. And where Cassian gently comes up to her and sort of brings her back to reality while she's got a loaded blaster. Why don't we just put that down for a minute? I mean, dear Dr. Ghorst has a lot to answer for. He certainly does. He certainly does. And he does.

[00:32:56] We're still on Chorus on, but let's have a look at the various other threads that are going on. Once again, we're back in the beautiful ISB meeting room and Particus is getting frustrated by the amount of information he's getting. And he throws it to the room and basically they're just arresting too many people to process. And so they're not getting any of the information they need.

[00:33:24] And that obviously takes us back to where casting gets picked up in season one. Because it seems like they're just rounding people up for slave work and for information. And, you know, there's no real process. I didn't understand why, like, the guy, his name's Jung. He's the mole, right? Yeah. The guy that they have on the inside. Lonnie. And he was the one. Lonnie, yeah. Lonnie Young. Lonnie Young. Okay. He's the one that was complaining.

[00:33:55] He was brave enough to say, yeah, there's too many people and everyone thanked him. What was the point of all that? I didn't understand why he wanted to risk himself. You know, if he's trying to stay under the radar, why would he be the one to stick his neck out? And yeah, just what was the point of it altogether? He's doing that, Jason. I think, because he sees two of the other guys around him struggling. And so he takes the fall for that. I think he's trying to bring them, gain their confidence.

[00:34:24] I see Johnny as the new rising super spy star. I think he's, I think, you know, he's, because he says, oh, you, you know, you can buy me lunch. He says, oh, how can I repay you? Right. The other younger guy, you can buy me lunch. And I think he's trying to deeply embed himself and gain the trust of more and more people within that room. So that should the time come to possibly try and turn one or two more of them, you know, he has the opportunity to do it.

[00:34:52] And I think that's where that's leading to. He's sort of spotting the ones who are like under pressure and just like, he's like, all right, well, maybe, you know, there's a chance I can turn those. So I love that character, Lonnie. I think it's brilliant. Yeah. I think he will be, yeah. Key. Quite significant, I think, towards the end of what he delivers from the ISB, I think. Yeah.

[00:35:18] And Particus says, thank you, Lonnie, for reminding us on how this room is meant to function. But I did find it a little bit not clear what was going on in that scene and why he stepped in because it seemed that would be – but I guess he's giving insightful analysis rather than just delaying and delaying. Everyone else was delaying, oh, I need 10 more days. I need another week.

[00:35:47] But Lonnie was being honest and straight to the point. And I guess Particus appreciates that because nothing frustrates him more than the bureaucracy. But it seemed like a risk to me. I thought before I realized, oh, this is the insider guy. Yeah. I just thought it was a random guy. I'm like, you might be dead for saying this. That was my feeling, you know. Yeah.

[00:36:13] Well, that's the thing I think that Particus, who is one of my favorite characters, is getting frustrated with, is this delaying tactics and no one being decisive and no one cutting to the quick on things. Bullshitting. Yeah. And so that's why I think he's a rising star within the ISB as well as within the rebellion.

[00:36:36] And the second, the meeting ends and we see Deidre going outside and seeing her old assistant and offers her services. Can I just ask, like everyone in the ISB, are they putting them in those uniforms, right? Yeah. And then are they, like, using a syringe to suck all of the liquid out of their bodies? Because they're all looking more and more gaunt. Well, that, yeah.

[00:37:00] And Deidre, like, when she's in her apartment and in her, you know, in her sort of her off-work clothes seems more alive. But there's just something about those uniforms and they just, I mean, I know it's deliberately done so they look like that. But they just all look like they're, like, the undead. Like, they're just like, it's great. Yeah. So it kind of washes out their skin a little bit, doesn't it? Well, I guess that works in the white room. They all look sort of Moff Tarkin-y, you know? Yeah.

[00:37:30] Yeah. It's great. And I love how he keeps getting mentioned. Oh, the mentions. Yeah. I think it's a really nice touch, which we'll get to later. But he refuses her offers of help and she's, of course, highly offended because that was her baby. Another one of those terse conversations that I do enjoy in this show. In lieu of the race battle. Just a reminder, I think, that she's still focused on Andor.

[00:38:00] Yeah. No, exactly right. Even though she has to do this other thing, she still wants to get him. Yeah, that was her thing and she wants to find access. Yeah. But then we cut to Mon Mothma trying to gather support for what seems to be like an inquest into the increased crime rates and increased arrest rates on several previously peaceful planets.

[00:38:25] And finally they get their alien quota up as she's wandering around chatting to everyone, which was actually kind of cool. And it was really good to see the old school Senate room with the flying platforms. And they had to do an ode to the Empire, to swear allegiance to the Empire, I guess. I guess so.

[00:38:52] I'm trying to – have I got my timeline worked out here? At what point does he dissolve the Senate then? That must be coming very soon, right? It's been Star Wars. Is that – It is. Oh, it is, isn't it? It's in Star Wars, A New Hope. Yes. Right, right. Yes. She says, I'm a senator. Then there's a thing. It's Moff Tarkin says something like, you know, that we won't have to deal with them for too much longer. No, well, they're all sitting around in a – like a board meeting in the Death Star.

[00:39:22] And somebody reports to somebody else that we've dissolved the Senate. Oh, that's right. That's right. The old Republic. Yes, and that room was the negative opposite of the ISB meeting room. But as she goes around, she – with the Emperor's power growing, she finds little support. And we see Mon in more and more – under more and more pressure now, don't we? And as all her support seems to be falling apart.

[00:39:48] But she still is trying to do things through the official way. But obviously, she's getting deeper and deeper into the rebellion as well. I think she's having no choice now. As you said, the spin doctors from the first arc that were introduced into Gorman and stuff are doing their job. And she's trying to convince everyone, as you said, about the stats and everything and all the rest of it.

[00:40:18] But it's falling on deaf ears. And they're all living in fear of – That's the thing. Yeah. They're afraid of voting against the Emperor. Oh, yeah. You know, it's just – it's close to home right now. And we'll leave it there. We will leave it there. No, but it is – like with all – you know, this is why Star Wars is classic.

[00:40:42] Because it does refer to situations in the real world and grand themes of power and influence and fear of a tyrannical leader, you know? Yes. It's always been about authoritarianism. Exactly right. And the rise – and we've watched Palpatine rise up by manipulating public perception to make them think that he needs more power.

[00:41:09] I mean, the whole Clone Wars was just orchestrated just to give himself more power. It was a complete fake war. And take advantage of any opportunity to – and that's what Star Wars is. It's where little by little, by fits and starts, all the power now resides in the executive, the emperor. Yeah. Yeah. No, it is. And that's why it still works because these are classic themes. It's – you know, you go back to all the stories of history.

[00:41:37] These are the rise and fall of authoritarianism and power and people fighting against it. It's a story that goes back 2,000, thousands of years, you know? Yeah. Which is why I loved my Star Wars. It's a classic tale of good versus evil. Cool. Is this the same – during this montage of her talking to people, this is the same time where she sits down with the guy from Gorman, right?

[00:42:06] And tries to – Yes, as a senator from Gorman. Yeah. And as he points out that they've already – the empire had already blockaded the planet once. And they complied practically immediately because that planet's whole economy is based on what – One industry is just selling that yarn to all the fancy people. Yeah.

[00:42:30] And that's the thing of our society now as we saw during the pandemic when we – when everyone specializes too much that you lose your independence and power because we had to rely on globalist trading. And during the pandemic, we couldn't and it became a problem.

[00:42:51] And which is why showing that Gorman as a one industry – and, Jane, for me, it would be a great planet to be working on because they're only industries, a fashion industry. I'd be getting a lot of work there. But that is a fragile economy when it's over-specialized. Well, it has two economies that the Gormans, bless them, just don't know what the other one is yet, do they? And they're going to mine the – Oh, yeah, that's true.

[00:43:21] They're going to get some fracking coming. You may lose half your planet. You know, what was it? Eight cities. Death Star lens material, right? But then we travel down into one of the great Star Wars elevators with Lonnie. And I think that he actually interrupts the elevator from going to my favorite rail-less walkway. We have the discussion with Lonnie and Luthor again.

[00:43:51] And it's really good to see Luthor without his wig because it's definitely a different character and a different attitude. It's like Batman. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's more like Superman. It's just the curl of the hair and the glasses. Oh, he can't possibly be the same person. Can he? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And they discuss Deirdre, who is in control of the Gorman project. Oh, yes. And they don't know what it is.

[00:44:19] But I think this is when the penny starts to drop with Luthor, isn't it, really? Because it's like, as he says, she's basically an attack dog. She's not like a – Yeah. But I can't remember what he's called. So he knows that there is something else with Gorman. And he's like, what's the end game? We need to know the end game. Mm-hmm. And that's just all referring to the Death Star, right? Yeah. So, yeah. So Luthor is wanting to get more regular reports and find out what the end game is.

[00:44:50] And so that takes us all up to just before the heist. So let's move on to Dakar, where we meet Sol Guerrero. Oh. And we land on the planet and we have another great establishing shot with the two guards with the cyclo-rifles. Oh, wow. I assume that was two tubes, right? Yeah, I think so, right? There's a bunch of them, isn't there? I can't remember. What race are they? I can't remember.

[00:45:20] Yeah. It must have – it was – I assume one was two tubes and the other was just one of the guards. And then the beautiful shots of the X-Wings coming in. And it looks like it's the same rebel base from the sequels. Well, see, that's what I find confusing because when they leave, Sol tells them, take everything you can and burn what you leave. So – Yeah. I guess it isn't.

[00:45:49] Well, they're always using old rebel bases. Well, okay. Yeah, fair enough. So, yeah. I mean, maybe they just come back and restock it. Yes. Yes. We'll accept that then. And, of course, that's a World War II Air Force base in the south of England was the location for that. Yeah. Saw Gerrera's team. I just have to say it's the coolest army ever, isn't it? Like, just a ragtag. I mean, who's the white, furry, almost Wookiee guy? I mean, is it brilliant? Yeah. That's what I was wondering.

[00:46:19] I'm like – my first thought was, is that a Wampa? Yeah. Same with me. I'm like, is that a Wampa in the background? And I have done some research. I have done some research. Impressive. So, I thought, again, it was a Wampa. But his name is Moroff. And it's a Gregorian male. And he's a mercenary who was active during the Imperial area. And he's a towering gunner.

[00:46:45] He sought out combat zones across the galaxy with the goal of selling his service to anyone that required it. Moroff eventually joined the partisans, a militia group led by the resistance fighters, Saul Guerrera. And that's where he is. But he was essentially a mercenary. But they are large, white, furry creatures or beings.

[00:47:10] So, this whole thing, I didn't quite understand. I guess they're going to – well, are you going to explain it? Because they're going to do a fuel heist or something. And they need this guy's expertise to figure out how to operate the machinery. But what I didn't quite understand is how – I thought it was cool that they made you think Saul was going to kill Wilmon. But then he actually shot the other guy.

[00:47:40] But did we understand how he knew that this other guy was a traitor? I think – yeah. Well, yeah. Because he basically begs him in the end, doesn't he, to tell him which base it is. And if you think of how hardcore Saul Guerrera is, there's no way he was going to give that information out. He made the guy memorize the nine different sequences or whatever for the different fueling depots they had potential as targets.

[00:48:07] And Saul kept it to himself so that, you know, for safety and for security. And so, for him to let the cat out of the bag like 24 hours beforehand was clearly a test, wasn't it? So – How did the guy fail the test? Well, I guess he was told that the target was a Marcus Moon in the Neen Valley on Station 4 Junction. And they must have been monitoring him and heard him tell that to someone.

[00:48:35] Well, because after he shoots him, they find a bug on him, don't they? They find a transmitter on him. So I presume that they'd established – I mean, honestly – They intercepted some communication or something. Yeah. Maybe, maybe not. But Saul Guerrera is so hardcore. He may have just, like, gambled and gone, get it. Shoot him. From what we saw, I thought, are you sure? Like, it seems right. But you just killed the guy. Well, I mean, think about it.

[00:49:01] Sora's now established that, like, he's got two people there who can run the equipment for him. He thinks one of them's a spy. I'm going to shoot him. Yeah. And if he isn't, then I'll shoot the other one. But then you're in trouble. So then you can't do your mission. Fair enough. But, yeah, I think they must have intercepted something that got out. Okay. But I think there was a piece of information there that was missing, and we just had to kind of infer it. Yes, I think so.

[00:49:27] But he also pulled out some sort of communicator or disk or something from his pocket and said, here's the information. He confirmed his suspicions. But how did he find out? Exactly. That's what I'm saying. I'm not sure if he knew for sure beforehand. I think he just went with a hunch. Maybe. He kills the guy, and then he's, like, patting him down. Oh, shit. There's nothing here. Oh, well. Plant something. Plant something quickly. Or maybe he used the force. Maybe it was. No, I'm just fucking with you. Sorry, I'm just fucking with you.

[00:49:58] Yeah. So do we understand how the – go on, James. Sorry. No, I mean, I was going to start getting into the backstory of the toxic gas and stuff. Yeah, go for it. No, I was going to just bring up it's a rhodonium, which is a volatile starship fuel, and it's highly explosive. Which has been used – yeah, which apparently has been used for other things. Yeah, for decades and decades and stuff. But, yeah, I just love that.

[00:50:21] Because, obviously, when we see him in Rogue One, he's got the breathing apparatus on, and clearly it doesn't pay off to sniff petrol. Oh, that's probably true. You're right. Yeah, that's exactly it. That's why he's – when he's dying at the end of it, because he's on that craze. He's almost got the Vader kind of sort of wheeze and the respirator, hasn't he? And it's because he's done too much of the old Rido, his sister, as he calls it.

[00:50:48] But I love that, the monologue he gives. Well, he's got – sorry, what's the young lad's name again? I forgot his name. Wilmon. Wilmon. Yep. Wilmon. Yeah, when him and Wilmon are there, and they're priming the pump, and he tells him the story of how he was on a hot jungle. He's basically a slave that were practically naked, and they would go, and they would be a Rydonian plant.

[00:51:15] And then the time when the itching started, and everybody – basically, they realized it was a leak, and then everyone was freaking out and running and stuff. And at that point, Saw Gerrera just embraced it, breathed it in. And he gets that bit, and he goes, ah, she's my sister. She loves me when he inhales it. Very, very odd. So, Jason, go on. No, I just love the line. And he says, you think I'm crazy? I am.

[00:51:45] He goes, revolution is not for the sane, the unloved, the hunted, the cannon fodder. We'll all be dead before the Republic is back. Like, yeah, you know, I fight for a dawn that I will never see. You know, it's that whole thing of like – and that's what they're all facing in the pre-rebellion, the pre-battle of Yavin, that most of them will die before anything is achieved.

[00:52:12] Yeah, and that's like the main thing about Rogue One, and I hope everyone listening has seen that, is that everyone dies, and they're really hitting those themes in the series. And I think that's good just because that's one of the main things about that movie, you know. And we were chatting earlier about that sword, Jason, and like I find his character so unhinged, and I don't know how he holds his little band of followers together.

[00:52:42] Yeah. No, he's great. He's pretty – I mean, actually hearing you talk about it, James, is making me like it a little bit better. But my just reaction to him before I even think is, oh, God, you're so weird. Yeah. I think we'll put that down to Forrest Whittaker's amazing performance. Yeah, his performative delivery on everything. This is breakfast.

[00:53:12] We have two eggs and bacon available for everyone. Very great. Oh, so you can add that to the – Yes, I won't be adding that to my repertoire. You've been practising that one, haven't you? I don't know what you're talking about. But he's a great character, and it's another one that I know he was in –

[00:53:41] I guess, was he in Rebels or The Clone Wars or whatever? Yeah, both. But I would love to see more live action. He was right, yeah. I think he's in Rebels too. Yeah, we'd love to see more. There will be more. I think, as we keep saying, I think in the next – as we get closer, it will be bigger and they'll all be involved and they'll all come together. But did you notice that this was when they went to pick up the Rilo, the Rido,

[00:54:08] that it was the planet from Solo where they did the train heist? Because you saw the train tracks on the first wide shot, and there's only so many planets that will produce virginium. And, yeah. But I must go back to it was very disappointing when we see that squadron of X-wings and they don't get used. I was like, here we go, here we go.

[00:54:38] Adventure is about to begin and there's going to be a space battle. But no, we're just going to sniff petrol. That's the adult version of the material star wars. She loves me. That scene got me too. The X-wing is taking off. Yeah. Was I right in thinking that Plutie, who was the guy who was training on the machine,

[00:55:03] was the guy from the jungle planet who must have won the space rock, paper, scissors? He's not though because that's a different faction, but he looked incredibly similar. Yeah. Oh, it wasn't that guy. Okay. I don't know, but it can't be because they're not in the same faction, are they? Because if you go back to season one, Saw Gerrera's speech is like, he basically considers them as like. I think they just cast another hunky LA dude. Yeah.

[00:55:32] It's probably his brother. All right. Well, let's take a break and we'll be back with all the action and excitement from the Paris planet. All right. We're back and let's get into the Gorman.

[00:55:53] And we open up with a shot and it says it's Gorman on the Rima trade route, which is another great little world building as it's one of the hyperspace trade routes. And it crossed the galaxy and it started at Abrogado Ray in the core worlds and went all the way to the Cathol sector in the far reaches of the Outer Rim territories. And we have this great establishing shot and we see the city in the shape of a star.

[00:56:23] And it's reminiscent of star-shaped forts that were in the Middle Ages and thought to be impenetrable. Oh, yeah. And they were brought about the star-shaped layout and angled bastions was developed in response to the growing power of cannon. So it was a really good city state. And they even added the buildings that are built up against the outer walls.

[00:56:53] And so it felt very real and very cool. Yeah. I mean, very – and I know we keep teasing it as, you know, Paris or sort of a very decadent European city and stuff as well. And that – yeah. I mean, it almost had a Les Miserables feel to the whole thing. It's almost like pre-French Revolution. Vive la Revolution. While we're on the subject of the language and it's all destroying the French language, can I just say that I read up on this.

[00:57:20] And so the dialect coach, Marina Tindall, completely created the language of the gore from scratch just for the show. So I was like, it's pretty impressive. And it's not like – because it feels like it's – because I was convinced it was just a mix of French and German words or something. Because it had that very – Yeah. Yeah. But she – It's a deliberate French-sounding thing.

[00:57:45] And that's another – it's almost like I was saying about the Cadillacs that the senators drive around in. Like, they're clearly referencing Nazi-occupied France in World War II. And these are the rebels. And I loved it, though. But it does – it's sort of like, ah, is that too close to the real world? But I just have to let that go because I loved it. I don't know. What did you guys think? Was it too weird?

[00:58:09] I – look, I – we – when we came in, we just see the costuming. And I'm like, is this – is this the Paris planet? And we go through these old world – And even, as you said, the Parisian café style. Yeah. Yeah. And we go through – Maybe too much. Maybe too close. Yeah. And I've been to Paris a lot recently. So it looked really familiar. And that was that hilarious bit of world building when they go past.

[00:58:39] And the clearly French waiter is shooing away some space pigeons, which were – Space pigeons, yes. That's slightly different – Well, they had chicken legs, didn't they? Yeah, the chicken legs and that big puffier thing. And just to top it all off, you then give Cyril a beret. I know. I know. I mean, it just got a little bit on the nose. And, you know, I love the 70 feel of when they were attacking the dam.

[00:59:07] And it felt like an old kind of World War II war movie. But this just – did it feel lazy? Or was it meant to be a bit of a nod in the week? Can I just say this? This might just be an English thing. But did anyone else used to watch or seen the English comedy show Aloh, Aloh? Yeah. No, I was thinking of that as well. Which is about the – like, Jason, it's a terrible – I mean, now it's dated.

[00:59:37] But it was in the 90s, wasn't it? And it's about the French Revolution and, I mean, about the French resistance and how inept they are. Yeah. It just reeked to that group of them underground. Like, oh, we're going to do this. We're going to do that. And basically, none of you are allowed blasters because you're idiots. I mean, Star Wars always pulls from different cultures. But this was very on the nose. Yeah. So I think it did take me out of it a little bit.

[01:00:07] But I tried to just let that go and enjoy it. Yeah. Because they were talking about, you know, Chandrula is a combination of Japanese and I think they said – and the Swedish Alps, like a combination of those two cultures, which I found really interesting. Yeah, well, that's what the – from the costume director was what they were going for with the thing.

[01:00:36] But this is just straight – this is the Paris planet. The Paris planet. And down to, like you said, James, they had berets. There's even a shot later on where they come into the cafe and they've got cappuccino machines. Amazing. It was so – and the waiter outfits are exactly –

[01:00:59] I feel even when they're doing the demonstration, there's a guy waving the flag and that looks like it's taken straight from a Les Mis poster or something. It's got a very long staff and a small little flag on the top and he's like, stop the empire. So yes, Jason, I thought it was a bit on the nose but had to go with it anyway. But I literally burst out laughing when they were all wearing berets because they've been so good at this thing so far.

[01:01:29] And I felt this one was a little funny. Yeah. But that being said, it still looks amazing and it looks opulent and decadent and different from Coruscant. Coruscant has that – I don't know – that new money kind of feel. Whereas this, as we learn from the web spinning, the fashion, it's been – I think the guy, he goes –

[01:01:56] Cassian goes – he says it's been in his family like 18 generations or whatever, hasn't it? So it's like this is a historically affluence for a different way. So it has that nice feeling like the architecture expresses that and shows that. And I think that's all good. I think, yeah, they just – I would – if I had to moan – well, we are moaning – I would just say that the costume department just dropped the ball a touch. We're getting a little too Francais.

[01:02:26] I mean, the point and what Andor does really well is it makes you feel like you're watching real people. At least that's what I think. Yeah. And having this all based in World War II, Nazi-occupied France, if you know anything about history or if you've seen movies about it, then you can sort of get a lot of the feeling of what the situation is like just by reference to that.

[01:02:53] It feels more full in a way or at least I think that's what they were going for, to try to give you the feeling of, okay, these people are trying to make the best of it, but they're really having a hard time because somebody is there that you don't want there. That's very true. Yeah. It really brings it in the occupied – the feeling of occupation and oppression. Exactly. So, yeah.

[01:03:16] The last comment for me is that it just wasn't subtle and or so far has been known for its subtlety and the depth of this. This one just felt a little bit surface. But again, I went with it as well. But it did give me a smile, which it shouldn't. Jonathan, were you waiting for them to do a wide shot of the cafe and Lizzo to be on the next time? Yeah.

[01:03:48] Or a big like Star Wars Eiffel Tower and some crepes or something. Yeah, the Star Wars with space crepes. With three spires instead of one. Like a twilight mime or something. I don't know. That's an image, Jason. Sorry, Fran. Sorry. I love French. I swear to God. You're now banned, mate. No. No. Can I just bring it back into the world of Star Wars just while we're still talking about the planning?

[01:04:18] So, about the monument in the middle of the town square. Can I talk about that? Yeah, go for it. Just – I mean, it's kind of interesting. So, in the original canon, like, the idea was, I think, in two BBY, Moff Tarkin does his mass murder situation.

[01:04:39] Whereas in this timeline, they've set it back in 18 BBY where, like, apparently there was a peaceful demonstration occurring and Moff Tarkin lands his ship on it. And, yes. And, yes. So, I believe in the original timeline it happened two years before Yavin. Right. And that was the thing that sparked Moff Tarkin to rally enough support to get the rebellion going. Right.

[01:05:09] So, we're going for a different thing here. But the same thing, yeah. Same, same thing. But now it's just the fact they're building an armory, which they promised they never would do in Overshaven. But I also think the other theory is because this happened 16 years before this timeline, we don't have to suffer some bad CGI Moff Tarkin. But I think it's great that he is mentioned and that they're mentioned in every episode.

[01:05:38] You know, so it makes them feel weird. And there's just this horrific, yeah, yeah. Like, it increases the specter of him and the Empire and just that they had to endure this atrocious thing. And then now the hotel bellhop's not allowed to talk about it anymore and they have to pretend everything is okay. You know, and it's just, it really gives you that feeling of, God, I'm trying to go about my life while somebody has their boot heel on my neck. Yeah. And then, you know.

[01:06:08] Yeah. I think that the fact that they shifted that timeline as well, it also rams home that these worlds have been oppressed for like decades by the Empire. As, you know, as the Emperor, you know, as Palpatine has slowly built up this grip that he's got across the galaxy. Well, it's interesting because they play a bit fast and loose with the timeline in this show because, you know, Deirdre says she was brought up in a, you know,

[01:06:37] an Empire Kinder Kinder school or whatever. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was interesting. And that would be like 40 years ago. But the Empire… How dare you? Oh, she's 25. 45. 45, yeah. What are you? No, I'm just kidding. But she… Just some hard Imperial legend. But the Empire has only really been around since the death of all the Jedi. So, that which wasn't… I think it was 30 years total. Yeah.

[01:07:04] So, yeah, it's been like 27 years or something like that. So, you have to just tap into your headcanon and realize it was a Republic, you know, orphanage or whatever that morphed into the Empire. So, but that's an interesting thought of the state-run orphanages that… Which is a pipeline into the Empire's army and spy networks. Sure. And again, isn't that another Nazi reference, isn't it?

[01:07:34] That's like back to the Hitler youth and everything like that, isn't it? So, here… So, we see Cyril video chatting with his mom. Oh, yeah. And I really liked what they did with Cyril here, at least as far as I'm concerned. Like, it's a year later and you're not sure his status. And last we saw, mom was threatened about giving him any anxiety. And here she's like, you're deluded if you think this is a good job. And you're being discarded and you're too stupid to see it.

[01:08:04] They put you on a shelf. You've been played. And I'm like… And then I'm like, wow, she's not doing a very good job. But then she seems to suggest that he broke up with Dedra to take this position. So, I think that's what she thinks. Yeah. And then we wonder, oh, did he really do that? At least that's what I wondered. And then as he goes through the episode and makes contact with the rebels, there were times… And maybe if I watched it a second time, I'd realize I was dumb for even thinking this.

[01:08:33] But I was starting to question, oh, are they going the route with his story where he might actually start to sympathize because he's seeing what it's like to be on the other side of it, you know? And they're breaking into his office and everything. And then… I know I'm skipping ahead a little bit here just to make this point. Later when the superior officer guy, what's his name? Partagas. Partagas.

[01:08:58] When he's giving him kudos for it and then he's like, is it okay for me to say this is the best moment of my life? I'm like, oh, I was so dumb to think that you would ever have sympathy for anybody. And I'm like, that would have been a cool story but maybe a bit too Disney-fied for this show, you know? Yeah. Cyril has obviously never had a relationship with a woman before. Except his mother. Never what you say. Yeah.

[01:09:25] But did either one of you think that they might be going that route with him where he might actually change course? I thought it would be an interesting way. And even… I mean, I still… Even after he's contacted… I mean, I still believe there is a chance that something might happen… There's a chance. …to traumatize him that he may… I think… Because there's… I mean, again, jumping around… I think it could go either way. Yeah. I think jumping around again… There's a moment, isn't it, where… Is it when Partagas is talking to Dedra and Partagas says… Yes.

[01:09:55] …do not, you know… That's exactly right. Yeah. Cyril… You're really doing… Cyril cannot know the whole thing. So then I'm like, what does he know then? What does he think? Because he's doing exactly what he would need to be doing if he did know everything. Maybe they're playing… He doesn't even know it. They… He doesn't know. He doesn't know that they're going to betray him and… Yeah. And then plant him without him knowing that he's… Yeah.

[01:10:20] I mean, he knows that he's there to cement the Empire's grip on these people. He just doesn't know that they're going to destroy their planet. But maybe… Right? No. Yeah. And maybe he doesn't… Maybe he's going to be the scapegoat. Maybe he's… Maybe they're going to frame him… I don't think… I don't… Maybe they are, but I just… I don't think that Dedra's planning on betraying him. Maybe I'm wrong, but… I think it's just that she can't tell him everything.

[01:10:49] She's going to take it all out. Dedra is six steps ahead. I think she already knows at what point that Cyril gets murdered. It's fine. I got to say, like I said, I know I'm jumping around, but when he came back to Coruscant and they were reunited after having been apart for a while and they're standing there and they give her a little tiny peck on the cheek and then she just goes, turn out the lights. Oh, no. Yeah. And I was really turned on by that.

[01:11:17] I got to say, like, it's sick and twisted, you know? But I mean, there's so much… I'm not surprised by this, Jason. I was listening to the White Lotus podcast. There's something about that style of woman. But I mean, just the fact that, I mean, I think a lot of people are like, oh my God, I never thought I would care about them as a couple, but it's so great to watch even though they're both despicable people. Yeah. And it's fun to watch.

[01:11:44] And that moment, like I said, was saying earlier in the podcast, they're barely moving, but there's just so much feeling going on there, you know? The hate being generated by that moment. But that was kind of sexy and disturbing at the same time. I agree, Jason.

[01:12:05] But I think that Partagas and Dedra have put Cyril in place to try to lure, as a honeypot, to try and lure contact from them. And they've told Cyril that they want him to be aware just in case anyone contacts him.

[01:12:29] And he thinks the plan is to root them out, but the real plan is to encourage them. Because even when the deed is done and the repercussions happen, they say, well, let's not make them feel too hard, the repercussions, because we want to let them think they've got to win. So they do something bigger. And so then the Empire has an excuse to really crack down on them.

[01:12:58] Wait, so he wasn't there for that conversation? No. No. He's unaware. Okay. So he doesn't realize that the plan is to crush them. He just thinks it's to root them out. And that would make sense because he's all about law and order. Yeah. But maybe what he doesn't realize is that there's no real law with the Empire except let's get more power and crush anyone who's in our way. Yeah. So maybe that is where they're going with the story then, that he will eventually object to it. Yeah.

[01:13:26] That's interesting because I hadn't considered that, that that may be how we lose, that he does turn in the end and that's how we lose him. But I remember from the conversation we were talking about earlier with his mother, she says to him, don't become too much of an individual, Cyril. Oh, yeah. And then he goes, right, I've got to go now, count spiders. Yeah. Yeah. I have spiders to count.

[01:13:52] So then we have the French underground, excuse me, the Gorman underground of contact with Cyril with the old note hidden in the spider routine. And isn't that funny? They really, they've really steered into their concept from this planet, which I think is great. And as he's heading home, we see the Gorman garbage trucks, which is what they thought

[01:14:19] they were at first, but they're of course the weapons transport. And he notices that the little thread on his door has been broken. Do you remember he did? He left the thread on his door with some very, very basic trade cards. And what I liked about that is you think it's because he's afraid and he doesn't want, you know, he thinks he's paranoid or maybe rightly so that someone's going to, but really he's happy to see it was broken because he's, as you said, trying to lure them in to investigate him and everything and make contact.

[01:14:48] So that's very exciting. But they also cut to, I just wanted to go back to the big, the large circular square, or I guess you'd just call it a circle then. And it was beautifully done and the sense of space it had was because they actually built the entire square in a pine wood back lot. And they built all the shops and the restaurants off to the side of it. And so that's why it has so much great depth.

[01:15:18] So when they're in the cafe, you see outside and you see to the other side of the square with real depth and then also in the shop where they meet up later. So it's another case of what this series does so well. But I would hope so because the budget for this is massive. And it shows. Yeah.

[01:15:41] And I'm just glad because in the first season, I'm pretty sure, and you guys would probably know for sure, that it didn't quite perform up to Disney's expectation, but it was critically acclaimed. And so I'm glad that they still are giving it all the resources and attention to detail for this second and last season, you know.

[01:16:03] Well, I think the budget for the both series was about $650 million, which is... Oh my God. Yeah. No, it's crazy how much you spent on this. For Kenobi, I think it was 90 and Ahsoka like 150. Well, it shows. Yeah. It is incredible. Yeah. That's one of my favorite things about it is just not only the attention to detail,

[01:16:28] but just the artistry, the beauty of it and the thought that you can tell goes into all of it. So good. Yeah. It is one of the highlights of it. So Cyril is definitely targeted by the Gorman Underground. And there's a few little trade crafts to see if he's really questioning the empire and

[01:16:57] he gets invited to the Underground meeting where we see them kind of worrying about being that one product economy and worrying about levies on transport. And I feel we're right back into the prequels here with trade negotiations, which was great for 12-year-olds at the time.

[01:17:22] So Cyril is targeted, but little do they know that he is actually a spy. And eventually he meets one of the leaders, which is Elector Rylance. And they're in the city. Live on DAZN Worldwide. Saudi Arabia. Saturday, May 3rd, 7 p.m. Eastern. Canelo versus Skull. I'm ready. The king stakes his legacy once more for the undisputed crowd. Standing in his way is Warrior Skull. Undefeated and poised to decimate the division.

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[01:18:19] Und die Illustrationen auf den Boards kommen jetzt viel, viel klarer rüber, was uns ja auch wichtig ist und was unsere Marke auch ausmacht. Starte dein Testen heute für 1 Euro pro Monat auf Shopify.de slash radio. To your Palmo, which is where they are. And he was asked what impression you had and was the strength of feeling that they had in the room.

[01:18:46] And then there's a conversation with the leader about whether they think that he'll be able to help them or not. And what they're after is basically is the schedule of the transport. I think it was in this meeting where Rylance says he thinks maybe the emperor doesn't know what's being done on his behalf. Which is particularly naive, isn't it? Yeah.

[01:19:13] And it does, I mean, feel like very real world people who are in denial about how bad a leader can be. And I guess that's about all I had to say. I mean, he also finds out about Cyril's history. And so I thought it was a good thing that Cyril used his own name because his history does sort of give credence to him. Maybe wanting to be on their side. That's true actually, isn't it? A little identity check, online identity check. He's been failing upwards.

[01:19:43] Came up with all sorts of things. And then we cut back to Cyril's office. And wasn't the – another compliment to the series is the retro future tech that they're using, the box computers and the disk drives and all of that sort of thing. And the fact that like when Cyril goes to – what was it?

[01:20:09] He's getting something from his office and he used the excuse that he needed to grab his notes that he forgot. And I'm like, yep, Star Wars still doesn't have an internet. Well, it's secure. Or paper. Yes, exactly. No paper either. Yeah. I did think that his office, again, beautifully made and crafted and everything. An amazing set. It reminded me a little bit of in Loki, the series. Oh, yeah. The retro tech. Oh, yeah. That's right. In their office.

[01:20:39] I'm trying to remember the – and also, weirdly, a little bit of Harry Potter. The Time Variance Authority. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, sorry. The Time Variance Authority. And then also there was something about the Ministry of Magic. I think it was maybe the green ceramics in there and the greens and stuff. Yeah. A little bit of Potter thrown in there as well. That's quite nice. But, again, very, very nicely finished and very decadent office, quite honestly, really.

[01:21:09] Well, I still believe that everything is made with very efficient 3D printing. That's why everything is big and so chunky. And everything looks like it's made of Pyrex rather than plastic. Is that what old phones were made of? Was it Pyrex? No. It was a material – Oh, okay. Yeah.

[01:21:33] It's the – it's the mouldable stuff that they had before plastic. It was a little bit harder. But anyway, it's the – that sort of production is fantastic. Yes. Yes. And this is where we first see him wearing his beret as he comes out of here. But things move quite quickly at the beginning of episode four. We start off in Luthan's antique store with his assistant, Claire.

[01:22:02] And she's scanning the radio and we're listening and she picks up on the radio in Davos Skolden's exhibition room and finds out that one of the pieces are faked. And so this leads to Skolden's assistant having to get everything re-checked, which they know will lead to them discovering the bug in Skolden and they think they can be traced directly back to them,

[01:22:31] which gives us a great little scene later on as well. Can I just – My advice to them would be to use bugs that can't be traced back to yourself somehow. Scrub the serial number off them. Yeah. I was just going to say, did anyone else notice? I thought it was brilliant, the theme music for that episode at the beginning. No, I didn't notice it. What was it? It's literally – it's the theme music,

[01:22:59] but it's Luthan's assistant almost scrubbing through the different frequencies. Oh, yes, yes, yes. It walks in and out and it's great. At the very beginning, yeah. Yeah, and it only tunes into the actual music for the final second as the Andor. Yeah, that was a little annoying because, of course, I skipped the opening of the first one, so I had to go back and see if I'd missed anything. But no, that was just for episode two.

[01:23:27] Well, I like this whole thing because suddenly Luthan feels really under pressure, right? Yeah. He's starting to unravel a bit. He does feel like that, doesn't he? Yeah, yeah. It's like for the first time, you know, from – because even when he's literally shouting at Lonnie in the elevator scene, isn't he, like, I want to know the end game. Yeah. And now – and doesn't his assistant, doesn't she tell him to literally pull himself together at some point as well?

[01:23:54] And it's like, well, the master, the shadow master is now starting to lose him. The men are getting lectured a fair amount in the series, I think. The boys are underperforming, it seems. Hey, hey. No one's lecturing Saul Guerrero. No, that's true. But I don't think there were actually any women in his crew. I don't think I did. That killed them all. Yeah.

[01:24:21] So then Cassian arrives hilariously undercover as the fashion designer. Yes. How good is that? Yeah, because it's like Luther. Loved it. Yeah, he looked fantastic. Well, I didn't even know he could smile, you know. I didn't know he had it in him. He's got a full set of teeth. That's all right. Yeah. I mean, he looks like Jonathan. When Jonathan goes to Paris, that's how you dress, right, Jonathan? Well, I thought – it does exactly. I love a cape, as you know.

[01:24:47] But I thought he looked like Bono when he walked into the – He's not that short. Oh, he actually is, isn't he? Oh, into the hotel. Yeah. There's so many conversations in this series, like conversation that Andor had with whoever met him at the – was it like the hotel bar or something like that? Yeah. Or when Luthen's assistant is talking to the – what's his name? Lolly guy telling him to move just to the right or left.

[01:25:18] There's like several conversations where they're, oh, let's pretend to be nice. But now I'm going to get real serious with you because no one's looking. Okay, but we have to be nice again. And I'm like, if anybody was just glancing over, they would think it was really fucking weird. Yeah. Well, yeah, there is a lot of that. And it seems very out in the open sometimes. It does, yeah, sometimes. You've just got Luthen staring at them, you know, while they're trying to pull that thing out.

[01:25:44] Well, also, Krenix was looking over as well. Yeah. He's pacing around and he's side-eyeing. He can see something that's going on as well. Yeah, exactly. We're jumping ahead there. Yeah, I'll just finish up at the cafe because – If you could. Yes. Finish your cappuccino. Yes. And remember he goes – but to pick up on your point, Jason, about all the conversations in this,

[01:26:11] I always feel like there has been a little bit too much going on because there's the conversation with the Gorman Front's daughter and then there's a conversation with the space bell hop, which was fantastic. Yes, that was really good. That was really good. But realising how long these episodes and how detailed they are – forgive us if we don't get to everything,

[01:26:39] but you guys are pulling me around about how kind of rich and sumptuous and how many small, important conversations there are, almost like in Game of Thrones. It is the conversations that is a good part and if you get a good action scene, it's fantastic, but it is the small conversations and the danger involved. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:27:05] Don't forget when Game of Thrones decided not to have those good conversations anymore and go all action. Yeah. No good. It fell the fuck apart. God, remember that. Oh, my God. What a drama the end of Game of Thrones was. We need more murdering. Yeah. That was peak podcasting back in those days. That bell hop scene was one of my favourites of these three episodes. Yeah. Yeah, very good.

[01:27:35] How he just pretended not to – oh, no, I didn't really care about it. And then, oh, sir, they've asked us not to talk about that. No, it's all right. It's bad for business. Yeah. But it's good to see that – Oh, as you can see from your window, you have a perfect view of where Moff Tarkin landed on 500 of my relatives. Including my father. Yeah. He's trying to save me. You may wonder why I'm still working here. My wife thinks I'm crazy. Yes, yes. Well, you're still working here because you had to have that conversation with Cassian.

[01:28:05] That's why. That's why. But, of course, you know, the mid-century bellhop uniform has travelled back into the past and on to the other side of the galaxy or probably to another galaxy. So, that's good to see as well. Well, then we see Cyril arriving back in Deadwood's massive apartment.

[01:28:32] Almost, you know, friend-style size. And this is when we get to Jason's favourite part where she tells him to turn out the lights. Yeah, so he's very excited. And this is – no, she does tell him here that she wants the rebellion to feel like they won and to be emboldened. So, they'll try more extreme measures. And, well, I don't know if she actually said that part out loud.

[01:29:01] But it seems like that's where she was going with it. That she's telling him we want to encourage the rebels to do bigger things. Your job is not to stop them. It's to entrap them. Yeah, it was fun to see. I still think she's still going to throw him under the bus. I still think she's going to, like, sacrifice him for the cause.

[01:29:26] I mean, if it's predictable, I think that she still wants him to toe the line. And if he does, then it'll be fine. But he won't. And they'll be at odds with each other. Maybe. Maybe. Which would be really interesting to see his character – well, on one hand, I think it would be interesting to see his character go that way, given how he started out as a total – the Nick. Yeah. But on the other hand, it is the predictable thing.

[01:29:55] And it seems like something that Disney would tell them to put in. So I don't know. So after Bono – after Cassian meets with the rebel leader's daughter and kind of dresses her down for her tradecraft and being so obvious. And he does a classic calling off of his tail because he knows where they are and it's just a waste of time and money. We have the meeting at the shop.

[01:30:24] And Cassian finds them wanting and not up to what they're planning on doing and just believes they'll all get killed.

[01:31:04] Mm-hmm.

[01:31:35] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:32:05] So you might just think, yeah, he's probably right. There's no reason to even try. But then again, like as Luthun says, they're finally wanting to do something and you tell them to be careful. Right. And I think that's part of it. It's not like an easy answer. Like it is a theme that Andor's maybe being a little bit too careful because the odds are totally against the rebellion. But that's what they're doing. They're fighting even though the odds are against them. They're not sitting there with their heads in the ground like an ostrich or whatever.

[01:32:35] What are those animals that stick their heads in the ground? Ostrich. You know what I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Not an emu. It is the ostrich. Space pigeon. Maybe there's a space ostrich. Ostrich. But that is what I think is happening is Cassian is still, now that he's got this relation with Bix and cares deeply about her,

[01:33:01] is still under the impression that they might all survive, that there might be an ending where they all live. But Luthun is just, you know, we're not going to survive this. At one point, we're just going to die. And it might be a meaningless death, but the rebellion will go on.

[01:33:22] And it's all these tiny little wars, these tiny little outbreaks, some big, some small, that happen across the universe that will culminate in the attack on the Death Star. Well, and it's also that meeting in the shop where he, and Luthun almost teases him with it. He goes, oh, what happened to like take me in or kill me? Yeah.

[01:33:47] And he's like, oh, now it's not as black and white now, is it? Now you've got a girlfriend. Yeah. It's a little bit like, oh, well, maybe we can pick and choose our battles a bit more. And Luthun's like, no. It's like, this is the way. Well, that's what I found so odd that Cassie, I'm not doing this one. Get someone else for this one. Yeah, get someone else. I'm not sure that's how an army works. Yeah, you take orders, right? Yeah, he's still a bit of a freelancer.

[01:34:16] And then the classic is like, they know he's going to burn. Yeah. And then they send Val and Sinter in. Yeah. Exactly. Sorry, what was that, Jason? I just said he's getting a little big for his britches. He is getting a little big for his britches. Above his station. He needs to come down a peg or two, I tell you. Yeah.

[01:34:44] So let's get into the heist. So we open up and we hear that Dr. Gorse is going to be expanded. Oh, my God. Yeah. Into an actual program. He's been so popular. I heard that wrong the first time. I mean, I thought they were taking him and his studies and creating the torture droid. Ah. I completely misinterpreted, but they're obviously not.

[01:35:14] They're basically going to set up, again, a reference probably to a Nazi experiment camp. And yeah. Yeah, the torture droid slash disco ball DJ droid. Careful what switch it's set to. I've got mine on order from Timu now. But yes, I think they are going to set up a whole, there's the office on Coruscant and Lonnie's meant to be overseeing it with Dead Result assistant as well.

[01:35:44] And then when Partagas tells about this, he goes, I would be honored. So Partagas goes, honored? I think you should calibrate your enthusiasm. Partagas had so many great... Why did I say that? Yeah. So many good lines. He was in peak Partagas this time round. And yes, James, they... Instead of Cassian, they bring in Val and Sinter. Oh, my God. Yeah, bring in the B team. Not the A team.

[01:36:13] Bring in the B team. And I'm sorry. And the minute that we, you know, that Sinter suddenly has a heart again and makes up with Vel and Vel's all teary. I'm like, one of you is definitely dying. There's no way on earth you're going to do that scene and get out of this alive. I didn't see one of their deaths coming. And I'm embarrassed to say, Jason, after years of listening to the Walking Dead cast, this

[01:36:39] is a classic Walking Dead setup when you have an episode focusing on their relationships and how nice they are. You might as well put a red security shirt on. And meanwhile, we've got the clay of the assistant trying to get this listening device out. And I thought that was actually a more exciting scene than the heist. Yes, so did I.

[01:37:06] Let's watch them unload some polystyrene curls in the rain. Yeah, but I loved how they did the classic planning scene with a model made of everyday objects. Brilliant, yes. This teacup over here represents the main scene. Can I just say, when they were actually doing the heist, I'm sorry to pick fault with this, and I love the fact they get the first container out, they open it, they check it's full of grenades, go, yep, that's great, close it, and then just sling it down.

[01:37:36] Shoot the shoot. I'm like, holy shit. Oh, yeah, nitrous glycerin. Lovely. Chuck it down the pipe. That'll be fine. So wait, were they successful? They were, right? Yeah, they got away with a lot of weapons. But Jason, at a cost. At a cost. Oh, you know, it's fine. Just kidding. So now they're going to just reveal it to the townsfolk, I guess, huh? Well, I guess they get in trouble and there's some repercussions,

[01:38:06] but they won't be too serious. But their plan is to say, look, we intercepted the shipment and now we know that they're built. Well, I guess. No, you're right. That's the other point of the raid. Yeah, rouse up rebellion. Was to find out that it's not just an annex and that they're building, but it is an armory because they are shipping arms to the armory. You're right, Jason. But that was the whole argument that Cassian had when he spoke to them

[01:38:35] and that's why he thought it would never work. He said it's not the pulling off of the plan. It's the escaping afterwards. And he said, and you don't plan to escape. Not only do you not plan to escape, but you plan to broadcast what you've done. It's like you're insane. There will be repercussions. But it's like they're trying to rouse rebellion. I'm sorry.

[01:39:01] Your own history tells you Tarkin landed a ship on 500 of you. If you nick his guns, it's not going to go well. They should be space ostriches then. Yeah. A bunch of space ostriches sticking your head in the sand. Really, Cassian said, you're just going to tell everyone what you did. They're going to crush you. And they said they had someone on the inside. And he's like, they feed misinformation.

[01:39:30] And he was pretty much right about everything he said. That's what I liked about it, the fact that Cassian did walk away because he smelt a rat. He worked it out. He's like, this is never going to work. They're clearly feeding you information. And he reports that all back to Luthan. And who then basically just almost puts his hands up and goes, yeah, I know. They're basically a massive. But this is the whole thing. We all think we're doing the right thing.

[01:39:59] But who knows what the plan above it is? The overall plan. Yeah. Like, well, what's the end? You know, like the mid people don't know the end game. The lower people certainly don't know the end game. And Cassian says, oh, we can't do it because they're all going to get killed. But of course, Luthan says, well, that's exactly the point. I want them all to get killed. So we can start the rebellion there and expand the war.

[01:40:25] And it's like the US not coming into World War II until Japan attacked. But they were, you know, they were wanting to go. Oh, you remember that, do you? Yeah. It was going on for a few years. Yeah, they were a bit late. Yeah. A bit late from the POM's point of view. I wasn't born yet. Yeah, exactly. That's true. I wasn't born yet. But let's talk about the scene in the gallery because I thought that was kind of, that was a great little scene.

[01:40:54] Well, can we before that, is it as they enter, Mon Mothma bumps into Senator Organa, right? Yes, that's right. Yeah. Played by who's the new guy? Benjamin Bratt. Benjamin Bratt. And what was he in? He's in a few New York cop shows, I believe. He was in what? The only thing I've seen him in that I can remember is Poker Face. Oh, right. Ryan Johnson. Sure, I know that Ryan Johnson. It's really good. Yeah.

[01:41:24] And so when we saw that, I was wondering if, I was expecting maybe we see a young Princess Lear in the party crowd. Did I miss anything? I didn't, did I? No, I didn't see it. We listened to Jack. No. Yeah. There were rumors that she, that they were going to. Anyway, so we have a few weeks to go. So I read that Jimmy Smits, they wanted him, but he just wasn't available. Right. He was on some other film or something. Right. Oh, really? That's interesting.

[01:41:52] He would be getting a bit too old to play a young Jimmy Smits. Yeah. Maybe that's just, yeah, what they said. Yeah. Publicly. Mon Mothma confronted Krennic. Yeah. And, you know, I wish I could, had time to go through it a little bit more, but just confronting him over some event that happened where the Empire systematically executed a group

[01:42:19] of people, according to her point of view, but he said, oh, we were just, they were just inept criminals. And anyway, just seeing her bravely confront him to his face and keep her stance there was pretty cool. And it was just kind of this thing that was happening in the background through a lot of it, which is a great, interesting way to present it. Great sparring match between the two of them. Yeah. Brilliant.

[01:42:43] And, you know, and he uses the classic adage, I mean, I'm paraphrasing here, but one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist, basically. And there's two sides to everything. Yeah. And updated for Star Wars, he says, my rebel is your terrorist. So the mic is stuck at this point and we get more kind of secret conversations and it's a great play of everyone back and forth.

[01:43:11] All the main players are there and it was quite a nice surprise to see Director Krennic there and you've got Mon and Perrin and Luthor and Lonnie and they're all in the same room and they're all undercover and some know something. And so it was really, you know, that was really and or at its best, I thought, this scene. Just Lonnie's face was like when Luthor's assistant, he's like, do you know who's in the room? He's literally crapping himself?

[01:43:41] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he's like, you've got to blow everything. She's like, it will be fine. He's like, ooh. You see the sweat just starting to bead on him while he's told to gently run his fingers over and memorize the backstory of that piece of art, which he did perfectly, obviously. And he survives. But more great detail from the production crew kind of making up all these great artifacts

[01:44:08] from Star Wars history. I think like, you know, the art thing they've done and the Luthor's antique shop. The antique shop has been one of the great characters of this series. The beautiful thing is they can fill that thing with artifacts and because there's been so much world building in the Star Wars universe, they can just pick and choose where they want things to be from. Yeah. Exactly. And the other thing is what's great, it's a store.

[01:44:36] So they can switch it out week to week. Yeah. They've just got new inventory. Yeah. I'm going to have to send it out to our dear listeners. There was another close-up shot of some long-dow clubs. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I wonder what that was about because they did a panning shot of him coming from behind. That's when Cassian comes to the door, isn't it? I think in the shop. And to hold on those claws for that long, they must have some significance somewhere. Yeah. I would have thought.

[01:45:06] Yeah. They were because we did get an answer to the tusk mask from last week. Thanks to one of our listeners, which is great. We'll get to that later. Basically, let's go to the actual heist. So they're scoping it out and we've got a hooded Cyril with his binoculars looking down from above somewhere. And they're waiting for the timing of the trucks as they go past, not looking suspicious at all.

[01:45:36] And finally, the right truck is on its way. And they load the EMP mines across the road and it comes past. And instead of a violent explosion, we get an electrical buzz. I thought it was smart. I like that. Because it's more silent, isn't it? And less obvious. But it kind of shorts out the anti-grav of the vehicle and it just plows into the street again.

[01:46:04] And then Sinta does some Spider-Man moves and drops another one to incapacitate the driver. And they open up and they start unloading the crates. They seem quite lightweight. Yes. Yes. But I did think it was quite a good plan to have like these slidey stairs to throw them down and have the truck waiting in another area. And I thought the plan was quite solid.

[01:46:31] But again, we go back to the idea of no one's allowed any blasters. They all get blamed for having them. But surely you check before you head out one more time. No one's got any weapons, right? We might actually have to pat you down. But no, for then this story will not happen. And did anyone get upset or feel anything when Sinta actually got taken out? Meh.

[01:46:57] I was asking ChatGPT some questions because I was taking notes. And about 10 minutes before we got to that scene, I just saw, and tragically Sinta, and I averted my eyes, but it was too late. So I was spoiled on it. But even if I hadn't, it just was sort of lame that she got shot by accident. By accident. I don't know.

[01:47:23] There was some power to the scene after that where the other woman, I always forget her name, was yelling at the guy, Val. Yeah. Yeah. But eh. Yeah, that was, yeah, they're getting a good dressing down. But again, it was the B team. And even though it was, it was very well organized, even though they had a good plan and the organization was good, the execution was just terrible, I thought.

[01:47:53] Well, thank God the Empire wanted them to do it because otherwise they would storm through. That's a good point. They've been on them. And it's like, they're like, what's the, when they were running through it, when in the planning stage, didn't they say they had eight minutes or something? Yeah. Did they actually say minutes as well? Didn't say cycles? Yeah. Oh, that's true. They said minutes, right? That's true. Yeah. Oh, and back to your real word. Pick up. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I think they said minutes. Anyway. Yeah.

[01:48:22] Was there another thing you noticed from the modern vote? Well, yeah, just the language, like, I just remember somebody mentioned, oh, that pissed him off or something. Right. Again, it's slang, isn't it? Yeah. And it wasn't so bad this week, this time, I thought. But what I found, yeah, sorry. Go on. No, it wasn't as bad. No, I'm trying to remember. I think that, oh, that was in the ISB, wasn't it? But it's funny.

[01:48:50] It was like, oh, what's pissed her off or whatever. But then there was a reference to as if some space creature had chewed through something. So I thought it was kind of strange, like, in one sentence, you're using English sort of swear slang. And then the next moment, you're referencing an alien creature eating you or something. Whatever it was. Sorry, I jumped back there anyway. But yeah, but I do think that when they're planning the heist, they talked to it in minutes rather than cycles or something, I think. But anyway.

[01:49:20] Well, so they do get away with a truckload of weapons. And Val does give this guy who is weeping inconsolably and kind of in a very – it wasn't quite convincing his crying as he's blubbering away. But he does get a good dressing down.

[01:49:43] But I thought that there was a lapse in leadership on this one because people did still have guns. But it was seen that it was his mistake. And he didn't even set it to stun. No, he did not. He did not. But also that was – it was such a kind of TV show thing where this random guy happens along and he says, what's going on here? And then they struggle.

[01:50:12] And I thought that this guy would get shot or would raise the alarm or something like that. But of course – and I couldn't even tell from the way it was blocked whether she was even in the line of fire. But she just – Yeah. Yeah. Like she just happened to be coming across frame or something. Yeah. It was like the JFK bullet, I think. It just sought her out. And it went up and turned left and – yeah.

[01:50:41] But so anyway, they're off and the heist was a moderate success for both the Empire and for the rebels. Everybody wins, yeah. Yeah, everybody wins. You get a prize. You get a prize. And then we get to the final scene of Bix going into Dr. Gorman's office in this high security office. She's able to just wander in under the cover of the hood.

[01:51:12] Yes, okay. Well, Lonnie has been told that Dr. Ghorst is now heading up. Ah. And him and the other guy have been asked to oversee that. Okay. Right? Right? So I'm going with Lonnie. Got him access. Yep. That's – I will go for that. But it still seems in such a well-populated series with extras and everything, there's just no one there.

[01:51:40] But it was, again, going back to that detail, James, and thank you, it was a new building and a new setup. So maybe it was that everything hadn't been set up yet because there was only one guard on the way out. But it was very satisfying. It was very – I mean, I love Dr. Ghorst's beautiful takeout dessert he had. It was very nice. Very special space cake there. Yeah.

[01:52:10] But I'm also going to say, after Luthor warned Bix about the space opiate she's taken, she'd made an incredible recovery. Yeah. Didn't she? She's like razor sharp, smoking hot, and she can shoot anyone. It's amazing. I loved how we didn't get a lead up to it. Yeah.

[01:52:32] And so Andor comes back from Gorman, and I was glad to see that he did come back and see her again. Because when they parted, I thought maybe that would be the last time they saw each other. And then it was really cute when he turned his sort of fashion designer cover into this sexy role play. That was like a counterpoint to the Dead Dress Cyril thing, but equally hot and really cute. And they have such great chemistry these two.

[01:53:02] I mean, that's one of the things I like about the show. It's a theme here for Jason. But it is more – The chemistry between the actors, you know? Yeah. It is more relationship-y this season. But it's sparing, I mean, but yeah, yeah. I also think the other thing we have to remember is, right, there's a year jump between each of these. I also think we have to try and think about this.

[01:53:28] The three episodes we watch, I reckon they happen – it's a condensing of things that happen within that year. Does that make sense? You know, it's not like we jump a year and then we have two days' worth of action and then we jump. Because I'm just thinking – These three seem like they were all pretty close. Yeah. I'm just thinking about the fact that Dr. Gorse now has this office which was only mentioned like maybe 20 minutes ago in the show. Right.

[01:53:55] And Bix could barely focus because she's so whacked out of her brain. And then she's back. So, I figured there might have been a little bit of a – I feel like both these first two arcs was there. It's a year jump and then we witness about two or three weeks of story. Yeah. Yeah. So, then he gets pissed that Luthan tried to recruit her for something when he was away.

[01:54:21] And then they just cut right to this scene where she goes and gets her revenge from this guy by putting the same device on him which was great. Yeah. Great. And then, you know, I wondered if she was doing it by herself. But then you see Andor joins her. Yeah. And he's in on it too. And then that just real stylish thing where they blow it up as they're walking away. And it was very, very satisfying. The Michael Bay finish. Yeah. Yeah. I liked it.

[01:54:50] And the guy didn't even remember her. And I'm like, okay, now – and I'm like, well, now, all right. For me, I'd like – I sat through these three episodes and it's great and it's all this world building and there's this tension and all of this. And then that goes off and it's like literally the fuse is – it's like, you know, Mission Impossible. The fuse is now. Yeah. I'm like, all right, now I'm ready for next week. Yeah. But we had this last season and like Tony Gilmore would do this. And then the next week he'd be like, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. Dialogue. Oh, it's a year later.

[01:55:20] Cool. More dialogue. Oh, yeah. I'm a grown-up. Shit. Oh, well. Okay. But I'm hoping that we are now on the up. Jason. So he blows the guy up and – they both did, I guess. And I wondered if this was supposed to be like, this is our solution to you having this PTSD, you know, being on this drug.

[01:55:48] Let's give you some closure around it and maybe we can be through with it. You know, I wonder if that's what they're going for and I wonder if it'll work. I hope so. Well, I think that you're right that they do want to finish that storyline for Bix because I think the next time we see her she'll be a full-fledged rebel because she actually – and I saw an interview with her.

[01:56:09] She's with the actress and she says, yeah, Bix is now back in her boots and the Andor hooded coat and she's feeling really badass and she's back now basically is how the actress put it. So I think you're right, Jason. This is an end to the struggles of Bix and I hope so because she's been one of the – She's been through a lot.

[01:56:32] I have to say that the one thing we didn't mention there which is great is you mentioned that great – the coat, she walks away and there's the one imperial security guard. You shouldn't be here. And she takes a leaf out of her boyfriend's book. Yeah, exactly. Just wallop. Just one shot blaster. Pow. Down. Just like no messing. Just like – Pretty badass. Yeah, it was good. All right, and that brings us to the end of arc number two.

[01:56:59] And I really hope that we kick off with the opening scene is of Cassian meeting K2SO next week because I feel that once that kicks in – once K2SO is in, I feel like we're at the top of the roller coaster hill and it's going to be downhill for the rest of it because I feel there's been a lot of climbing. And, you know, I enjoy the anticipation of the climb of the roller coaster. Don't get me wrong.

[01:57:27] Okay, so does anyone have any notes or anything else they'd like to add? Yeah, I had a couple things. One is just that this show has a lot of charming, smaller moments. And I think unlike – well, I was going to say unlike a lot of sci-fi, but I'll just say really well for sci-fi. The show knows how to fill in those with something charming. So, like – and great dialogue that makes people sound like real human beings. Yeah.

[01:57:57] Like when Andor's cooking dinner and as they're eating, Bic says, it's good. And she goes – or he goes, you sound surprised. And she goes, you're better than I am. And he goes, oh, no, no, no, I'm not going to fall for that one. It's just like a lot said there, you know. Yeah, that's a very – I think James falls for that, don't you, James? It's like, oh, no, you're a much better cook than I am. Yes, yes.

[01:58:21] When the two ISB underlings, Lonnie or whatever, the guy and his buddy are hanging out at this – Oh, that's right. – the investiture party and the superior officer season. I come all the time. How did you two get in here? We come every year. And then, you know, a party guest had something and tossed us the invites. So what are we drinking? Cali coolers and they're amazing. This is my third one. Yeah. That's really funny.

[01:58:50] And then I like that the guards that when Cyril had to go back in and get his, quote, notes, they were watching pod races on their minds. Oh, yes. Yes. That's right. That was good. That was really good. Just stuff like that. I mean, I could pull out 100 more of those, but those are just a few that I wrote down. And it doesn't feel like filler. It really adds to things. And they're really good little moments, aren't they? Yeah. Yeah.

[01:59:15] So on that note, how do we feel about Good Morning Coruscant, the daytime TV show? Oh, yeah. I don't know. A bit much. A bit like the Padres announcers. Yeah. It did feel a little bit like the view, I think. Yeah. I mean, that's what they were going for, obviously. Yeah. And it did jar a little bit, I thought. But I guess we have to – but I don't think the first season had a lot of that.

[01:59:43] And this one does feel – it's just a creative decision, which I guess the creators would think we find amusing. And it is. I don't mind this. The purists like me are few and far between, it seems. It feels like someone wanting pure Star Wars is a smaller and smaller part of the audience.

[02:00:11] But also, you're now putting together, rather than a two-hour movie, it's like 12 hours or something. It's got to fill out a space. You can do a passing shot across a TV screen for like three seconds to reference, you know, Star Wars popular culture. I think it was okay. I thought it was – A little dose of humor, I guess.

[02:00:32] It's just like, you know, in our world, to get to that, it just feels very particular to our culture. Yeah. And we're supposed to be looking at these exotic cultures from another galaxy and then they have the exact same thing. It's like, oh, that just feels like – it takes me out of it a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Like, if that wasn't in there, we would have lost nothing, you know. And it goes back to –

[02:01:02] It was supposed to be, I guess, expositional about this invest at your party and how it was a big deal. Yes. I guess, right? I don't know. Yeah, it was. It had its point, but the delivery – it's like in last week, that infomercial for Gorman, which was like the 50s. That was just so real world and, you know, the Saatchi and Saatchi guys doing their delivery. It does kind of take you out of it.

[02:01:30] But it is – that's a decision. And I think in the end, I don't know, it's just – it's that meta kind of story writing. It's the reference, reference, reference. But it's almost like they're putting a little bit of the original Star Wars Christmas special in every episode. Oh, what was his – what was the grandfather Wookiee called? Gummy or something or something like that? The toothless Wookiee?

[02:02:02] God, my God. Can I do one more? Yeah, please. I have more notes and stuff. Yeah, go ahead. Is that time now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So just some – a little bit of real world stuff. Like there's the way that they have this storyline of let's mine this planet of resources to use – I think it's for the Death Star, right? They're going to use it in the lens or something. But they have to just steamroll over these people to do it.

[02:02:26] And it reminds me of just this debate I've been hearing lately about how – well, I don't know if it's debate, but just that dictatorships can get things done sometimes that liberal democracies can't because they don't have to get anyone's permission. They don't have to worry about how many people they're hurting. And like China made a Tesla factory in about 10 months or something. Yeah. It took like years to build that here.

[02:02:57] But the problem with that is you hurt a lot of people. And what's interesting about this is they want to control this planet Gorman to get this mineral to help create the Death Star, which is a huge undertaking. But then you think about it. The purpose of the Death Star is to be able to control people through fear and intimidation. So basically they're terrorizing the people of Gorman so that they can more effectively terrorize more people. It's all about just having more and more power and control.

[02:03:26] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but there has been a bit of some strange admiration of the Chinese model of how they get things done. Yeah. Well, there's this guy, Ezra Klein, who's a New York Times colonist and podcaster, and I think he's brilliant. Yeah. And he has a new book called Abundance. And I haven't read it, but I've heard him talk about it on podcasts.

[02:03:49] And he's a liberal Democrat, but he feels like there's too many regulations, so it becomes impossible to do big things. He always talks about we've been trying to build this bullet train from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Oh, my God. That's right. And it was going to cost like a billion dollars, but the cost has ballooned to 10 times what it was, and the distance has become like 10 times shorter than it was going to be. And they still can't do it, you know?

[02:04:17] And he's like, yeah, like, you got to find a middle ground. Yeah, it seems as if it's just like a lot of money laundering, you know? Yeah. And he's like, yeah, you know, it's just like a lot of money laundering.

[02:04:56] Yeah. The government using protests as a pretext for exerting more power. Or Mon Mata, like some politicians trying in vain to gather votes to protect human rights, but others are afraid to join in and stand up to power. There's so much that just reflects on situations and politics in the real world. And as we said at the beginning of the podcast, Star Wars has always been about that. Yeah. You know, it's the eternal struggle. Yeah.

[02:05:25] But that's why it works so well. And there's so many other shows coming out that are in response to anxieties about authoritarianism. Like there's Handmaid's Tale. Handmaid's Tale, yeah. Squid Game is a little bit like that. That silo, you know, those are just ones that podcast covers. And James has got me into Severance, which I've really been enjoying. That's another authoritarian one. That's been great.

[02:05:54] I'm still halfway through season two. No spoilers, please. Yeah. We tried to start a podcast about that, but it never came together because that would be a great show to podcast on. Yeah. I can't believe everyone died at the end, though. That was too bad. Just kidding. Yeah. Totally. Well, maybe this is an off-season podcast. Another catch-up one. Could be, yeah. Ready for season three. And then I had just some random notes. Please.

[02:06:24] So it opens with one year later, as did the first episode. But then they just have BBY3. And I love that they just put BBY3 because all us geeks know exactly what that means. Exactly. In the original Star Wars, and I think all of them, you can kind of see a blurriness below Luke's land speeder.

[02:06:47] And I always thought, and I still do think that part of the reason why it looked like that was just the limitations of the special effects. But when you go to Gorman, you see a scooter that's like a scooter version of a land speeder. You know, it's a repulsor lift craft. And it looks exactly the same way underneath. Yeah. And I think my suspicion is that they didn't mean for it to look exactly like that. But now they just say it's a heat shimmer.

[02:07:16] But maybe you're right. Maybe it was always intentional. Well, no. I think originally, like what you're saying, they've taken kind of difficulties in production and turned it into canon.

[02:07:27] You know, they've taken, because the original land speeder that Luke had, basically they just attached a mirror on a 45 degree angle on the side of it as they're driving along in the, when it was driving sideways. And obviously had wheels beneath it, but they just had a mirror off the side that reflected the ground.

[02:07:53] And so that was all a bit blurry, but then they're like, well, why does it look like that way? And it's just obviously because there's some heat involved and all of that sort of thing, you know. Or energy or something. Energy, yeah. Yeah. And then last note is just that with all these one year time jumps, I think Andor's becoming a more and more skilled rebel spy. You know, like when he goes to Gorman, he has a feel for what will jive and what won't. And, you know, he knows people are following him and everything.

[02:08:23] And so I think there's room for a lot of his adventures in between these years to be covered in books and comics and things. That's interesting, yeah. Spin-offs, spin-offs. It's still kind of is mad that they've based a whole series around Andor, who wasn't exactly the most charismatic of characters. But I guess he's the story through, the vehicle through this story is told rather than the actual protagonist, you know.

[02:08:53] I mean, when they said that, I was like, well, I'd rather have a story about, is it Jin Erso, the girl from Rogue One? But she's, it wouldn't make sense. And I was like, because she wasn't involved with it before that movie. But I'm like, I don't really care about this guy. He doesn't have that much charisma. But then it turned out that it's a freaking great show. Yeah. So I'm glad they did. And he's a good main character. No, he's been great. Yeah, no, he's been really good.

[02:09:21] And I do look forward to, I am really looking forward to it because I know there's stuff to come. I know they're going to finish this well. And maybe, you know, how do you think it would have gone if they did do it week to week? I would have preferred that. Yeah, I think so too.

[02:09:42] Because there was so much in this, you know, that to be broken down and to be absorbed that it all, it ended up being, when you watch it, it ends up being like a two hour and 15 minute movie. Even when you take out all the credits and everything. So it's super long. But I think it would have been better to go week to week. But I think it's also, you know, the problem with weekly numbers.

[02:10:11] Because I don't think, even with the massive budget on this, I don't think they're getting big viewing numbers. I mean, two million. But, you know, that's not a lot these days. So maybe they're going to try and get their weekly minutes up. But I don't know. I really enjoy the show. And I remember when it first came up, it was like, you know, people, no, we weren't really that interested in it. And I'm like, I think this will be really good.

[02:10:40] So when Jason allowed us to get involved, which has been great fun. Glad you did. Yeah. Thank you, Jason. Thank you, guys. All right. So let's take a little break. Any more notes, Jason? Did you have anything else before we move on? That's it. Nope. Nope. Nope. Okay. So let's take a break. And we'll be right back with your feedback.

[02:11:13] All right. And we are back with your feedback. And thank you again, everyone, for all your kind words and the feedback for the show really is an important part. All right. Let's get going. Who wants to go first? I'll go first. Sarah Warner. Just finished all three episodes. So glad to have this show back again.

[02:11:38] A little not what I anticipated as far as how much time was spent in certain places. And Rock, Paper, Scissors, the Star Wars edition. Oh, yeah. We didn't talk about that. God, yeah. Perhaps there was something else than Lost Boys. I love the Lost Boys reference as well. Could have done to resolve the differences. In any case, glad to have Andor back and trusting the great minds behind the show to give us lots more quality Star Wars. Can't wait to hear you guys discuss. P.S. Cyril got the girl. LOL.

[02:12:08] I don't know. I think the girl got Cyril. Yeah, that's right. And keeps him in a cage. I mean, he went after it. Yeah, but, you know, she played hard to get. Yeah, and he swung for it and he succeeded. All his dreams came well above his weight. All right. So I'll read the one from Chris as it praises us greatly.

[02:12:36] And I just like to read this several times. All right. From Chris Lebeau. Start the rebel, triumphant marchers. Our favorite characters are back. And by that I mean, of course, James and Jonathan. Great to hear you two again. Thanks, Chris. And we'll just stop there. And that's the end of our podcast, people. I enjoyed watching these first three episodes of Andor. However, I did so with a polite, practiced Mon Mothma smile that switched to a worried,

[02:13:04] distracted grimace when it was over. Like Mothma, I then had to take a few shots and dance it all away. Dance to forget. Dance to forget. There are always some good parts in whatever Star Wars show we are being given. For me, one highlight was casual dead dredger and a houseboy boyfriend, Cyril. Ah, mother's love. Cyril curled up in a fetal position on that perfectly made bed was a highlight. I want some more of them.

[02:13:32] I imagine a wild Friday night in Coruscant for those two is her doing a white-gloved inspection of the condo, then Cyril happily correcting, cleaning everything he missed. I can't wait for him to get caught having his friend Sergeant Moss go for a play date. Ah, that would be a great addition. Hello, madam. It was sad to lose Brasso.

[02:13:58] It would have been better if the wheat-filled Romeo lover boy was taken out by a lucky stormtrooper laser blast. Brasso was a good character that could have been a nice concert in the series that then dies heroically at some point. Instead, he gets it in the back running away. I vote that all scripts going forward get reviewed by Jonathan and James. I agree, I agree.

[02:14:22] If Gilmore is cooking a three-course meal, I guess this was the appetizer and sometimes the appetizers are forgettable once the main course arrives. Bring on the spiked blue milk and some roasted bantha. Here is how many Kennedy and others stay out of the kitchen. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the next episode. Can't wait to hear the podcast. Thanks and may the force be with you, Chris. And may the force be with you as well. Oh, and he has a little PS.

[02:14:52] I think the mask in the antique shop was the one Plo Kloon wore. And he is correct after a little bit of research. Master Jedi Plo Kloon. Was like it or it was it? Sorry? It was it or it was like it? Yes, it must have. Oh, was it? Yes. So maybe that's a generic mask that that species wears, but it was one that Plo Kloon has worn in the past for sure. Upon research. Research.

[02:15:23] All right. Alex Baelish wrote in saying, loving the new season, love all the deep dive with this story. That's good. But I'm afraid you're going to read a new one. Thank you, Alex. But Jason gets another one, I think. That was too short. Yeah. Terry from Huntington Beach, California. The Colonies says, in the first scene when Cassian wasted those troopers with the TIE fighter blasters, I thought, yes, this is what we want.

[02:15:52] Those of us who grew up watching the movies want a proper Star Wars drama. No goofy characters. No kid stuff. Even a break from the magic using wizard Jedis is a nice change. I was very happy with the first three episodes. However, it distresses me that the evil Empire Disney is pulling the plug on this great series after this season. And the showrunner is good and he will make a good conclusion for us. But I would have liked him to finish the story with the multiple seasons he wanted. Down with the Empire Disney. Long live the Republic.

[02:16:22] I mean, from what I understood, it was Diego Luna who didn't want to do more than two seasons. That's what I read. But I don't know if that's true. Because it does feel a little bit squashed in. I think they were hoping to do five seasons with each one of these four arcs being an entire season. So it does feel a bit of that. And with the budget, I'm not actually surprised.

[02:16:49] But just a quick aside that I remember that's been spoke about. Did anyone watch Rebel Moon? I couldn't. I watched the first five minutes. Yeah. And I just... What's his name again? The guy that... Zack Snyder. Yeah, Zack Snyder. And it is actually shot for shot in some parts.

[02:17:16] So he must be furious that his idea for the Star Wars movie has been taken and redone by everyone else. Because it is quite extraordinary how close it is in some ways on the weak planet. Oh, really? Yeah. He may well be suing. But that's it. I don't think he will. No. I mean... One wouldn't. But they're very close. I mean, to be fair, I mean, the weak planet and Tatooine. Yeah. But...

[02:17:46] That's what I thought. I thought it was more of Tatooine. And or rehashes Tatooine. Anyway, was... Like... Rebel Moon rehashed Tatooine. Yes. I just couldn't get through it. I'm sorry. No. I didn't watch it either. Anyway. Sorry, Zack. Sorry. Anyway. John Parks. James and Jonathan. I, too, am just recovering from the carbonite sickness as I watched the first arc. But my reactions were... One. So glad we're back. Two. First three episodes.

[02:18:14] We're absolutely fine. Disney touches aside. All right. Three. Hated the Gorman movie. Was that really supposed to be funny? Yeah. I think we're all in agreeance on that one. So... And four. Pacing was a bit slow on the weak planet, stranded rebels and wedding dancing. I mean... Yeah. I mean... Yeah. The pacing can go up and down, can't it? All right. Very sad about Taye Coleman's turn of events. I was hoping he was a stand-up guy that Mon could have in her life.

[02:18:43] But I guess that's the point. Yeah. The rebellion is not about easy choices. I think they should have left a little foreshadowing about his character flaws in season one. I can't remember. Did they go into his background? I mean... It was implied that him and Mon were... Were they lovers or just close friends? They were just close friends and paranoid wound her up.

[02:19:11] But this is the thing about it as well is that in season one, it all seems like fun and games and everything. But now that it's getting serious, it's not just a kind of a little naughtiness on the side. This is actual life and death that's happening. And, you know... But that's perhaps how people get recruited by... In all wars of seeing the kind of the glory of it.

[02:19:40] But the reality soon catches up to you. Is that your experience, Jonathan? In my humble experience, yes. We don't talk about Jonathan's time in the CIA. Anyway, moving on. The only thing better than enjoying Andor season two is to enjoy it with such wonderful team of podcasters. Keep it up. You will never find the more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Thank you very much. P.S. Almost forgot.

[02:20:08] I cannot hear the audio clip you play of the droids talking when you go to the listener feedback. What are they saying? We need a new clip. This one is too garbled to hear through the phone speaker. May the force be with you. Well, it is not two droids talking, but it is the sound of the probe droid sending a message. So, I thought it was appropriate for the section. Because we're sending messages. Exactly. It's the probe droid from... Yeah, exactly.

[02:20:41] The CD will be out soon. Oh, God. All right. Is that my turn? Yeah. Okay. Matt King. At times, watching Andor compared to some other Star Wars titles is like watching a worthy Oscar-nominated film rather than a blockbuster. You can appreciate and enjoy both, but they have very different ways of conveying their stories.

[02:21:06] Sadly, Sinter was taken out by friendly fire by an immature kid and roundly chastised by Bell in the botched transport house. Cyril was able to lure the activists into recruiting him and then provide the transport information as needed as part of the Buka plan. But he doesn't realise that he is a pawn in Deirdre's larger game plan, possibly to give the Imperius a reason to justify increasing their presence on Gorman.

[02:21:32] That end scene with Bix getting revenge on Dr. Gorse by using his torch advice on him was fantastic ending to the episode, just after Claire had managed to remove the bug that she planted in Scoldens and the Nick of Time. A great episode we saw in his group planning a raid and then outing a traitor in shocking style. We saw a selection of aliens across these episodes, more noticeable than in previous ones, but not in a jarring way. I know this has been a criticism of the show before.

[02:22:02] The joy of watching Andor over The Last of Us or Games of Thrones is that while we know the fixed end point of getting to Rogue One, we don't know how we get there. Yes, there are no book readers in this one. And we don't have spoilers from which in the game or the books. Or complaints because it doesn't match the source. This is the source and it is unknown. I will also say it felt much faster paced than last week, just as it did in season one. That's a great point. Yeah, it's new material.

[02:22:32] A great synopsis there from Matt there. I'm just reading back through the bit about Cyril. Yeah, I wonder if Deirdre's larger plan is Cyril gets assassinated or... I just wonder because he's now quite a high-ranking imperial figurehead. They might conveniently martyr him off. Well, I think... I think her larger plan is that he continues to turn off the lights. Yes. Many more times.

[02:23:03] I tell you, did you have something? He turns his lights off. All right. Faye Hodge says, favorite scene for me is Cyril fanboying over Partagaz. Then when it's just him and Deirdre Cyril says, will it ruin everything if I tell you this is the best day of my life? Dear, I'm happy if you're happy, chef's kiss. I mean, I think her answer to that was yes, but she gave me the courtesy of not actually saying it out loud. Yeah. I thought she looked a little devastated, to be honest.

[02:23:32] Just that look of disappointment. I get that all the time. Everything's under control. Situation normal. That's fanboys. That's what we've got to deal with. Yeah. All right. Well, let's come back with the Star Wars moment of the week. All right. We are back. And let's go to Jason for his Star Wars moment of the week. I mean, it was when those X-Wings took off. Yeah.

[02:24:02] Mine as well, Jackson. That was mine as well. Well, there we are. We're consistent. Nothing else. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Go on. Any other details to add? That was it? I mean, I was just going to say that. Just the way they drop in and out of hyperspace. Yeah. Yeah. The formation of the X-Wings around, like the heavier carrier. When they come in and then they... There's no other sci-fi IP that does it that well.

[02:24:32] No. This might be my thing every week, Star Wars moment of the week, is spaceships jumping into hyperspace. Yeah. But this time they actually went POV, which was great. And we actually saw the stream of stars and then what I like to call the hyperspace pipeline or the funnel where you're inside and you see everything. You're inside this pipeline. It was... Yes. That did give me some Star Wars chills.

[02:24:56] And it's so childish because I remember seeing the first one in the Millennium Falcon, you know, as a kid when he reaches forward to grab the three sticks and go into hyperspace. It's been one of the consistently satisfying things from Star Wars. Mm-hmm. One thing I noticed... Who was it?

[02:25:21] I think it was Luthen because in, you know, the Millennium Falcon, it always took Han a while for the computer to patch in the coordinates. Yeah. But I think Luthen maybe just has better tech because his... Yeah. It was just like two seconds. Or it's... I think what it is, it's a known route and a direct jump to Coruscant. That was where he was trying... When they were escaping, they had to kind of plan one to... Plotting... All around.

[02:25:51] Because they left quite quickly. You know, it's the equivalent of your home in your ways, I guess. I knew you could do that. I knew that was good. Home and work. Yeah. All right. So, and then I will head to go to my Star Wars meter. Score out of five. How Star Wars-y was this episode? How satisfying was it? Let's go back to Jason, our guest. Star Wars.

[02:26:19] What would you give it out of five for this one? On the Star Wars meter? Yeah. Maybe. I mean, that's such a hard question now because what the heck is Star Wars? But if you're comparing it to the OG trilogy... How Star Wars-y was it? Yeah. I mean, I would give it maybe a three. Yeah. Because, I mean, the visuals are so Star Wars-y.

[02:26:43] But, and also just the feeling of being against the Empire. That's the Star Wars-iest thing as you can get. But it's so different in so many ways, too. So, I'll go right in the middle. All right. James? I'm going down the middle as well. I'm going three. I'm going to reference back to the comments from Matt King. Like, you've got Star Wars-y, which can be like, you know, jumping into higher space, space battles, pew, pew, pew, you know, Jedi's and all the rest of it.

[02:27:13] Or you can have a worthy Oscar-nominated film that's like deep in dialogue and a little bit more serious. And I think Andor is trying to bridge that gap. It's obviously set in the Star Wars world, but it is doing the smarter grown-up thing. So, like, as a show overall, I would probably give it four and a half to five. As a Star Wars meter, I would say three. Yeah. Same. I'm with you on that one as well, boys.

[02:27:39] Because the, although, you know, I love going to planets a long time ago and far, far away. And this just felt like another visit to Paris. So, I thought, you know. Space Paris. Yeah. So, mix it. Maybe Paris meets China or something like that. Have a combination, but this was a direct download from Paris. So, I will give that a three as well. But we do look forward to next week.

[02:28:06] There is still time to make this the greatest series, Star Wars series of all time. I have to say that every time you finish an episode of any of the Andors, you're left wanting and hoping for more from the next one. And not in a bad way. It's just like, oh, I really like this, but I wanted so much more from it. Well, to be honest, if I didn't, wasn't listening to a lot of the other feedback on it and people saying, wait, it's going to be great. I would be just like, you know, is this season in trouble?

[02:28:35] Is it not going anywhere? But I keep hearing that things are going to get great. And there was always a plan for it to get closer and closer to Rogue One. Because I would say the Star Wars meter in Rogue One was a five. That was some of the greatest Star Wars since the original trilogy, even better than the prequels at times, I thought.

[02:29:01] I would give it a four and a half or so, maybe a four, because there's something very unique to that movie that's different to me than all the other Star Wars movies. You know? Yeah. But it's great. I love that. Yeah. I mean, that space battle was one of the most satisfying ones, especially when the shield gets cut off. I think, Jason, you did a podcast on it as well.

[02:29:28] So there are two Rogue One podcasts to listen to on the Star Wars TV cast if you would like to check it out. What Jonathan is saying is we're not going to spend another hour going over it now. Don't worry. We're wrapping up. This is as long as this. And James is right. Well, folks, that is our show. And thanks for having us. And thank you, Jason. And James and I will be back next week for arc three of Andor Season 2.

[02:29:58] And send in your feedback on the Podcastica Facebook group or send it to talk at podcastica.com. And you can also leave a voicemail there. We need some more voicemails. Yeah, voicemail would be great. But yes, come and join all your favorite hosts in the comments at the Facebook page and post your own content there and be part of the community. And thank you to the 966 members that have already joined. We'd love to hit the thousand marks. So if you haven't joined, please do.

[02:30:27] And Jason, give us what have you been working on? I know you're in the middle of The Last of Us on the cast of us. So how's that going? Love it, Ian. Yeah. So good. Yeah. Yeah, we're covering that. So much fun. And also Handmaid's Tale, which is basically just like Andor. Pretty much. Not exactly. Well, there's some space battles in the Handmaid's Tale.

[02:30:58] Yeah. More than in Andor. More than in Andor. And don't forget the Patreon. Join up. You'll get ad-free versions of all the podcasts and there's a special Facebook group for the Patreon people. And really, you know, Jason does a lot of hard work on this. And how many podcast channels do you reckon you've got at the moment? How many podcasts, like, have I done? No, no. Like, the channels.

[02:31:27] There seems to be about, you know, you've got the Star Wars TV cast, the Handmaid's Tale one, the White Lotus one. There's like 25 or something like that. Yeah. If you go to podcastica.com, yeah. Yeah. So that's been... Yeah. It's been going great. Don't forget to rate and review the show and tell your friends about Star Wars TV cast. Yes. Scroll down and give the show some love. We have thousands of listeners, but the more the merrier.

[02:31:55] And it's great to think of you all out there in podcast land. Whether you're tending your garden on a plane or having a coffee, wherever you are, I'm glad you joined us. And let me just interrupt here before you get to the end and say that thank you guys for having me on. And also, I think I probably said this when I came home before, but I've gotten so many positive comments about you guys and this podcast. And it's just a real hit for the people who listen.

[02:32:26] So I appreciate you guys doing it. Thank you so much. Thanks, Chase. That's really nice. That's my mom. I keep telling her to call you. Thanks, Mom. Well, we've been loving doing it, as you can probably tell. And we'll see you next week in a galaxy far, far away. Until then, I'm James. I'm Jason. And I'm Jonathan. May the force be with you.

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