'Andor' Episode 12: "Rix Road" Recap and Review
A gathering explodes under the pressure of Imperial Rule and rebellion spreads into wildfire
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
Andor is war. It is tension, tragedy, and terror. But mostly, it is incredible. Is it the purest form of Star Wars? No. Is it for everybody? No. The series is dark, gritty, brutal and not for kids. There is not a single mention of the force, the Jedi, nor the Sith. There is not a single shred of what made Star Wars “magical”. The awe and spectacle of the franchise has been stripped away and without those crutches one can only focus on the characters and the story. There is nothing necessarily wrong with the spectacle and mysticism of the Force and what it brings to the franchise, but often and mostly recently the Force is leaned on so hard that it overshadows the characters and plot which are the basic elements of storytelling. Andor is closer to HBO’s The Wire than it is to Rise of Skywalker in both tone and quality. This year we saw returns to Wesrteros, Middle Earth, and the Galaxy Far Far Away and among the three, Andor stands out as the least like it’s source material and has benefited the most from it. After eleven excellent episodes the finale acts as the perfect punctuation to the series. The story could end here too, the season completed a very well paced and developed story arc that would be a perfect ending to a one off season, but it won’t be. The series will have one more season, but you wouldn’t guess that, and it is that completeness that makes the finale so satisfying. Watching the series week to week, there was a looming feeling that at one point, the shoe was going to drop. The series was so good it felt like it was going to take a sharp turn and nosedive in quality, but that never came. After this week, there is no doubt that Andor is the best Star Wars property is the last forty-two years.
Our Finale begins in the workshop where Wilmon (Muhannad Bhaier) tirelessly works on a device as a picture of his recently executed father watches over him. In the dead of night, as a thunder storm rages in the distance, Lt. Deedra Meero (Denise Gough) lands on Ferix. In her captive room, Bix Calleen (Adria Arjona) is watched closely by Lt. Meero and the Imperials. Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) gets off work and is approached by the comms operator of Ferix. He tells Brasso that Cassian called and now know about the Funeral. Lt. Meero and the Imperial spy walk amongst the citizens in disguise but are unaware that they are being followed by Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu). On Coruscant, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) and her husband leave a party. She doesn’t seem to be in a great mood so she picks a fight with him and accuses him of gambling. This seems innocent at first but it is clear that it is for the benefit of the Imperial spy working as her driver, no doubt to explain her working relationship thug financer with Davo Sculdun (Richard Dillane). On Ferix, Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) eagerly waits for Cinta to return. When she does, the two take a moment to acknowledge the importance of what they are doing and that these could be the last moments before somthing big happens. On the streets, with no one around, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna)arrives on Ferrix. His first stop was the brick memorializing his adoptive father Clem Andor (Gary Beadle). Next he climbs the wall into Bix’s shop where he finds Pegla (Kieran O’Brien) instead who tells him of her current predicament. In the outskirts of the city, Luthen Rael arrives on Ferrix (Stellan Skarsgård). In the morning, Lt. Meero is informed of the protocols for the funeral. At the ISB headquarters, Lt. Blevin (Ben Bailey Smith) is getting an update on Mon Mothma from the spy he has as her driver when he is called away to the main room to celebrate the win over a Rebel attack as he is told by Luthen’s spy Supervisor Lonni Jung (Robert Emms).
Now morning, Luthen rides into town on a speeder bike. The Imperial Spy continues to watch the house but notices that Brasso is not there. At the shop, Cassian is joined in a secret tunnel by Brasso and the two share a hug. Brasso relays her last message to Cassian, encouraging him to join the rebellion, before giving him the information he has on Bix’s current location. On a public transport, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) is bussed into town in plain clothes. Vel watches the Imperials and is joined by Luthen, he gets an update from her and reiterates the plan to kill Cassian. They are interrupted by the sound of the bell tower ringing through the city. Cassian watches from a spot above the shop as everyone prepares for the start of the funeral. A band starts playing and begins their march through the streets as a crowd gathers behind them. The Imperials gather in the street as a response. As Cassian watches on, he notices Luthen waiting in an alleyway. A traitor informes the Imperial spy that he knows where Cassian is and the spy takes him in. Lt. Meero learns of Cassian’s location and takes a small team to investigate. Brasso escorts B2EMO to the middle of the gathering. Meero and her team find that Cassian is gone, having escaped into the tunnel and towards the hotel holding Bix. The crowd circles in front of the hotel and B2EMO plays a recording of Maarva to the crowd. Cassian makes his way to Bix as Maarva’s speech riles the crowd into a frenzy. The Imperials try to stop it but it is too late, the crowd attacks and surges against the Empire. Cassian finds Bix but she is in rough shape. During the skirmish, Wilmon reaches into his bag out of desperation and pulls out a bomb, which he throws at the hotel, setting off a chain reaction. As the smoke clears the fighting gets more intense, Wilmon is attacked by Stormtroopers but is saved by Brasso who escorts him to saftey. the Imperial spy tries to sneak away but Cinta follows, he confronts her but she puts a knife in his stomach and ends him for good. Cassian fights his way out of the hotel as the fight rages on. In the chaos, Lt. Meero is knocked down and attacked by citizens, one of whom takes her away into a nearby building. She turns to see Syril, he saved her. Luthen watches from afar as the fighting dies down. Vel and Cinta gather their belongings in a hurry and escape. At Pegla’s shipyard, he prepares a ship for Brasso, Wilmon, and B2EMO. They are about to leave when Cassian shows up with Bix. He helps her onto the ship and says his goodbyes, vowing to find them again. The ship takes off and Cassian runs back to the town. On Coruscant, Mon Mothma reluctantly prepares her daughter to meet Davo Sculdun, and his son. After the fighting on Ferrix, Luthen returns to his ship only to find somthing amiss. Cassian is waiting for him. Cassian gives Luthen a choice, kill him, or take him with. Luthen drops the gun and smiles. Our last shot of the season, we see what the prisoners were making on Narkina 5. They were making parts, used to assemble the Death Star.
The match that lit the fires of rebellion in the town was a rousing speech from Maarva Andor played by the great Fiona Shaw. Her performance was as inspiring as it was believable but it wasn’t the only great performance in this episode. Diego Luna of course put in another incredibly nuanced performance and both Stellen Skarsgård and Genevieve O'Reilly put in great work for the little time they were on screen. Kyle Soller as Syril Karn stood out as always. A lot of the heavy lifting was done by the side characters; Joplin Sibtain, Adria Arjona, Varada Sethu, and Faye Marsay all make their presence known in the best ways. But the MVP of the series is Denise Gough’s work as Lt. Deedra Meero. At the beginning of the series, you couldn’t help but root for Lt. Meero to overcome the powers trying to keep her down but as soon as she takes that power she morphs into a horrific force that is absolutely terrifying. She will no doubt be a huge threat next season and now that she has come around to Syril Karn, the two make a terrifyingly unhinged duo. The episode begins so well with shots of people arriving on Ferrix juxtaposed with the building of a literal bomb, not to mention the looming storm approaching the town. This metaphorical visual storytelling is just one example of the quality coming from the production and direction of the series. Since the first episode, the creators took great care in using visuals to elicit an emotional response. From the awe inspiring Eye used to raise the gravitas of the Aldhani job or showing the mind numbing mundanity of the Narkina 5 prison to highlight the desperation and hopelessness of their internment, the large moments felt larger due to this. The series did have ups and downs but the drop in quality was more like a drop in events. Some of the episodes were obviously filler but did so much to set up upcoming events. The bulk of the great character work was even focused into these episodes to make up for the lack of true story progression. The little moments were so impactful that it made the the large moments down right life altering. Going into Season 2 there is still no clear path for Cassian. His partnership with Luthen will obviously play a part and the acquisition and reprogramming of K-2SO could make for a good arc. However, the most obvious story to tell is Mon Mothma’s journey from the Senate halls to underground resistance. She has the ISB breathing down her neck, she has brought in a self-described thug into her circle, and is at odds with Luthen. So much of Mon Mothma’s story has yet to be told and Genevieve O'Reilly has earned the right to tell it. She has turned a small appearance in the prequels into a leading role in a series with her impeccable performance. A guess would be that Mon goes on the run and Cassian and Luthen lead the effort to smuggle her to safety.
There are many reasons as to why this series is so good but it can be argued that it all begins with one: Andor was made for adults. At it’s core, Star Wars is made for kids. The original film was about a teenager forced out of his mundane life into one of adventure, good, evil, and space magic. It was meant to wow impressionable children the world over and it did so, extremely well. But what is often forgotten by the powers that be is that original fans are not kids anymore. Even the fans of the prequel series have grown out of adolescence. When you stop change target audience from Children to Adults there is a change in priorities when it comes to creation. No longer does massive spectacle become the priority, instead you focus on character work and storytelling. There is a void when it comes to adult oriented Star Wars properties but Andor goes a long way to fill it. The result of this shift in focus has been mad abundantly clear: Andor is peak Star Wars.