Andor Episode 5 Review – The Silence Before the Storm

You know a quality show when you see one and the new Star Wars spin-off, Andor is surely one of them. After largely disappointing The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor has breathed a fresh air into the Star Wars Universe. Andor  Even though he was one of the largely forgotten Star Wars characters, Diego Luna’s portrayal of Cassian Andor in Rogue One was one of the film’s strongest aspects. And while the outcome of Andor’s story is known, much of his past is still a mystery and so, this live-action prequel series centers around the rebel’s dark and sinister past. Star Wars just released Andor Episode 5 and without any further ado, here’s what we think about this surprisingly good show!

Review Maratahon – Episode 1, 2 & 3 / Episode 4

Rating – ★★★1/2

Andor Episode 5 Review – Relies Too Much On Episode 6?

Much like episode 1 and 2, episode 4 and 5 have also acted like a build up to something incredible. Episode 3 was able to provide a satisfying conclusion to the events of its predecessors and so is our hope for episode 6 as well. Therefore, we can call Andor Episode the silence before the storm; the only problem is that it is too silent! Nothing significant happens in this episode but even so, it is not unskippable owing to some good character moments. The rebels introduced to us in the last episode continue to bond with Andor and therefore the series has made viewers care about them. Vel became an instant fan favourite and next to join her is Karis Namek. Portrayed by The End of the F**king World fame Alex Lawther, Karis has made somewhat of a bond with Andor, hence we surely care about him too now.

Apart from the bands’ internal conflict there’s hardly anything worthy of a mention in this episode. Luthen and Mon barely had a minute of screentime this episode and even though Luthen became my personal favourite character in Episode 3, he hasn’t done much since then. Moving on, Syril spent most of this episode eating with his mother and trying to figure out what he’s going to do about his future now. He still remains the most intriguing and complicated character of the show and we are all waiting for show to peel the various layers of this character. Kyle Soller along with Diego Luna, Alex Lawther, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Faye Marsey have delivered some compelling performances in this episode. Others didn’t have much to do and Bix Caleen and Marva Andor were absent from the episode. Dedra Meero is another character who seems to be quite compelling as she’s on rebel’s trail and is pretty passionate about her duty towards the Empire. Fans surely want to know what drives her to do all this and what all has she left behind for it.

As for Andor himself, he seems to be, well, a bit of a prick as of now. He doesn’t trust anyone as, he doesn’t properly believe in the cause yet, and is a bit too weird about his stuff. More than once did we see him getting possesive about his possessions and loosing his cool everytime anyone touches them, especially if it is Arvel. Anyways, he does help them with the plan and in fact suggests quite a lot of productive changes to it. So yeah, he is proving to be an asset for the team, even of he’s a bit hot-headed about people invading his space. That aside, Andor is quite rutheless when it comes to achieving his objectives. That much we figured out in the opening of episode 1 itself, so it would be really cool to see him in action next week.

From the very first episode we all caught on its vibe and know that this show was indeed going to be a slow burn. Therefore, the effectiveness of this episode and the previous one totally depend on the pay off we are about to get next week. So is the case with most shows which are tagged as slow burn. As for the visuals including cinematography, locations, production design, as well as costumes, Andor Episode 4 excels handsomely. Once again, the rousing and well designed soundtrack and score by Nicholas Britell is one of the best things about this episode. So, Andor episode 5 is without a doubt a stunning audio visual experience with a slightly darker tone than other Star Wars projects.

Final Verdict – Good character work and perfect execution act as the saving grace for this rather sluggish episode. But as was the case with Andor’s first 3 episodes, the fate of this episode rests on the conclusion that next episode will provide. If Episode 6 succeeds, then this episode will age like a fine wine!

The first five episodes of Star War: Andor are now airing on Disney Plus and we’ll see you next week when we bring you our Episode 4 verdict.

If you have any questions regarding Andor, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!