*Brasso-related spoilers.*
Since Marvel has decided to pace themselves more with their output, I figured I might as well pace myself too with my Marvelous Wednesdays posts. So, for the foreseeable future, Marvelous Wednesday will alternate weeks with Star Wars Wednesdays—it’s the Disney+ day for both franchises, so it’s fitting.
Even though the third season of The Mandalorian is currently airing, I wanna start by talking more about the non-Cassian characters on Andor, the Star Wars series after my own heart. I promise there will be posts that aren’t about Andor at some point, but it is not this day.
And on that note, Brasso! The ISB agents surveilling Cassian’s people simply call him “the big guy,” but there’s a lot more to him than that. I’d argue that Brasso is the most quintessentially Ferrix character on Ferrix, a salt-of-the-earth manual laborer with a huge heart, strong loyalty, and no love for the Empire. We first meet him when Cassian has just returned from Morlana One in a bad spot. Cassian’s jumpy, bruised, and quietly frantic for an alibi, and while Brasso obliges without a second thought, he’s worried about what his friend has gotten himself into this time.
The dynamic we see between these two is one where Cassian is lost and a little aimless, always getting himself into trouble, and he relies on the steadier, more dependable Brasso to help him out of a jam. Which Brasso always does. A few episodes later, when Ferrix is crawling with Pre-Mor officers looking to arrest Cassian, Brasso sabotages their transport ship in the most metal working-class way possible: he uses a chain to attach a heavy piece of debris to the ship, causing it to catch and crash when the pilot tries to take off.
After Cassian flees Ferrix, Brasso is one of the folks dealing with the mess he left behind. He and Bix both take it upon themselves to look after Cassian’s mother Maarva, fretting as her health starts to decline and wishing they could do more to help. And when Maarva dies, Brasso is just beautifully gentle and kind to B2EMO, giving that busted, heartbroken little droid a listening ear and a bit of comfort/companionship. In a franchise with a lot of sweet moments between humanoids and droids, the scenes between Brasso and B2EMO are my favorite.
Basically whenever we see him, Brasso is looking out for people. Now, that’s primarily Cassian and people in his immediate circle, but it goes beyond just being the protagonist’s close friend. Brasso is a community guy. Ferrix is in his bones, and he’ll fight anyone who tries to hurt one of his own. He’s clever, as demonstrated by his little sabotage trick, and he’s physically powerful, more than capable of holding his own in a brawl.
One last thing I want to mention: Brasso’s reunion with Cassian when he sneaks back into Ferrix at the end of the season. I love that this burly guy immediately gives his friend a long, heartfelt hug, and that they hold each other for several beats longer than you might think they would. In those moments is all of Brasso’s relief that Cassian is still alive and uncaptured, his sorrow and sympathy about Maarva, and his proof that his regard for Cassian outweighs any of the trouble that he’s caused. When he relays Maarva’s final words to Cassian, including, “I love him more than anything he could ever do wrong,” you can feel that that’s true for Brasso as well.
Even though he’s not with Cassian for most of the season, remaining on Ferrix and dealing with the fallout, Brasso is so ride-or-die. I love his care, his compassion, his worry, and his enduring loyalty. I know season 2 will have a lot of ground to cover, but I hope there’s a place in it for this wonderful character.
No comments:
Post a Comment