Y tu Luna también: Andor: Season 2, Episode 4 – “Ever Been to Ghorman?” (2025)

*Spoilers for episode 3*

And just like that, we’re in BBY3! Some big changes, in terms of what the characters are up to but also where they are mentally/emotionally. I’m definitely intrigued to see where this arc is going.

As the Empire’s campaign to break Ghorman grows more determined, Luthen wants to feel out the resistance movement there. He wants to send Cassian, but over the last year, Cassian has grown increasingly guarded, fixated on protecting the few loved ones he has left. He doesn’t want to go if Bix can’t come with him. Someone who is on the ground in Ghorman? Syril, whose work has taken him there. In his case, the rebels are the ones who want to feel him out.

In the last episode, Dedra had serious words with Syril’s mom, but it looks like the lesson hasn’t stuck. In between lecturing him about taking a promotion so far from Coruscant, she pulls out the doozy, “Don’t become too much of an individual, Syril.” And as she turns up her nose at Syril being in Ghorman in particular, Syril drawls, “You’re watching too much Imperial news.”

It feels like this arc is off to a slightly slower start. There’s quite a bit of table-setting to reestablish where the characters are now. Syril probably has the most going on, but even if there’s not much big plot action in the other storylines, the scenes are still engrossing to watch. After seeing Luthen in Antiquities Dealer mode for much of the last arc, he’s his steelier self here. We check in with ISB, catching up with some characters who haven’t been around since the end of last season. Mon Mothma struggles to get other senators on board with repealing the laws that greatly expanded the Empire’s law enforcement crackdown after the Aldhani heist last season. When one senator waves her off, saying, “You’re confusing criminality and politics,” Mom replies, “Really? Are we finding criminals or making them?” Another character who hasn’t appeared since season 1 also makes their first appearance of the season here.

As I predicted, BBY3 Cassian is a stark contrast from BBY4 Cassian. The inspirational rebel fervor he showed to the Imperial defector in episode 1 has been replaced by jittery suspicion and cold determination. Episode 3 ended with Cassian being too late to save Brasso, and he and the others were forced to leave B2EMO behind. No one says either of those names here—though Bix invokes Maarva and Cassian’s sister—but you can feel the weight of those losses on Cassian’s shoulders.

It's in the way he looks out for surveillance and chafes when Bix makes small talk with shopkeepers. It’s in the way he repeatedly demands, “What am I messing up?” when Bix points out that his protectiveness is hampering her. It’s in the way he stands by his extreme actions to keep her safe.

By the time Rogue One comes around, we know Cassian has been hardened quite a bit. The Cassian we get here is certainly harder, but it’s impossible not to see the pain that informs it. He’s lost so much, missed saying goodbye to so many people, and the tough outer shell he’s developing now is a product of his terror at losing anyone else close to him.

And significantly, “hardened” isn’t quite the same thing as “hard.” Cassian can justify a lot to himself, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy for him to carry it, and the episode takes time to recognize that.

Other Doctor Lives: Broadchurch: Series 1, Episode 3 (2013)

*Written in 2017*

I’m enjoying series 1 of this show less the second time through. To be fair, a good chunk of that is just knowing who the murderer is, both for having the answer to the mystery and for the creep factor of watching them interact with other characters who are none the wiser. However, while the acting is excellent across the board, I can see the cracks in the writing more, and with Chris Chibnall taking over showrunning duties on Who, that has me a bit worried (I’m hoping Who is a different enough beast that it’ll work out, and that Chibnall will take full advantage of other fine writers associated with the show.)

The Latimer family is hit on multiple fronts in this episode. Mark is brought in for questioning when his alibi doesn’t check out, with Ellie insisting it must be a misunderstanding and Hardy urging her not to discount the facts. As Beth struggles to figure out how her life moves forward, she’s approached by someone who claims to have important information about the case.

One issue I’m having here is how ill-prepared Ellie seems for the requirements of her job. I get that Broadchurch has never had a murder like this before and she’s understandably shaken (even more so since Danny was her son’s friend,) but for someone who gives Hardy attitude in episode 1 for having “taken” her promotion, she hasn’t done much to prove why she would’ve been a good person to have in charge for this investigation. Again, I understand the extenuating circumstances, and Hardy certainly doesn’t make things easier with the rather condescending way he goes about urging cynicism, but whenever she’s given the reins, she doesn’t really run with it. And honestly, it does make me worry a little about how Chibnall might write the Doctor. On the plus side, though, even as she struggles to meet the demands of the investigation, Ellie is starting to learn, gradually, from Hardy’s brusque tutelage, and in such a way that it’s clear his dismissiveness isn’t okay.

It’s another good episode for Beth, I think. The part of the plot I mentioned in the episode description isn’t as much to write home about, but the more general exploration of her state of mind is well-done. The show continues to seed these small moments of her trying to press ahead and getting derailed by reminders of Danny; it’s like she’s been untethered and she doesn’t quite know how to be anymore. Meanwhile, the investigation has started taking its toll on her. She doesn’t know who to trust, and that extends to the members of her own family.

The first two episodes show more visceral grief from Beth, but it’s quieter here. The impression I get is that Beth is both lost and worn down, and Jodie Whittaker plays that ragged-around-the-edges air very well.

*Written in 2024*

Even though, as I wrote in my original post, I can very much see the cracks in the writing here, I am enjoying David Tennant’s performance. We’ve seen several different modes from Hardy so far, and they’re all on display in this episode:

·        Depressed/Perpetually Irritated Hardy – He meets up here with someone from his past and ultimately goes on an entertaining rant about how much he hates Broadchurch, including the line, “I hate their bloody smiley bloody faces.”

·        Brusquely Cynical Hardy – He’s brusque and cynical all on his own, of course, but we continually see this side of him in part because Ellie keeps shying away from the implications of this murder investigation. Naturally, she flat-out refuses to believe Mark might have killed Danny, at which point Hardy demands, “What are you looking for here, Miller? An easy answer to this? The least pain?”

·        Quietly Infuriating Hardy – Even though he’s perfectly capable of yelling or griping, Hardy tends to be placid right at the moments when Ellie is most fed up with him. He’ll push her buttons the whole time, but then when she loses her temper, he’ll deny her a sparring partner, leaving the impression that it’s all coming from her side.

·        Downplaying His Own Issues Hardy – This side of Hardy isn’t quite as prominent as the others, but whenever it does come up, it’s very consistent. In this episode, Hardy and Ellie take a boat out onto the harbor as part of the investigation. Hardy admits that he doesn’t like “being on the water,” but when they reach their destination and Ellie offers him a hand up, he 100% chickens out without owning up to it, muttering, “Only needs one. Minimize the risk of contaminating the crime scene—go on.”

Doctor Who: Season 2, Episode 3 – “The Well” (2025)

Great episode! A few details/logic things bugged me, but other than that, I thought it was a real winner. Looking forward to rewatching this one!

The Doctor and Belinda have arrived in the far future, where they’re immediately dropped into the middle of a military operation. A squad has been sent to investigate a mysterious disaster on a mining facility. On a planet long rendered uninhabitable by severe radiation, something has incited the deaths of nearly everyone in the base. Our heroes meet the lone survivor and search for answers.

Before I get into the meat of the story, I have to say: at long last, the show has made up for the Twelfth Doctor knowing how to speak “baby” and “dinosaur” but not British Sign Language! Aliss, the survivor on the base, is Deaf, and she both signs and voices throughout the episode. The Doctor signs a portion of his dialogue to her, and the soldiers also have nifty wearable devices that provide holographic real-time transcription for Aliss. Plus, Aliss is surprised that Belinda doesn’t sign. “A nurse who can’t sign? That’s against the law!” she exclaims. Belinda kindly replies, “Well, we have different laws. But you’re right, it should be the law.”

I still have a few quibbles on this front. While I’m thrilled that the Doctor can sign at last, it kind of bums me out that the TARDIS apparently still can’t handle sign language. The Doctor even explains the translation circuit to Belinda at the start of the adventure, but there’s no evidence that it helps them communicate with Aliss. I would say it’s because the TARDIS isn’t in the immediate vicinity, but it’s heavily implied that the soldiers aren’t speaking Earth English, and that translates for the Doctor and Belinda just fine. It’s only BSL that the TARDIS seems to have trouble with. Additionally, the transcription devices are cool: they’re highly accurate, and a soldier can even relay the transcription of their words to another soldier’s device if Aliss isn’t looking at them. But throughout the episode, characters play fast and loose with turning them on and off. Much of the time, they only turn them on when they’re speaking to Aliss directly, repeatedly forcing her to depend on lipreading to understand what’s going on. Why? Once it’s turned on, the device can stay on. It takes more effort to turn it off and on again. What’s the point of using technology to gatekeep Aliss access to people’s speech? That definitely feels ableist to me, and unfortunately, even the Doctor and Belinda do it.

As for the adventure itself, it’s a good one. Classic base-under-siege story, only in this case, almost everyone on the base is already dead. It’s cool and creepy, drawing on previous show lore in satisfying ways—the planet and the mystery was pinging for me early on, and I was happy to see my theories play out. The mystery is creepy, and the oneshot characters are drawn well. Major stakes, nice rendering of the main baddie, and I like the solutions the characters find over the course of the episode.

I like that Belinda is getting more into the swing of things as a companion. Her nursing instincts are still quick to kick in—when one of the soldiers first discovers a body, her immediate reaction is to try and help, thinking they might still be alive—and she contributes to the investigation in important ways. In addition to noticing a key clue early on, she’s the first one to realize how the baddie operates, even if the Doctor has to fill in the blanks on some of the mechanics.

Love the Doctor in this. He’s compassionate and reassuring, with both Belinda and Aliss. At the start of the episode, as Belinda worries again about the TARDIS’s ability to get back to her time, he pulls her into a hug, kisses both her hands, and promises that he’ll find a way to bring her home and meet her parents. With Aliss, the fact that the Doctor signs has an instant calming effect, and I love that he continues to sign some of his dialogue to her even after he’s given a transcription device to wear. In a room full of nervous soldiers with itchy trigger fingers, he does everything he can to urge calm and focus, being protective of Aliss as they seek to blame her for the horrors that have happened on the facility. Besides that, he shows off some techy skills, he drops past Doctor knowledge, and he dances while wearing a spacesuit. What’s not to love?