*Spoilers for episode 6*
This season is still excellently crafted television, but I have to say, I find myself getting a little caught up on what it isn’t. Namely, that it isn’t more than a single three-episode arc per BBY year. Even though I’m still loving the show, we’re moving through time at breakneck speed, which is emphasized even more by dropping a full arc every week.
We’re now at the Rebel base on Yavin IV, which runs as a more organized military separate from Luthen’s skulking. That’s where Cassian and Bix have been living, but Wilmon just showed up with a prospective assignment for Cassian from Luthen. On Ghorman, the Empire is preparing for the final phase of its plans, the product of a long campaign of propaganda, subjugation, and cultivating a politically useful insurgency.
This is a more contained episode, despite taking place on multiple planets. We see Vel for a hot second, get a glimpse of a Rogue One character, and check in briefly with Mon Mothma, but for the most part, we’re with Cassian and Bix between missions on Yavin and watching the rising temperature on Ghorman approach a fever pitch. Even though we have necessary table-setting yet again, the show handles it fairly efficiently. The deteriorating situation in Ghorman is visible at a glance, and there’s a nice sequence showing Mon going through increased security at the Senate, played against a montage of news broadcasts.
I completely understand why five full seasons of the show wouldn’t have been sustainable, and I wouldn’t really want to change a thing from season 1. But if they knew they were only going to make two seasons, I’m wishing more than ever that they’d split the five years between both seasons, instead of doing such a slow-burn, in-depth BBY5 and then speedrunning through the rest of the story. Even if they’d just done six episodes per BBY year, with two or three arcs for each, I think that would’ve made a lot of difference. Given us 30 episodes instead of 24. As it is, part of my enjoyment keeps getting dampened by this sadness of feeling like so much story is being left on the table.
But enough regretting what we’re not getting. Let’s focus on what this episode does offer.
As things are coming to a head in Ghorman, both Dedra and Syril have some uncertainty about it. Syril doesn’t know the full details of the Empire’s plans, which is part of the issue for him—he’s aggravated that Dedra clearly knows more than she’s telling, and she’s telling just enough to be worrying. Meanwhile, Dedra hadn’t wanted the Ghorman assignment in the first place, and now, on the brink of the end, you get a sense that she feels it’s spinning out of control. The flush of success from the previous arc has been replaced by apprehension, maybe even dread.
One interesting thing at the Rebel base is the presence of a Force healer, surrounded by a crowd of hopefuls with battle injuries. In recent years, Star Wars has given us a few nods now to Force-based cons, with Haja Estree masquerading as a Jedi and Jod Na Nawood being an interesting example of a Force-sensitive baddie who’s not a Sith, but rather a pirate/scoundrel. During the Imperial era in particular, it’s neat to see how lay people regard the Force. Cassian and Bix have very different opinions about the healer on Yavin, and I enjoy their argument over it. Bix’s later conversation with the healer—about Cassian—is also very good. “You scared him,” she says as Cassian stalks away from them. And when the healer apologizes, she adds, “That’s not easy to do.”
It seems each arc this season has at least one episode where Cassian is largely between the action, which gets frustrating, but the end of this episode positions him to get more involved. And his scenes are still excellent. As I said, I like his argument with Bix, and he also has a good back-and-forth with Wilmon over the Yavin vs. Luthen approaches to the Rebellion. “All we do here is get ready,” Wilmon insists. “Luthen is making things happen.” Meanwhile, Cassian responds, “You wanna fight, or you wanna win? Going it alone doesn’t cut it anymore.” And I adore this exchange between them.
WILMON: “You act like Luthen’s the enemy.”
CASSIAN: “That would be easier.”
There’s also a “stone and sky” reference that really moved me. And I know I’ve brought this up plenty of times in my Andor reviews, but Diego Luna’s face-acting is just so fantastic. One look from him can sometimes feel worth a page of dialogue, at minimum. In this episode, we have his haunted expression as Bix holds him, his youthfully defiant look as a commander on the base orders him around, his watchful eye as he studies Wilmon, and his conflicted position as he weighs his options at the end of the episode. Just a master class every week—impeccable!
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