*Spoilers for episode 7*
This is an intense episode. I’m reminded of the slow build and mounting tension of last season’s “One Way Out” and “Rix Road,” albeit with a very different tone. This is what we’ve been moving toward all season.
Wilmon brought Cassian to Ghorman to assassinate Dedra—as punishment for what she did to Ferrix, in revenge for turning Bix over to Dr. Gorst, and to prevent her from discovering Luthen and exposing their network. But the Empire has much bigger plans today. As Imperial forces pull back the barricades around the city plaza, the people gather in protest. Inside the Imperial “annex” (a.k.a. armory,) the fascists manufacture the situation they want.
I won’t get into spoilers on this today, although people with knowledge of the greater Star Wars lore certainly know what’s coming here. Pretty much everything about this episode is incredibly well done—my only complaint is that Syril does a little too much standing numbly in dangerous settings for it to be believable. But the show has always had extraordinary command over building up to a major set piece, and the episode doesn’t disappoint. It’s tense, hard-hitting, and emotional.
The officer who’s brought in to oversee the operation tells Dedra, “Let’s not confuse the chain of command. I’m the trigger, supervisor, you’re the finger. Make sure you’re available.” Rylanz, the head of the Ghorman front, sees the opening of the plaza and recognizes the Empire’s intentions. “They’ve been begging us to fight!” he cries. Reporters on the ground parrot official propaganda, with one saying, “Many people—even more Ghormans—are asking how long the Empire’s patience can be tested.”
The people singing their anthem in the plaza. Stormtroopers kettling them in place. K-X droids inside the building, waiting to be deployed. It’s all done so well. (Also, the episode title is said at the perfect moment, in the perfect way. My breath actually caught in my throat when someone said it.)
I’m glad that this episode is coming in the middle of the arc, not the end. For once this season, we’ll get a chance for characters to respond to the fallout of the big event, rather than hitting us with the full force of it and then jumping forward a year.
And Cassian and Wilmon are caught in the middle of it. Cassian hadn’t wanted to get involved with the Ghorman Front, fearing that the planet wasn’t equipped for the fight the Empire would bring down on them. He spends most of the episode separated from Wilmon and trying to find him. He’s the first to tell Wilmon and the Ghorman Front about the Imperials pulling down the barricades in the plaza, but he’s smart enough to recognize that all isn’t as it seems. “I’m looking at it, they’re not opening anything,” he insists over the comms, all while the Rebels prepare to mobilize. “They’re putting a shell around the building!”
I’m slightly mixed on Cassian’s portrayal here. His shrewd observations are good, and I like his continual concern over Wilmon and others. There’s an encounter in the second half of the episode that gives us one of the most up-close and personal knockdown drag-out fights in all of Andor, and Diego Luna does a spectacular job with it—Cassian’s smarts, determination, and scrappy survival instincts against his opponent’s pure overwhelmed rage. But at the same time, it feels like he sometimes focuses too much on Dedra at the expense of what else is going on, and we get the origin of a Rogue One line that I wish had stayed as-is.
That said, any issues on my part are from a writing standpoint. Luna is wonderful from start to finish. As Cassian takes in the scene around him, following each move and escalation as it happens, Luna keeps Cassian’s emotions plain on his face at all times. Very affecting, such a strong performance!
No comments:
Post a Comment