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Andor is nearing the end of its life cycle, and what a ride it has been for veteran Star Wars fans who have had the opportunity to explore the universe from close quarters. The season has been quite fast-paced from the start, despite taking its time in universe-building. The eighth episode changes that with an abrupt halt in the plot in favor of a more intricate exploration of the politics inside The Empire.
Those who have seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will recall Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) being imprisoned for the first time in the movie. However, this episode depicts a different punishment for Luna's Cassian after the system charged him for a crime he did not commit (ironically) and imprisoned him as a laborer in an Imperial factory, which is a crude metaphor for the world's prison systems.
Read on for a detailed review of Andor episode 8.
Andor episode 8 review: A deep exploration of the prison systems
Some may regard this episode of the show as a filler episode in comparison to the episodes that came before it. This is largely due to the plot's lack of discernible progression. Other characters in this episode, aside from Cassian, who spends his entire time inside the factory as an imprisoned worker, are given far too little time and a great deal of story to make sense of.
Other rebels, such as Mon Mothma (Genevive O'Reilly) and Tay Kolma (Ben Miles), continue to plan, but the 45-minute episode devotes much less time to these minute progressions, jumping between them far too frequently. The short time frame also results in no significant development to look forward to.
The episodes also drops latent hints of Cassian planning a prison escape in the next episode. It excels at exploring the politics within a prison space that is similar to those found in other parts of the world. Prison politics is one of the more complex topics that appears unlikely to be explored in a series like Andor.
Andor successfully mimics real-world politics by having prisoners compete against one another, with Cassian at the helm and some assistance from veteran Andy Serkis, who makes his debut in this episode. It also emphasized the concept of rallying prisoners against one another as a means of surveilling from the ground level, while promising bogus micro-rewards to keep inmates happy, delving deeply into the prison system's power dynamics.
It's unlikely that the audience will grow accustomed to the show's slow pace. It's obviously only one episode, but it's a welcome change. Most fans will dislike this episode, but those who enjoy comprehending clever metaphors and real-life parallels will love it.
Andor will have four more episodes before it concludes, with the remaining ones promising big things. The first eight episodes of the show are now available to watch on Disney+.
