The exciting “Andor” finale keeps it grounded

Andor Season 1 begins and ends with Ferrix.

Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) adopted planet is where his journey began as “a nobody… who screwed everything up”. Written by Tony Gilroy and directed by Benjamin Caron, the Season 1 finale covers the funeral of Cassian’s mother character, Maarva Andor (Fiona Shaw), as all characters come together in what they know will be a pivotal moment .

It’s the first time everyone on “Andor” – with the small exception of Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), who has her own agenda and brewing problems – has been so uniquely focused on the same thing for the same reason. Luthen (Stellan Skårsgard) and his rebels always had their missions, Syril (Kyle Soller) and Dedra (Denise Gough) had their own ways of enforcing the empirical agenda, and civilians stayed away from everything—including Cassian himself. He returns Back home knowing the risk and that a target is on his back because he can no longer leave a loved one to fight back against this tyranny. The friends who helped him out of discomfort or pity now proudly risk everything for a changed man.

IndieWire’s Ben Travers praised the craftsmanship of “Andor” in his review, and that production detail is featured here. From the sets to the costumes to Nicholas Brittell’s haunting funeral march, each image is designed to immerse viewers deeply in the moment. Cinematographer Damián García boasts deliberate shadows, close-ups and crane shots that illustrate the extent of Maarva’s status and influence.

Shaw gave one of the show’s many standout but subdued performances, culminating in the eulogy. Gilroy’s command of dialogue is showcased to the full, projected onto the assembled characters, functioning as both explanation and narrative. Shaw’s face doesn’t even feature in most of them, but her voice is deliberately booming, and it’s every other face in the crowd that betrays the power of her words. When she finally yells “Fight the Empire!” – so simple and yet effective – all hell breaks loose.

“Andor”

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With the suspense building superbly throughout the episode, it’s hard to imagine it all escalating to blaster fire and CGI action as is typically the case in Star Wars and Marvel. But when the tension finally breaks, it’s refreshingly raw. Through direction and production, Andor subtly underscores the humanity and resonance of what is happening on screen; Imperial officers fight the crowd with SWAT shields and truncheons. The blasters come out, but the sequence relies on grounding elements that could be part of almost any show or movie. An officer shouts, “Open fire! Fire at will!” which says everything about his position and intent. Even the stormtroopers – rarely seen in this series – look more menacing than usual, their helmets tilted slightly down as they gun down civilians in broad daylight. It’s almost like, as if there were an expression on those helmets, a merciless one.Close-ups and short scenes punctuated with the central fight give him room to breathe without losing momentum, like Cinta (Varada Sethu) watching an officer in an alley stabs, or Dedra, who is overwhelmed by the crowd and makes her way back to safety.

And through it all, there’s Cassian, a man on a mission, a man with a plan – no longer the guy nobody wants to see walking down the street on Ferrix. There’s another season of “Andor” where Cassian appears in 2016’s “Rogue One,” but the show is literally halfway through. There is no turning back for this character, and the journey ahead is unlike anything he or we expect.

Andor is now streaming on Disney+.

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