LJones41

While going over old "LOST" articles and forums, I had come across a post that asked members how they would have ended the series. After reading several other sites and articles, I had my answer. There were two things I would have changed. I would have included two other original characters in that final scene inside the afterlife church. And I would have removed one line from the transcript for the series finale, (6.17-6.18) "The End". But I am here to discuss the second change. I wish that showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse had not allowed Kate Austen to promise Claire Littleton that she would help raise the latter’s three-year-old son Aaron after reaching civilization. I believe Lindelof and Cuse had made a big mistake with this scene. I realize that Kate was simply trying to assure an agitated Claire that everything would be all right, once the latter was reunited with Aaron. Especially since Claire had been stuck on the island for three years and had not seen her son. Yet, a part of me suspected there was more at play. Because as far as I am concerned, Kate’s promise to help raise Aaron struck me as the wrong one to make. Why? It was not possible for her to meet this promise. In the Season Four episode (4.04) "Eggtown", Kate's attorney had made a deal with prosecutors to allow her to take a probation deal, instead of face more trials over other crimes like insurance fraud and bank robbery. The probation would have forced Kate to remain in the United States and California for at least ten years. When she had left Los Angeles on the Ajira Flight 316 in Season Five, Kate had broken the terms of her ten-year probation after two years. According to the show’s canon, the period between "316" and "The End" spanned roughly two weeks. Chances are, Kate had left the country under an assumed name. And since Ajira 316 had been missing for two weeks, I suspect a great deal of publicity would have generated from the plane's return to civilization. I would not be surprised if not long after her return to civilization or U.S. territory - the plane was originally destined for Guam Island, Kate ended up in prison for breaking her probation. And once the authorities also learned she had lied about being Aaron's biological mother, there is a chance they would have prosecuted her for the New Mexico bank robbery and other crimes. Worse, Kate's mother - if she was still alive - might consider testifying against Kate over Wayne Jenssen's murder. After all, Kate had never been cleared or convicted for that crime. Even if Kate had simply decided to follow Claire to Australia, I do not see the chances of her playing a future role in Aaron's life. I have doubts the Australian government would have allowed Kate to re-enter the country. Before Oceanic 815 had departed Sydney, Australia; Kate had entered the country under a false name and as a fugitive from the law. Which means she had entered Australia illegally. I just cannot see the Australian immigration authorities allowing her to set foot on the country's soil again. Also, why would Claire need Kate’s help in raising Aaron? Kate had left the three year-old in custody of his biological grandmother, Carole Littleton, less than a day before leaving the United States. Ms. Littleton had custody of Aaron by the end of the series. And to be honest, I believe she would be the best person to serve as Aaron’s guardian, considering the tenuous nature of Claire’s mental state in the series finale. I certainly cannot see Ms. Littleton allowing Kate, a criminal who had deliberately kept her grandson away from her for nearly three years, anywhere near Aaron, while he remained a minor. In fact, I do not even see Claire allowing Kate to be anywhere near Aaron. Hell, I would never allow a child abductor with a series of crimes hovering around her, near my offspring again . . . even if that person had helped me get off the island. All I can say is . . . what were Cuse and Lindelof thinking when they had allowed Kate to make that promise to Claire in "The End"?

That would explain the toxic writing and reactions that surrounded the Michael Dawson character.

Interesting. Although Season Six is not my favorite, I still liked it more than late Season Two and early Season Three, which I personally dislike.

I guess I should have known better. Like Seasons One and Two, Season Three ended up disappointing me. I hate to say it, but this episode . . . and this season almost ended up feeling like a rehash of TNG's "Best of Both Worlds" and the 1996 movie, "First Contact" to me. Very unoriginal and a lot of contrived writing. Speaking of the latter, the idea that Seven-of-Nine ended up as a Starfleet captain some two years after the events of Season Two is just utterly ridiculous to me. It's bad enough that within a year after that particular season, she ended up as a Commander and First Officer. Even for fiction, I find that utterly contrived. By the way, the Borg should have remained gone after the "Star Trek Voyager" series finale.

I agree. This was bringing back bad memories of "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Andor".

What's wrong with Commander Hansen? Annika Hansen is her name. She is serving in a military organization. Surely that was the name she had used to join Starfleet. Right? If not, I would find it odd for her to use her Borg designation as her official name after all these years. Seven clinging to her Borg designation during the few years after she had been disconnected from the Collective is one thing. It was a familiar name. And she had continued to cling to her use of Borg diction and beliefs. But clinging to a name that was forced upon her while being assimilated by the Borg after so many years just didn't make any sense to me. Why would anyone want to continue clinging to a name that had been forced upon him or her, after literally being kidnapped and raped from a technological/biological point of view, by an alien race? Which is what the Borg had done to her. Especially after she had learned to finally ditch that Borg mentality and diction. This story arc about Seven's name does not make any sense to me. I think the showrunner had used the wrong topic to push whatever political statement he was trying to make. I am a "Voyager" fan and I thought the series did a great job with her character, aside from her rushed romance with Chakotay. "Picard" is another kettle of fish. Granted, Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd have great chemistry. But . . . the manner in which their relationship was established had moved even faster than the Chakotay/Seven ship. It practically took me by surprise. Nor did I care how "Picard" dealt with Icheb and Seven's relationship with him. Really distasteful and she better hope and pray no one finds out what really happened following Icheb's death.

All this tells me is that Mon Mothma's character shouldn't have been so big in the first place and that it was unnecessary to focus so much attention on her family or career. Judging from what I have seen, Luthien seemed more qualified to be the series' main supporting character, not Mothma. The name of the series is "ANDOR", not "THE REBEL ALLIANCE" or "ANDOR AND MOTHMA". Mothma's character WAS NOT that interesting to me. I also believe she was a waste of time for this series. I think reducing her character and eliminating her arc would have benefited the season and tightened the writing.

The 2005 miniseries, "Into the West", had focused on this subject in one episode. Only that series had focused on Richard Henry Pratt's Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The school had lasted between 1879 and 1918. When this episode began, I thought I was watching James Badge Dale. It turns out, I was watching Brandon Sklenar, who portrays Badge Dale's younger brother. That was a confusing moment.

When I had complained about the series' pacing, I never made any demand for more action. I just thought 12 episodes were too much for the narrative that Tony Gilroy had presented. And I found most of the Mon Mothma scenes unnecessary, because she had no real connection to Cassian's character. Certainly not in Season One. I didn't need more action. I thought the series could have benefited from better editing.

Wow . . . talk about hype. I can think of a good number of shows I would have nominated over "Andor". Nominating Diego Luna is one thing, because I believe he deserves it. But the entire series? No.

This is why I would rate Season One with 7/10 or 7.5/10.

I agree with you about Diego Luna. I had enjoyed his performance in "Rogue One" and in "Andor". In fact, I enjoyed his arc a lot more than I did the Mon Mothma arc, which struck me as a waste of time. At least for this season. On the other hand, I disagree that "Andor" was the first Star Wars production that was an adult drama. The latter has always been prevalent in Star Wars, especially since "The Empire Strikes Back". Sure George Lucas and Disney had shoved a few characters for the sake of the kids. When I first saw "A New Hope" as a kid, I didn't like it. I had felt overwhelmed by it. I had felt the same about "The Empire Strikes Back". I found myself unable to appreciate the franchise until I was an adult. By the time I saw the Prequel Trilogy, which I had no trouble accepting, I finally came to my own conclusion that despite characters like the droids, Ewoks and Jar Jar Binks; at its heart, Star Wars is for adults.

I had expressed my issues with the series in an earlier post. And yes, the series had felt as if it came from the SYFY Channel, instead of being part of the Star Wars universe. Technically, it's supposed to be a part of the Star Wars universe, so it's not surprising that some would criticize the series for this near erasure of Star Wars elements. Even some of the franchise's most ambiguous productions still felt as if they were a part of the Star Wars Universe. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed "Andor". I would rate it 7 out of 10. But I believe this first season had its flaws, which I have stated in an earlier post. But what really bothers me is that so many seemed unwilling to accept that not everyone views it as a perfect addition to the Star Wars franchise. I don't. I don't believe the franchise has a perfect production to begin with.

Hmmm . . . I don't think so. I think "Andor" had too many writing issues to accept this view. But I did like it.

Now that I have watched the entire first season of "Andor", I might as well state how I feel about the series. I believe "Andor" is a pretty good. show. I really enjoyed the performances in this series, along with the corrupt and violent portrayal of the Empire (which was nothing new), the series’ ambiguous portrayal of the Rebel Alliance and certain sequences. I was especially impressed by those scenes that featured Cassian Andor’s escape from Ferrix, the Rebels’ heist at the Imperial garrison at Aldhani, Cassian’s rescue of Bix and the riot on Ferrix in the finale, his stint at the Narkina 5 prison and especially his escape. However, I had some issues. I don't see the point of having Mon Mothma as a major character - almost the co-lead - in this production. Her arc had no real connection in this season. In fact, showrunner Tony Gilroy could have placed most of her arc in Season 2. That is . . . if Cassian will play a major role in her escape from the Empire. But "Star Wars Rebels" had made it clear that Bail Organa, the Rebel Alliance's Y-squadron and the Lothar rebel cell helped her escape. Which leads me to wonder how Gilroy plans to shove Cassian into this situation. Or . . . will Cassian and Mothma connect in another way? Who knows. I could have accepted Mothma as a major character in this series if she had some kind of connection to Cassian's character arc in this season. But she didn't. And using the excuse that this series is supposed to be about the early period of the Rebel Alliance didn't work for me. The name of this series is “ANDOR”; not “The Rebel Alliance”, “Rebels II”, “Andor and Mothma” or anything like that. The Syril Karn character didn't seem to have much to do between the third episode, (1.03) “Reckoning”, and the season finale, (1.12) “Rix Road”; except brood and develop a fixation for ISB agent Dedra Meero. Aside from revealing his origin, how did the flashbacks showing Cassian's childhood relate to the season or the series' main narrative? I also had a problem with the series' pacing and believe it could have been whittled down to at least eight or nine episodes. One of my main problems with “Andor” is that the writing in several of the episodes felt like padding. As I have stated before, the first two episodes could have merged into one. And the fourth and fifth episodes could have merged into one. I also believe that the seventh episode could have merged into the eighth one. I found the abrupt endings for some of the episodes problematic as well, especially some of the early episodes. Butdespite my issues with the series, I still managed to enjoy "Andor" and look forward to its second season. Perhaps it might feature better writing.