angora

Saw, Tubes, and Krennic are also safe. Kleya had me *so tense* at that party. She was such a boss, oof! Poor Lonni, roped into helping her. The Mon-Krennic scenes were dynamite too. I loved this exchange between them: KRENNIC: “Oh yes, I’ve been a guest at her committee on several occasions.” MON: “How pleasant, to see you free of the witness stand.” It definitely felt shady to reunite Vel and Cinta after so long apart, have them make a breakthrough in their relationship, and show their first onscreen kiss, then almost immediately kill one of them. I accept that most of these characters are at risk of the chopping block at any moment, but I think losing Cinta at a later point in the season would've felt less shady. That said, their scenes together were wonderful, and both Faye Marsay and Varada Sethu were excellent throughout. "She was a miracle," damn near killed me, my god! I loved Cassian and Bix flirting over his fashion designer alias, then blowing up Dr. Gorst together. Adored the confrontation scenes between Cassian and Luthen. All that dialogue was so, so good! We already knew Luthen was like this, but hearing the whole "And if it burns?" "It will burn very brightly" thing from the trailer was chilling.

Ooh, good episode! The relationship between Luthen and Kleya is so fascinating to me. He's obviously the big man in charge with this whole thing, but she's just as steely as he is, albeit in a different way, and she's only one who ever really gives *him* orders. I love everything about Cassian posing as a fashion designer, and I really like his interactions with the Ghorman Front. I was definitely getting the Aldhani flashbacks too--another inexperienced band of Rebels with more conviction than experience/knowhow. But while the Aldhani Rebels thought he was just a mercenary without a cause, the Ghormans think he’s too slick and corporate for their tastes, without the stomach for what needs to be done. Again, I can feel the weight of Cassian's losses in how he deals with them. When they describe their heist plan and ask if he's ever done anything like this before, you can practically hear him screaming, "Yes, and over half the team died!!" And when he berates the woman in the cafe about the unscheduled contact, pointing out that he might've been a snitch or an ISB spy, he says, "Maybe you just put everyone you care about into a cell.” Not that she might have exposed the whole operation and blown up their rebel efforts, that everyone she loves might be suffering because of her careless mistakes. How's it going with that survivor's guilt, Cassian? Poor Wilmon, god. "Revolution is not for the sane," is a hell of a line, but that is *not* a signal to remove your PPE! Then again, he's already seen how volatile Saw is. If he hadn't, what might Saw have done to him?

As soon as Syril's mom mentioned him giving up his relationship with Dedra to take a promotion in Ghorman, I guessed that he was there fishing for rebels on Dedra's behalf. I do wonder if his loyalties are going to wind up getting twisted as he embeds himself with the rebels. Syril is a zealot who's desperate to prove himself. As he learns more about what the Ghormans are experiencing, will he start to question the Empire's actions--especially if the rebels validate any assistance he gives them to maintain his cover? I knew we were going to be seeing a very different Cassian here than in BBY4. We're seeing more of that ruthlessness/hardness that he displayed at times in Rogue One, but I find it interesting that it seems fueled more by his trauma than his unwavering belief in the Rebellion at this point. No one said the names Brasso or B2EMO, but his "I have to protect Bix at all costs" stance certainly felt like a product of his terror at losing anyone else close to him, as well as his lingering guilt over everything Bix has suffered that he wasn't there to protect her from. Very interested to see where things are gonna go for him in Ghorman, but poor Bix. There was definitely a lot of table-setting to reestablish where all the characters were. While I understand why Tony Gilroy & co. felt like five seasons would be too massive an undertaking, I do feel like this is going to be a flaw of this season. We'll see how everything holds together in the end, but it's feeling like these arcs won't flow into one another as well as the arcs did in season 1.

Oh, thank goodness! When he first said it, I hoped it was something like that, but I didn't catch that Brasso really was just covering for them.

Thank goodness for DJ Droid, B2EMO playing with a bunch of kids, and Cassian's continued struggles with the TIE fighter, 'cause this was a heavy episode. Poor Brasso. God, poor Bix! I was sad that their farmer friend turned them in. At least B2EMO is with someone nice who will look after him, but I really hope this isn't the last we see of him! It's to the show's credit that they're able to show the Mon Mothma scenes amid the other characters' hardships and still have you go, "No, things are awful for her too." She has privileges that characters like the Ferrix crew don't, but she's just seen her daughter bartered into marriage (that scene before the ceremony with her and Leida was so good,) her oldest friend has intimated that it'd be financially advantageous to betray them, and she's just realized he's going to be killed--to protect *her* position. I really felt that release at the wedding celebration. That Cinta reveal was too good, loved it! (Side note: it's going to be such a head trip to watch Varada Sethu on Andor and Doctor Who at the same time this season.) So weirded out to see Dedra and Syril being domestic together. When she was picking out an outfit and he was chopping vegetables like a man possessed? Fantastic. Loved seeing Dedra go toe-to-toe with Eedy and live to tell about it. First half was lite on Cassian, but he made up for it in that last act. I liked seeing him get angry about the mission screw-ups/bad intel, and it's heartening to see that, while he's dedicated to the Rebellion, his people are still his first priority. That final shot of his face as they're flying away was soooooo good!

Nervous for Bix, Brasso, Wilmon, and B2EMO--that scene between Bix and the lieutenant was especially nervewracking! But I liked seeing their interactions with the locals who were doing what they can to keep them informed and protected. Intrigued by this new breakdown between Mon and Tay. Obviously she and Luthen have *very* different ideas about how to handle it, lol. I also liked the conversation between Mon and Vel. Not as much Cassian in this episode, but I loved his reactions to the bargain-bin rebels. If he thought the rebels on Aldhani were ill-prepared, that's nothing compared to these clowns! I laughed out at this exchange: CASSIAN: “You need a perimeter.” WOULD-BE LEADER: “I was just about to do that!” CASSIAN: (resignedly) “That’s a good idea.” Just overall, I enjoyed him repeatedly advising the people who captured him, and he's so good at reading the situation and waiting for his moment. Oh man, Syril is back on his old corpo mojo. The way he gestured at something and then literally *snapped his fingers* at the new employee who looked where he'd been pointing? He is so high on his own success story. Pitch-perfect in character, no notes.

Aaahhhh, we're so back! It's fascinating to see Cassian at this point in his journey, and I'm already sad that we're only give to have three episodes of this version of him. He was so steady and reassuring to the Imperial defector, so warm. I liked that he told her it was okay to feel the loss of everything she was giving up, and I loved this line: “You’re coming home to yourself. You’ve become more than your fear. Let that protect you.” But at the same time, he's not “Cassian Andor: Super-Rebel.” I liked seeing that he was nervous and overwhelmed as he tried to get the lay of the land on the test ship, muttering, “You’ve got this” to himself over and over. I liked that, throughout the rocky escape, he demonstrated quick thinking and incredible skill while basically shitting himself the whole time. I liked that Bix is still haunted by her ISB torture, but that she also has normal moments where she can tease Wilmon and work on repairing stuff. So intrigued by Luthen's presence at the wedding (with Kleya!), and my heart broke for Mon with Leida. The Krennic scenes were really good--those guys from the Ministry of Enlightenment were especially creepy. “Some of what you’re thinking about Ghormans at this very moment exists because we put it there,” so gross! We're so back! It'll be satisfying to be able to watch the full BBY-year arc each week, but I'm sad that Andor will be completely over in a month.

I love Ramy Youssef, and that interview was so much fun. I really liked him pointing out that not even Trump seems to be having a good time right now, him and Jon swapping stories about accusingly being called "Jew" online, and his riff on the word "Islamophobia." Oh, and the bit about every Arab name being available on Truth Social. "You could get @mohamed right now, any spelling," that killed me!

Looks like administrations have been playing ping-pong with it. Obama announced it for release in 2020, Trump 1.0 pushed it back to 2028, Biden worked to "resuming efforts" to get it made, and now it seems to be slated for 2030. So "forever in limbo" isn't too far off. ETA - arrgh, meant to include the link: https://www.npr.org/2025/03/10/nx-s1-5321464/harriet-tubman-20-dollar-bill-2025

I definitely thought the Supervisor sounded like Stephen Fry. The way Jod interacts with the kids on the other side of his betrayal is fascinating to me. As menacing as threatening as he is to them, he's still specifically *not* actually hurting them--not sure if the show figured he's scary enough as it is, or if there's something to that. And even when he sneers that they're children, There's something about how he yells at them, how he bickers with them, that's just slightly...I dunno, almost at their level? Like telling Wim he was the worst one or arguing with Fern when she un-claimsies his claim on the ship. I really like that he's genuinely menacing and doesn't hate to kill other pirates, that he's a total bastard who's obsessed with At Attin's "treasure," and that he doesn't always feel like the clear "grown-up" in the scenario--what an entertaining character! I can't wait for episode 8! How are the kids gonna get out of this one?

It's also notable that we'd just seen Jod tell SM-33 to boil the other pirates in acid, proving how ruthless he's capable of being. Because immediately after, he goes out of his way *not* to hurt Fern. He quickly disarms her and threatens her, and he certainly scares all the kids, but he could've hurt/killed her so easily, and instead he just grabs her, threatening her with the knife (but never cutting her) while he repeatedly tells her to yield. Whether his intentions are pragmatic or self-serving, I think it's significant that he never actually hurts Fern or any of them. Of course, it's still a scumbag move, even if he *does* have a good reason for it. I won't begrudge the kids any feels of anger or betrayal towards Jod in the coming episodes.

Taking this to the book vs. show thread, to avoid talk about later episodes in the thread for the pilot.

From the 1x01 thread. I agree that the geography is pretty murky in season 1, and it gets tricky to keep track of where we are. I appreciated getting the quick shots of the map in season 2 as we were moving from country to country. If you're still fuzzy on how it all works, here's the map: The Fold separates a small portion of western Ravka from the rest of the country. The eastern side is where most of the population lives, and where the capital city is, home to the royal family and the Little Palace (where the Grisha live/train.) The western side has access to the sea, so their they're the ones that get all the trade/exports. In order for eastern Ravka to get supplies/food they can't make themselves, a skiff has to bring materials through the Fold. There's no way around, because Ravka's at war with the countries on either border (Fjerda and Shu Han.) In season 2, Nikolai's flying machine is still a prototype, so flying over the Fold isn't really an option for them at this point. At the start of the show, Alina and Mal are at a military camp on the eastern side of the Fold, where there's about to be a crossing to pick up supplies and bring them back east. When the skiff is attacked by volcra and Alina uses her power for the first time, they're closer to the east than the west, so they turn around and go back to the camp. That's where Kirigan tests Alina and takes her to the Little Palace (all in the east.) Alina's mapmaker friend Alexei, who got thrown/jumped(?) off the skiff during the attack, is the only one who winds up on the western side to tell them what happened. General Zlatan, the non-Grisha military guy in season 1, was a leader from western Ravka. He wanted to break with the royal family and make the west its own nation, leaving the eastern majority of the country to rot/starve without its shipments of supplies. But his push for western independence doesn't really work if there's a Sun Summoner who can tear down the Fold, so he enlists Arken to kill Alina during the Crows' heist, preserving his own political power. Kaz and the Crows aren't from Ravka at all. Ketterdam is on the island nation of Kerch (southwest on the map.) It's a bustling port city that attracts people from all over the region--Inej is Suli (part of a traveler culture originally from Ravka,) while Jesper is Zemeni (from Novyi Zem, northwest on the map.) Ketterdam has tons of trade, lots of pleasure houses, and plenty of criminals. When the Crows get hired for the heist in season 1, they take a ship to western Ravka and then use Arken's train to get through the Fold. They spend the rest of the season in eastern Ravka, and they don't cross the Fold again until the season finale, when they con their way onto the skiff that Kirigan is bringing Alina across on. At the end of episode 8, everybody is at a port in western Ravka, boarding ships to leave the country. The Crows are going back to Kerch/Ketterdam, and Nina is going there too (because that's where Matthias is being taken to jail as a "slaver.") Alina and Mal are going into hiding, and they end up in Novyi Zem.

Yep, Jon is doing Thursday this week, and I believe it'll be live. That's how the show typically handles the conventions--early tapings throughout the week, live show on Thursday after the candidate's speech. I laughed so hard at Michael's bit about Tim Walz living his best life on the campaign bus, consulting his personal map and giving the driver advice.

I kept thinking, you'd rather spend your 20 minutes talking about Biden's age than the Supreme Court ruling on Chevron and presidential immunity?