S01.E05: The Axe Forgets

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Cassian must carefully navigate the distrust inherent in being the new member of a secret operation.

Dropping Wednesday, October 5, 2022.

[Mr. R0b0t]

What a rich text unfolding on screen.  Sure, it's not traditionally episodic, but the themes discussed are very adult for a SW show.  Fascism, free thought, rebellions and freedom from oppression.  How people are motivated by different things in pursuit of the same goals.  I'm really looking forward to seeing where this is headed.

...and Mon Mothma, call me.

[paigow]

Are these guys related???

  

[absnow54]

I liked this episode better than last week, but it doesn't feel like there was much, if any progression. They probably could have combined episode 4 and 5 into a single 1 hour episode without losing much. I also miss the flashbacks to flesh out Cassian's past as we get to know present Cassian better. I did enjoy Cassian's arc this episode, but it still felt like a rehash of him integrating with the rebels last week.

On the Mon Mothma front, not only does she have a suspicious husband, but she has a rebellious daughter who hates her. At least she has a fabulous kitchen. I'm confused though. Did the dinner party happen or not?

[angora]

Oh man, I loved that. Last week, the rebels felt a little interchangeable outside of Vel and Gorn, but I've gotten to know each of them better now. I liked getting pieces of some of their different journeys, from the young "true believer" idealist to the Imperial defector to the hurting/angry bereaved brother: "Everyone has their own rebellion."

Also, am I forgetting someone, or are Vel and Cinta the closest we've come to a confirmed same-sex Star Wars couple onscreen? They never outright say it, but between the comment about Cinta "sharing her blanket," Vel inserting herself between Cassian and Cinta, and everyone looking to Cinta to see if Vel had told her about "Clem," it was pretty clear to me.

It is just such a treat to watch Cassian in this. When he has his guard up, he's almost like a threatened animal, still and silent, watching everyone while giving nothing away (I love how he was easily able to rattle off the hand dominance of everyone in the group.) But he's also remarkably open at times--sharing about his prison time with Skeen, admitting that he's being paid to be there. I love seeing him get to know these rebels and slowly be influenced by them. He's still very much in out-for-himself survival mode, but they're starting to chip away at him. He already knows how to fight AGAINST something, and has more experience and practical knowhow than some of them do. But being around these folks, he might start learning how to fight FOR something.

[absnow54]

19 minutes ago, angora said:

Also, am I forgetting someone, or are Vel and Cinta the closest we've come to a confirmed same-sex Star Wars couple onscreen?

They had a same-sex kiss at the end of Rise of Skywalker between one of the pilots and a medic, but it was a blink and you miss it moment. 

[HelloooKitty]

Does anyone else feel like he looks like a young Paul McCartney sometimes?

[Penman61]

23 minutes ago, HelloooKitty said:

Does anyone else feel like he looks like a young Paul McCartney sometimes?

Yes, absolutely: One medium shot when Clem/Cassian was running across the field, I thought "Wow, it's 1971's Paul McCartney."

Outstanding episode overall. This Week Me is mildly frustrated that we still didn't get to the heist, but I'm pretty sure Next Week Me is going to be really really grateful for all this buildup. :) 

[Fool to cry]

So I get the formula now. Three episode arcs with part 1 and 2 setting up big payoff in part 3. Some people will probably still complain about it being too slow but I love it. Rogue One is my favorite Disney Star Wars movie but it needed more scenes we had here where we got to know the characters and see them interact before the big mission.

Not that she shouldn't be worried for herself but Mon Mothma having a daughter makes her fear more understandable.

[Tachi Rocinante]

Perrin is a douche.  That is all.

[thuganomics85]

Figured this episode was going to end right before the big heist, but I liked all of the build up to it and getting to know a little more about each of the players.  The line "everyone has their own rebellion" is fitting here and I think it makes sense that it would start out this way, before more common goals are agreed upon and the "Rebel Alliance" truly comes into its own.  I do suspect that at least one of these folks won't make it alive.  Or, hell, all of them but Cassian might not make it since that would really explain why he becomes who he was in Rogue One and his reaction to that particular team-up/suicide mission.

I almost felt bad for Karn with his sad looking cereal (complete with blue milk!) and overbearing, disapproving mother, but I suspect that all of this is just going to make him become even worse.

So, not only does Mon Mothma's husband kind of suck, but her daughter is a disrespectful brat as well.  It ain't easy being both a Galactic Senator and a mother!

Dedra continues to be ahead of almost everyone else in the Imperial government when it comes to figuring out this rebellion, but we'll see if she can make any headway with all of that bureaucracy!

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

So, not only does Mon Mothma's husband kind of suck, but her daughter is a disrespectful brat as well.  It ain't easy being both a Galactic Senator and a mother!

I wonder if he’s really as clueless as he seems…?🤔

[angora]

5 hours ago, absnow54 said:

They had a same-sex kiss at the end of Rise of Skywalker between one of the pilots and a medic, but it was a blink and you miss it moment. 

Oh that's right--I'd thought there was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment I was forgetting. Anyway, since Rogue One gave us Chirrut and Baze, it's only fitting that we get Vel and Cinta on Andor.

[Bill1978]

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

almost felt bad for Karn with his sad looking cereal (complete with blue milk!) and overbearing, disapproving mother, but I suspect that all of this is just going to make him become even worse

At the start of the show, I didn't care about him. He was just some random bad guy, but somehow this show has made me care about his story. Even to the point I was wanting them to cut Cassian's story short and get back to the Karn plot. Even though I was hoping the firing meant he would join the rebellion and even with the ending to this episode showing that he is going the stereotypical revenge path, I am still interested in seeing his story play out

4 hours ago, Fool to cry said:

So I get the formula now. Three episode arcs with part 1 and 2 setting up big payoff in part 3. Some people will probably still complain about it being too slow but I love it.

I'm actually looking forward to rewatching the series and watching it in 3-episode chunks, like they are movies (Episode 1 introduce the characters, Episode 2 build the plot/plan, Episode 3 Execute the plan with action - just like a movie does with their 3-part acts). I know understand why they decided to premiere the series with a 3 episode drop. And like with all good sequels we get throwback scenes to the previous movie like we did with this episode's visit to Cassian's home planet.

7 hours ago, absnow54 said:

On the Mon Mothma front, not only does she have a suspicious husband, but she has a rebellious daughter who hates her. At least she has a fabulous kitchen. I'm confused though. Did the dinner party happen or not?

I admit Mon Mothma's part of the story slows the show down for me. But that's because I'm not a fan of political dramas. I couldn't get into Game of Thrones for that same reason (and HotD) but the moment the show shifted to White Walker drama I was hooked. I understand why Mothma is needed, I just don't get excited when we go to her plot, I tend to look at the stunning sets with her plot haha. Does anyone else also think her husband looks like Qui-Gon Jinn? It could just be the beard and manbun. But quite a few times this episode I had to remind myself it wasn't Liam Neeson.

[wanderingstar]

It's not an exaggeration to say that I cherished every moment of this episode. I am so glad we are getting a story that is allowed to breathe.

Enjoyed seeing Cassian slowly win over the rest of the rebel group. I do wonder if revealing that he's being paid to work with the group will come back to haunt him.

The scenes between Karn and his mom were delightful ("You might as well wear a sign that says 'I will disappoint you'")

Seeing Mon Mothma's family it's no wonder she joined the rebellion.

Edited October 7, 2022 by Gillian Rosh

[Ohiopirate02]

48 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

The scenes between Karn and his mom were delightful ("You might as well wear a sign that says 'I will disappoint you'")

Who knew Karn's mother was from the planet Druidia?

[paigow]

Great secret signal... stand on a hill waving a flaming torch... WTF??!!! They should all be dead... Not suspicious at all when Lt. Gorn volunteers for guard duty.... 

[dwmarch]

1 hour ago, paigow said:

Great secret signal... stand on a hill waving a flaming torch... WTF??!!!

I was thinking the same thing about characters silhouetting themselves on ridge lines but I will cut them some slack in that it's the early days of the rebellion and they're still finding the landmines by stepping on them. "I'm sorry to report your tradecraft is a bag of ass" is less a bug and more of a feature at this point.

Great episode, I loved how we are letting the story breathe for a moment and getting one last look at these characters in the places they have become accustomed to before it all blows up.

Another aspect of this show that I love is how I am seeing things that I have seen at work. A hardass boss who is obsessing over painting a piece of equipment that the visitors from Corporate probably won't even look at. The various underlings who get in trouble for trying too hard. The superiors who get a detailed report about an actual problem and blow it off. And we also see that the people who are involved in this struggle don't particularly enjoy it. No one is having fun with the spy games and once things are quiet they start having doubts. It's a sort of realism that I haven't seen in any other Star Wars material I've seen. I'm generally easy to please (I liked The Book of Boba Fett despite its obvious flaws and I don't hate the Prequels or the Sequels) but I think this show in particular is fantastic.

[paigow]

2 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Who knew Karn's mother was from the planet Druidia?

She was a few prosthetics shy of getting a job at that Bank in Harry Potter

[isalicat]

Yes, I too am tremendously impressed with Andor so far, and this episode in particular. The "world building" across multi-worlds is very well done and the Karn and Mon Mothma stories are essential for that, in addition to being extremely interesting in their own right. I could spend an hour touring that bizarre apartment that the Karn mother and son inhabit...there seemed to be no place to sit other than the plastic kitchen booth. And their dialog! (Karn and his mother - what happened to Dad???) Just as acidic as could possibly be. Brilliant. 😸

[paigow]

3 hours ago, isalicat said:

 (Karn and his mother - what happened to Dad???) 

Ran Away is my first guess

Suicide is Plan B

[tennisgurl]

I am so impressed at how much of a slow burn this is, it really does feel different than most other Star Wars shows. Its really taking its time with world building and character work, this episode in particular did a lot to really make the other rebels stand out from each other. They have been mostly interchangeable so far, but I really liked getting to know them more and seeing their individual reasons for fighting the Empire. You have the idealistic true believer, the disillusioned imperial, the guy who wants revenge, and then Cassian, who might be doing this for the money, but its clearly much more than that. It makes a lot of sense, the Rebel Alliance is in its very early stages where its a very loose sort of alliance, they are just taking anyone who has an axe to grind against the empire and throwing them together, which also fits into Skeen's speech about how the Empire has managed to upset so many people that they all blur together for them so that they don't even realize how many people are willing to fight against them.

No wonder Mon Mothma wants to spend most of her time working for the rebellion, when she gets home all she has to deal with is stand still beauracracy and Imperialists at work and a lazy husband and bratty daughter at home. 

I actually felt a bit bad for Karn, his mom seems like a real piece of work. He really did manage to fuck things up quite spectacularly, but his attitude is rather uncalled for. The way she talks about Karn's uncle makes it sound like he might be the kind of uncle who works for the "garbage industry" or something like it, if his family has criminal ties it might explain why he is so obsessed with following rules, if he wants to distance himself from his family. 

Cassian is so interesting to watch, he jumps between being so closed off he looks like he's shrinking into himself, it feels like he's always gearing up for a fight but at the same time you feel like he does want to put himself out there but isn't sure quite how. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by tennisgurl

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I am so impressed at how much of a slow burn this is, it really does feel different than most other Star Wars shows. Its really taking its time with world building and character work, this episode in particular did a lot to really make the other rebels stand out from each other. They have been mostly interchangeable so far, but I really liked getting to know them more and seeing their individual reasons for fighting the Empire.

I totally agree. I wish I had closed captioning on when Karis was talking to Cassian about his manifesto. I caught "it's easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident" and almost got chills. Definitely felt applicable right now with what's happening in Ukraine.

14 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Another aspect of this show that I love is how I am seeing things that I have seen at work.

I hope we get more time with the ISB officer that is sniffing out the rebellion. This feels like a new angle for Star Wars and it's nice to see it. Usually when we see the bad guys, they are evil with a capital E. This show seems more interested in exploring middle management, and I love it.

[WritinMan]

Damn, this is such a great show. There wasn't even any action and I was sitting on the edge of my seat. And the episode flew by.

This is precisely the type of show I was thinking Disney wasn't capable of making. I wonder why they suddenly decided to make it.

[Sarah 103]

21 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Who knew Karn's mother was from the planet Druidia?

Thank you for this comment. It's great to know that someone else had the same thought. I was wondering if I was reading something into that wasn't there at all. 

20 hours ago, paigow said:

Great secret signal... stand on a hill waving a flaming torch... WTF??!!! They should all be dead... Not suspicious at all when Lt. Gorn volunteers for guard duty.... 

My guess, is that there is an event/festival the next day and since people do travel to see it, it would probably be explained by campers. Even if someone else saw it and reported it to Gorn, he would probably have said it was people arriving and camping out and to ignore it.  

[tkc]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:50 PM, paigow said:

She was a few prosthetics shy of getting a job at that Bank in Harry Potter

It's okay... Kathryn Hunter met Harry and Dudley, and got into the Ministry of Magic instead:

Edited October 7, 2022 by tkc

[Jeddah]

On 10/5/2022 at 12:50 PM, HelloooKitty said:

Does anyone else feel like he looks like a young Paul McCartney sometimes?

I never would have said Diego Luna and Paul McCartney look alike, but after your comment I can’t unsee it. They really do!

[Shanna Marie]

Darn it, they just had to go and make me feel some sympathy for Karn, though it looks like he's going to be blaming Cassian for all his woes, so my sympathy won't last long. His mother gave very Nancy Walker vibes.

The scenery for the Cassian part of the story is absolutely gorgeous. There's something to shooting on location that they can't match with their fancy scenery wall. That feels like a very real world, and it makes me angry to think that the Empire is probably going to more or less destroy it while stripping away all its resources. Then I remember that it's Scotland, and it's still here.

Idealistic boy is so very marked for death. The actor was so familiar-looking, so I looked him up, and he was the younger brother in the miniseries remake of Howard's End, with Hayley Atwell in the Emma Thompson role. He was a naive, idealistic, and rather nerdy English schoolboy in that one, though significantly less scruffy than he is here.

[MJ Frog]

Man, I am really, really enjoying this. YMMV, but I am enjoying it more than the Mandalorian. So far it's my favorite Star Wars story since the original trilogy. Or Rogue One for that matter. I am completely drawn into this world, which is being shown not simply as an interesting and well drawn backdrop, but a place that people actually live in. As mentioned above, the hiding behind 40 atrocities line was stunningly relatable. And the characters all seem to behave like real people (looking at you, Obi Wan Kenobi show). Who knew it would be this much fun getting to know Mon Mothma as a wife, mother, and politician. Or to get pulled into the Imperial bureaucracy. I am just so pleasantly surprised by a show that trusts its audience, and that tries this hard to do something good.

This may have already been said, but the actor who plays Karn has got a real young Jude Law thing going on.

Also, I don't know how much is CGI, but oh my God the LOCATIONS on this show. Keeping up with the fine Star Wars tradition of using amazing natural settings. I want to go to all of these places.

[sashabear21]

I like that we’re getting the backstory on characters instead of earnest fresh faced redshirts with no reason as to why we should care about them other then they’re part of the rebellion (looking at you Dak from Empire Strikes Back).  Also the mid-level managers trying to climb their way up the ranks is also very relatable and oddly entertaining. 
 

Hopefully Coruscant has good divorce lawyers because Mon Mothma might need one since her husband is a raging douchecanoe. 

[Sarah 103]

3 hours ago, sashabear21 said:

Hopefully Coruscant has good divorce lawyers because Mon Mothma might need one since her husband is a raging douchecanoe. 

And now I'm picturing Arnie Becker from L.A Law as her lawyer in the divorce case. I'm picturing him saying to his collegues or secretary: "I'm not going to try to sleep with her. I'd be too scared. She could have me killed or worse." 

[andromeda331]

On 10/9/2022 at 10:49 AM, sashabear21 said:

I like that we’re getting the backstory on characters instead of earnest fresh faced redshirts with no reason as to why we should care about them other then they’re part of the rebellion (looking at you Dak from Empire Strikes Back).  Also the mid-level managers trying to climb their way up the ranks is also very relatable and oddly entertaining. 
 

Hopefully Coruscant has good divorce lawyers because Mon Mothma might need one since her husband is a raging douchecanoe. 

I hope so. And soon.

[Camera One]

This show is good at building tension without the characters in constant danger.  We actually saw the planning and the rehearsing, which so many series and movies skip over.  I almost forgot we only met these rebels last episode and now I'm drawn into their story.  Though it's sad that some of them might not make it, since that would leave a mark on Cassian, who is the protagonist.

I hope they're not going to take the predictable route of Karn obsessively hunting down Cassian.  I enjoyed his scenes with his mother.

So Luthen is regretting giving Cassian his necklace, I guess, since that would trace back to him?  It sure has caused a lot of problems already.  Luthen's secretary is pretty awesome.

Mon's daughter is a real brat.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Camera One

[LaylaGirl]

On 10/8/2022 at 4:06 PM, Shanna Marie said:

His mother gave very Nancy Walker vibes.

I thought the exact same thing! She was a much worse version of Ida Morgenstern.