User reviews

This is, minute for minute, some of the best television on today. Not a ton of FX. Just a compelling story and great acting. It is certainly more adult than other CGI laden spin offs. I don't think any cute cuddly toys will emerge from the series. But the story shines.

The plight of the rebels feels real. We're drawn into the characters one by one. The acting is first class. The writing succinct. And the ever enigmatic Andor keeps the tension taught and mysterious.

Though the series seemed in no hurry to gain traction, it's totally forgivable as we approach mid season. We're drawn to the next episode as we anticipate the the rage sure to be drawn by the empire.

The writers seem merciless with the characters and Andor himself has a sharp unscrupulous edge not quite on display in Rogue One.

Big thumbs up.

This is THE show anyone who grew up with classic Star Wars needs to see. 'Mature' Star Wars, if you will.

Maintains the aesthetics of Rogue One and has a quality of writing to shame recent pathetic efforts. Stands as a great little sci-fi adventure on its own, within the Star Wars universe.

Terrific production, script and depth of accomplished acting performances - tremendous - give it a gravitas to have you salivating if you ever so much as tingled at any great Star Wars movie.

One particular visual snippet as an example - S1E06 'The Eye' has Tie Fighter pilots scrambling into their machines. Mere seconds of screen time but a scintillating burst of realisation that such dynamic moments have never been 'authentically' presented to you before. Ally that with engaging and stimulating dialogue, and it delivers some great stuff.

Treat you inner kid and impress your critical adult: don't miss out on giving this quality production the attention and admiration it deserves. This is Rogue One (the 3rd greatest Star Wars movie behind IV & V) expanded. 8/10 and climbing.

Andor is why I pay my Disney+ subscription. This is Star Wars for those who have grown up with the franchise and are yearning for a more mature take on the Universe. It's hard to use the work 'realistic' when it comes to sci-fi, but everything about Andor feels real. The characters act sensibly and their actions never feel like they are purely made to drive the plot forward. I think the last time I used the term 'sci-fi that transcends it's boundary' was when talking about Battlestar Galactica. I think I can safely use that term here too. It's not a action sci-fi, so it's audience it probably smaller, so I hope it will not get cancelled. I hope Disney can find the courage to front a show based on quality and not just audience numbers. I believe that quality shows will always be good revenue earners over time as they are appreciated by more people, even if they are not the most popular out of the box.

Wow. I just finished episode 12 of the first season of this show. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I feel like I'm about 12 years old again. To me, the thing about the Star Wars universe that fascinated me was never the jedi, or the mysticism, or the lightsabers. All that was cool, but to me, the fascination was for the struggle. The underdog vs the world. The fight against oppression. From the original series, Wedge was my favorite character- just a regular guy doing his part.

Return of the Jedi was always my favorite, despite its flaws. The reason was the epic battle sequence at the end. Unlike basically every piece of star wars media since, ROTJ's battle focused extensively on regular 'people'. This is what the Ewoks represented- an oppressed civilisation. It's a little hokey in practice, but the message was the important thing. Likewise, the space battle was all regular pilots doing their best to survive a last-ditch battle. Green Leader going out of control and kamikazi-ing the super star destroyer, Wedge and Lando shooting out the reactor. Again, these were regular people doing their bit to fight the empire. The Rebel Alliance is built on THEIR backs, not those of some space wizard (all respect to Luke).

To me, Star Wars media lost sight of that until Rogue One. Here, they continue (or start) the tradition by focusing on Andor.

Let's be clear, Cassian Andor is not really the protagonist here. The Rebel Alliance is, and Cassian is the perspective through which we are seeing it, as a regular guy down on his luck finding his way in the galaxy despite a world of harshness thrown at him. Likewise, we see it from the perspective of its architects, Mon Mothma, a politician doing it 'straight', and Luthen Rael, a spy/terrorist playing the deeper, more violent game. We also see the Empire as the antagonist, through the eyes of those who wish for order, like Syril Karn, and a promising and talented ISB agent, Dedra Meero.

There are no jedi or lightsabers here, and surprisingly few battles and pew-pews. Almost no jokes, and (amazingly) no "I have a bad feeling about this."

What we get instead, and what I have needed from this franchise for a very long time, is incredible acting. Unbelievably good writing, and fantastic attention to detail. This is one of the most well-made shows I've ever seen. Every character's action, good or bad, makes sense here. This is Star Wars, the Real Drama, where I can simultaneously understand the perspective of a Rebel and an Imperial. I may not agree with one, or even both, of them, but I understand them.... I might even sympathise with them. It is like The Wire in the star wars universe. It really is THAT good.

I have no notes for this. There is nothing I can imagine that would make it better. It may not be for kids or for everyone. It is slow. It has relatively little action and no humor. But- if you enjoy suspense, and tension, in a Hitchcockian way.... you MUST watch this. If you're a star wars fan who enjoyed the series for those regular men and women in the background, then again, you must watch this. If you are a fan of revolutionary or antifascist history, you must watch this.

I cannot wait for Season 2.

It is clear that who wrote the script for "Andor" needs to be promoted to a higher role within Disney's hierarchy of writers because they actually know how to write a coherent story that doesn't trip over itself.

Andor is mature without being explicit, it is gripping and real whilst being completely fictional, in fact it does so well in portraying the reality of its characters that parallels can be drawn to real life Apartheids such as to the South African Apartheid struggle. The struggle had people who had to do things that were bad for a good cause, there's no negotiating the morality. And it's the same in Andor, it holds no punches in portraying reality and that's why Andor is the best Star Wars Series.

I almost never review anything. Usually I allow other people to make up their own minds and try not to influence their decisions. This needs to be an exception.

With the recent debut of Star Wars: The Acolyte we need to address this as a community. We don't need more garbage like that. Andor stands out as a unique phenomenon in comparison to the shows around it. It's well written, it's intriguing and it builds on the success of Rogue One in all the best ways. I never thought I needed to know more about Cassian Andor before the show but I gave it a chance and was rewarded with a show that respects my intelligence, entertains me and keeps me guessing. In short, it's everything that the rest of Disney Star Wars is just completely failing at.

So years later I come back to give this show the review it's owed. We didn't know how good we had it with this show and it did not get enough credit. Disney, give us more like this show with good writing, interesting characters, meaningful moments that are actually set up and earned.

I wish I could give Andor more than 10 stars and the Acolyte less than 1 star.

Andor is the only Star Wars show I can currently say is good without any disclaimers. Mandalorian? Amazing first season, mediocre second season, boring 3rd season. Kenobi? Maybe one or two good moments between Obi Wan and Vader, maybe a couple scenes with interesting visuals. The rest makes no sense. Ahsoka? Felt like a Rebels fan fic with a few interesting scenes, answered some cliffhangers and it was nice to see Thrawn actually in the live action universe. Boba Fett? Just plain boring with unnecessary flashy edgy things thrown in... if you know you know. Andor is the one Disney Star Wars live action anything, movie or show, that I have 0 complaints about.

Didnt like the new movies and even Mandalorian was somehow boring. So I was almost going to skip Andor, glad I didnt.

This is well written, gritty and as adult as we can hope for at this point. Disney is maybe realising that there is a huge group of SW fans that are middle-age or over. It almost doesnt feel like SW made by Disney, but made by HBO.

Much more into the story line and character arcs than pim-pam-laser-fights and explosions. Casting is spot on on many roles and I have met only couple of situations where I go: "This should have been written better".

First time since long time I cannot wait next episode of Star Wars. Disney please dont mess this up for me.

To anyone with the slightest critical eye, pretty much everything outside The Mandalorian and Rogue One has largely been vapid Disney-stamped Star Wars content™. Simply keeping-up with the sheer amount of crap being pumped-out is a chore. Compared to the usual sterilized corporate stuff made for their crucial baby demographic, Andor's a breath of natural fresh air.

The protagonist isn't just another 'Han shot back' type. And back in general is a strain of grounded Star Wars, not made of every color of plastic at hand. No, this is a thoughtful and somewhat slow series with its tame, tense, and explosive moments paced with narrative purpose. While I'd only call it fairly solid in its own right, this series could rightly be considered amazing next to nearly everything else Star Wars has had on offer for the last decade.

I have to say that I was really looking forward to Andor ever since I first heard about it. Then when I saw the trailers I got even more excited. I just finished watching it and it not only met my expectations but even surpassed them. It actually might be the best Star Wars series so far, or at least right there with The Mandalorian. The entire cast is great but Diego Luna is obviously the real star here. He is just fantastic as the lead. This may start a little slow but stick with it because it picks up in a hurry and the next thing you know you're completely hooked. It's already been renewed for a second season so I can't wait until next season and more of Andor!

I am going to put it plain and simple.

This show has me gripped. The characters feel so real, the plot has so much weight. I was thinking about this show and the plot long after I finished it. I want to watch it again just for the beauty of the plot and world building.

The world has so much weight, grit, and texture, I feel like I live in this world. Plus, it bridges some of the story between episodes 3 and 4 super well. The struggles of the different groups feel so real and important, none of the different character arcs feel like filler content. It also does a very good job at leaving some loose ends to be resolved in season 2.

I am an very old school Star Wars fan. I have remained a fan through all the ups and downs that The Star Wars universe has been put through of late. Even after the stomach churning nightmare that was the "Last Jedi". I'm still a devoted fan. I really wanted Andor to be good. Especially since Obi Wan was a wonderful surprise and so much better than I thought it would be. Unfortunately Andor is just sad. It like someone pasted together all the B roll footage of characters walking places and figured that the story would just write itself. All and I mean all the characters are so forgettable. My heart only lifted slightly in episode 5 when the rebel camp got a fly by from a TIE fighter. It's like getting a bowl of Lucky Charms with absolutely no marshmallows. I can't imagine how this show can get better at this point. But, as I mention, I am a fan. So I will hang in there until the bitter, boring end.

Seriously, this isn't just peak Star Wars. It is peak TV. Mandalorian was good, but this is absolutely outstanding. An absolute gem of intelligent writing and storytelling combined with top notch acting. We just finished episode 12 and I can't stop thinking about how good this is on every level.

Besides being great entertainment, it is also extremely morally relevant, considering current events in both Iran and Ukraine.

If you don't stand up against fascism, oppression and imperialism just because it's inconvenient for you, then you're helping the forces of evil. And you're going to regret it in the end.

I'm note sure which is my favorite between The Mandalorian and this yet. The Mandalorian feels more Star Warsy, but this seems much more like a good show that just so happens to be set in the Star Wars universe.

What I especially like about it is how alive and real the world feels. You get a much more detailed look at the dawn of the empire and the rebellion than previously and the show doesn't seem to need to skip over the world building and get to the next explosion.

It's slower and more mature than most other Star Wars properties, so it's not likely to interest the younger audience, but it's great for those of us who have been fans for several decades.

This is a show nobody asked for and one wonders why it exists. Cassian Andor from Rogue One was not a super popular character and I don't remember people craving for a show on that character. People calling this 'deep' and 'mature'....just lol. Long dialogues don't make a show deep and mature, altho this show tries hard to appear so.

The pointlessness aside, I was still willing to give this a chance. But 5 episodes into the show, it's just bland and boring unfortunately. Don't even remember the names of most of these characters. Cassian himself is boring. The rest are stiff and talk like robots.

All the internal politics of the Empire is cliche and boring. The hotheaded officer disobeying his superiors, officers trying to climb ranks...i mean c'mon, we've seen this so many times. Feels like some UK politics show. Why are most of the characters British? Don't remember any other Star Wars media having this many Brit characters..plus the lack of aliens makes the whole thing look like it's happening in the UK somewhere.

Where's the aliens? Aliens are what make SW special, otherwise it's just a generic show in Space. I doubt anyone would remember this show 5 years later. Disney needs to move on from this Era already.

Andor takes crap seriously and it's refreshing for the Star Wars universe.

It reminds me of GOT in the ballpark of characters, tone, atmosphere, cinematography and acting. Something that really stands out to me: there are morally grey characters on both sides. It is not black and white. In Star Wars projects the Imperials are almost always seen as either incompetent or pure evil. But now we get to see humanization of said characters. Whereas in the rebellion, there are varying motivations for being a rebel. It is not as cold cut as some might think. The character work is unparalleled especially compared to recent Star Wars projects.

This show has no business being as good as it is. When I saw the trailer, I was pretty excited, but half expected it to be a flop. Obi-Wan and Boba disappointed me quite a bit, but this show is fantastic. I would even daresay it surpasses The Mandalorian.

Props to the Cast and Crew!

Andor was every bit as good as I was hoping for. It might be the best Star Wars series to date, or at least tied with The Mandalorian. Of all the Star Wars series so far this one is probably the least known character but that doesn't mean it's any less interesting. Andor is a character from one of the best Star Wars movies, Rogue One. All the reviews have been great for Andor so that got my expectations even higher and so far they've all been met. It does start a little slow for some as they build the story but by the end of episode 3 you'll be anxious to see what happens next. It has a real gritty feel to it compared to the other Star Wars series and the visuals are great. It's also more adult oriented compared to the other shows so far. But the cast, led by Diego Luna, is the best thing about this show. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this show and where it goes.

This was excellent and a pleasant surprise , since I have found most Star Wars offerings unwatchable lately.

But this is different.

Visually stunning cinema and effects.

Brilliant and engaging actors with real screen presence and chemisty.

Exciting and suspensful story and plot just keeps you engaged and interested right throughout.

If you have seen recent Star Wars movies and series and been very disappointed like me, then you will definitely want to give this one a watch, you will find it completely different and engaging.

I have watched the first 6 episodes so far and have been very impressed.

Seeing all the other series, Andor provides a fresh breath into a franchise that's ultimately does nothing but reuses its own ideas.

Even in Mandalorian with the fan-service baby Yoda, the planets/locations which we've seen and known from before, plot armor of the main hero, linkage to the established characters... The quality of Andor is a full head above.

Or take Obi-Wan, that is a remarkable impotency of story writing and directing, having no reasons to exist but to exploit the fan base.

Since Rogue One, we see another successful try to make a "realism" show instead of arcade.

Creative script, good acting, dynamic development. It's great when quality and creativity wins over safe-betting and prioritizing fan-service for the sake of extra cash grab.

I just hope Disney doesn't spoil the series. But knowing the company, I won't be surprised. Still, so far Season 1 is extraordinary good and is exciting completely irrelevant of any other SW lore.

First of all, wow! The show immediately grabs you with its first couple of scenes, letting you know that this show is going to have a more adult tone. Seeing the workings of everyday people in the galaxy, the perspective of an imperial loyalist, and a thief making his way through the galaxy is so thrilling and exciting. The big and little details you get out of all the varying cultures on different planets allows you to completely melt into and engross yourself in the Star Wars galaxy, which is what many of us love so much.

The show's cast stands out. Every smaller and supporting character has a chance to shine. You can easily feel a deep history between characters from each cast member's stellar performance. The writers truly give you something interesting and griping to hold on to! The set design, costumes, and visuals are all stunning. It is a welcome new change of tone used for this Star Wars story. I can't wait to see more!

The cinematography is top tier. The lighting and color pallet is perfect. The characters are realistic. The FX and props are traditional where appropriate and seamlessly blended. There is almost zero comic relief. This is a gritty spy drama with moments of action (generally PG13, because Disney) and deep character development. The actors are skilled, the visuals are gorgeous, and the galaxy feels alive. This is the best Star Wars content since the last 2 seasons of the animated Clone Wars series.

Disney needs to cut loose the creative minds who gave us the new trilogy and promote those who are responsible for this. The original Star Wars content is a treasure and should be respected for its place in time and culture; I think Star Wars as a franchise has massive potential if it is treated like the violent and bleak conflict its narrative portrays.

Marvel and Disney have been in quiet a tailspin in the post Disney era. After Kenobi and recent Marvel offerings I was just to give about to call it a day and retire from even entertainment the idea of watching new entries.

For Andor, the first 2 episodes were decent enough to keep me coming back for another episode. The 3rd episode is where I started to appreciate what this series was setting up and the tone it was going to carry through the season. By mid season I felt this was definitely one the must watches of the year.

I am looking forward to season 2 and do yourself a favor and be sure to stay through the credits of the finale episode!

I have to be honest and say that this series has so far been dry and slow as well as lacking in what we usually get in a Star Wars product. I have given it a chance so far and while I can't stand Michael Bay-type movies that have too much action with little story to tie it together, this series seems to lack the action to balance everything. That may be okay with a straight drama but it doesn't fit my expectations for Star Wars.

I expected also more exposition into the influence of the Empire and their oppression that leads to the birth of the rebellion. Instead, we see the interactions of different characters in whom are hard to take interest. Because its Star Wars I am generous with my rating but I hope to see better output as the series moves forward.

What Star Wars could actually be. Well written, well acted, like it could actually happen. This sets a higher bar for other Star Wars productions. THIS is what I had hoped Disney would bring to the table when they bought Star Wars.

That was my review but now I have to reach the 600 word requirement, so:

To take a charter like Cassian Andor and create at least two seasons of content in like this. . . WHY isn't Disney cranking out programs like this. They found the formula. Now they just need to do MORE of it. You don't need over the top CGI, not when you have top shelf writing, acting and production.

Quite tedious so far, its barely Starwars at all. The main character is a badly acted unlikeable emo with a near constant scowl on his little face. Started well in the hope of a decent gritty starwars show but then tails off badly episode after episode. There is zero tension and zero suspense as the story is trite and plodding, we have seen it all before. Andor is a 6 episode series that has been dragged out into many episodes of filler and boredom. When you watch an entire episode and all they have done is spend 20 minutes walking past some goats then something is wrong. Still, some nice scenery if thats your thing. It may well pick up in the second half of the season.

I really don't know what to say other than that I find this show super boring so far. I'm a huge Star Wars buff but Andor just isn't a compelling character to start with. After Rogue One I didn't care about the character at all, and only decided to watch this show because the buzz on the internet was that it was good, but the tone is totally unlike any other Star Wars movie or show and frankly the plot is slow and uninteresting. I think they intended for it to be more gritty and therefore interesting, but there really isn't much of a plot so far and essentially no interesting characters. Kind of disappointing that Disney continues to put out poor quality Star Wars content.