Disney Plus’s original series penultimate episode of ‘Andor’ kicks off with Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen being tortured due to her association with Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor as he was being recruited by the rebels. From here the viewer sees how she is about to be tortured by a high ranked imperial security officer with the screams of child from a device. This shows an even crueler side to the empire due to the methods they use to get information such as threatening to harm others and torture. In her mind, she knows that if she gives up Andor then they will do much worse things to him should they capture him. However, she genuinely doesn’t know where he is, and she knows the officer will not believe her even if she told the officer. Unfortunately, now she must pay the price for getting involved with Andor which could lead to some future problems for him in a later episode.
Additionally, the viewer sees Andor as he deals with the day-to-day life in prison working with a team due to there being a station where the prisoners are forced to work at. The interesting part about this is how there appears to be something off with one of the floors of workers as a result of rumors surfacing among the inmates. In Andor’s mind, he knows that the empire cannot be trusted in any way shape or form especially with how they handle their prison. He figures he needs to find a way out before whatever happened on the floor above him happens to him. However, as he tries to get Andy Serkis’s Kino Loy to help him for a plan, he shuts him down not wanting to mess up his scheduled release. In his mind, he knows that trying anything will only extend his sentence that he hopes to fulfill the right way. That is why he runs a tight ship when it comes to managing his floor workers, that way he can have a spotless record and leave.
Later into the episode, the viewer sees Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma as she meets with the other delegates to debate taxes that the empire wants to impose on everyone. Unfortunately, she sees that no one wants to listen to what she has to say, and they leave as she tries to talk to them all. In her mind, she sees that nothing she says will reach the people of the empire as they are blinded by the empire’s control over them. That is why she decided to help fund the rebellion so that everyone can be free and not live in fear. Also, she knows that not everyone wants to be free of the empire as she meets others who love the empire due to them being rich enough to be left alone. The interesting part about this is she is revealed to be a cousin of Faye Marsay’s Vel Sartha which means she is a rich person as well. Surprisingly, Vel does not like her life of luxury especially when it comes at the expense of others’ happiness. This is a sentiment that both of them seem to share despite them doing different things to help the rebellion.
At the end of the episode, the viewer sees that Andor’s suspicion are correct when he finds out that an entire floor was killed due to a small riot. The interesting thing is that as a fellow inmate falls over due to a stroke Kino rushes to see if he is okay and needs any help. This demonstrates that he is not just about keeping his record clean while he ignores everyone else. Instead, he actually cares about the people he manages. He just acts as if he does not to not seem weak as he believes a manager must be cold to get the job done. Ultimately, it all leads to the grand revelation that no one leaves and when their time is up the inmate is sent to another floor to keep working. As a result of this Kino decides to help Andor with his escape plan.
Rating: 8.5/10