Review: ‘Andor’ Episode 5 ‘The Axe Forgets’ Sets up Characters for What’s Ahead but Doesn’t Stand on Its Own

It’s a known fact by now that the first season of Andor is structured in blocks of three episodes. We saw this with the release of the first three episodes on September 21. Last week, with the release of the fourth episode, we witnessed the beginning of another segment. It was a loaded episode, with the introduction of Mon Mothma and Coruscant plus the heist crew from Aldhani.

 

Dan Gilroy, who is writing episodes 4-6, is following his brother’s model of having a clear three-act structure for his episodes — it is set-up, build-up, and payoff. The set-up episode, which we saw last week, was arguably better than the first block’s, so I was hoping the same would happen for the build-up episode as well. While I think this is true, I personally would have liked to see more.

 

In The Axe Forgets, Dan Gilroy meticulously placed all the players on the table where he wants them by episode 6 to hopefully deliver a chapter as good as the third one. Instead of moving the plot forward like Aldhani did last week, Gilroy placed us inside our characters’ heads. We open with Syril Karn, who is now back living with his mother Eedy (Kathryn Hunter). One devastating shot of Kyle Soller’s face and a blue milk wink later, Ms. Karn is slowly getting under her son’s skin. He has “no prospects for the future”, but worry not, “Uncle Harlo will know what’s best”.

 

This was a really great way to begin the episode, actually. The dialogue in this scene was sharp and even chilling at times, with Kathryn Hunter living up to the promise of what had been set up in an interview with Total Film Magazine. She is a controlling mother who thinks her son isn’t worth a lot, an interesting change of pace for a Star Wars family relationship. Overall, Andor is breaking all the Star Wars traditions in a time when changes are needed — we know we’re getting familiar themes with The Mandalorian and its spin-off shows, as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi earlier this year, but Tony Gilroy and his team are pushing the boundaries here of what can be done in the Star Wars galaxy. This is certainly one of the most important Star Wars shows right now, not because of its themes, but because of what it can tell us about the franchise as a whole.

 

Andor - Syril and Eedy Karn
(L-R): Kyle Soller (Syril Karn) and Eedy Karn (Kathryn Hunter) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

 

Karn is still obsessed with Cassian, and he will stop at nothing to get him, as we are told through visuals later in the episode. Soller himself said in an interview last month that not even Tony Gilroy knew, when he started writing the series, what the endgame for the character was going to be. Will he go down the anger route and become the most ruthless Imperial officer there can be, or will he end up joining the Rebellion after the Empire turns on him when he was trying to do the right thing? I personally lean on the former, but I can certainly see an argument for the latter, and it’s very possible that, when this episode was laid out, Dan Gilroy didn’t even know. If true, this is something I would find a fascinating prospect for a writer — to write a character while his fate isn’t even decided yet, so the challenge is to walk a path that could lead to either possible outcome.

 

Meanwhile, on Aldhani, things are about to spiral out of control. We got a lot of character dynamics between the crew, and they are all very suspicious of Cassian. Meanwhile, he continues to doubt the mission will succeed. Much like in the second episode, we don’t see a lot of plot development here, but it’s all about building up towards the third episode in the block. (The conversation between Andor and the boy who is writing a Communist Manifesto of sorts was just fascinating, I ate up every second of it.) Also, I thought it was great to already use the term “Rebellion” — even though it doesn’t hold the weight right now, one day it will. I cannot wait to see how all this evolves into the actual Alliance.

 

We can probably skip this episode and jump directly into the next one if all we want to see is a cool heist and some action sequences, but we’d lose a lot of nuances, and the result probably wouldn’t be as satisfying. I do wish, though, that at least this subplot got a bit more development. For a second, I thought we’d be getting some tense-filled moments when the TIE fighter almost spotted them, but that went away quickly (for now, at least).

 

I’m also curious about the fact that Andor episodes don’t usually end up on a cliffhanger. It’s rather unusual for a series like this not to do that, and I don’t mean that as a criticism, but rather as an observation. It feels as if the writers are so confident in what the rest of the episode brought that they don’t need a final adrenaline rush to get us to eagerly await the next episode — they know we’ll be watching because of the work they’ve done so far. And I actually admire them for that if that’s the case.

 

Andor - the Rebel team
(L-R): Arvel Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Taramyn Barcona (Gershwyn Eustache Jr), and Karis Nemik (Alex Lawther) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

 

We also haven’t forgotten about Ferrix. The Andor crew built an entire village there, and they used the heck out of that set. We didn’t get a lot of action there, but I loved the inclusion of this scene just because of its “future prospects” as Eery might say. We will definitely be getting more from all the supporting cast from the first three episodes of the show, and we are definitely getting more Maarva and Bix, for which I just can’t wait. Judging from the trailer alone, there are scenes in this setting we haven’t seen yet. Connecting the dots, I think the people there will revolt against the Imperial forces, and that’s when Dedra Meero will arrive there, to put an end to the revolution she is so adamantly hunting down.

 

Speaking of Denise Gough’s character, we got to see her again for a quick scene (which included a cool reference to Hosnian Prime!). While there is not a lot to read from this scene, I have the impression that the season is leading towards a team-up between Dedra Meero and Syril Karn, once they both realize that the actual Imperial officers in command are worthless and that they should be the ones in charge, since they are the only ones who know what’s up. Dedra Meero is, as seen in the trailer, going to be on Ferrix at some point, so it’s inevitable that she will start to trace Cassian, and that’s when she could bring Syril back into the Imperial fold. I don’t think that is happening until episodes 7 or 8, though, so I’m really curious to see how her arc in this block will conclude.

 

Mon Mothma is not heavily present in this episode either, but we did get to meet her daughter and hate her husband even more. It’s all leading up to the dinner table scene that was teased in the last episode, and that will probably set the course for her character in the second half of the season. I think we are destined for a separation between husband and wife, as he will clearly embrace the Imperial ways, but I’m very curious about their daughter. I don’t foresee a bright future for her, unfortunately, and I wonder if she will eventually be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and force Mon Mothma into leaving the Empire altogether. I also wonder if Mothma married him because he was a fan of the Empire and that could help her shield herself from it.

 

Andor - Mon Mothma's family
(L-R): Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie), Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), and Leida Mothma (Bronte Carmichael) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

 

We end the episode on probably my favorite scene — Gilroy didn’t forget about Stellan Skarsgård, and Luthen Rael hasn’t forgotten about Aldhani either. He is anxiously awaiting any news from there, and I loved the fact that even he isn’t sure whether what he’s doing is the right thing. He’s also doubting himself about choosing Cassian for the mission, which I thought was great. His interactions with Kleya, his assistant, are just fascinating to watch, and I wish they would last longer. I would have watched an extra 20 minutes of the two of them sitting at a dinner table and figuring out the possible outcomes of the mission, and where it’s all leading towards.

 

The bottom line for me is that I thought the episode works great as part of the overall picture, and shows the people in charge know exactly what they are doing, but it doesn’t really stand on its own. It doesn’t have a beginning, middle, and end, like episodes from Obi-Wan Kenobi or The Mandalorian did. The question now is: did it really need that? I personally like the three-episode arcs, but I also think there must be some room in there to squeeze in some momentum inside each episode.

 

Make sure to also check out John Hoey’s instant reaction to the episode here:

 

 

If you are looking for more Andor spoiler discussion, you are in luck! The Resistance Broadcast will be live tonight to discuss episode 5 in full detail at 9pm EST on our YouTube channel.

 

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Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.

Miguel Fernandez

Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.

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