As the third arc of Andor reaches its mid-point, the subtlety has more or less left the galaxy, although that doesn’t impact the effectiveness of “Narkina 5.”
1. Wait a second…is this all metaphorical?
“Narkina 5” ditches the nuance and just comes out and tells us: all of these characters are trapped in prisons of their own. Cassian is in an actual prison. Mon Mothma is trapped in a political role that is constricting around her. Syril believed the truth would set him free, but he’s trapped in the bureaucracy’s uncaring wheel. Luthen is trapped by the parochial constraints of the various rebel segments. Maarva is trapped in the prison of a broken down body. Bix is locked out of Cassian’s life, and is left trying to do right by him and his mother, unable to do what she needs to do for herself. Vel and Cinta are trapped in a relationship that will always come second to the Rebellion.
The only character who maybe isn’t feeling the constraints is Dedra, who is rising through the Imperial ranks without too much trouble. And even so, she still seems frustrated at the lack of autonomy she’s able to exercise.
2. The actual prison
The show does a fantastic job of showing how overwhelming and soul-crushing the compound on Narkina 5 is. Even if the acting during the floor shocking moments was a little silly, the episode makes it very clear that this is not the type of prison that Terry talks about in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. There’s no lifting weights and watching TV here.
The excess of white also made it hard not to see George Lucas’s THX 1138 as a visual touchstone for these scenes. I really appreciated how lost Diego Luna looked in every shot during his first day. You could see him not being physically able to come to grips with the life that he saw himself thrust into. Equally heartbreaking was, just 30 days later, how accustomed to the life he now was. It doesn’t take long to break a person down.
The leader of the ‘room’ that Cassian finds himself in is played by Andy Serkis, making his return to the Star Wars galaxy after playing Snoke in the sequel trilogy. Serkis is playing a stereotypical hardened convict who has found himself coopted by his oppressor, but he plays it well. The fact that he is “x days from freedom” is a tease that will never actually come true, but it is important for Cassian to believe that there is salvation possible, at some point.
3. Ladies and gentleman…Saw Gerrera
The scene between Luthen and Saw was one of the most instructive of the entire series thus far, in terms of how the Rebellion is working at this point. Luthen is trying to make connections and create a literal and figurative alliance of rebels, and is getting resistance from Saw. Saw is precious about how and why he is rebelling, and isn’t willing to work with others who are doing things differently or, especially, for different reasons. Forest Whitaker plays Saw so perfectly, easing from joy to distrust to anger to ambivalence in shifts that are almost imperceptible. It’s a staggeringly good performance in a show full of good performances, and one that manages to give the viewer pause at if this Rebellion could ever work, which is crazy, as we know that it will.
4. Perrin’s suspicions
Up until now, Perrin had his head too far up his own gilded ass to be aware of anything that Mon was up to outside of his direct purview. But with Tay showing up more frequently, and Mon asking after him, it appears that Perrin thinks something is up. Knowing him and his ego, he’s likely thinking that Mon is cheating on him, but the jig is almost certainly up, in terms of Mon not garnering suspicion from her husband. Even their daughter says to Tay, “you’re here all the time now,” which is an insanely accurate shitty teenaged thing to say.
We know that Mon doesn’t stay in the Senate forever, and that in Rebels she has already absconded the position, but this is happening a little earlier than I thought it might on the show. It also gives the viewer even more reason to dislike Perrin, even if he does look a lot like Will Forte.
5. A surprisingly large cast
It’s a little surprising to me that so many characters from the first two arcs are still being focused on here. I really thought we saw the last of Bix, Maarva, Cinta, and Vel when their direct stories ended, but this episode gives us updates on just about anyone we’ve spent any real time with who isn’t dead. I like that approach, as this show is more the tale of the early Rebellion and less the Cassian Andor story. We’re seeing how the Aldhani raid truly began to pull apart the threads of the Empire from various corners of the galaxy. By having such a wide focus, it allows the show to give the viewer a better sense of what led not just the various characters to this point, but what led the characters from this point to the place we find the Rebellion five years from now.
