Andor has, thus far, operated in three-episode arcs. However, “Nobody’s Listening!” is very much not the end of the current story. Let’s get into it.
1. Goddamn
Star Wars has always been adept at showing horrifying things in a way that is sanitized enough for a child to watch and not be sent screaming into the next room. Alderaan’s destruction, Order 66, or the delivery of the line “Somehow, Palpatine returned” are all truly terrifying concepts that are smoothed over enough for the general audience to accept. A similar thing happens to Bix, where we see, but do not hear, the effects of her listening to a recording of children being slaughtered. The idea is horrifying, especially when presented in an almost charming way by the Imp pain inflictor, but Bix’s face/scream is truly harrowing.
This episode really doubles down on both Dedra’s facility at her job and the depth of her cruelty. It’s a little much to say that she is the only one at the ISB getting anything done, but it sure seems like they’d have no leads on the Aldhani situation if not for her single-mindedness. She also allows a public execution for no real reason, and has no qualms about killing a rebel and making it look like an accident to get some intel out of it.
2. They’re cousins! Ideological cousins!
The revelation that Vel and Mon are cousins makes everything click into place a little more soundly, in terms of how everything fits together between the Coruscant-based rebels. It also helps hammer home the idea that, even within families of like-minded folks, there still aren’t fundamental agreements about what the ‘proper’ ways to rebel are. This interaction actually reveals a lot about both characters. We see Vel parroting her partner’s line about ‘taking what is left’ after the movement takes most of your life, which she doesn’t ascribe to anyone else. She is the more active rebel in the family, and she’s stealing lingo, if not valor, to show her cousin just how tough and edgy she really is.
Mon, on the other hand, takes a position that falls between her roles with Tay and Luthen. With Luthen, she’s the establishment piece that is needed for stability, projecting conservatism and restraint. To Tay, she’s the extreme idealist. To Vel, she’s neither; in fact, Vel may see her more clearly than anyone else does.
3. No chill Syril
I don’t think it is too extreme to call what Syril is doing ‘stalking,’ nor do I think that saying he is obsessed with Dedra is an overreach either. Syril is enamored not just with Dedra’s job, but it seems like he’s become infatuated with her romantically, too. To Syril, she’s the avatar of what the world should be: orderly and driven. He sees her life and wants it. Whether he’d rather be her partner or just be her remains to be seen.
The only part of Syril that is somewhat of a mystery to me is whether he craves order so much that he’s ok with all of the Empire’s atrocities. He’s lived a pretty sheltered life, and has no experience with the Empire that tortures people with snuff audio or shocks its barefoot inmates for not building machines fast enough. Syril, like Mon, signed up for a life that he believed in, but Mon has seen enough to disenfranchise her from what she once believed. Does Syril have that limit?
4. More like democrazy, am I right?
The scene of Mon in the Senate being booed, heckled, and generally ignored for talking about Imperial overreach is some of the most biting commentary Star Wars has ever produced. When we see the Senate in the Prequels, especially in The Phantom Menace, it is a place that is bustling with debate, differing viewpoints, and a firebrand spirit. The Senate here is limp as a wet sock, with the majority of the people who bother to show up don’t speak, and those that speak are not exactly adding to the discourse. Mon’s frustrations at how to move money around without the government noticing are amplified by the fact that the government can barely notice itself. The money has become more important than the democracy itself.
Continued belowDoes that sound familiar to anyone out there?
5. That poor old man
The scenes of Cassian on Narkina 5 were surprising for two reasons. First, it is interesting how quickly Cassian has started making actual progress towards some sort of escape plan. While Cassian has certainly gotten proficient at not getting zapped each day, don’t let his increased productivity be mistaken for buying into the myth of the system. The second interesting piece was seeing just how bleak of a picture Star Wars is willing to paint. Ulaf’s declining health, stroke, and forced euthanasia were all presented in a cold, straightforward manner that reflects the tone of the prison itself. Everyone wants Ulaf to survive long enough to rest that night, both for his sake and the sake of the table/room. Andy Serkis’s Kino Loy at first is just as cold as everyone else towards Ulaf, but as his health truly spirals, Kino’s resolve begins to melt away. By the end of the episode, Ulaf’s death, along with the revelation that there is no escape from Narkina 5, sends Kino into a different mindset.
The titles of Andor have been not-so-subtle clues as to the overarching theme of the episodes. When Cassian yells “Nobody’s listening!” to Kino, he means that they are so insignificant that the Empire is paying their conversations no mind. If something goes wrong, they’ll just kill and replace them. Why spy on ants? They post no real threat. When Mon is speaking at the Senate, no one is listening, because her world is full of Perrins, people who are happy with a cushy life and don’t care that others suffer. Syril can’t figure out why Dedra don’t listen to him and take him out of his middle management doldrums.
The sad thing is that people are listening. Bix has to listen to the sound of screaming kids. Tay’s bankers are listening to the Imperial whispers. The ISB is listening to Dedra. Because the wrong people are listenings to the wrong things, it feels especially hopeless when your words go unheard. I am very curious as to whether this arc ends next week, or if we’re going to ride out this story until the end of the season.
