With Andor now deep in its second act, the show’s strengths have stepped forward, with some of its issues falling to the wayside. Punch it, Chewie.
1. All that was missing was a “Your brother” comparison
All we can ever know is our own experiences and, while Syril’s is far more extreme than mine, I instantly recognize the nagging mother stereotype when I see it. There are lots of cultures that take ownership of this stereotype, but it is a trait that transcends color, creed, and location. And this part is played with perfection by Kathryn Hunter. The condescension drips from her lips and her ‘concern’ is only trumped by the desire for others to see her situation and not judge it. She expresses reluctance to reach out to a powerful uncle, but she’s lapping this up. She gets to be the good mother, she gets to brush up against power, and she gets to put a tally in the win column against her son. Don’t get me wrong, she wants to help, but she wants to help because there’s something in it for her, too.
But it is all done so perfectly. Criticizing slouching, putting food (what appears to be food made for children) in front of him, expressing a deep, sorrowful well of loneliness but refusing to see her part in it, it all plays like a symphony. These scenes are short, but they are the best of the episode.
2. The Miserable Mothma Clan
There are a couple of scenes in “The Axe Forgets” that show just how deeply unhappy the marriage between Mon Mothma and Perrin Fertha is. We also get to meet Leida, their daughter, who is in her classic angsty teenage phase. What is so great about this scene is that it exposes a lot about everyone involved and makes everyone, somewhat, the bad guy. Leida feels ignored by her mother, just a tool in the public persona. This may be partially true, but the way she says it wounds Mon, and shows that Leida’s description is incomplete. Perrin is the ‘good’ parent, a role that constantly switches in adolescence, but he exhibits classic signs of the parent of least resistance. Is he there for his daughter? It appears so, but at the expensive of his wife.
But Perrin is more than just that; he doesn’t know the name of their driver because he truly doesn’t care, and is called out by Mon later in the episode for having no interest in anything to do with charity. Like was established last week, it is clear that Perrin enjoys being a fat cat, and truly doesn’t care about the circumstances that both led to that and that allow that to keep happening. This is a bigger rift than parents fighting with a bratty teenager, and one that will likely be harder to mend.
3. More imperial perspectives
“The Axe Forgets” gives four scenes with some of the ‘rank and file’ Imps, and each represents a slightly different approach to being in their shoes. We see a bored supervisor, leaving his post for fresh air. There are the armory workers, pleading for a chance to see ‘The Eye,’ the one perk of their miserable assignment. There’s the newly installed supervisor of Ferrix, doing his best to gain a little extra respectability from a bullshit title. And then there’s the true believers, thinking like rebels and trying to find the breadcrumbs to lead them there.
Only one of these is something we’d really consider ‘bad’ behavior, and that one is only so because we know how evil the Empire truly is. These little vignettes go a long way to remind the viewer that the monolith of the Empire is just a façade. These people may not elicit sympathy, but they aren’t all Tarkins, either.
4. Hung up
The only scene with Syril that doesn’t involve his mother practically telling him “eat, you’re wasting away!” involves him looking at the hologram of Cassian. Why is Syril so fixated on him? Does he blame him for his job loss? Is it the only thing he can hold onto that doesn’t point the blame squarely on himself?
Continued belowAt first, I thought that Syril was rebellion bound, but he doesn’t know that Cassian was part of the Rebellion because, up until the moment he escaped, he really wasn’t. Sure, he hated the Empire and did bad things to them, but there was nothing you could look at and say “I want to be a part of that instead of this sham.” I really like Syril’s character, and I want to see more from him, but I’m not quite sure how he fits in just yet.
5. The tension before the job
The bulk of this episode was Cassian and the Aldhani crew preparing for their job. We see some training scenes, but more than that, we are getting to know the crew a little better. Some of this is done through pretty rote exposition, but there’s a lot of good acting that adds to the explanations doled out. And when the tensions come to a head, as they do a few times, “The Axe Forgets” plays them off as believable and, more than anything, understandable. All seven members of the crew are taking on the biggest risk of their lives, and the lingering questions and deep seated fears are bubbling up to the surface.
All of this makes for really good television, but there’s not a ton to say about it. Skeen gets the bulk of the screen time, and it is shown that he is both deeply devoted to the cause and also deeply paranoid. That makes total sense for his character. Nemik is the true believer of the bunch, but Andor gives him enough interesting characteristics to not just feel like a stereotype.
As the episode ends, next week is shaping up to be the culmination of their plan. While this episode still feels a little incomplete, “The Axe Forgets” goes a long way towards delivering on the promise of the series. Let’s see if next week pays it all off.
