Star Wars: Andor

[MarkB]

It is a very heist-movie set-up. Large motley crew, very specific plan that we're told in advance, extremely tight timing, plenty to go wrong.

But also a couple of the crew have unspecified roles, which means that the plan is not actually the plan, and when it inevitably goes wrong, it may actually be going right.

 

[Celebrim]

LIke the show, but, man... it is SLOOOOWWWW. Actually, no, that's not fair. I don't understand why the episodes are so short. That's probably why I think it's so slow. What's the point in 30 minute episodes?

I didn't quite understand your point when the run time of the prior episodes was up to like 46 minutes, but yeah, this second act episode felt too short. I know that sets up a long and complicated third act, but I would have liked more story advancing on the Mon Mothma front.

I think Syril Karn is going to end up in the ISB. I think after the heist, the female Lt. Supervisor is going to find out he's on Coruscant and interview him clandestinely, then offer him a job in her department working on the "Andor case".

Again, minor complaint that if you got line of sight on an Imperial installation like that, you'd been made in my D6 Star Wars game. There would be scouts up there on speeders in 4-5 minutes conducting interviews and weapon checks. Some of that added run time could have covered them moving a herd of sheep up there to cover their movements or otherwise doing things that made the Imps ignore what was on their sensors because they had nice alternative explanations. We could have had a scene to cover this that wouldn't have cost much money and explained how they were getting away with it,

 

[MarkB]

Again, minor complaint that if you got line of sight on an Imperial installation like that, you'd been made in my D6 Star Wars game. There would be scouts up there on speeders in 4-5 minutes conducting interviews and weapon checks. Some of that added run time could have covered them moving a herd of sheep up there to cover their movements or otherwise doing things that made the Imps ignore what was on their sensors because they had nice alternative explanations. We could have had a scene to cover this that wouldn't have cost much money and explained how they were getting away with it,

Just the line that they've been scouting the place for months should suffice. If they were going to get caught, they'd have been caught long ago.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

They are disguised as shepherds.

Sheperd spy.

 

[RuinousPowers]

The last episode might be one of my favorite Disney series episodes for dialog and overall feel.

 

[Celebrim]

Just the line that they've been scouting the place for months should suffice. If they were going to get caught, they'd have been caught long ago.

Like I said, as a guy who runs Star Wars D6, that all fell flat for me. Star Wars sensors are very powerful, as the movies and other media have repeatedly shown. A military complex like that is going to pretty much instantly spot anything in line of sight, and have a sensor network laid out around it to detect things that aren't in line of sight. As soon as you get a life form or a power source in line of sight, in open country like that you are going to get scanned. That the writers ignore that is one of the few examples we have of the writers dumbing things down for the audience. There are plenty of ways to fool the sensors or the person using them, but it appears that the writers didn't want to go there.

I would have liked 10-15 more minutes to show just that sort of thing, as well as the dinner party the prior scene with Mon Mothma promised and more time to develop her plot line and maybe make the relationship with her husband more complex (as he is mostly silent in all the scenes, the audience isn't seeing what he is thinking).

But overall, this show is wonderful. It's smart. It's grown up. It's well made and well conceived. It looks really good. It's pretty much everything we haven't been seeing from Star Wars since Disney got a hold of the property, aside from Rogue One.

 

[MarkB]

Like I said, as a guy who runs Star Wars D6, that all fell flat for me. Star Wars sensors are very powerful, as the movies and other media have repeatedly shown. A military complex like that is going to pretty much instantly spot anything in line of sight, and have a sensor network laid out around it to detect things that aren't in line of sight. As soon as you get a life form or a power source in line of sight, in open country like that you are going to get scanned. That the writers ignore that is one of the few examples we have of the writers dumbing things down for the audience. There are plenty of ways to fool the sensors or the person using them, but it appears that the writers didn't want to go there.

I would have liked 10-15 more minutes to show just that sort of thing, as well as the dinner party the prior scene with Mon Mothma promised and more time to develop her plot line and maybe make the relationship with her husband more complex (as he is mostly silent in all the scenes, the audience isn't seeing what he is thinking).

But overall, this show is wonderful. It's smart. It's grown up. It's well made and well conceived. It looks really good. It's pretty much everything we haven't been seeing from Star Wars since Disney got a hold of the property, aside from Rogue One.

I don't think it's that they didn't get spotted, it's that the Imperials didn't care. It's established that there are locals wandering the hills, and they're probably used to seeing civilians in the area. A close approach to the gates would warrant a challenge, but not just standing around on a nearby hill.

 

[Celebrim]

I don't think it's that they didn't get spotted, it's that the Imperials didn't care. It's established that there are locals wandering the hills, and they're probably used to seeing civilians in the area. A close approach to the gates would warrant a challenge, but not just standing around on a nearby hill.

I think the real reason here is they don't expect the audience to think about this much and don't want to slow the episode down even more. But if you had to, you could argue that at this point in the war the Empire is simply lax on security. They don't think anyone can hurt them. I don't think the Empire was ever as lax and unparanoid as your explanation, because the Imperial Army had just fought the clone wars within the lifetime and careers of most of the Imperial officers, but it is plausible I guess that they simply are as Andor says unable to imagine anyone getting to them.

And sure, I'd buy the whole 'local shepherds' disguise thing more if they brought sheep with them and were really careful not to bring into line of sight anything with a power cell and like modern soldiers did there best to not be visible on a ridge line. If my PC's scouted an Imperial facility with all their gear available for a sensor sweep, the security would be going, "Sir, I'm reading multiple concentrated power sources on the north ridge. Could possibly be weapons." and there would be a recon team going out to the base perimeter to do an inspection.

Basically, I don't want a situation where I feel the good guys are only winning because the bad guys are stupid. They've done a good job making complex bad guys and avoiding the "Cobra Commander" after school cartoon villains we've been seeing from Disney so so much who are just completely incompetent at everything to the point of being comic relief. And I'd like it to stay with the tone they are setting.

 

[billd91]

I don't think it's that they didn't get spotted, it's that the Imperials didn't care. It's established that there are locals wandering the hills, and they're probably used to seeing civilians in the area. A close approach to the gates would warrant a challenge, but not just standing around on a nearby hill.

I think it's also likely that there isn't a lot of significant opposition to the Empire yet. They're still in that mindset that they've beaten down the real opposition. Only a couple of officers at intelligence warm to the possibility that there's something out there, and they're only just starting to be so.

 

[MarkB]

I think the real reason here is they don't expect the audience to think about this much and don't want to slow the episode down even more. But if you had to, you could argue that at this point in the war the Empire is simply lax on security. They don't think anyone can hurt them. I don't think the Empire was ever as lax and unparanoid as your explanation, because the Imperial Army had just fought the clone wars within the lifetime and careers of most of the Imperial officers, but it is plausible I guess that they simply are as Andor says unable to imagine anyone getting to them.

And sure, I'd buy the whole 'local shepherds' disguise thing more if they brought sheep with them and were really careful not to bring into line of sight anything with a power cell and like modern soldiers did there best to not be visible on a ridge line. If my PC's scouted an Imperial facility with all their gear available for a sensor sweep, the security would be going, "Sir, I'm reading multiple concentrated power sources on the north ridge. Could possibly be weapons." and there would be a recon team going out to the base perimeter to do an inspection.

Yeah, but we know that Star Wars tech doesn't work that way. You can walk right up to the back doors of the shield generator and nobody notices until you actually step into view. And nobody notices concealed weapons unless you actually step through a security scanner.

Basically, I don't want a situation where I feel the good guys are only winning because the bad guys are stupid. They've done a good job making complex bad guys and avoiding the "Cobra Commander" after school cartoon villains we've been seeing from Disney so so much who are just completely incompetent at everything to the point of being comic relief. And I'd like it to stay with the tone they are setting.

You think they're going to win? I don't expect even half of them to make it out of there alive.