I’m honestly shocked that Andor made it past the Mouse in terms of themes and messaging. It’s a return to the more political messaging that Lucas himself makes a point of referencing in many interviews. Unlike a lot of Disney’s MCU properties, Andor actually takes political stances that aren’t exactly in the mainstream or otherwise inexplicable. $MCU_villain makes a lot of sense, and then randomly does something unforgivable to reinforce that leftist=bad and that merely maintaining the neoliberal status quo is most moral thing to do, whereas Andor’s messaging is much more radical (“one way out”).

Alongside a strong political and moral stance, Andor draws on the space-opera origins of Star Wars as opposed to the grounded sci-fi of Trek. It embraces the dramatic monologue through characters like Luthen and Kino, and empathizes character-driven elements rather then the plot-first, explanations-later approach of the Sequels. It feels closer to early-season Game of Thrones than shows like the Witcher, which also suffered from “theme park” syndrome where the universe only exists to further a singular plot. All in all, Andor had a fantastic season 1, and gives me some hope for the future of Star Wars.

This has been the best Star Wars related show that Disney has done, better than Mando imo.