Andor - Episode 4

Having provided three episodes of set-up and backstory and getting Andor into position at the right time and place, the show moves forward with finally putting the thief to work for the Rebellion. After leaving Ferrix, Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) gives Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) the hard pitch on doing a job for the Rebellion offering big danger and big reward in the theft of the Imperial payroll for an entire sector. Luthen hands over the mercenary to the team leader Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay), who isn't too happy with the sudden addition despite the need for reliable soldiers, on planet Aldani.

We get minimal introductions to the other members of the team along with the basic layout of a plan which Andor correctly calls suicidal. Elsewhere, Luthen returns to Coruscant and a meeting with Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) giving us a glimpse at how the Rebellion worked behind the scenes on Coruscant. Andor's activities on Ferrix, which gets poor Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) sent home with his tail between his legs, also comes to the  attention of an ambitious Imperial Security Bureau Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) whose attention is immediately aroused by the Imperial Starpath Unit.

While moving the present story forward, and moving away from the flashbacks of Andor's childhood, the fourth episode in the series finally feels like events are advancing rather than simply building up to the inevitable escape from the planet. Even without the flashbacks, there are a few too many separate threads here including what happens in Mon Mothma's home. And I'm not sure why the show stays with Karn, unless there's some big payoff later in the series (hopefully more than was delivered in the flashbacks). Playing on previous Star Wars themes, we see the bureaucratic nonsense of the Empire get in the way of Meero's investigation providing her the same choice Karn was given to either accept the situation or press forward against orders and take the consequences of what may come.

• Title: Andor - Episode 4
• IMDb: link