Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
All three watched, and I’m absolutely loving it.

There’s some really good tension building, especially in the third episode.

It has a pretty unique tone as well. I think I’d call it bleak, and understated. Quite different to the derring do we’re used to from Star Wars. I’ll be genuinely interested to side wider opinions on that, as whilst I’d say it’s an objectively Good Show, that tone may prove a turn off for some.

 AduroT wrote:

Spoiler:

Theyre doing that clanging thing and everyone is slamming doors and locking everything down, and mom gives her little speech about how intimidating that is but the real fear is when it suddenly stops. And then there’s the scene where all the clanging stops all at once, and I’m expecting mob retaliation. They saw the cops harass an old woman, one gal cuffed and bleeding, shot an unarmed man in the street. These cops are about to get “black hawk downed” I thought. But then just… nothing. The town is silent and it’s just Cass and his new friend doing their thing still.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
My understanding is…

Spoiler:

Her concern was more to do with the piracy? Whilst I don’t think it’s confirmed, I suspect they shot down the ship to rob it. And that’s why one of the crew shot the girl, assuming she was part of the Pirate Crew.

In turn, they couldn’t really leave Kassa behind, as he could face jail time when he’s not really that involved?

 Captain Joystick wrote:
Not sure if this helps provide an explanation or muddies the water further but...

Spoiler:

Those yellow fellows in the crashed ship were wearing Separatist insignias on their arm bands.

My guess...

Spoiler:

Separatist ship, made out to look like a republic ship (even stolen from the republic) with a bio-weapon onboard. Something goes wrong, they crash. The weapon enters the planet's ecosystem which gets covered up by the Empire as a mining disaster. Looters come in, find Cassian, assume the bodies outside are republic officers without the full picture, leave with him out of the goodness in their hearts.

Or maybe he is misremembering it.

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:
Interesting!

Spoiler:

I had not sussed out the insignia but should have figured out it might be important given the camera time spent focusing on it. Still, even if they are Separatists… it seems odd to think Republic troops would do revenge killing unless I am completely off base with current Star Wars lore.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Am I the only one annoyed at the fact that Andor was't able to get that Imperial device out of the Warehouse of Impossibly Chained Engines? That bothered me.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Either way, good start, with the only real issue being that this show wouldn't be nearly as interesting if they hadn't released the first three at once. If you need three episodes to really get you into a story then you have pacing problems.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Spoiler:

Ooooh. A thought occurs. This is 5 BBY yes? That’s.. around the same time as Rebels kicks off, when rather than an organised resistance, it’s all cells with varying links to each other.

If my timeline is right there, I do wonder if the shenanigans going on on Lothal around the same time will be referenced, with that spark igniting rebellion elsewhere. Even the baddies clearly state things are formenting in their little bubble of influence.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I guess we might see more exploration of the sort of benefits of corruption, compared to dealing with a puritanical zealot.

Spoiler:

The Big Boss wanted to draw a line under the whole affair, because whilst yes two employees were killed? They were killed whilst they themselves were involved in crime.

Keep the corruption hidden and you maintain some level of respectability and control. Let it be known your Theoretical Paragons Of Moral Virtue were in a brothel (illegal), and trying to shake down/mug a civilian (illegal) and then got their arses kicked by a Joe Bloggs (embarrassing), and that’s all just ammo to any detractor. Especially when The Big Boss admits he himself frequents said (illegal) brothel.

And on my previous speculation?

Spoiler:

Just remembered that Ezra now has a live action actor cast for Ahsoka. If we do get his broadcast from Rebels? What’s the chances that’ll be his debut?

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:
I largely agree with you Geifer. The only place I think I see it a bit differently is…

Spoiler:

The shooting of the second Corporate Security Officer. I did not see that the action of a muderous terrorist. There is no terrorism because their is no political agenda in his action. This scene struck me very differently than the way he killed his informant in Rogue One. I did not see a necessity in that death but I could see him stuck in this one. The system is corrupt, he knows this. He will not get a fair trial because of the very things the senior Corp Sec officer said to the Inspector. Too much around the incident making the Corporation look bad. I consider myself a fairly law abiding, moral person and even I would have been tempted to take the same action in the same situation. It does make me wonder why he does not kill the Inspector later, even when encouraged by the Rebel recruiter (sadly I forget his name). I find it truly fascinating how things could have gone so differently if the rookie Inspector had listened to his experienced supervisor. I hate lies and cover-ups but sometimes you have to wonder when the spirit of the law might outweigh the letter of the law. Discretion as they saw in law enforcement circles. And yet, that is a slippery slope where you find yourself having increasingly bad things happen as you try to use the ends to justify the means, ie torture, execution and terrorism for example. I think we will see that explored in depth in this series with assassins, spies, smugglers and saboteurs fighting Imperial tyranny.

Anyway it is good for cops, public governmental law enforcement or private (security guards) to think about more than just the written rules and remember whom they are supposed to truly serve. Obviously the private aspect can confuse the matter as it becomes a question of just whose security is paramount… the employees or managment/shareholders.

 AduroT wrote:
I doubt it? Maybe just the voice, but they’d have to CG the face to make up for the age difference.

 Geifer wrote:

 Grumpy Gnome wrote:
I largely agree with you Geifer. The only place I think I see it a bit differently is…

Spoiler:

The shooting of the second Corporate Security Officer. I did not see that the action of a muderous terrorist. There is no terrorism because their is no political agenda in his action. This scene struck me very differently than the way he killed his informant in Rogue One. I did not see a necessity in that death but I could see him stuck in this one. The system is corrupt, he knows this. He will not get a fair trial because of the very things the senior Corp Sec officer said to the Inspector. Too much around the incident making the Corporation look bad. I consider myself a fairly law abiding, moral person and even I would have been tempted to take the same action in the same situation. It does make me wonder why he does not kill the Inspector later, even when encouraged by the Rebel recruiter (sadly I forget his name). I find it truly fascinating how things could have gone so differently if the rookie Inspector had listened to his experienced supervisor. I hate lies and cover-ups but sometimes you have to wonder when the spirit of the law might outweigh the letter of the law. Discretion as they saw in law enforcement circles. And yet, that is a slippery slope where you find yourself having increasingly bad things happen as you try to use the ends to justify the means, ie torture, execution and terrorism for example. I think we will see that explored in depth in this series with assassins, spies, smugglers and saboteurs fighting Imperial tyranny.

Anyway it is good for cops, public governmental law enforcement or private (security guards) to think about more than just the written rules and remember whom they are supposed to truly serve. Obviously the private aspect can confuse the matter as it becomes a question of just whose security is paramount… the employees or managment/shareholders.

Spoiler:

I like to use the phrase murderous terrorist as a reminder that in universe, the freedom fighter angle we are used to when we are treated to rebel motivation is not the only and probably not even the majority view. I think it's important to consider that to common, law abiding citizens random acts of sabotage, vandalism, destruction and yes, murder of Imperial security forces are all blatant acts of lawlessness that may negatively impact their safe and peaceful lives. Thus terrorism. Rebel methods are a point of contention between Mon Mothma and Saw Gerrera that I expect we'll see reiterated in Andor. It was more of a general comment about rebels as a whole, but you are right, at this point in time Cassian isn't an integrated rebel yet and hasn't earned the terrorist label. So far he's just a common criminal.

Regardless of that, the death of the second corp cop is without a doubt murder. Cassian kills an unarmed man begging for his life who posed no immediate threat to him, only to cover up his actions and escape the consequences thereof. There is a lot of moral mitigation going on for the benefit of the character in the viewers' eyes. The cops are absolute asses, engage in illegal activities themselves and the death of the first one was an unfortunate accident. The situation is set up to leave Cassian without good options because by law he is at least guilty of manslaughter. Given that we can at least suspect some level of corruption in corporate security at the time and see it confirmed a bit later in the office scene, in court the lead up to that death could easily be spun into attempted bribe, then resisting arrest and deadly assault after the officers attempted to arrest him for the bribe. All the while keeping the officers dodgy acts covered up. There is plenty of moral justification for why Cassian can't submit to the authorities and finds himself forced to commit one further criminal act by way of denying any possibility of a fair trial (that he'd likely lose on two of the points mentioned earlier, resisting arrest and manslaughter, and for which he'd go to prison for a very long time).

It's a nice example of questioning if law and justice are the same, and if an unlawful action to escape injustice can be considered just. That's the kind of thing I wanted to see in Andor, and I'm happy that this stuff is in the show.

It's also fun that the murder didn't have the desired effect, Cassian is still identified and hunted and it may have actually made things worse for him by motivating the law enforcers further.

Edit. I forgot my thoughts on the inspector's good fortune.

Spoiler:

I see that as Cassian being the whatever it takes type out of necessity rather than convenience. He can't trust the cop to keep his word and believes by shooting him, he can throw off the authorities and just walk away unidentified. He has a lot to gain by staying off the authorities' radar and does his best to make it happen. Later when he could shoot the inspector, there is nothing for him to gain. The officer is not crucial to the security operation, he is no immediate threat, one less security officer in the galaxy isn't going to make a difference and he has every intention of just getting the hell out of there and it won't matter how the inspector is incapacitated. He doesn't have to kill the inspector, so he doesn't.

You could speculate that it may also be a tactical consideration. If the inspector complies and remains silent because he wants to survive the experience, he'll be bound and muffled and that's that. If Cassian pulls the trigger, who knows who'll hear the shot?

But I like to think it's a display of conscience, at least primarily.

 AduroT wrote:
I doubt it? Maybe just the voice, but they’d have to CG the face to make up for the age difference.

The broadcast was voice only to the best of my knowledge, so in my opinion the question is how well the actor's voice matches that of Ezra's voice actor, and if they succumb to compulsive fiddling and want a closer match or they are fine with animated, teenage Ezra and live action adult Ezra coexisting.