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Andor – The Axe Forgets review S1 E5

Jeffrey Lyles , , , , , , ,

The Axe Forgets was the kind of episode that might flow better if watching Andor in a binge format. As the latest weekly installment, it felt slow without much of note playing out.

Cassian mostly has to deal with the dirty looks and transparent disdain from Vel’s crew. In fairness, Cassian does little to win over the crew, but they’re not exactly the most welcoming bunch.

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But it turns out they desperately need him to pull off the main part of the heist — getting the transport ship out of the base. I’m going to presume Bex told Luthen about Cassian’s skills as a pilot as being a thief has very little in common with being an expert pilot. Unless you’re Rey of course.

Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is at least leery of Cassian since he knows he was part of the Imperial army in his youth. Taramyn (Gershwyn Eustache Jnr) and Cinta (Varada Sethu) clearly don’t trust Cassian either, but at least Karis (Alex Lawther) is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

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Eventually, somewhat reluctantly, Skeen and Taramyn come around to Vel’s take on Cassian. Skeen even shares how his brother killed himself after the Empire destroyed his farm.

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It felt like the subtle yet most significant aspect of the episode was the TIE Fighter pilot buzzing Cassian, Vel and crew while they’re walking along the plains just because he can. This showed the casual bullying demeanor of the Empire and their complete disregard for anyone. It was a fleeting moment but was more effective in showing the audacity and arrogance of the Empire and why more pockets of the galaxy are ready to resist and rebel.

Lt. Gorn is doing his part and clearing a path to make it easier for Vel’s crew to sneak in and grab the payday. Yet even this scene was a lot of bureaucratic back and forth that wasn’t very exciting.

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It’s clearer now with each episode why Mon Mothma was in such a hurry to lead the Rebellion — her husband and daughter are THE WORST. Course, this doesn’t make me want to suffer through it either.

This Syrill subplot needs to hurry up and get somewhere. Right now it’s a big ask to try and drum up sympathy for this guy who’s just moping around having his mother fix cereal for him asking what he’s gonna do with his life. That’s not interesting.

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The subplot with Dedra Meero trying to crack down on this surging Rebellion is just slightly more interesting, but at least there’s a stated goal here.

Luthen is at the museum awaiting news on Vel’s mission when his associate/wife/sister? tells him to hang it up for the night. This felt like good advice for me too as this episode really didn’t do anything of note. Hopefully next week will be more exciting as this one was a snoozer.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney 

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