One of Andor's low key accomplishments was making Stormtroopers scary for the first time in forever. They were used pretty sparingly but when they were brought in -- after contractors and regular security forces failed -- you definitely got the sense of "oh shit, the competent troops are here."
It's funny if you watch Rogue One afterward because there is the early scene where 20 stormtroopers with guns keep missing and getting beat up, one-by-one, by the old blind guy with a stick. The Force is with him yadda yadda but come on.
the early Rebellion sustained severe casualties but achieved their primary strategic objective of eliminating all the Stormtroopers who actually bothered aiming their weapons
Yet they still got got by a single person sneaking through a hospital.
To be fair, a single determined agent who set off six explosions in the car park to distract them.
Kleya is THAT GOOD.
Had me asking out loud why do they wear armor? A single shot to the armor and they’re down. (I know the answer is that SW is fantasy and this serves the story, but still.)
I mean, a blaster shot seems to kill almost anyone instantly, so I assume that's just meant to be how it works. I think the armor is a combo of: create anonymity, invoke fear, and protect from practically any non-laser weaponry.
The Tie-Fighters screeching like Nazgul as they flew overhead during the Ghorman riot was the scariest they've ever been
I don’t subscribe to Disney+. Is it worth it just so I can watch Andor?
If you have any residual love of Star Wars stuff -- and especially if you liked "Rogue One" even a little bit -- I'd say it's a must-watch. Possibly the best Star Wars product ever, including the original trilogy.
And... if you're not a Star Wars fan (I'm not a hater, I've seen the movies, I'm just not a "fan") it's still phenomenal TV. I tried Mandolorian after Andor S1 thinking Star Wars might have found something, and NOPE, it's just that Andor is really freaking good.
Mandalorian was good, by Star Wars standards. Andor is good by any standard.
It was really important to the growing dread and fear that the Empire was competent, at least intermittently. It's what makes Rogue One, A New Hope, and Empire better too - there's gotta be some tension that the good guys are actually in danger. Star Wars lost some of that in RotJ to it's detriment.
The first storm trooper who took aim and offed Brasso.
They did that little zoom in on him specifically to signal to the audience that, dudes, this guy is going to hit his target. I gasped before he even got the shot off, realizing what they were doing.
Great take. Same with the anticipation of seeing the room full of Imperial Droids. The dread of waiting for them to be called into action. The evil galactic empire was actually being evil and scary.