Chris Connor reviews the tenth episode of Star Wars: Andor…
Andor has built a huge degree of tension and stakes through its episodic storytelling, allowing the various threads to intertwine and feel a key part of the series. Here in the tenth episode ‘One Way Out’, the thread of the past two episodes of the prison installation Cassian finds himself in comes to a head, as it is clear that the five-thousand inmates have to find a way off or they won’t survive.
Similarly to the heist staged earlier in the season, ‘One Way Out’ is a thrilling spectacle that succeeds because of the build-up of the past few episodes. It crams an awful lot into 40 minutes of TV and must rank among the most impressive Star Wars pieces of content in the format to date, if not outright one of the best moments in the franchise since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012. This is truly epic storytelling with a real sense of purpose and stakes, and all the more of an achievement considering it is a prequel and we know the ultimate fate of its protagonist.
Cassian and Andy Serkis’ Kino Loy stage a daring escape, built around the arrival of a new inmate and here all hell breaks loose as the prisoners take over control of the facility. It is incredibly tense with the success of the escape hanging on the slimmest of margins and there’s a real sense of the desperation and the plight facing the inmates if they fail to pull it off.
The escape sequences are not altogether dissimilar to some of the action sequences in Serkis’ own Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy. Serkis meanwhile in his brief role has made an immeasurable impact bringing a fury and sense of anguish to Kino Loy and hopefully he is afforded the opportunity to expand this role in the show’s second season.
As much as the action is thrilling and a key part of this episode’s success, the more sombre moments hit hard with a pair of stunning monologues one from Kino Loy to embolden the prisoners and make clear their plans for escape and the odds against them. The episode also closes with some of Stellan Skarsgård’s best work to date as Luthen Rael, deepening his character in a brief but hugely impactful appearance.
Away from the prison facility, ‘One Way Out’ expands Dedra Meero’s investigation into Cassian’s exploits earlier in the series as she tries to lay a trap for the rebel insurgents. Little does she know one of her own side is feeding information to the rebels, a clever payoff giving the series an element of an espionage thriller and adding links between its overarching narratives.
‘One Way Out’ further cements Andor as one of the franchise’s boldest and most important projects. It’s a breathless episode managing to cram an awful lot into just shy of 40 minutes, and is impeccably acted with Diego Luna, Andy Serkis and Skarsgård excelling.
With just two episodes remaining of this first season, Andor amps up the exhilaration levels while continuing its strong narrative arc and slowly sowing the seeds of rebellion that will surely come to a head in time for season two. One can only assume this is but a teaser for the events that will unfold in the final two episodes and fans are surely in for quite the ride.
Chris Connor
