Are you sure though? I still don't feel like it was as big of a role. Little Italy was one of the biggest movies ever, so he might just be going downhill...
I genuinely love how whenever Star Wars makes a spinoff of fan favorite characters, it gets mixed or even negative reviews, and whenever it's centered around side characters or subplots no one cared about, it's absolutely fire
Its because the giant media conglomerate monster that is Disney is WILDLY protective of their big "money-maker" IPs. You can literally see the quality of Mando decrease due to increased studio interference over the three seasons as Mando and Grogu merch began churning out cash.
It really speaks to how tight the writing was in the first place. The characters in the original trilogy and Prequels were written in such a way, that once their stories wrap up, there isn't a lot left to tell before and after. We know everything we need to about Han before he leave the Cantina, and we know how Obi Wan will spends his time between Ep. III and IV. Even with 5 minutes of screen time, you know everything you need to with Boba Fett, and he's able to capture the public imagination. As such, these series just show you more of what already happened: Obi Wan realized his failings at the end of Ep. III and makes amends for these mistakes in the OT. All his series did was make him go through the exact same journey: He's depressed in a cave, he meets the child of his former nemesis, he fights Vader, then passes the torch to his new child sidekick. It's the exact same arc, but just not nearly as tight.
What I love about Andor and Rogue One is that they show the "war" in Star Wars. We see normal people reap the consequences of the war. It makes you see why the resistance had to fight the empire in the first place.
andor is what’s finally convinced me of the merit of star wars at all, it was so good at explaining the world and why i should even care about the any of it at all. it made watching the originals and prequels so much more interesting
This is what disappointed me so much about book of boba Fett. Here I thought that we were seeing a genuine glimpse at how the Star wars criminal underworld worked, and how boba would fill the power vacuum as he slowly helms jabbas empire. Instead he ends up commanding, a bounty hunter, black krrsantan, and like 5 weirdos who drive granny scooters. Boba doesn't even get to have the tusken raiders as allies for some god forsaken reason
That is such a vague and subjective request you may as well say "I want art to be about stuff". It is about stuff, it does mean things, you simply don't understand what it's about or the meaning behind it, at best you personally don't value what it means but that still doesn't mean it doesn't mean something.
@@JohnDoe-hj9fhThis is absolutely asinine, not just because kids media can still mean stuff, but because Star Wars being "for kids" is an exclusively new phenomenon. The OT was for young adults, and even the prequels were moreso for 'all ages' because they saw how the OT resonated with everyone - and 'all ages' isn't a euphemism for 'for kids', no matter what lazy writers might tell you. The EU was also very clearly for adults, at least for the most part. The obvious argument would be "well it's for kids NOW, that's what Disney's going for!"... but is it really? Andor started in a brothel, Obi-Wan Kenobi at least attempted to show rather violent scenes, and so on. There's a group of counter-fans who keep claiming Star Wars is for kids, but nobody who has ever made Star Wars seems to have gotten that memo.
Ezra being upset about Sabine finding him would have made so much sense. He’s there because he sacrificed himself to get rid of Thrawn. Sabine basically undid that
@@mildgooses4401 He did, but given how he is written at the end of Rebels. He would have freaked out once he figured out how Sabine got to him. Sure he want's off the planet, but he would gladly stay there if getting off means Thrawn is coming with.
@@davidciFiloni is a hack. That first story wasnt just his story. He had others including George Lucas himself on that original production. Ahsoka is his only solo writing effort and you can tell.
@@davidciThat first story wasnt just his story. He had others including George Lucas himself on that original production. Ahsoka is his only solo writing effort and you can tell. There's a reason Disney likes him. He will do what they want of him.
I literally paused the video at 23:40 and watched all of Andor. Here is your second view Drew. Also, Andor is probably now one of my top 10 tv shows ever.
That's how it's done! For me - I had no intention of watching Andor at all ... ... but my favourite voice actress from "Witcher 3" was apparently a main character, and I had never seen her face before. So I gave it a try ... Yennefer didn't disappoint! Dedra Meero was worth the price of admission! :) As was the entire show ... I too have watched it through twice. It's brilliant!
Yeah, I didn't really feel any interest in Disney Star Wars after Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Had no urge whatsoever to try Ahsoka and Andor flew under my radar. I paused this video to spend the previous few days to watch Andor and I can only say I feel A New Hope. Andor hit everything I find interesting in its story and furthermore had some great shots and sets. The stakes felt real throughout the series. And importantly: no cheap fanservices.
I love the line “these scenes are not exciting, they’re just loud”. So true of so many movies and shows in the genre right now - nothing is happening but by god is it trying to convince you something is
I remember the scene from I think, Episode 2? With the ridiculous amount of simultaneous lightsaber fights? Clearly if one lightsaber fight is exciting, several at the same time have to be, right? Reminds me of the old joke of the bad cook who thinks if a little salt makes the soup tastes better, dumping the whole saltshaker in will make it taste amazing!
yeah exactly. and if they really got nothing, but convince you that SHIT IS GOING DOWN they usually also go all out on the shaky cam to sell it to you.
And when you do have theories that elevate the shows, they turn out to be completely off-base and your left with a sense of disappointment because fans came up with decent theories to explain why certain scenes are shown (but they end up leading nowhere).
The whole "I'm gonna surprise attack you but also scream while doing it" thing has got to be my biggest pet peeve in movies and every movie seems to do it. In what world would somebody SCREAM while trying to get the drop on someone. I can't wrap my head around that
@@crackerjack0349I know how joking but the funny thing is that even then it still would've been cooler for Vader to just detect her without her yelling
I have an argument! In the anime Soul Eater there is a character that exclusively screams, when he attacks people. In his case it's because he likes a grand entrance. So when he actually does try and be sneaky and do a good job, you know it's serious. I think a lot of tropes can be reframed and done well. It's just that in most cases they're just used for the sake of whatever they need to happen next.
@@schmiddinski put respect on him and call him by his name. The glorious and super cool Black Star! But yeah you can do tropes and rework them into something interesting instead of using it to move the plot along or just have something happen
My husband is a film editor and usually hates the film commentary video essays I watch- he was literally pumping his fist and agreeing wholeheartedly to this entire video. So well thought out, scripted, and put together!! I love your channel!!!
@@endless_del if you're asking me, I love filmento and few others that I cannot remember the name of at the moment. But if you were talking to me then I will be glad to tell you!
Andor also shows WHY he was so hellbent on getting Jyn into the rebellion. Making her line "its not a problem if you dont look up." Even stronger because he FELT THE EXACT SAME
i will never get over how disney took finn, an ex stormtrooper who joined the rebellion, and reduced him to a literal nothing character. he could’ve had such an interesting arc from a NEW perspective that we hadn’t seen, and yet we got nothing
In my opinion, Finn had the most potential in the sequels, his backstory offered so much for them to explore e.g. the moral dillema of him killing stormtroopers, efforts to free other stormtroopers, figuring out a path for himself, his friendship with Poe. But, nope, he was reduced to a static side character
@@delusion5867 yeah but it was not just his arc, but also either the director or the acting skills of Boyega, because he always felt like he wanted to rush through the scenes. Way too much nervous energy in that guy.
@@MrSheduur I'll hear NO criticism of John Boyega ... watch "Attack the Block", where he plays a young thug that becomes a hero during an alien invasion of London ... it was his breakout role. He was immense
Drew, I just want to thank you for such high praise for Andor. I’ve spent over 2 years of my life working on this show, with the most incredible team. Hope you love season 2 as much as we’ve loved making it, cheers from across the pond 🫡
in an effort not to dox myself (or have the Luc*sfilm overlords come for me) I shan’t disclose if that’s ok. I will say that this show has been a real career highlight, and real love was put into making it. Hope you enjoy S2! Thanks so much
Can we get some Star Wars in season 2 of Andor? Things like jedis, light sabers, droids, alien species…? Good or not, felt like another franchise entirely. Also, some facial expression from Diego Luna would be nice
Disney seems to forget that a vast majority of Star Wars fans aren’t children anymore, they aren’t going to let cool things distract them from lazy filmmaking. Its nice when someone remembers that.
@@cheddarandsourcream It's the opposite, they're very aware fans and others have grown up and have their own children. They're just pumping out star wars content to put on Disney+ for teens graduating from their childhood where they watched the same film 38 times in 1 day.
I still can’t get over “I can’t swim,” such an incredible buildup throughout the whole arc, swelling and swelling until the breaking point, where you’re promised relief, only to be dropped so far down with one line.
Adds even more to his monologue about rather dying trying to escape than live as a captive forever. He knew he was never leaving that prison alive but still decided to sacrifice himself with the hope that maybe someone other prisoners will escape. The whole escape leads to what seems like only 2 prisoners escaping but without those two escaping the rebellion probably never gets the death star plans.
To me why Andor hits infinitely harder than anything else is because all of the other shows are telling stories about Star Wars, whereas Andor is using Star Wars to tell a story about real life.
And that is also what George Lucas' Star Wars orginally did. He only used a SciFi setting to tell a story. It's not about the spaceships or the science or the fictional world, it's about Lucas' own family and the real world just set in that universe. That's what it's all about.
This is why I love Drew’s content. He can make funny videos like testing and reviewing his cat’s toys and then drops a 40 min documentary on the decline of Star Wars. I’ve been watching him for a few years now and it’s crazy how natural he looks on the camera now
I think he's mentioned he doesn't read comments much, but if he reads any it should be yours tbh. He is really versatile and I think it's a big compliment
The most shocking thing to me is the fact that nobody asked for Andor and nobody anticipated anything of substance coming from it comapared to Obi-Wan or the Book of Boba Fett. It's a show about a character that appeared in one film, many people didn't care for him and he was killed off at the end of the film. That was supposed to be the end of it, he was supposed to be a one off character yet somehow they took this character and gave him an incredible backstory and made you care about him. This gives the ending of Rogue One so much more heart and soul, I can only imagine even more so when the 2nd and final season comes out. And something I love the most about Andor: it doesn't show the rebellion as this squeaky clean thing. It doesn't sugarcoat the actions of some of the characters, it shows them getting their hands dirty and doing the dirty work for the greater good. Also sidenote, Andy Serkis does NOT get enough recognition for his acting. He is amazing for his motion capture work but my god, the man can act.
Agreed! Andor is my favorite piece of the Star Wars world we’ve gotten to see since the original trilogy. I do love the animated Clone Wars show, too, but I wasn’t *expecting* Andor at all and therefore it feels very special to me.
Moreover, Andor wasn't just a "nobody that appeared in one film", he was a nobody who appeared in a spin-off movie that many people just brushed off as a fun addition to the saga but not much more
Hey Guy, Fun Fact: The actor playing Ulaf (Christopher Fairbank) at 25:24 also played the goon getting beaten up by Batman at 15:07. The roles are 33 years apart.
Yeah I completely agree! Also because I'm just extremely angry that instead of setting the sequels way into the past BEFORE the rule of 2 where there were giant battles of thousands of Sith versus thousands of Jedi, they decided to do a sequel series with terrible writing just so they can jam in as many well known characters as possible. No one can tell me what we got is better than the early Sith wars. Who doesn't want to see thousands of Sith fighting thousands of Jedi. Sith using the dark side of the force to create monsters to hunt down the Jedi as war machines. That is literally the most interesting point in all of Star wars history. Yet they decided to set it as a sequel and also not bother to plot out how the story is going to end before putting the first movie out. I know people hate it on the prequels when those first came out but I always loved those. To be fair I was like a toddler the very first time I watched the Star wars prequels but they're so underrated okay they're better than the sequels.
I'm sure someone else has pointed this out, but Batman didn't save Harvey cause of what he meant to the city. He was mislead to believe he was saving Rachel. The Joker purposefully mixed up their locations so he'd save the wrong person regardless. None the less, great example cause your point was still valid.
Yeah but, wasn’t Gooden’s point specifically about Harvey’s reaction? Harvey had no knowledge about the mix up, he was simply upset at the thought that he was being saved over Rachel Point being; Ezra should have been upset over the ramifications of him being found.
@@mastermarkus5307why? Because he chose her over Harvey? He is still human and in love with Rachel. Plus he does not know that police won’t get on time to save them both. Police was also very close to saving her as well. It just makes Joker’s plan better.
Best part about that "lightsabers dont kill you" part is how outrageous it is that she survived it. Its not like getting stabbed with a normal sword, where a wound like that might be lethal and might not, lightsabers are extremely hot and completely cauterize the wound and basically cook your insides, so getting stabbed in the torso is just a death sentence. 100% of the time. Its not even remotely survivable.
Mouse Wars has flushed the intimidation of the lightsaber out the airlock, because it's not even worst with Sabine. At least she is hospitalized for half an episode. Remember Reva? After her ludicrous attempt at revenge on Vader, he stabs her in the stomach. She doesn't die either. Not only that, she walks it off, flies across the galaxy to Tatooine, and menaces the Lars family for most of the final episode. All with her insides cooked.
Disney ruined thrawn too. Thrawn was sent to the outer rimm to prepare against the worst threat the galaxy will ever face by the Emperor himself. He knew Thrawn was a genius, and in the EU and Legends, Thrawn displays his strategic genius a multitude of times. If Disney used the already existing EU and the good parts of legends, it would have been amazing, but instead, they decided to retcon alot of shit, ru8ned characters, completely rely on ai and special effects over writing, and made Starwars cartoonish in the worst ways possible. Oh, and the fact they made it so anyone can be a jedi. It's literally bull crap. Sabine was never force sensitive before, but now she is? Wtf?
They did show that the stab was to the left and not the center. When everyone else was stabbed it when straight through the middle possible hitting their spine, lungs gut.
We really need to talk about Andor more because it was one of the most beautifully written shows I have ever seen. It could easily stand on its own as a non-Star Wars show.
As a massive Andor fan, i love that the appreciation for Andor is only growing. Every single vid i see discussing current star wars always ends up carving out an "andor appreciation" island in an ocean of "why is the rest of star wars so embrassingly bad" and im here for it. Nice video, Mr Gooden.
When the first few episodes were out, I remember when people were criticizing the show for being "too slow" or "boring" 🙄 I'm also happy to see more Andor appreciation haha.
I’m thrilled every time I see another video on how great it is. Without a doubt my favorite piece of Star Wars ever. It doesn’t surprise me that it didn’t get as much attention at first and it will only grow and I think the season 2 trailer might pull in a lot more eyes. I cannot wait for more
My friend didn’t want to watch andor when it first came out, he just finished the show last month. He realized how good it is and I found out that a lot of people had the same experience as him
@@danlswart2409 disney has the special ability to sterilize and dumb down every script, score etc they get their hands on. the writers strike happened so that writers get paid better and hopefully they'll be given more room to make better media
@@danlswart2409you don’t understand the power of executives and you don’t understand the concept of crunch and unfair working conditions. What is the point in writing something exceptional when you’ll get the same amount of money as someone who writes something lame what’s the point putting your heart and soul into something and some big wig edits out all your heart and soul from it. There’s many examples of disney doing this and they do it because they want to make as much money as possible without taking massive risks on art
I was so burnt out on Star Wars content that I skipped Andor. This made me go watch it and so far I am nowhere near disappointed. It was genuinely fantastic
I had the same experience. Everyone was going on about how good Andor was but after Kenobi and Boba Fett I wasn't gonna spend another minute on Disney star wars. Eventually though, I heard enough praise for it that I chose to check it out and was so glad I did.
I feel like andor is the only decent show because it mostly stands alone. Which forced them to write an actually interesting story since they couldn’t lean on faces of existing characters
I had a similar experience. I thought "Who needs the prequel to the midquel between the prequels and the original?" I ended up watching the whole season in four sittings, and I would say it seriously competes with the better parts of the first season of the Mandelorian, and even surpasses it at times.
This is the best critique on modern Star Wars. No using of the words “woke” or “agenda” instead just focusing on the commercialism and poor writing that really ruined something I love so much. You love to see it.
One of my biggest issues with the modern star wars shows (except for Andor, obviously) are their length. They're too long to be as tightly written as movies but they're too short to really explore a lot of depth in a big cast of characters so they all somehow end up feeling both too bloated and too short.
Obi-Wan was originally planned to be a movie and it shows. I think the negative reception to the sequel trilogy made Disney nervous about releasing more theatrical movies whereas people loved Mandalorian so from their point of view the logical thing to do is take their movie projects and somehow stretch them out into a mini series for Disney+. I think Obi-Wan and frankly most of the other Star Wars shows could have worked way better as movies because its clear there wasn't enough there to make even a limited TV show.
Star Wars should be a setting, not a genre. You can tell stories of any genre in this universe and I think they should focus more on branching out into different genres
Exactly! They’re trying to force every new piece of SW media into the exact same tone (usually with a limited cast of the same recurring characters and factions), to the point that everything feels redundant. SW is a great universe and aesthetic but if you treat thousands of disparate stories as part of one singular series with the same feel, it becomes exhausting and repetitive even if many of the individual stories are strong.
that was what the expanded universe focused on. apart from the post ROTJ stuff, the EU used the setting of star wars to tell dozens of stories, the quality of which was more consistently good than Disneys. You want horror? it's there. Romance? it's there. Political thriller? it's there. classical adventure? there. The eu, for all it's flaws (they do exist sadly), did a better job of creating a galaxy filled with a rich and diverse people and places more than disney has ever done since 2009.
That’s why Andor was so good. The best Star Wars stories are ones that just so happen to take place in Star Wars. Andor didn’t have to take place in Star Wars, you could switch settings and locations and the story would be mostly the same but it fits really well within the Star Wars universe because its non-restrictive structure. In galaxy of stories some of those can be fantasy, some of those can be mystery, and some of those can be drama.
Just here to say, I paused the video, watched all of Andor, and came back to watch the rest of your video. Great moves, keep it up, and enjoy your extra view.
have i ever been remotely interested in star wars? no. did i watch this entire video without becoming distracted, and finished it actually feeling like i'd learned something, not just about the state of the franchise, but about writing and story in general? yes, yes i did.
I've done this before too, lol. It's honestly a great way to find new movies and shows. Like I'm probably gonna check out Andor now. If you're at all interested, I highly recommend checking out the OG trilogy :)
Big same. I love watching creators passionately talk about content I wouldn't normally give two shits about. Sometimes the content teaches you about stuff you are interested about (storytelling for me) but mostly when you see people love something, and you love that 😍
@@CheckersAndRecords If you choose to dive in, fully commit to it and it will reward you in spades. I also recommend watching post episode recaps by YT channels like Screen Crush, Star Wars Explained, Generation Tech, etc. it really adds to the experience!
I was blown away by how creative and beautiful the writing was in Andor. I love how passionate you speak of the show, that’s how I felt after finishing the season.
Side note at 10:04 it's even DEEPER than that. Joker gave Batman the wrong numbers on purpose to screw with him even more. His intention was to save Rachel, so when he walked in and saw Harvey on the ground, he still carried out with saving him knowing the police weren't going to get to Rachel in time and you can tell how much it broke him afterwards. What a crazy good scene.
Just watched through all of the Disney Star Wars shows because of this video and Andor is genuinely one of my favorite shows of all time now. A masterpiece of television.
This is one of the most concise and inspirational descriptions of what good writing is I've ever heard. Not only is your video incredibly well written, but your ability to boil down good writing in a show to be so easy to understand while showing how easy it is to do wrong, is amazing. Well done man
One correction: In The Dark Knight movie, Batman actually went to save Rachel, but Joker switched the addresses when giving the info, that's why in the end Batman arrived to Harvey and saved him. That was Joker's plan to later use her death against both Batman and Harvey
When it comes to Ahsoka, never forget actors are *directed.* It would be absolutely ridiculous if almost every actor just happened to be bad for this story, that they all just happened to not react accordingly.
I hate when people are awful to actors for bad characters. For bad acting? Sure, I can see giving them some shit, depending on how bad it is. Some actors are good enough to still turn garbage scripts into good performances, but some aren't and that's fair. But giving them shit for the character itself or bad dialogue? Makes no sense! The actors are just that, actors, it's the people in charge of the script and direction that control the characters! A big example is Ahmed Best being treated like shit for playing Jar Jar, as if he somehow just created and wrote the character all by himself and no one else had anything to do with it.
@@cheesefriesandgangsigns Or the hate the Netflix Cowboy Bebop crew got. You could resurrect Bruce Lee from the dead and have him play Spike Spiegel and also everyone else, but even his swag wouldn't save a bad product.
@@fluidthought42 I think I am the only one who enjoyed that adaption, primarily due to what they did with Faye and Julia and expanding their stories. It was a total mess, though! Some episodes were enjoyable, others felt like a poorly made but high budget fan film. John Cho was on point as Spike, loved that casting.
The most compelling thing about Cowboy Bebop live action was the redemption arc for the studio behind it. They learned their lesson on what worked and what didn't and channeled their takeaway into ONE PIECE of all things and knocked it out the park! Not holding my breath waiting for Disney to pull the same maneuver with Star Wars.
how did that scene with kino telling him the number of guards actually give me a chill and i havent even seen the ENTIRE context ?? i only saw the summary! that show must be great tbqh
So true! I can't remember a single line from any of the other shows but so many lines like this just stick in my head! A sign of truly fantastic writing!
As someone who’s been putting of andor for months, Drew’s description of the “never more than 12” single handedly convinced me I need to actually watch it
Even tho there are so many imdb rating about this show (Andor), I always felt it was heavily underrated, simply because people biased it cuz it was Star Wars. Thank you, i was really happy this show is getting what it deserves.
there's so much they could've done with Ezra. what if he was dead, and Sabine has to grapple with the fact that she let Thrawn return for nothing? what if he was in a force coma and they had to get him out whole simultaneously protecting him? what if he had been forced to kill to survive and that experience turned him bitter? what if, in order to survive, he had joined Thrawn? what if he had forgotten how to speak English? what if literally anything happened ???
He really should’ve joined thrawn. This video made me realize that Ashoka kinda sucks. I still like it because I will lap up my corporate slop but it’s so not creative with character directions
As a Rebels fan, I feel like the continued story needed him back but I agree that they wasted the opportunity. There needed to be a catch in which Thrawn was directly involved with his story but it seems like they just wanted to get it over with. I feel like neither Rebels fans or new viewers were the intended audience, they tried to appeal to both but instead just neutered the story. Also the characters were so dull compared to their animated counterparts, just because its live action doesnt mean it has to be devoid of emotion and energy
The most wonderful thing about Andor is that you already know the ending bc its ending is Rogue One. The line “I burn my life to make a sunrise I know I’ll never see” becomes so much more nuanced when the ending of Rogue One is a “sunrise”. Its not an open ending, theres no blatant insertions of possible future shows, the only thing that matters is the characters in the moment. I think thats why Andor works so well. Hopefully S2 maintains the quality
Which is interesting becuz often times that is called out as a flaw in prequels, becuz ur unable to develop the characters arc and story when we all know where they end up. But in the case of andor we barely know him, we saw him at the last 1% of his life, and the rest of Andor is all new characters, so in fact the show makes perfect use of this fixed ending by giving us this sort of tragic fate. Its the sort of Greek tragedy narrative that can work super well if done right
I binged all of Andor and finally came back and watched the whole video where before I would stop before you began talking about Andor. The show was great and I want more of it
I've never watched Andor but I need to watch it now. "I burned my decency for someone else's future. I burned my LIFE to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see" goes so fucking hard.
@@hunterbrowsing2999 I've watched it twice now. If I ever find time I'm gonna watch it a third so I can pick out ideas I want to steal for my DnD campaign lol.
listening to someone talk about media with so much passion and care while the zora's domain theme plays in the background is exactly what i needed after having a very stupid day. thanks drew
I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone talk about the Skyrim soundtrack playing in the background for a good portion of the video. You'd think with so many obsessive nerds who watch his videos that someone would say something about it 😂 I mean come on, it's Skyrim!!! It's always nice when creators add in a piece from a recognizable soundtrack to back up their videos. I cannot tell you how many times I quit watching a video because it was just "guy talking in a mildly dramatic tone for an hour". Drew's knack for picking the right music for his commentary is why he's such a good UA-camr (and one of my favorites).
Drew, as a longtime fan of yours and not really a fan of Star Wars at all, I just wanted to say that this is was of the best-written videos I've seen on UA-cam, period. You retained your trademark humour while steeping it in a worthwhile and entertaining commentary. Your words have truly inspired me not just as a fan, but as a writer. Congratulations on a fantastic video and thank you for taking the time to share it with us :)
I didn’t watch/ wasn’t interested in andor because of how sub par obiwon and boba fett felt to me but this video made me decide to watch it because of how good it looks
@@dolly20ifynot really. In fact just watch this and then Rogue One (movie that involves this character and the rebel vs empire war) and then A New Hope (the original movie that continues right after Rogue One)
a part of what made Andor so good for me is that I was truly invested in every b-plot/perspective. Mon, Syril, and Dedra’s respective stories were so interesting
I haven't seen a SINGLE star wars movie and that scene and buildup shown in this video for Andor had me JUMPING. I have NO context and I'm still hyped, that's amazing writing right there.
The whole show is ... Well ... the trailer is in no way representative of the show It's amazingly better than the trailer - in every episode - by a mile Have you ever wondered what it would ACTUALLY be like to live under the Empire? This show tells you, brutally, and in no uncertain terms. And it challenges you ... would YOU be willing to risk your life standing up to this monolithic terror?
@@jazzx251we have seen what it’s like to live under the empire from the very first Star Wars movie, and every production since. There is nothing new in Andor. What is wrong with you?
@@TristSingur I've seen the original trilogy. And a good thing too; Andor creates a beautiful quindrilogy (that's 5 good movies in a row - lol!) ANDOR > Rogue One > A New Hope > The Empire Strikes Back > Return of the Jedi
Nothing hits quite like a nice Drew Gooden essay video. Always so on point and unpretentiously insightful while still being funny, and somehow always get right at the heart of the problem.
For me, it’s crazy that the setting of Star Wars is a galaxy yet the world feels so small. Like you have an entire galaxy and so many potential characters and stories to tell, but all we do is focus on a few characters. Like hate the prequels all you want, but you can’t deny how much they expanded the world of Star Wars and made it bigger
The prequels are not a good example of what you're trying to say. Like, yes, they were phenomenal for the worldbuilding, establishing the workings of the Senate and Coruscant as the capital and a littany of new planets and Kaminoan cloners and the Separatist movement and the Trade Federation and so much more, they were still familiar characters placed into new settings. Anakin and Obi-Wan were the focus, and no new characters besides Qui-Gon and Padmé were given any focus, and even then, those two were the master of Obi-Wan and the wife of Anakin. In the character department, it mostly served as backstory for familiar characters, with most new characters having little role in the story and all characters besides Obi-Wan and Anakin, so all new characters, lacking character development.
I feel the same way about things feeling small and we need truly new stuff, but one of the other reasons why I wish they would move on from the Skywalker Saga is so that they **stop ruining the Skywalker Saga!** The Skywalker Saga was what kicked off this supposed to be grand galaxy and it was awesome and regardless what they do with new stuff I just wish they would stop bringing in the old characters and retroactively ruining them 😢
Holy hell those examples of good monologue dialogue from Andor really surprised me. Shit hit hard, and the actors nailed that appropriate feel for every word
Even the worst criticisms of Andor I've heard (which included things like "They should have made a General Grievous show because I remember that") admitted the acting and cinematography is good. And I will personally attest that the writing is good as well. Like really good.
@@NikoCigoj Andor is structured in three episode arcs, so the first three episodes are very slow to establish characters and Ferrix as a community, but it really pays off by the finale. The arcs that follow from ep 4 onwards are absolutely amazing, throwing in so many new characters. Ep 6 and 10 are some of the best episodes of television I've ever seen, comparable to any "prestige" show you can name
Im so happy this video is basically a love letter to Andor, I was apprehensive of this show because of the non knowing of the characters outside of rogue one, but my god I think it's my favorite star wars property ever. No Jedis, no Vader, just the rebels doing actual rebel shit
It's so interesting how much people are praising andor for not being connected to the rest of the star wars universe. I agree that it's the best and most well-written of the shows, but there's nothing wrong with a star wars show having cameos and references to the rest of the franchise. That's LITERALLY the whole appeal of an expansive fictional universe like SW I don't see how you can be a fan and not want an SW show to reference the huge amount of canon. If your favorite thing about the show is that there's no jedi or much of anything from the rest of the canon, maybe you just don't like star wars
My worry is that since Andor's season finale had a lower viewership than the finale of Ashoka and Mando season 3 that unless Andor season 2 does really well that Disney will see how easy it is to just continue their normal plan vs making more stuff like Andor.
29:57 "This report reads like a child's fairytale! Star maps, star whales, distant galaxies; honestly, are we to believe any of it?" My brother in the Force, this is the same universe where evil space wizards make their laser swords spin around above their heads and fly like they're fucking helicopters.
This is so subjective, though. Personally, I ADORE world-building. I also ADORE character-driven storytelling. And personally, I've felt like I've been getting such a deeper/closer look at the Star Wars universe world-building THROUGH the eyes of characters in some of these recent shows. I know way more about Mandalorian culture after watching The Mandalorian, showcasing an interesting alternate subgroup's perspective to add onto what I learned from Sabine's story in Rebels. I feel like I learn about the world by learning about individual characters' daily lives and interactions, and putting all the pieces together into the wider context. So... like I said, this is subjective. Some people prefer world/plot-driven storytelling, and some people prefer character-driven storytelling. And neither are objectively right or wrong 🤔
Thissss!!! I love star wars i love the lore i love the whole force and the lightsabers and stuff but its starting to feel like once upon a time with all the movies/series being connected by little things/characters here and there.
@@GoddessOfThree I think the early mandalorian stuff did this well. I also think some of the recent shows feel very shallow. Like there is stuff to explore but that is put to the side just to “bring back beloved characters”. I will concede that I haven’t watched clone wars or rebels so maybe some of the stuff in Ahsoka went over my head but either way I think there is an over reliance on characters. Also yeah it is subjective haha my idea of a perfect show is definitely not the best for a general audience, I just personally prefer world building.
I'm not even slightly interested in star wars but this entire video is such a good breakdown of storytelling that I would consider it a genuine writing resource LOL
It's fun to know drew's schedule is very consistent: always on the last (or last few) days of the month dude I know its because of sponsor deadlines i get it
Drew, I really like when you do video essays like this, thanks! You’re one of those rare commentary UA-camrs who actually puts a shit ton of work into their content and it shows.
I think what also makes Andor an interesting character is he doesn't easily fit into 'good' or 'bad'. He does messed up things and the people around him react appropriately. He also has things he deeply cares about and will work towards those goals to support those people
Yes, and we know he won't really change in that department. In rogue one he just murders someone because they became a liability. But seeing that grittier side of him change from more self-serving to more for the greater good is super interesting. Some of my fav characters in stories are the ones who lack classic heroism
@@Infamous1892bruh, there were 3 movies with Anakin and Obi-wan as the main characters, we all knew what was gonna happen to them but that doesn't make the prequel trilogy filler. But everyone has different tastes, it's fine if you don't like it.
Good point. A lot of people watching Rogue One even think he's a villain at first, because he straight up murders an ally. And heroes don't do that! He's interesting because he's willing to do pretty terrible things to protect himself, the people he loves and the rebel cause. (Plus, what most people apparently do not realise is that if he had left the ally alive, the guy would have been tortured for information.)
when me and my dad first watched andor, we had to stop after a few episodes because it was too much, and believe it or not i think that reflects extremely well on the show. the atmosphere it created was so oppressive and nerve-wracking, we were genuinely concerned for these characters and their incredibly precarious situations to a degree we didnt expect from a star wars series. its an incredibly interesting take on the star wars universe, to treat fighting the empire not as high space fantasy heroics but as a real revolution against a real government and all that entails
I had a similar reaction to Breaking Bad when it first came out. It's just very telling when the writing/directing of a show creates such a sense of dread/oppression that you need a break. It's immersion at it's best in a drama setting.
Drew, I cannot overstate how well-edited and scripted your videos are. I will usually skip movie/show reviews from commentary youtubers, hell I’m not even a fan of Star Wars, but here I am about to watch Andor because even after you explained the entire thing it feels like there could be more to enjoy. So thank you. Very much.
Andor is phenomenal, you’re in for a treat. It has so much depth, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show that has put so much care into every scene as that one. It’s brought me so much joy
If death mattered, than Andor should have been killed ten times over in the so-called “great” show. Andor was just as bad as the other shows criticized in this video.
@@kennethelliott9248 I don't think it was as bad. Most the new Star Wars I can't make it through an episode. Whereas Andor, I watched about half the series. I liked the empire in it, but the whole rebels and ardor part just annoyed me. If I thought the empire would win in the end, I'd probably had watched all of it.
Star Wars wasn't popular because George Lucas was a genius; Star Wars was saved on the editing floor. The prequels (which are still trash) are an example of him trying his best. He made rookie director mistakes like not cutting from a film because he felt a scene was important, so you have 45 mins of talking in chairs or pod racing that goes on far to long, cgi that does not stand up when compared to the old Jurassic Park, and Portman and Christensen acting is terrible veterans like Neeson, Lee, and Jackson should had a say on set or Lucas really shoulda got their opinions.
Shoutout to Genevieve O'Reilly for her performance as Mommy Mon Mothma in Andor. A standout among standout performances in the show. An easily 10/10 written and performed character, not in just Star Wars, but ever.
So weird seeing her show up in Ahsoka and be in that silly C3PO cameo machine of a court room scene after how compelling she is when given worthwhile material.
You inspired me at 23:40 to pause your video and actually go watch *Andor* …and now I’m back. Wow! It’s too bad all the other new Star Wars shows can’t be like Andor. Thanks 🤘
As a Star Wars fan, and a long-time subscriber, I cannot express how on-point your commentary was, and how well you made your points whilst keeping your sense of humour. You're a good dude, thank you for this fantastic commentary. This is why Andor and Rogue One were the best things to come out of Star Wars in the recent times.
dont you DARE come in here and compliment Drew. That's not how things are done around here. Tell him he has a weird shaped head, drop a like and leave.
So glad to see another fan unironically like Rogue One. Pretty much everyone around me says it’s their least favorite SW movie, with some of my friends saying they turned it off after half an hour. And true, Rogue One indeed suffers from inconsistent and slow pacing in the beginning, but the overall movie, its art and its messaging are a sight to behold. I can never forget how this is also the only SW movie on my memory that ends tragically, with the good guys sacrificing literally everything and eventually losing the battle while also technically achieving their goal. It’s fantastic.
drew's content is honestly so good. it's so obvious that he really makes an attempt to make his work high quality and i appreciate that. i hope it never changes.
One of the nice things Andor does well too is actually center the story around Cassian. Shows like The Witcher, Obi Wan, The Mandolorian all seem to focus on someone else rather than the titular character. Its amazing that that is something great about a show, that it sticks to a simple promise.
That's interesting to say since I think Cassian isn't necessarily the biggest focus of his own show. He's largely reactive for most of the show, with a few flashes of agency within as he struggles to find footing (and freedom). But then we see him successfully radicalize Kino and it makes a bit more sense: he's not taking over other people's stories but adding onto them. Part of it is kinda necessary, Diego Luna is a great actor but English is still a second language. But the second part is that Cassian starts to fulfill the role of organizer, of someone who helps others take the stage. Through his character arc he learns to accept agency over not just his own life but the lives of others, and in return his journey gives agency to others. It's the birth of rebel and rebellion, not as a something a single person does but as something that grows within everyone and is exemplified through Cassian Andor. Cassian isn't the focus because the real focus is on rebellion itself.
@@fluidthought42 Very true, but I meant more that Cassian receives the most screen time, unlike Geralt in the Witcher who is heavily dominated by Ciri when it comes to screen minutes.
@@whcapitani Dominated by Ciri? Not sure that's the right framing for that. Especially when Mon Mothma gets an unreasonable amount of screen time that could have been cut entirely, but I'm glad she wasn't because that entire storyline was gripping as hell. Do we need to know that her husband hates her and her daughter is an asshole? No, but I loved watching every second of it. What's important is whether the different storylines add to the plot and it's themes, hopefully while showcasing good writing. The Witcher's problems were deeper than "showing Ciri too much", considering she is a major character. The problems really centered around their flattening of Geralt as a character to fit the writer's preconceptions and marketing desires. That's also where Henry Cavill clashed the most with the showrunners, since they wanted to make Geralt a brooding hateful stereotype. Cavill read the books and knows that Geralt has his moments of vulnerability, and that he wouldn't want to ever hurt Daffodil. He also had to fight the writers on the scene for Roach's death, since the writers didn't understand that Geralt loved and respected his horse. Or if they did understand, they didn't care enough to want to write him and uncaring about the death of Geralt's most loyal companion.
Do you think Andor would be enjoyable for someone who’s not a fan of Star Wars? I get it’s still Star Wars but it seems like it could be different in a better way
@@frog.lady.official I'd say yes. As long as they can tolerate scifi as a flavor and are okay with dialogue heavy scenes, they'll enjoy Andor. Like the same audience as the Pluto anime.
It was actually cooler in the Batman hostage dilemma because Bats actually chooses to go for Rachel, but the Joker switched the addresses so he accidentally saves Harvey. What a movie.
Nope, Batman tells Harvey that he's going for Rachel so that they'll also try and rescue Harvey. He chose to give up the love of his life to save his city, Gotham
@@INFILTR8USthe joker being such a genius and knowing batman so well is what makes him such a threat, he's not just some crazy guy who gets lucky he's a genius who's also unpredictable
@@INFILTR8USthere’s no magic at all. Everything is set up to be a lose-lose for Batman. The addresses are swapped so no matter what decision is made, Batman still makes the wrong one. Joker knows the police are corrupt, disorganized, and compromised. He knows that they won’t be able to organize effectively and save the other. Everything is carefully set up. He’s not a magician, he’s incredibly methodical.
Honestly one of the craziest aspects of Andor is that it was able to do better and more efficient worldbuilding for the SW universe in 12 episodes than pretty much anything that has come out of the franchise over the past 40-ish years. The worldbuilding alone in the show is insane.
Nah, the old legends stuff are superior in almost every way. Remember that things like Thrawn, mythosaur, dark troopers, Clone Commandos, ISB, Tython, Nightsisters, Rakatan Invasion, heck even Coruscant came from Legends.
on screen, yes. Andor is probably the best show to add to star wars in disney canon, but it's eclipsed through the entire expanded universe, especially during the imperial era. The show itself is incredibly good, and if there is a future where disney canon is completely erased and the legends continuity is re-established, I'd like for andor to be retconned into the imperial era, at least season 1.
i completely avoided watching Andor because I was so tired of how bad Star Wars media has become for the exact reasons you brought up in the first half of this video. and then you talked about Andor and completely convinced me. when you said to stop watching this video and go watch Andor I said "ok FINE" and was instantly hooked and binged the whole series in 24hrs. THIS is what we need from a star wars TV show!!! thanks Drew
As someone studying tv writing, writing a spec script for Andor made me really appreciate just how much thought and talent went into writing the show. One of the most difficult yet rewarding assignments I’ve ever had.
@@noticiasinmundiciasNo most of them have little if any competence in writing anything, if they did have talent behind it then there would be at minimum very few bits of solid writing on rare occasions, this is assuming the higher ups don't meddle with the final projects, which seems to be improbable when you consider Wish was most definitely written by AI. Disney does not care for art, it cares for only money, and to get money the people must consume product. Let the corporation burn, and let's then stop AI from making "art" on it's own.
lmao “it’s not executive meddling actually, its just bad writing - writing that isn’t being done by writers, it’s being done by AI at the behest of meddling executives - so it’s the meddling executive’s fault actually”. Where else but a public comment section can you find arguments as next-level as “You’re wrong, I agree with you” 😂
@@gabrielstern2885that's a bold claim, is there somewhere you can link me that go's over Disney using AI to replace writers? I don't super doubt you but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
What a strange looking young man
pinned
@@th4nky0uf0rth3ven0mno way
WOW THIS QUICKLY
You did it
Drew Gooden 3 hour pooping & farting compilation when!!
So glad that the actor from Little Italy is finally breaking out into bigger roles, good for him.
i feel so proud of him
I remember hearing that joke in a video I just watched😄
Are you sure though? I still don't feel like it was as big of a role. Little Italy was one of the biggest movies ever, so he might just be going downhill...
finally on his way to bigger italys... ❤
@@newtwoup4293this made me laugh really hard, props
I think we've had enough Star Wars I think everyone should just come together so we can finally have Star Peace
Damn
Never thought of that.
Suppose they haven`t done a romcom in a starwars setting.
This is the one, this is the comment that took me out 💀
@@Notmyname1593um... Attack of the Clones? Come on.
I genuinely love how whenever Star Wars makes a spinoff of fan favorite characters, it gets mixed or even negative reviews, and whenever it's centered around side characters or subplots no one cared about, it's absolutely fire
Its because the giant media conglomerate monster that is Disney is WILDLY protective of their big "money-maker" IPs. You can literally see the quality of Mando decrease due to increased studio interference over the three seasons as Mando and Grogu merch began churning out cash.
None of Disney star wars is fire
@@e-satan9032 neither Andor or Mando season 1 are fire in your opinion?
It really speaks to how tight the writing was in the first place. The characters in the original trilogy and Prequels were written in such a way, that once their stories wrap up, there isn't a lot left to tell before and after. We know everything we need to about Han before he leave the Cantina, and we know how Obi Wan will spends his time between Ep. III and IV. Even with 5 minutes of screen time, you know everything you need to with Boba Fett, and he's able to capture the public imagination.
As such, these series just show you more of what already happened: Obi Wan realized his failings at the end of Ep. III and makes amends for these mistakes in the OT. All his series did was make him go through the exact same journey: He's depressed in a cave, he meets the child of his former nemesis, he fights Vader, then passes the torch to his new child sidekick. It's the exact same arc, but just not nearly as tight.
@@davidmhh9977cool it on praising the prequel movies. You don't want to be disregarded by saying they're good.
What I love about Andor and Rogue One is that they show the "war" in Star Wars. We see normal people reap the consequences of the war. It makes you see why the resistance had to fight the empire in the first place.
can't love this comment enough
exactly!!! it’s why i really enjoyed rogue one at the time even though it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. the stakes feel so much more tangible.
andor is what’s finally convinced me of the merit of star wars at all, it was so good at explaining the world and why i should even care about the any of it at all. it made watching the originals and prequels so much more interesting
I was convinced that Rogue One was the best Star Wars movie since Empire strikes back, and I can confidently say it still holds true.
This is what disappointed me so much about book of boba Fett. Here I thought that we were seeing a genuine glimpse at how the Star wars criminal underworld worked, and how boba would fill the power vacuum as he slowly helms jabbas empire.
Instead he ends up commanding, a bounty hunter, black krrsantan, and like 5 weirdos who drive granny scooters. Boba doesn't even get to have the tusken raiders as allies for some god forsaken reason
Drew perfectly summed up my feelings about the last 10 years of popular media: "I'm just asking for what happens on screen to mean something"
Drew and MatPat really taking it to Disney atm
That is such a vague and subjective request you may as well say "I want art to be about stuff". It is about stuff, it does mean things, you simply don't understand what it's about or the meaning behind it, at best you personally don't value what it means but that still doesn't mean it doesn't mean something.
Star wars is a franchise with kids as their target audience bruh what are you expecting
@@JohnDoe-hj9fhThis is absolutely asinine, not just because kids media can still mean stuff, but because Star Wars being "for kids" is an exclusively new phenomenon. The OT was for young adults, and even the prequels were moreso for 'all ages' because they saw how the OT resonated with everyone - and 'all ages' isn't a euphemism for 'for kids', no matter what lazy writers might tell you. The EU was also very clearly for adults, at least for the most part.
The obvious argument would be "well it's for kids NOW, that's what Disney's going for!"... but is it really? Andor started in a brothel, Obi-Wan Kenobi at least attempted to show rather violent scenes, and so on. There's a group of counter-fans who keep claiming Star Wars is for kids, but nobody who has ever made Star Wars seems to have gotten that memo.
@@JohnDoe-hj9fh Pixar's Inside was targeted for kids, DreamWork's Shrek was for kids, targeted for kids =/= excuse to be poorly written.
Ezra being upset about Sabine finding him would have made so much sense. He’s there because he sacrificed himself to get rid of Thrawn. Sabine basically undid that
Don't forget that both shows were written and directed by Dave Filoni. Filoni basically undid the story he made himself.
Ezra pretty much told Sabine that only she could save him. Are people really just glancing this over?
@@mildgooses4401 He did, but given how he is written at the end of Rebels. He would have freaked out once he figured out how Sabine got to him. Sure he want's off the planet, but he would gladly stay there if getting off means Thrawn is coming with.
@@davidciFiloni is a hack. That first story wasnt just his story. He had others including George Lucas himself on that original production. Ahsoka is his only solo writing effort and you can tell.
@@davidciThat first story wasnt just his story. He had others including George Lucas himself on that original production. Ahsoka is his only solo writing effort and you can tell. There's a reason Disney likes him. He will do what they want of him.
I literally paused the video at 23:40 and watched all of Andor. Here is your second view Drew. Also, Andor is probably now one of my top 10 tv shows ever.
That's how it's done!
For me - I had no intention of watching Andor at all ...
... but my favourite voice actress from "Witcher 3" was apparently a main character, and I had never seen her face before. So I gave it a try ...
Yennefer didn't disappoint!
Dedra Meero was worth the price of admission! :)
As was the entire show ... I too have watched it through twice.
It's brilliant!
Me too 😂
Yeah, I didn't really feel any interest in Disney Star Wars after Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Had no urge whatsoever to try Ahsoka and Andor flew under my radar.
I paused this video to spend the previous few days to watch Andor and I can only say I feel A New Hope. Andor hit everything I find interesting in its story and furthermore had some great shots and sets. The stakes felt real throughout the series. And importantly: no cheap fanservices.
I was literally just about to go do that right now
Same here!!
I love the line “these scenes are not exciting, they’re just loud”. So true of so many movies and shows in the genre right now - nothing is happening but by god is it trying to convince you something is
I remember the scene from I think, Episode 2? With the ridiculous amount of simultaneous lightsaber fights? Clearly if one lightsaber fight is exciting, several at the same time have to be, right? Reminds me of the old joke of the bad cook who thinks if a little salt makes the soup tastes better, dumping the whole saltshaker in will make it taste amazing!
almost all of Dune 2 was like this. there were noises and lights and pretty good CGI but I don’t know what the hell happened
The Witch From Mercury does a really excellent job subverting those kinds of expectations.
yeah exactly. and if they really got nothing, but convince you that SHIT IS GOING DOWN they usually also go all out on the shaky cam to sell it to you.
And when you do have theories that elevate the shows, they turn out to be completely off-base and your left with a sense of disappointment because fans came up with decent theories to explain why certain scenes are shown (but they end up leading nowhere).
The whole "I'm gonna surprise attack you but also scream while doing it" thing has got to be my biggest pet peeve in movies and every movie seems to do it. In what world would somebody SCREAM while trying to get the drop on someone. I can't wrap my head around that
To have the super cool scene of the person stopping the sneak attack duh
@@crackerjack0349I know how joking but the funny thing is that even then it still would've been cooler for Vader to just detect her without her yelling
I have an argument! In the anime Soul Eater there is a character that exclusively screams, when he attacks people. In his case it's because he likes a grand entrance. So when he actually does try and be sneaky and do a good job, you know it's serious.
I think a lot of tropes can be reframed and done well. It's just that in most cases they're just used for the sake of whatever they need to happen next.
@@schmiddinski put respect on him and call him by his name. The glorious and super cool Black Star!
But yeah you can do tropes and rework them into something interesting instead of using it to move the plot along or just have something happen
@@schmiddinski I can agree with that. I haven't seen that show but that definitely sounds like an instance where it actually works for the character
My husband is a film editor and usually hates the film commentary video essays I watch- he was literally pumping his fist and agreeing wholeheartedly to this entire video. So well thought out, scripted, and put together!! I love your channel!!!
That's sick, how did your husband get into that gig? I'm genuinely asking here, I want to go into Film more than anything.
what channels do you watch? just curious if i watch any of them too
@@endless_del if you're asking me, I love filmento and few others that I cannot remember the name of at the moment. But if you were talking to me then I will be glad to tell you!
@@jordanfelt5978Lol, remember and tell us then.
@@TheGreatLake1998 Cinema therapy, the critical drinker, and the closer look are other good ones.
Andor also shows WHY he was so hellbent on getting Jyn into the rebellion. Making her line "its not a problem if you dont look up." Even stronger because he FELT THE EXACT SAME
Andor is the rare ‘prequel’ that actually made the movie that followed it significantly better.
I don’t know why Drew didn’t talk about Rogue one at all!
no one talks about rogue one 😔
i will never get over how disney took finn, an ex stormtrooper who joined the rebellion, and reduced him to a literal nothing character. he could’ve had such an interesting arc from a NEW perspective that we hadn’t seen, and yet we got nothing
In my opinion, Finn had the most potential in the sequels, his backstory offered so much for them to explore e.g. the moral dillema of him killing stormtroopers, efforts to free other stormtroopers, figuring out a path for himself, his friendship with Poe. But, nope, he was reduced to a static side character
@@delusion5867 yeah but it was not just his arc, but also either the director or the acting skills of Boyega, because he always felt like he wanted to rush through the scenes. Way too much nervous energy in that guy.
@@MrSheduur I'll hear NO criticism of John Boyega ... watch "Attack the Block", where he plays a young thug that becomes a hero during an alien invasion of London ... it was his breakout role. He was immense
ehh... Han Solo was an ex-Imperial Academy pilot, so not entirely not seen before, and many in the Rebellion are ex-Imperials
Dude, I’ve been called a Nazi on Twitter for making the same complain.
Drew, I just want to thank you for such high praise for Andor. I’ve spent over 2 years of my life working on this show, with the most incredible team. Hope you love season 2 as much as we’ve loved making it, cheers from across the pond 🫡
That's awesome what department you are in. Andor is by far the best Stars Wars media. You should be real proud
in an effort not to dox myself (or have the Luc*sfilm overlords come for me) I shan’t disclose if that’s ok. I will say that this show has been a real career highlight, and real love was put into making it. Hope you enjoy S2! Thanks so much
So ready for season 2
May the force be with you 🫡
Can we get some Star Wars in season 2 of Andor? Things like jedis, light sabers, droids, alien species…? Good or not, felt like another franchise entirely. Also, some facial expression from Diego Luna would be nice
Andor is a perfect example of show don't tell and how to treat your audience like they're actually intelligent
Disney seems to forget that a vast majority of Star Wars fans aren’t children anymore, they aren’t going to let cool things distract them from lazy filmmaking. Its nice when someone remembers that.
The most boring character in the history of Star Wars set in Disney's Jake Skywalker Universe. No thanks
@@cheddarandsourcream It's the opposite, they're very aware fans and others have grown up and have their own children. They're just pumping out star wars content to put on Disney+ for teens graduating from their childhood where they watched the same film 38 times in 1 day.
While I didnt enjoy Andor, even I admit it was really, really well made
And what's funny about that is majority of star wars fans hate it,
so what does that say about star wars fans...
I still can’t get over “I can’t swim,” such an incredible buildup throughout the whole arc, swelling and swelling until the breaking point, where you’re promised relief, only to be dropped so far down with one line.
There is only one way out. Not a cheesy line that meant nothing. Keenoe believed it to his core by then and this showed us that. Man I love Andor
Yea, dropped together with Cassian. The look on his face when he tries to reach out to Kino...
Adds even more to his monologue about rather dying trying to escape than live as a captive forever. He knew he was never leaving that prison alive but still decided to sacrifice himself with the hope that maybe someone other prisoners will escape. The whole escape leads to what seems like only 2 prisoners escaping but without those two escaping the rebellion probably never gets the death star plans.
That broke my heart. And Andy Serkis is always perfection.
Andor fucking slaps
“That’s just love” was such an amazing line
That scene makes me cry 😭
delivered with the gravity and emotion it deserved, absolutely fantastic
To me why Andor hits infinitely harder than anything else is because all of the other shows are telling stories about Star Wars, whereas Andor is using Star Wars to tell a story about real life.
And that is also what George Lucas' Star Wars orginally did. He only used a SciFi setting to tell a story. It's not about the spaceships or the science or the fictional world, it's about Lucas' own family and the real world just set in that universe. That's what it's all about.
You're wrong in one aspect, the other shows aren't telling stories. Stories have writing, Mando, BoB, Ahsoka, they don't have any of that.
Andor is great to watch at night. I don't even need sleeping pills anymore.
It's also actually good compared to those key-jangling ahows.
That's why I really enjoyed the books! It adds to the universe, rather than just recycling the same characters over and over again
This is why I love Drew’s content. He can make funny videos like testing and reviewing his cat’s toys and then drops a 40 min documentary on the decline of Star Wars. I’ve been watching him for a few years now and it’s crazy how natural he looks on the camera now
I think he's mentioned he doesn't read comments much, but if he reads any it should be yours tbh. He is really versatile and I think it's a big compliment
He’s legit explaining the criticism well then any critic on this app I’m not even capping if Disney watched this they’d learn a thing or 2
Drew kept me intrigued for 35 minutes about shows I’ve never seen in a franchise I’m not a part of. Good writing.
Dude, this video was so engaging, I only realised that the video was 35 minutes long when I read your comment. It geuinly felt like 20.
Real 😭 I’ve never seen Star Wars but I watched the whole video
Same
I was about to comment how i know so little about star wars lore yet i’m fully engaged in him talking abt it as if i should know the context 😭
PLEASE watch the original trilogy, I'm begging you on hands and knees
I like how the video turns into an argument for why Andor is such an amazing story and show
The most shocking thing to me is the fact that nobody asked for Andor and nobody anticipated anything of substance coming from it comapared to Obi-Wan or the Book of Boba Fett. It's a show about a character that appeared in one film, many people didn't care for him and he was killed off at the end of the film. That was supposed to be the end of it, he was supposed to be a one off character yet somehow they took this character and gave him an incredible backstory and made you care about him. This gives the ending of Rogue One so much more heart and soul, I can only imagine even more so when the 2nd and final season comes out. And something I love the most about Andor: it doesn't show the rebellion as this squeaky clean thing. It doesn't sugarcoat the actions of some of the characters, it shows them getting their hands dirty and doing the dirty work for the greater good. Also sidenote, Andy Serkis does NOT get enough recognition for his acting. He is amazing for his motion capture work but my god, the man can act.
They did this in Rogue One too. Cassian had to kill his informant because he would've been caught because he couldn't climb out.
I love how the show that everyone thought would be the least interesting was the best Star Wars show yet.
@@onelusciouslad7841 Exactly. The show everyone expected the least from turned out to be the best by far
Agreed! Andor is my favorite piece of the Star Wars world we’ve gotten to see since the original trilogy. I do love the animated Clone Wars show, too, but I wasn’t *expecting* Andor at all and therefore it feels very special to me.
Moreover, Andor wasn't just a "nobody that appeared in one film", he was a nobody who appeared in a spin-off movie that many people just brushed off as a fun addition to the saga but not much more
The key thing to understand is that Disney does not respect you as an audience, but as a consumer.
They don’t respect you as a consumer either. They just expect you to consume
That's how they've handled everything else they own, I still don't get how Star Wars fans were so shocked when it happened with the sequels
this is why piracy is needed 😂
given who's running disney, it's pretty safe to say they consider us as mere cattle.
Same relationship as me and my dealer
"These scenes have no stakes. they're just loud."
Perfect.
Hey Guy, Fun Fact: The actor playing Ulaf (Christopher Fairbank) at 25:24 also played the goon getting beaten up by Batman at 15:07.
The roles are 33 years apart.
wtf
how do you know that?
Super cool fact thanks man
@@gustavomitsunaga4379 He's a pretty successful English actor, with a very distinctive face. I couldnt miss him.
Question is, did Drew know this or is it a coincidence
And I only realised yesterday that he also plays The Broker in the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
Concise, articulate critique while also being well-paced and funny! I'd love to see more videos like this, Drew!
As an EFAP fan, I bet you were chomping at the bit for this video like I was
Yeah I completely agree! Also because I'm just extremely angry that instead of setting the sequels way into the past BEFORE the rule of 2 where there were giant battles of thousands of Sith versus thousands of Jedi, they decided to do a sequel series with terrible writing just so they can jam in as many well known characters as possible. No one can tell me what we got is better than the early Sith wars. Who doesn't want to see thousands of Sith fighting thousands of Jedi. Sith using the dark side of the force to create monsters to hunt down the Jedi as war machines. That is literally the most interesting point in all of Star wars history. Yet they decided to set it as a sequel and also not bother to plot out how the story is going to end before putting the first movie out. I know people hate it on the prequels when those first came out but I always loved those. To be fair I was like a toddler the very first time I watched the Star wars prequels but they're so underrated okay they're better than the sequels.
I missed you dreadfully, Drew. Feed me with content.
don't say things
Don’t you mean Danny?
don't you notice drew is actually dead danny?
nomnomnomnomnom
drewdfully
This is the criticism we need: not moaning about 'wokness' for the umpteenth time. You're perfectly explaining the soulless lazy effort
I'm sure someone else has pointed this out, but Batman didn't save Harvey cause of what he meant to the city. He was mislead to believe he was saving Rachel. The Joker purposefully mixed up their locations so he'd save the wrong person regardless. None the less, great example cause your point was still valid.
Thank you, cause I legit thought I misremember that.
Shit, I totally forgot but that just makes Batman a less-interesting character.
The authorities still choose to save Harvey but they're not fast enough so Rachel dies
Yeah but, wasn’t Gooden’s point specifically about Harvey’s reaction? Harvey had no knowledge about the mix up, he was simply upset at the thought that he was being saved over Rachel
Point being; Ezra should have been upset over the ramifications of him being found.
@@mastermarkus5307why? Because he chose her over Harvey? He is still human and in love with Rachel. Plus he does not know that police won’t get on time to save them both. Police was also very close to saving her as well. It just makes Joker’s plan better.
Best part about that "lightsabers dont kill you" part is how outrageous it is that she survived it. Its not like getting stabbed with a normal sword, where a wound like that might be lethal and might not, lightsabers are extremely hot and completely cauterize the wound and basically cook your insides, so getting stabbed in the torso is just a death sentence. 100% of the time. Its not even remotely survivable.
Mouse Wars has flushed the intimidation of the lightsaber out the airlock, because it's not even worst with Sabine. At least she is hospitalized for half an episode. Remember Reva? After her ludicrous attempt at revenge on Vader, he stabs her in the stomach. She doesn't die either. Not only that, she walks it off, flies across the galaxy to Tatooine, and menaces the Lars family for most of the final episode. All with her insides cooked.
she's just built different @@66Roses
Disney ruined thrawn too. Thrawn was sent to the outer rimm to prepare against the worst threat the galaxy will ever face by the Emperor himself. He knew Thrawn was a genius, and in the EU and Legends, Thrawn displays his strategic genius a multitude of times. If Disney used the already existing EU and the good parts of legends, it would have been amazing, but instead, they decided to retcon alot of shit, ru8ned characters, completely rely on ai and special effects over writing, and made Starwars cartoonish in the worst ways possible. Oh, and the fact they made it so anyone can be a jedi. It's literally bull crap. Sabine was never force sensitive before, but now she is? Wtf?
They did show that the stab was to the left and not the center. When everyone else was stabbed it when straight through the middle possible hitting their spine, lungs gut.
I tell you something ..survive is not the problem...the problem she is Ok after 24 hourse..like no injure or pain..that when it is bullshit
We really need to talk about Andor more because it was one of the most beautifully written shows I have ever seen. It could easily stand on its own as a non-Star Wars show.
Honestly I liked Rouge one better than Andor, but the show was definitely up there with season 1 of the Mandalorian for me
hands down to best star wars show
Fun fact about Andor: at 15:07 the guy batman is holding up is the same actor who played Ulaf, the older prisoner that dies of a stroke.
That is insane in this context
As a massive Andor fan, i love that the appreciation for Andor is only growing. Every single vid i see discussing current star wars always ends up carving out an "andor appreciation" island in an ocean of "why is the rest of star wars so embrassingly bad" and im here for it. Nice video, Mr Gooden.
When the first few episodes were out, I remember when people were criticizing the show for being "too slow" or "boring" 🙄 I'm also happy to see more Andor appreciation haha.
I hope it leads to more praise for Tony Gilroy too. Michael Clayton is my Favorite movie of all time. The screenplay is phenomenal.
This is what happens when Star Wars takes notes from Star Trek instead of the other way around.
I’m thrilled every time I see another video on how great it is. Without a doubt my favorite piece of Star Wars ever. It doesn’t surprise me that it didn’t get as much attention at first and it will only grow and I think the season 2 trailer might pull in a lot more eyes. I cannot wait for more
My friend didn’t want to watch andor when it first came out, he just finished the show last month. He realized how good it is and I found out that a lot of people had the same experience as him
It becomes increasingly easier and easier to see how important the writers strike was and how little Disney really cares about the media they produce.
How exactly..they were the writers who wrote all of these awful shows
@@danlswart2409 disney has the special ability to sterilize and dumb down every script, score etc they get their hands on. the writers strike happened so that writers get paid better and hopefully they'll be given more room to make better media
Disney only cares about money. Not the artist or art. They’re a greedy capitalist corporation at the end of the day.
@@danlswart2409you don’t understand the power of executives and you don’t understand the concept of crunch and unfair working conditions. What is the point in writing something exceptional when you’ll get the same amount of money as someone who writes something lame what’s the point putting your heart and soul into something and some big wig edits out all your heart and soul from it. There’s many examples of disney doing this and they do it because they want to make as much money as possible without taking massive risks on art
@@J0non0 They won't. I hope they get no money and no jobs
I was so burnt out on Star Wars content that I skipped Andor. This made me go watch it and so far I am nowhere near disappointed. It was genuinely fantastic
I had the same experience. Everyone was going on about how good Andor was but after Kenobi and Boba Fett I wasn't gonna spend another minute on Disney star wars. Eventually though, I heard enough praise for it that I chose to check it out and was so glad I did.
Dude same but I haven't seen it yet. I'm sure I will eventually. Really shocked that people liked it I thought it was certainly gonna suck
I feel like andor is the only decent show because it mostly stands alone. Which forced them to write an actually interesting story since they couldn’t lean on faces of existing characters
I'm just burnt out on garbage Star Wars content, not Star Wars itself. If it were good, I'd endlessly gobble it up
I had a similar experience. I thought "Who needs the prequel to the midquel between the prequels and the original?" I ended up watching the whole season in four sittings, and I would say it seriously competes with the better parts of the first season of the Mandelorian, and even surpasses it at times.
This is the best critique on modern Star Wars. No using of the words “woke” or “agenda” instead just focusing on the commercialism and poor writing that really ruined something I love so much. You love to see it.
Andor singlehandedly made the phrase "I... I can't swim" SO DEVASTATING THAT I SOBBED.
what does that shows name mean? And or what? And or what? if it wasn't star wars i would have thought it was a grammar show
@@natanarntMediocre bait.
@@natanarnt That joke only works when its said out loud
@@natanarntit means Disney is so creatively bankrupt that they can't even come up with original titles for their horrible shows 😂🤦🏻
@@Harry-fy3tebros been begging to drop this one but has no one to talk to
One of my biggest issues with the modern star wars shows (except for Andor, obviously) are their length. They're too long to be as tightly written as movies but they're too short to really explore a lot of depth in a big cast of characters so they all somehow end up feeling both too bloated and too short.
It's just another awful symptom of them trying to bulk up their Disney+ catalogue 😒
I enjoy the shows but I have to agree. Well said
Andor?
Sounds like you haven't watched Andor then
Obi-Wan was originally planned to be a movie and it shows. I think the negative reception to the sequel trilogy made Disney nervous about releasing more theatrical movies whereas people loved Mandalorian so from their point of view the logical thing to do is take their movie projects and somehow stretch them out into a mini series for Disney+. I think Obi-Wan and frankly most of the other Star Wars shows could have worked way better as movies because its clear there wasn't enough there to make even a limited TV show.
Star Wars should be a setting, not a genre. You can tell stories of any genre in this universe and I think they should focus more on branching out into different genres
Maybe The Acolyte will be interesting? Old republic murder mystery, allegedly. We’ll see.
Exactly! They’re trying to force every new piece of SW media into the exact same tone (usually with a limited cast of the same recurring characters and factions), to the point that everything feels redundant. SW is a great universe and aesthetic but if you treat thousands of disparate stories as part of one singular series with the same feel, it becomes exhausting and repetitive even if many of the individual stories are strong.
that was what the expanded universe focused on. apart from the post ROTJ stuff, the EU used the setting of star wars to tell dozens of stories, the quality of which was more consistently good than Disneys. You want horror? it's there. Romance? it's there. Political thriller? it's there. classical adventure? there.
The eu, for all it's flaws (they do exist sadly), did a better job of creating a galaxy filled with a rich and diverse people and places more than disney has ever done since 2009.
Like Visions? I enjoyed the variety of season 2 very much
That’s why Andor was so good. The best Star Wars stories are ones that just so happen to take place in Star Wars. Andor didn’t have to take place in Star Wars, you could switch settings and locations and the story would be mostly the same but it fits really well within the Star Wars universe because its non-restrictive structure. In galaxy of stories some of those can be fantasy, some of those can be mystery, and some of those can be drama.
Just here to say, I paused the video, watched all of Andor, and came back to watch the rest of your video. Great moves, keep it up, and enjoy your extra view.
have i ever been remotely interested in star wars? no. did i watch this entire video without becoming distracted, and finished it actually feeling like i'd learned something, not just about the state of the franchise, but about writing and story in general? yes, yes i did.
Same, and I was in the goddamn shower
I've done this before too, lol. It's honestly a great way to find new movies and shows. Like I'm probably gonna check out Andor now.
If you're at all interested, I highly recommend checking out the OG trilogy :)
Big same.
I love watching creators passionately talk about content I wouldn't normally give two shits about. Sometimes the content teaches you about stuff you are interested about (storytelling for me) but mostly when you see people love something, and you love that 😍
@@CheckersAndRecords If you choose to dive in, fully commit to it and it will reward you in spades. I also recommend watching post episode recaps by YT channels like Screen Crush, Star Wars Explained, Generation Tech, etc. it really adds to the experience!
@@411bvRGiskard thank you for the recs, I will check those out! Question: do I need to watch Rogue One before watching Andor?
I was blown away by how creative and beautiful the writing was in Andor. I love how passionate you speak of the show, that’s how I felt after finishing the season.
Side note at 10:04 it's even DEEPER than that. Joker gave Batman the wrong numbers on purpose to screw with him even more. His intention was to save Rachel, so when he walked in and saw Harvey on the ground, he still carried out with saving him knowing the police weren't going to get to Rachel in time and you can tell how much it broke him afterwards. What a crazy good scene.
Was about to say this
Thank you, I thought I was insane and had heard that scene incorrectly my entire life
@@Mocityspirithaha same
i’m a minute into the video and saw this and i’m very confused as to how it’ll link up with that
@@owens_lol same. I have no idea why I habitually start reading the comments as soon as I start a video.
Just watched through all of the Disney Star Wars shows because of this video and Andor is genuinely one of my favorite shows of all time now. A masterpiece of television.
This is one of the most concise and inspirational descriptions of what good writing is I've ever heard. Not only is your video incredibly well written, but your ability to boil down good writing in a show to be so easy to understand while showing how easy it is to do wrong, is amazing. Well done man
Bro didn't even watch rebels and is criticizing a rebels sequel show lol
@Spacemancer you're bad at thinking.
@pokemosh07 I completely agree.
@@jamescarter5151 sorry I'll go get another UA-camr to copy my personality from
@@Spacemancer You're so cute I bet you think you're clever.
One correction: In The Dark Knight movie, Batman actually went to save Rachel, but Joker switched the addresses when giving the info, that's why in the end Batman arrived to Harvey and saved him. That was Joker's plan to later use her death against both Batman and Harvey
THANK YOU! Lol I was immediately looking for this comment when I heard that, makes the whole scenario even sadder for Bruce and Harvey
I also thought that, but I think he referred to Gordon and the police who did got for Harvey
yes !!!! i was looking for this comment
True but Harvey reacts the same way regardless if Bruce went to save him on purpose or not
Imagine not getting the main plot twist in the Dark Knight for 11 years. 😅
When it comes to Ahsoka, never forget actors are *directed.* It would be absolutely ridiculous if almost every actor just happened to be bad for this story, that they all just happened to not react accordingly.
Careful there. Implying that Dave Filoni maybe isn't the messiah of Star Wars and isn't a very good director got me chased off Twitter in one day.
I hate when people are awful to actors for bad characters. For bad acting? Sure, I can see giving them some shit, depending on how bad it is. Some actors are good enough to still turn garbage scripts into good performances, but some aren't and that's fair. But giving them shit for the character itself or bad dialogue? Makes no sense! The actors are just that, actors, it's the people in charge of the script and direction that control the characters! A big example is Ahmed Best being treated like shit for playing Jar Jar, as if he somehow just created and wrote the character all by himself and no one else had anything to do with it.
@@cheesefriesandgangsigns
Or the hate the Netflix Cowboy Bebop crew got. You could resurrect Bruce Lee from the dead and have him play Spike Spiegel and also everyone else, but even his swag wouldn't save a bad product.
@@fluidthought42 I think I am the only one who enjoyed that adaption, primarily due to what they did with Faye and Julia and expanding their stories. It was a total mess, though! Some episodes were enjoyable, others felt like a poorly made but high budget fan film. John Cho was on point as Spike, loved that casting.
The most compelling thing about Cowboy Bebop live action was the redemption arc for the studio behind it.
They learned their lesson on what worked and what didn't and channeled their takeaway into ONE PIECE of all things and knocked it out the park!
Not holding my breath waiting for Disney to pull the same maneuver with Star Wars.
This video caused me to watch Andor and I couldn’t be more grateful. To say it’s an amazing Star Wars show isn’t enough- it’s an amazing show, period.
How many Drew Gooden videos do we really need?
PLEASW THIS NEEDS RO BE PINNED
Know for a fact this bouta be pinned
Edit: you were robbed lol
Damn it I did this to
Haha. What a perfect comment. Just immediately on it, not even one minute after the video is released
I was waiting for this comment for the past 30 seconds
how did that scene with kino telling him the number of guards actually give me a chill and i havent even seen the ENTIRE context ?? i only saw the summary! that show must be great tbqh
I have a friend who rarely ever reacts when we’re watching stuff and she said “let’s goooo” during that scene
tbqh??
Omg! Same, full body chills when I saw that
So true! I can't remember a single line from any of the other shows but so many lines like this just stick in my head! A sign of truly fantastic writing!
SAME i haven’t seen any star wars movies and i wanna watch the series from that scene alone
As someone who’s been putting of andor for months, Drew’s description of the “never more than 12” single handedly convinced me I need to actually watch it
I heartily recommend it! Best Star Wars since Empire Strikes Back.
I highly recommend it
Watch it, it's the best Star Wars since the OT it might even be better than it tbh.
@@MrStatement Careful, Ned.
@@wildfire9280 why are you booing him he's right
Even tho there are so many imdb rating about this show (Andor), I always felt it was heavily underrated, simply because people biased it cuz it was Star Wars. Thank you, i was really happy this show is getting what it deserves.
People biased it because it's Disney Star Wars, not just because it's Star Wars.
there's so much they could've done with Ezra. what if he was dead, and Sabine has to grapple with the fact that she let Thrawn return for nothing? what if he was in a force coma and they had to get him out whole simultaneously protecting him? what if he had been forced to kill to survive and that experience turned him bitter? what if, in order to survive, he had joined Thrawn? what if he had forgotten how to speak English? what if literally anything happened ???
He really should’ve joined thrawn. This video made me realize that Ashoka kinda sucks. I still like it because I will lap up my corporate slop but it’s so not creative with character directions
Woah brother. That requires critical thinking skills
Oooh please write a fanfiction about this. I would totally read it.
As a Rebels fan, I feel like the continued story needed him back but I agree that they wasted the opportunity. There needed to be a catch in which Thrawn was directly involved with his story but it seems like they just wanted to get it over with. I feel like neither Rebels fans or new viewers were the intended audience, they tried to appeal to both but instead just neutered the story. Also the characters were so dull compared to their animated counterparts, just because its live action doesnt mean it has to be devoid of emotion and energy
But then they might risk pissing off all the teenagers who think they liked rebels growing up
Just the fact that Andor didn't take place on Tatooine made it 20 times more refreshing.
Watch, Andor season 2 isn’t going to be watched a lot and it shows Tatooine.
@@mazkeraid4039 oh God, I thought we were done with desert planets noooo-
I like that the original movies tell us Tatooine is the most boring place in the universe and yet the franchise won't stop making us go back there.
The most wonderful thing about Andor is that you already know the ending bc its ending is Rogue One. The line “I burn my life to make a sunrise I know I’ll never see” becomes so much more nuanced when the ending of Rogue One is a “sunrise”. Its not an open ending, theres no blatant insertions of possible future shows, the only thing that matters is the characters in the moment. I think thats why Andor works so well. Hopefully S2 maintains the quality
Which is interesting becuz often times that is called out as a flaw in prequels, becuz ur unable to develop the characters arc and story when we all know where they end up. But in the case of andor we barely know him, we saw him at the last 1% of his life, and the rest of Andor is all new characters, so in fact the show makes perfect use of this fixed ending by giving us this sort of tragic fate. Its the sort of Greek tragedy narrative that can work super well if done right
I binged all of Andor and finally came back and watched the whole video where before I would stop before you began talking about Andor. The show was great and I want more of it
I've never watched Andor but I need to watch it now. "I burned my decency for someone else's future. I burned my LIFE to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see" goes so fucking hard.
You watch it yet? It's litterally a top 10 show of all time.
@@hunterbrowsing2999 I've watched it twice now. If I ever find time I'm gonna watch it a third so I can pick out ideas I want to steal for my DnD campaign lol.
@@emmafountain2059 Made me so happy to read this! Happy DnDing!
It's bafflingly good. I don't think I've seen a better written show in the last decade. A couple come close, but nothing really lands it the same way.
@@emmafountain2059 Oh wow! This show gave me motivation to start writing a fantasy novel! It's amazing how this show can inspire people
listening to someone talk about media with so much passion and care while the zora's domain theme plays in the background is exactly what i needed after having a very stupid day. thanks drew
Came here looking to see if anyone else noticed or if I was going crazy lol
omg i zoned out for a second and only zoned back in cause i heard that song
I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone talk about the Skyrim soundtrack playing in the background for a good portion of the video. You'd think with so many obsessive nerds who watch his videos that someone would say something about it 😂 I mean come on, it's Skyrim!!!
It's always nice when creators add in a piece from a recognizable soundtrack to back up their videos. I cannot tell you how many times I quit watching a video because it was just "guy talking in a mildly dramatic tone for an hour". Drew's knack for picking the right music for his commentary is why he's such a good UA-camr (and one of my favorites).
yeah THANKS DREW. 🙄🙄
Hope things get easier for you soon!!
Drew, as a longtime fan of yours and not really a fan of Star Wars at all, I just wanted to say that this is was of the best-written videos I've seen on UA-cam, period. You retained your trademark humour while steeping it in a worthwhile and entertaining commentary. Your words have truly inspired me not just as a fan, but as a writer. Congratulations on a fantastic video and thank you for taking the time to share it with us :)
He could release a 6 hour video about something I know absolutely nothing about and I will still be watching it
I am attracted to spiders
@@amelia8236dude he could make a days worth of video about rotary phones and i would watch it start to finish
for real! i’ve never been into star wars in the slightest but this video was so good it made me actually interested 😭
came here to say the same thing! this video was extremely helpful and inspiring to me as an unprofessional writer
I didn’t watch/ wasn’t interested in andor because of how sub par obiwon and boba fett felt to me but this video made me decide to watch it because of how good it looks
Honestly the worst thing about Andor is that it's forever cursed to be seen as "One of the Star Wars shows"
I’ve never watched Star Wars do I need too to watch andor?
@@dolly20ify it’s worth your time.
@@dolly20ifynot really. In fact just watch this and then Rogue One (movie that involves this character and the rebel vs empire war) and then A New Hope (the original movie that continues right after Rogue One)
I didn't care for it, honestly
bad opinion bad bad bad bad bad@@Fluffy6555
a part of what made Andor so good for me is that I was truly invested in every b-plot/perspective. Mon, Syril, and Dedra’s respective stories were so interesting
Mon Mothma scenes had me so hyped
the Syril/Dedra stuff was sooooo goooooodddd I can't wait to see what twisted little direction their storyline goes in next
I haven't seen a SINGLE star wars movie and that scene and buildup shown in this video for Andor had me JUMPING. I have NO context and I'm still hyped, that's amazing writing right there.
The whole show is ...
Well ... the trailer is in no way representative of the show
It's amazingly better than the trailer - in every episode - by a mile
Have you ever wondered what it would ACTUALLY be like to live under the Empire?
This show tells you, brutally, and in no uncertain terms.
And it challenges you ... would YOU be willing to risk your life standing up to this monolithic terror?
People who haven’t seen any other Star Wars are exactly who Andor appeals to.
@@jazzx251we have seen what it’s like to live under the empire from the very first Star Wars movie, and every production since. There is nothing new in Andor. What is wrong with you?
@@jazzx251You've never seen the OT.
@@TristSingur I've seen the original trilogy. And a good thing too; Andor creates a beautiful quindrilogy (that's 5 good movies in a row - lol!)
ANDOR > Rogue One > A New Hope > The Empire Strikes Back > Return of the Jedi
Watched Andor because of this video, can’t stop thinking about the show
Nothing hits quite like a nice Drew Gooden essay video. Always so on point and unpretentiously insightful while still being funny, and somehow always get right at the heart of the problem.
For me, it’s crazy that the setting of Star Wars is a galaxy yet the world feels so small. Like you have an entire galaxy and so many potential characters and stories to tell, but all we do is focus on a few characters. Like hate the prequels all you want, but you can’t deny how much they expanded the world of Star Wars and made it bigger
The prequels are not a good example of what you're trying to say. Like, yes, they were phenomenal for the worldbuilding, establishing the workings of the Senate and Coruscant as the capital and a littany of new planets and Kaminoan cloners and the Separatist movement and the Trade Federation and so much more, they were still familiar characters placed into new settings. Anakin and Obi-Wan were the focus, and no new characters besides Qui-Gon and Padmé were given any focus, and even then, those two were the master of Obi-Wan and the wife of Anakin. In the character department, it mostly served as backstory for familiar characters, with most new characters having little role in the story and all characters besides Obi-Wan and Anakin, so all new characters, lacking character development.
Have you read any of the books? Comics? Etc cause that couldn’t be more wrong
Big sand planet with minimal landscape goes brrr
literally !! also the prequels were amazing idc what anyone else says
I feel the same way about things feeling small and we need truly new stuff, but one of the other reasons why I wish they would move on from the Skywalker Saga is so that they **stop ruining the Skywalker Saga!** The Skywalker Saga was what kicked off this supposed to be grand galaxy and it was awesome and regardless what they do with new stuff I just wish they would stop bringing in the old characters and retroactively ruining them 😢
Holy hell those examples of good monologue dialogue from Andor really surprised me. Shit hit hard, and the actors nailed that appropriate feel for every word
Even the worst criticisms of Andor I've heard (which included things like "They should have made a General Grievous show because I remember that") admitted the acting and cinematography is good. And I will personally attest that the writing is good as well. Like really good.
Time to go watch it I guess :)
Andor is actually really good, like wtf. Maybe because everything surrounding it is such shit worth a watch if you like Star Wars
first time a video said, "pause the video and go watch it, and come back once you do!" and I actually did
absolutely did not regret it
Glad to see someone like Drew preaching the good news of how high quality Andor was. More people need to see this show.
I watched the beggining, i almost fell asleep, it was so boring. Alot of people are saying its very good tho, so il give it another shot
@@NikoCigoj Andor is structured in three episode arcs, so the first three episodes are very slow to establish characters and Ferrix as a community, but it really pays off by the finale. The arcs that follow from ep 4 onwards are absolutely amazing, throwing in so many new characters. Ep 6 and 10 are some of the best episodes of television I've ever seen, comparable to any "prestige" show you can name
@@NikoCigojthe show is definitely slow to start, but once the Aldani arc begins that’s where the show starts to takeoff.
It’s not the very end of the month without a Drew Gooden video
Im so happy this video is basically a love letter to Andor, I was apprehensive of this show because of the non knowing of the characters outside of rogue one, but my god I think it's my favorite star wars property ever. No Jedis, no Vader, just the rebels doing actual rebel shit
100% agree
Probably the reason Rogue One (in my opinion) was perhaps the best of the new movies
It's so interesting how much people are praising andor for not being connected to the rest of the star wars universe. I agree that it's the best and most well-written of the shows, but there's nothing wrong with a star wars show having cameos and references to the rest of the franchise.
That's LITERALLY the whole appeal of an expansive fictional universe like SW I don't see how you can be a fan and not want an SW show to reference the huge amount of canon.
If your favorite thing about the show is that there's no jedi or much of anything from the rest of the canon, maybe you just don't like star wars
My worry is that since Andor's season finale had a lower viewership than the finale of Ashoka and Mando season 3 that unless Andor season 2 does really well that Disney will see how easy it is to just continue their normal plan vs making more stuff like Andor.
Universe =/= cameo and references. As a Star Trek fan I want to see more of the universe, not have Spock shoehorned into every show.
29:57 "This report reads like a child's fairytale! Star maps, star whales, distant galaxies; honestly, are we to believe any of it?" My brother in the Force, this is the same universe where evil space wizards make their laser swords spin around above their heads and fly like they're fucking helicopters.
"reads like a child's fairytale!"
Literally sat next to a talking frog. 🤣
stealing “my brother in the force” for future use
As someone who absolutely adores world building, the way Star Wars makes new shows about the characters instead of the world makes me wanna cry.
This is so subjective, though. Personally, I ADORE world-building. I also ADORE character-driven storytelling. And personally, I've felt like I've been getting such a deeper/closer look at the Star Wars universe world-building THROUGH the eyes of characters in some of these recent shows. I know way more about Mandalorian culture after watching The Mandalorian, showcasing an interesting alternate subgroup's perspective to add onto what I learned from Sabine's story in Rebels. I feel like I learn about the world by learning about individual characters' daily lives and interactions, and putting all the pieces together into the wider context.
So... like I said, this is subjective. Some people prefer world/plot-driven storytelling, and some people prefer character-driven storytelling. And neither are objectively right or wrong 🤔
Thissss!!! I love star wars i love the lore i love the whole force and the lightsabers and stuff but its starting to feel like once upon a time with all the movies/series being connected by little things/characters here and there.
@@GoddessOfThreeI agree I think there just needs to be more balance!
@@GoddessOfThree I think the early mandalorian stuff did this well. I also think some of the recent shows feel very shallow. Like there is stuff to explore but that is put to the side just to “bring back beloved characters”. I will concede that I haven’t watched clone wars or rebels so maybe some of the stuff in Ahsoka went over my head but either way I think there is an over reliance on characters. Also yeah it is subjective haha my idea of a perfect show is definitely not the best for a general audience, I just personally prefer world building.
I'm not even slightly interested in star wars but this entire video is such a good breakdown of storytelling that I would consider it a genuine writing resource LOL
fr this like actually helped me with character writing
even if you don't like star wars, I still really recommend watching Endor. It's barely star wars and the writing is amazing.
this video literally just made me write more of my book from the inspiration it gave me lol
ikr I had to do a double take on the plot relevancy of the arc and minor character motivation of my project after drew emphasized it.
It's fun to know drew's schedule is very consistent: always on the last (or last few) days of the month
dude I know its because of sponsor deadlines i get it
It’s like a period. But fun
“Sponsorship deadline”
@@XxheymoonxX butt fun.
@@XxheymoonxXmaybe ~yours~ isn't fun :/
Rent is due
“Sometimes stories are just stories” is some real heavy shit.
Drew, I really like when you do video essays like this, thanks! You’re one of those rare commentary UA-camrs who actually puts a shit ton of work into their content and it shows.
Rare? 🤦🏻♂️
^ This
Its actually ridiculous how articulate and well thought out this video was.
Right?! So glad Drew is maturing and getting better at making commentary videos. This was a joy to watch.
I really enjoyed Drew peeling off his special fx silicone mask right at the end to reveal that he was Lindsay Ellis all along.
I think what also makes Andor an interesting character is he doesn't easily fit into 'good' or 'bad'. He does messed up things and the people around him react appropriately. He also has things he deeply cares about and will work towards those goals to support those people
Yes, and we know he won't really change in that department. In rogue one he just murders someone because they became a liability. But seeing that grittier side of him change from more self-serving to more for the greater good is super interesting. Some of my fav characters in stories are the ones who lack classic heroism
What would make Andor cool and compelling is if he wasn't gonna die in Rogue One, so watching all this back story is filler.
@@Infamous1892bruh, there were 3 movies with Anakin and Obi-wan as the main characters, we all knew what was gonna happen to them but that doesn't make the prequel trilogy filler. But everyone has different tastes, it's fine if you don't like it.
@@Infamous1892so true and the prequels were all meaningless filler. So was the clone wars show.
Good point. A lot of people watching Rogue One even think he's a villain at first, because he straight up murders an ally. And heroes don't do that! He's interesting because he's willing to do pretty terrible things to protect himself, the people he loves and the rebel cause. (Plus, what most people apparently do not realise is that if he had left the ally alive, the guy would have been tortured for information.)
I did watch the entirety of Andor just so I wouldn't be spoiled by this video, it was sick, thanks Drew.
when me and my dad first watched andor, we had to stop after a few episodes because it was too much, and believe it or not i think that reflects extremely well on the show. the atmosphere it created was so oppressive and nerve-wracking, we were genuinely concerned for these characters and their incredibly precarious situations to a degree we didnt expect from a star wars series. its an incredibly interesting take on the star wars universe, to treat fighting the empire not as high space fantasy heroics but as a real revolution against a real government and all that entails
I had a similar reaction to Breaking Bad when it first came out. It's just very telling when the writing/directing of a show creates such a sense of dread/oppression that you need a break. It's immersion at it's best in a drama setting.
Drew, I cannot overstate how well-edited and scripted your videos are. I will usually skip movie/show reviews from commentary youtubers, hell I’m not even a fan of Star Wars, but here I am about to watch Andor because even after you explained the entire thing it feels like there could be more to enjoy. So thank you. Very much.
ikr if only it put the same effort into its apology for being an unhinged racist
@germanshepherdsupremecy
Sorry if I’ve been living under a rock, but could you provide a source?
wait who?@@germanshepherdsupremecy
@@germanshepherdsupremecy come on dont start something and not finish it explain what u are talking about :-/
Andor is phenomenal, you’re in for a treat. It has so much depth, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show that has put so much care into every scene as that one. It’s brought me so much joy
"if nothing else, at the very least, death has to matter." Jesus Christ Drew what a line
Funny you mention Jesus Christ alongside that quote.
@@evrint Profound.
Dunno bout yalll but im waiting patiently for his first script....
If death mattered, than Andor should have been killed ten times over in the so-called “great” show. Andor was just as bad as the other shows criticized in this video.
@@kennethelliott9248 I don't think it was as bad. Most the new Star Wars I can't make it through an episode. Whereas Andor, I watched about half the series. I liked the empire in it, but the whole rebels and ardor part just annoyed me. If I thought the empire would win in the end, I'd probably had watched all of it.
Thank you for recommending Andor! I genuinely paused this to go binge it and LOVED IT.
That whole gripe culminating in the bit at 30:09 "Your coworker is a frog" is just unreasonably funny to me, I think about it daily
I’m glad people are finally realizing the talent of Hayden Christensen. Its very cool seeing him work on more indie stuff like Star Wars
fellow pingu pfp 🤠🐧
Star Wars wasn't popular because George Lucas was a genius; Star Wars was saved on the editing floor. The prequels (which are still trash) are an example of him trying his best. He made rookie director mistakes like not cutting from a film because he felt a scene was important, so you have 45 mins of talking in chairs or pod racing that goes on far to long, cgi that does not stand up when compared to the old Jurassic Park, and Portman and Christensen acting is terrible veterans like Neeson, Lee, and Jackson should had a say on set or Lucas really shoulda got their opinions.
Hayden shows the difference between an actor who cares about the character he's playing compared to actors who are just doing their job.
Shoutout to Genevieve O'Reilly for her performance as Mommy Mon Mothma in Andor. A standout among standout performances in the show. An easily 10/10 written and performed character, not in just Star Wars, but ever.
So weird seeing her show up in Ahsoka and be in that silly C3PO cameo machine of a court room scene after how compelling she is when given worthwhile material.
And they ruined her in Ahsoka...she lets Hera, who got to pilots killed, off the hook because of nepotism...
You inspired me at 23:40 to pause your video and actually go watch *Andor* …and now I’m back. Wow! It’s too bad all the other new Star Wars shows can’t be like Andor. Thanks 🤘
As a Star Wars fan, and a long-time subscriber, I cannot express how on-point your commentary was, and how well you made your points whilst keeping your sense of humour. You're a good dude, thank you for this fantastic commentary. This is why Andor and Rogue One were the best things to come out of Star Wars in the recent times.
dont you DARE come in here and compliment Drew. That's not how things are done around here. Tell him he has a weird shaped head, drop a like and leave.
So glad to see another fan unironically like Rogue One. Pretty much everyone around me says it’s their least favorite SW movie, with some of my friends saying they turned it off after half an hour.
And true, Rogue One indeed suffers from inconsistent and slow pacing in the beginning, but the overall movie, its art and its messaging are a sight to behold.
I can never forget how this is also the only SW movie on my memory that ends tragically, with the good guys sacrificing literally everything and eventually losing the battle while also technically achieving their goal. It’s fantastic.
@@andreirachkothe only SW movie that ends tragically?🤔I mean… empire strikes back??😂 that was kinda tragic wasn’t it
@@andreirachko it's the only truly great SW movie other than Empire, how can anyone clown on Rogue One lol
Yes! Rogue One is by far my favourite movie since the original trilogy 🙌 Can't wait to check out Andor.
drew's content is honestly so good. it's so obvious that he really makes an attempt to make his work high quality and i appreciate that. i hope it never changes.
One of the nice things Andor does well too is actually center the story around Cassian. Shows like The Witcher, Obi Wan, The Mandolorian all seem to focus on someone else rather than the titular character. Its amazing that that is something great about a show, that it sticks to a simple promise.
That's interesting to say since I think Cassian isn't necessarily the biggest focus of his own show. He's largely reactive for most of the show, with a few flashes of agency within as he struggles to find footing (and freedom). But then we see him successfully radicalize Kino and it makes a bit more sense: he's not taking over other people's stories but adding onto them.
Part of it is kinda necessary, Diego Luna is a great actor but English is still a second language. But the second part is that Cassian starts to fulfill the role of organizer, of someone who helps others take the stage. Through his character arc he learns to accept agency over not just his own life but the lives of others, and in return his journey gives agency to others. It's the birth of rebel and rebellion, not as a something a single person does but as something that grows within everyone and is exemplified through Cassian Andor. Cassian isn't the focus because the real focus is on rebellion itself.
@@fluidthought42 Very true, but I meant more that Cassian receives the most screen time, unlike Geralt in the Witcher who is heavily dominated by Ciri when it comes to screen minutes.
@@whcapitani
Dominated by Ciri? Not sure that's the right framing for that. Especially when Mon Mothma gets an unreasonable amount of screen time that could have been cut entirely, but I'm glad she wasn't because that entire storyline was gripping as hell. Do we need to know that her husband hates her and her daughter is an asshole? No, but I loved watching every second of it.
What's important is whether the different storylines add to the plot and it's themes, hopefully while showcasing good writing. The Witcher's problems were deeper than "showing Ciri too much", considering she is a major character. The problems really centered around their flattening of Geralt as a character to fit the writer's preconceptions and marketing desires. That's also where Henry Cavill clashed the most with the showrunners, since they wanted to make Geralt a brooding hateful stereotype. Cavill read the books and knows that Geralt has his moments of vulnerability, and that he wouldn't want to ever hurt Daffodil. He also had to fight the writers on the scene for Roach's death, since the writers didn't understand that Geralt loved and respected his horse. Or if they did understand, they didn't care enough to want to write him and uncaring about the death of Geralt's most loyal companion.
Do you think Andor would be enjoyable for someone who’s not a fan of Star Wars? I get it’s still Star Wars but it seems like it could be different in a better way
@@frog.lady.official
I'd say yes. As long as they can tolerate scifi as a flavor and are okay with dialogue heavy scenes, they'll enjoy Andor. Like the same audience as the Pluto anime.
I did in fact leave to go watch andor and then come back, amazing show
Great video I definitely agree
I love hearing people analyze shows and movies that they enjoy and andor deserves all of those praises. I wish we had more shows like it.
Andor is a masterpiece. It works even completely independently from the Star Wars IP. It's just a great dystopian sci-fi story.
@licktasty Honestly for me it's better than some of the first 3
It was actually cooler in the Batman hostage dilemma because Bats actually chooses to go for Rachel, but the Joker switched the addresses so he accidentally saves Harvey. What a movie.
Hard to enjoy a movie where the villain uses magic to predict everything at every moment except when the script says otherwise.
Nope, Batman tells Harvey that he's going for Rachel so that they'll also try and rescue Harvey. He chose to give up the love of his life to save his city, Gotham
@@INFILTR8USthe joker being such a genius and knowing batman so well is what makes him such a threat, he's not just some crazy guy who gets lucky he's a genius who's also unpredictable
@@INFILTR8USthere’s no magic at all. Everything is set up to be a lose-lose for Batman. The addresses are swapped so no matter what decision is made, Batman still makes the wrong one. Joker knows the police are corrupt, disorganized, and compromised. He knows that they won’t be able to organize effectively and save the other. Everything is carefully set up. He’s not a magician, he’s incredibly methodical.
@@robertdeforest9682 Then why was Gordon outside of Rachel's building when it blew up?
Honestly one of the craziest aspects of Andor is that it was able to do better and more efficient worldbuilding for the SW universe in 12 episodes than pretty much anything that has come out of the franchise over the past 40-ish years. The worldbuilding alone in the show is insane.
To be honest I thought there was a lot of new world building in the period of 1999-2013 when it came to Star Wars productions
Guess we’re just ignoring the animated shows
Nah, the old legends stuff are superior in almost every way. Remember that things like Thrawn, mythosaur, dark troopers, Clone Commandos, ISB, Tython, Nightsisters, Rakatan Invasion, heck even Coruscant came from Legends.
on screen, yes. Andor is probably the best show to add to star wars in disney canon, but it's eclipsed through the entire expanded universe, especially during the imperial era. The show itself is incredibly good, and if there is a future where disney canon is completely erased and the legends continuity is re-established, I'd like for andor to be retconned into the imperial era, at least season 1.
i completely avoided watching Andor because I was so tired of how bad Star Wars media has become for the exact reasons you brought up in the first half of this video. and then you talked about Andor and completely convinced me. when you said to stop watching this video and go watch Andor I said "ok FINE" and was instantly hooked and binged the whole series in 24hrs. THIS is what we need from a star wars TV show!!! thanks Drew
As someone studying tv writing, writing a spec script for Andor made me really appreciate just how much thought and talent went into writing the show. One of the most difficult yet rewarding assignments I’ve ever had.
Andor is such an amazing show, and Drew is such an amazing Gooden. What a combo!
Andor being about as gooden as drew
This should be required viewing for Disney writers.
It's not that they don't know how to write properly, it's the execs meddling in to satisfy every single type of consumer with one show.
@@noticiasinmundiciasNo most of them have little if any competence in writing anything, if they did have talent behind it then there would be at minimum very few bits of solid writing on rare occasions, this is assuming the higher ups don't meddle with the final projects, which seems to be improbable when you consider Wish was most definitely written by AI. Disney does not care for art, it cares for only money, and to get money the people must consume product. Let the corporation burn, and let's then stop AI from making "art" on it's own.
lmao “it’s not executive meddling actually, its just bad writing - writing that isn’t being done by writers, it’s being done by AI at the behest of meddling executives - so it’s the meddling executive’s fault actually”.
Where else but a public comment section can you find arguments as next-level as “You’re wrong, I agree with you” 😂
@@gabrielstern2885that's a bold claim, is there somewhere you can link me that go's over Disney using AI to replace writers?
I don't super doubt you but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Oh they know
But they're ordered to do this shit lol
watched all the episodes of Andor and came back, THANK YOU for recommending it, it's fantastic