Review: Andor, "Narkina 5" | Season 1, Episode 8
Cassian skips the first four entries in the Narkina series and heads straight for the fifth
“This is not going to go the way you think.”
A recurring aspect of these reviews has been acknowledging how the larger Star Wars franchise is unavoidable—at least to me—throughout the first season of Andor. And this week…well, friends, if you’ll forgive me, I was thinking a lot about how “Narkina 5” made connections (intentionally or not) with the recent series of Star Wars films. We’re still no closer to an actual Skywalker making an appearance onscreen, of course, but familiar aspects of the series are becoming more and more noticeable. “Narkina 5” offers the return of Saw Gerrera, last seen on the big screen in Rogue One, in terms of obvious connection points. And speaking of casting, well, somehow, Supreme Leader Snoke returned. (We’ll get to that in a moment.)
But I was most struck by how this episode—directed by Toby Haynes and written by Beau Willimon—reminded me of the above-quoted line from the best modern Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. No one says that line dire…