Review: Andor, "The Eye" | Season 1, Episode 6
A thrilling conclusion to the Aldhani arc advances but does not clarify the show's narrative agenda
It’s particularly cruel that scheduling means Josh is on vacation this week, unable to complete this second three-episode arc of Andor’s first season. Writing episodic criticism is always a bit of a thankless task when it comes to a show that is very deliberate in its pacing: in the absence of definitive conclusions to analyze and consider, you end up responding to bits and pieces of stories, knowing that their ultimate effectiveness will depend on their resolution. This is particularly true in the case of a show like Andor, which is simultaneously balancing the expectations of the larger franchise, the specific task of serving as a prequel to a prequel, as well as the choice to break the season into explicit three-part stories.
All of this means that Josh did all the “grunt work” of exploring the show’s burdens these past few weeks, while I get to swoop in and consider how the show relieves itself of them. “The Eye” acts like an episode of television that doesn’t ne…