[TrentCrimmIndependent]

The acting is Emmy-worthy thus far. Loved the single shot opening at the wedding and the changes in Genevieve O'Reilly's expressions as she navigated different conversations with key players.

However, the ceremonial aspects were plodding and felt like a waste of screen time (outside of making a Star Wars property look cultured) and really could've been cut down to a 30 second clip. But for Andor, I'll excuse it.

The lost rebels plot on Yavin was also pretty unimportant and could've been expedited in a big way. Once we got into the rock paper scissors, you knew it had jumped the shark there.

I wish they showed Andor blowing off steam after having to deal with being captive to those idiots for two days, which could've been a fun bit of self awareness.

You can tell they're cooking something good, but the payoff was not present in the first batch. And that's okay. It's still completely engrossing watching these players move around the board. But I do have higher hopes for the next batch of episodes.

As for the controversial scene, what a nothing burger. If we're exploring the nitty gritty details of the Empire's rule over the galaxy, then it's only realistic that those incidents would occur on the ground level. The brutality of colonialism and the abuse of power. It's not like it went full game of thrones.