Another new Star Wars series, another episodic follow-up post. The Andor series premiere consists of three episodes and I, briefly, considered doing separate posts for each of them. However, since all three came out the same day I feel like I can keep them consolidated into one post.
I am going to quickly remind you where in the timeline Andor takes place. Season one will start 5 years before the events of Rogue One (aka BBY 5) and about 5 years after the end of Kenobi (“season one”). I don’t know if that second part is going to mean much to the story, but it at least establishes what events have (or have not) happened. Let’s get started.
Spoiler Warning!!!
The following contains spoilers for Andor Episodes 1, 2 & 3
August (2022) is mystery movie month, again, for no particular reason. I do enjoy a good mystery whether it’s satirical, serious or comedic. The kinds of mystery movies I really like are ones that have subtle clues throughout the film and, if you follow them, you can figure it out before the end. Of course these kinds of movies are great the first time you watch them. Obviously you can’t experience that again when you re-watch the movie. However, if acting is good and the story is entertaining, then you can enjoy watching it again despite knowing “who dun it”.
Here are the mystery movies I chose to watch for August:
Clue
Knives Out
The Bone Collector
Gone Girl
Mystic River
I feel like Clue and Knives Out are practically default choices for this genre. Clue is such a classic with a great cast. It’s probably the most entertaining movie that’s based off of a board game. Watching Knives Out was timely given that Rian Johnson recently released a trailer for the sequel. It’s looks so good.
Bonus/Special Event Movies
The special event movie for August is the 29th which is Judgement Day from the Terminator franchise. It is the day Skynet became self aware. I think, for this day, you could watch either the first one or the second one (although the second one is more relevant to the date). I chose to watch the first film this year; perhaps I will watch T2 next August 29th.
The bonus movie (i.e. a movie that I had time to watch and doesn’t necessarily pertain to the theme or a special event) is Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. It stars Zac Efron and it is about Ted Bundy. Portions of this movie were filmed just across the river from where I live. If you don’t mind how creepy Ted Bundy is, this film is quite interesting. It’s available to watch on Netflix.
The Andor series comes out on the 21st with three episodes to kick it off. This seems to be the least anticipated Star Wars series and that’s a shame. I am looking forward to a series where the Jedi/Sith mythos isn’t the center of the plot; which is one of the things I really enjoy about The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Be that as it may I want to kick things off by setting some Andor expectations. Perhaps talk about what characters we might see.
No “Fan Service”
I was originally going to share my character cameo predictions. However, during the September 2nd episode of Rebel Force Radio, the guys were interviewing Gary Whitta, a writer from the Rogue One movie. They were talking about the upcoming Andor series and Whitta said that according to showrunner Tony Gilroy, there will be “no fan service” in this series.
What does “no fan service” mean? Basically “moments in which references, cameos, or Easter eggs appear arbitrarily” in the episode or series to appease us minutia nerds. However, any element or legacy character that does show up will have a purpose for the plot or narrative. In other words there won’t be any blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shots of Chopper rolling by.
You know what else that means? THERE WILL NOT BE CLONE WARS FLASHBACKS!!! 😛
Character Appearances
With all that said, I still have a couple of predictions but I don’t really want to use the word “cameo”. I believe the following characters will appear in the series to serve a purpose for the story.
I had Saw Gerrera on the list but since he’s in the trailer, it doesn’t count. The first season takes place five years before Rogue One so it’s not likely we will see Tarkin; I feel like he will show up in the latter part of Season 2. Krennic was also on my list but, like Tarkin, he seems more likely to appear in the second season. These guys fall under my “possible-but-not-likely-to-appear” list.
Given Tony Gilroy’s statements and where this season falls on the timeline I think I only really have one, solid prediction. Bail Organa. If you’ve read the book Leia: Princess of Alderaan then you know that Bail Organa is one of the founding members of the Rebel Alliance and works very closely with Mon Mothma. I feel like if he doesn’t make an appearance then it’s kind of a big miss a possible disservice to the plot (depending on how it’s written).
Finally, we obviously will not see Jyn Erso, but I think Galen Erso might be a solid prediction (again, if he provides “protein” to the story).
What are some of your Andor expectations and/or predictions?
Given Season 3 is due out in February, this is the trailer I was expecting either from Disney+ Day or D23. I really enjoy all of the other Star Wars content on Disney+ but I am super excited for Season 3. So without further ado here is the Mandalorian Season 3 Teaser Trailer:
The other shows are great but this is the return of the king (I know, different show).
There is a lot of stuff announced at D23 this weekend and a couple of trailers I need to share. I’m sure if you follow Star Wars news like I do then you probably have seen these already but I’m still posting them because that’s what I do. With that said, here is the final Andor trailer.
I’m way overdue for a new post. There are reasons for the draught, which I will get into a little later. Recently we went out of town for a family baptism. Instead of staying for just the weekend, we saved several hundred dollars and stayed three nights. We left early Friday morning and returned late Monday night. The destination … Boston, Massachusetts. I have never been to Boston before so we made the best of the extended stay. It was, pardon the pun, a wicked fun trip!
America’s Birthplace
Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre that started a revolution
If you are an American history buff, then I’m sure you are aware of the role Boston played in the Revolutionary War. I am, by no means, an expert on American history, but I remember most things from history class. Boston has a rich and amazing history and not just it’s role in our independence but also how it became a city. I’m not going to talk about everything I learned about it’s history because I encourage you to go experience it for yourself.
I highly recommend taking the Boston Duck Tour. You will learn all kinds of historical facts not only about Boston but about America too. I also recommend taking the Freedom Trail, which is a historical path through the city. We did not have a chance to do this but it’s on the list for next time.
Other Sites and Activities
Aside from taking the Duck Tour, we tried to do as many other “Boston things” as we could. Every day I tried clam chowder at a different place. My favorite is the bowl I had at the Warren Tavern in Charlestown. Fun fact, founded in 1780, the Warren Tavern is the oldest tavern in the country. George Washington once hung out at this place and it’s also believed to be haunted.
Had a beer at Cheers
We also saw a game at Fenway Park, against the the Yankees. While the Red Sox are essentially in last place, that night they did win 3-0. We rode on the swan boats, had lunch at Cheers, toured Havard University, visited the Children’s Museum (which is next door to the Boston Tea Party Museum). There is more to do than I expected so we will have to go back.
Boston is a very clean city. There is no trash on the streets or in the alleyways. I rarely saw any litter. I’d say the one thing I didn’t like about our trip to Boston is an unexpected souvenir.
Covid.
We almost made it three years without ever catching covid. We went to Disney, attended weddings, parties, a 5K and never caught it. One trip to Boston and BAM! This is the reason for a delay in my posts.
Despite catching the ‘rona, I’d still do it all again.
/cheers (heh heh, how fitting a sign off this time 🙂 )
