For the last 2 months, there's been a statement I've been dreading I'd have to make. From the moment I finished the 3-episode premiere, a truth emerged in my mind that only became more pronounced the longer the show went on. And now, here we are at the end. I'm ready to face it. I'm ready to admit the truth to the world, and to myself. The Cassian Andor show is the best Star Wars has ever been since The Last Jedi and quite possibly the best piece of Star Wars media ever made. If you're like me and didn't really have any particularly strong opinions on Rogue One, you might be finding yourself rather surprised that a prequel show to that movie about a character no one expected to have a backstory would turn out to have its own unique identity that sets it leagues above the movie that inspired it. I had always pegged Tony Gilroy, the guy brought on to oversee the reshoots of Rogue One after Disney panicked and changed the third act, as nothing more than a corporate yes man like most of the people they bring in to replace directors who leave their movies over creative differences. I would like to say that for the last 6 years, I've been a fool. Tony Gilroy somehow found a story with Cassian Andor, turning him into a compelling character in his own right, completely divorced from our understanding of where he is in Rogue One. But the show's real beauty lies in the fact that, despite simply being called "Andor", the show is about far more than just him. No, instead it understands that Cassian Andor is but one small cog in the machine that is the Rebellion. And of course, one would expect this show to be about the Rebellion. But I don't mean the Rebellion as an organization. I mean it as an ideology. If there is one ideology that permeates this show, one thing that every subplot makes loud and clear, it's an utter contempt for fascism. One so unambiguous and uncompromising I'm amazed it was produced by Disney. I'm not necessarily calling Disney fascist but the kinds of stories they've produced in the past that tackle similar or at least adjacent themes tend to end up both sides-ing it or otherwise attempt to distract from their own message in the name of not ruffling too many feathers and seeming too "political." Andor, on the other hand, is extremely political. It portrays the horrors of fascism in no uncertain terms. The systemic abuses, the suppression of culture, the totalitarian power, all of it. And it understands that in the face of this absolute evil, very few actions seem immoral by comparison. It portrays the many ways of fighting fascism with nuance. Even characters like Saw Gerrera, one of the few characters in this show from Rogue One, who other Star Wars media tends to reduce to nothing more than a generic extremist who can't be trusted to do the right thing, is presented here as someone with his own principles and consistent ideology. Can you actually call someone too violent or too extreme in the face of an overwhelming force like the Empire, or is crossing moral lines necessary when the alternative is to fight a system playing by its own rules? Rules that are rigged against those who would attempt to use them for good, like Mon Mothma. This question is not explored through Saw himself, who only gets a few scenes of screentime, but through his like-minded associate, Luthen Rael. There is a compelling argument to be made that Stellan Skarsgard as Luthen Rael might be the best casting Star Wars has made in the last decade. It's me, I'm the one making that argument. Luthen is an utter enigma, always feeling like he's putting on a front with everyone he interacts with. As the show goes on, it's clear that comes less from a place of lies and subterfuge (except the parts where he deliberately poses as a generic collector of artifacts) or some generic twist of him having his own agenda, but because over the years he's become so dedicated to his fight against the Empire that he's whittled down his own conscience into nothingness. And yet, as cruel as his methods can be, it's difficult to argue with his results. There's a subtlety to what you're supposed to take away, but not an ambiguity. The show has no interest in condemning characters like Luthen and Saw who have been forced into making difficult choices when the evil they're fighting is so great and its influence so vast. Before the show began, Tony Gilroy confessed to not actually being a hardcore Star Wars fan. And believe me, it shows. Star Wars has an unfortunate and insufferable tendency to be extremely self-referential. The people who grew up with Star Wars are old enough now to be making movies today. And unfortunately, the way they see Star Wars and the way they help create it is shaped not by the themes and messages of Star Wars, but the iconography of it. For several years now, Star Wars (and pop culture as a whole) has been so much about bringing back recognizable characters and concepts, rather than what those concepts actually mean. This is a problem going back to George Lucas, admittedly. But one thing Lucas never forgot was Star Wars' own rebellious spirit. Intentionally created as an allegory for the Vietnam War, as Star Wars went on under the guidance of George Lucas, it basically became a vehicle for him to rant against whatever the most modern form of imperialism was at the time. Tony Gilroy has done away with much of the usual Star Wars iconography, characters, and tropes that one might forget they're even watching a Star Wars show at all. But the thing it has not lost is that same edge, that same rebellious spirit that George Lucas built Star Wars around. In that way, despite how little it connects to other Star Wars media, this show ends up being as faithful to Lucas' vision as Star Wars has ever been. This applies not just thematically, but aesthetically. Despite lacking the iconography, Andor is still visually faithful to the original trilogy. It has an incredible emphasis on practical sets and props, using CGI and The Volume stagecraft as a tool, rather than a crutch like recent Star Wars has so often. There's also a very noticeable emphasis on everything feeling dirty, and grimy. Even the most pristine, unsettlingly sanitized Imperial bases are hiding dirt and grime just beneath the surface whenever the camera pulls in close. Star Wars starting out feeling lived-in, and it's a breath of fresh air to see it return to that visual identity after so long without it. And yet, despite all of this, I think it's greatest strength is its ability to stand apart from its own nature as a Star Wars show. It's so self-contained, so masterfully written, that if you were to show it to someone who had somehow never heard of Star Wars before, I think they'd get no less enjoyment from it. In fact, they might get even more. Andor's slow and deliberate pacing, along with its emphasis on characters rather than plot and action, might seem foreign to a modern Star Wars fan. Its storytelling feels more in line with Vince Gilligan than Dave Filoni. In fact, there are times where this kind of just feels like Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul but in space, both in terms of quality but also vibes. The subtlety and nuances, the thin line of morality it presents, the way it's able to make even the most insignificant of characters feel memorable, it's everything I love about those shows, but in space. There's even quite a few episodes that will open on a close-up shot of a character doing something we as the audience don't fully understand, withholding the reveal until the last minute, just to make the payoff all the more satisfying. This is really the point I want people to take away from this. Not that this is good for a Star Wars show, but that it's a good show period. Don't let Star Wars or Disney's track record shy you away from it, nor any lack of knowledge of the franchise's continuity. Both its new and returning characters are written with such originality that any added context of the wider universe is completely incidental. This show is best enjoyed as its own entity. It easily holds up as one of the best shows of 2022, a year that was already dominated by fantastic television. So please, watch this show. Tell all your friends to watch this show. It deserves to be seen. It's a miracle that it even exists, and I want nothing more than a world where it becomes the standard for all Disney+ content from now on. Favorite episode: One Way Out