“The Eye,” the sixth episode of the Disney Plus show Andor, is a heist story that catapults the Rogue One prequel to the status of one of the best modern Star Wars stories. It does this in a shockingly simple way: by taking its time, and by refusing to take the easy way out.
It’s not hard to take a new Star Wars show with a bit of apprehension. Like Marvel movies and shows, they’re announced at press conferences as a collection of titles and dates, maybe with a couple actors and a logline if the executives on stage are feeling generous. Art can come from this, but this is not how it is made.
This is the source of my initial apprehension toward Andor, and frankly, every new Star Wars project. Even with the things that sound exciting with the limited information we’re given (The Acolyte sure sounds neat!), none of it matters until it’s here, in front of us. The show has to come out, and each episode must convince the viewer to watch another. Midway through its first season, Andor has, with astounding ease.
With this week’s “The Eye,” Andor clinches it: Andor is likely the best live-action Star Wars show yet, and is well on its way to making a case for itself as one of the best Star Wars stories this side of The Last Jedi. And it largely does so by just being damn good television, sinking into the world of Star Wars the way only a TV show with a specific focus and mission can.
“The Eye” is what happens when careful plotting is accompanied by painstaking character work. It’s a heist episode the series has been building to, but its success is not just due to anticipation, but restraint. Much has been made of Andor’s careful resistance to traditional fan service — no one, blessedly, has a bad feeling about the droids they’re looking for while trusting the Force and hey that’s no moon — but also, the show has excelled at simple drama.
