Since Disney bought Star Wars, there has always been a rift between what Star Wars gives us and what the fans are watching. As usual, anytime a new Star Wars project premieres, OH fans are divided.
Some believe no TV show or movie competes with the films George Lucas (director of the frist six movies that make up the Star Wars franchise) made, while others believe that Disney´s projects are just as enjoyable and allow for anyone to understand them.
“I grew up watching the prequels and also watched Rogue One, in which I loved the old movies and enjoyed Rogue One,” said OH junior Damian Suggs. “But it’s hard to stay interested in Star Wars if some shows are bad.”
Suggs’ opinion echoes with many students that opinion is that if a single TV show from Star Wars is mediocre, the younger generation becomes disinterested, even if they grew up watching Star Wars and usually wish George Lucas were still in control.
“Some shows are like a slow-action burn, and those don’t interest me, but season 2 of Andor seems to be more action-packed,” said OH senior Jack Beaudatte.
Andor is a beautifully complex show produced by Disney, but written by good writers. It doesn’t feel like a Disney show, and yet, neither like a George Lucas production. It doesn’t have cheap nostalgia merchandise bait, the Force, lightsabers, Skywalkers, or comedy. In a way, that’s what makes Andor so great.
“Andor more closely resembles an espionage thriller than a space adventure, like Star Wars was born out of,” said OH freshman Cory Dowell.
The first season of Andor was quite unexpected, and fans, young and old, braced for disaster. Naturally, because anything Disney produced is already met with apprehension, and the fact that the theme and storyline didn’t feel like it was anywhere near classic Star Wars.
“When I watched Andor, I felt like I could watch the show without an obvious problem ruining it. This was possible because each part of the show is divided into 3 episode plot arcs, but still puts characters first,” said Dowell.
One of the major problems in TV shows is when a character makes a decision after zero character development. Andor flips that on its head, especially with Cassian Andor. In Rogue One, he claims he has been in this fight since he was six years old. However, at the start of his own show, he isn’t fighting the Empire.
“In the beginning, Andor Cassian is a thief who doesn’t care about the emerging rebellion. It finally takes him to leave his home planet, work with other rebels, and get arrested by the Empire unjustly to develop his character,” said Suggs.
Cassian finds other captives who are like him, broken and have no spirit in fighting the Empire, but despite this, he rallies them against the prison guards and frees all of the prisoners.
“Although I didn’t really like the slow pacing of season one, the prison break arc was my favorite part of the show,” said Beaudette.
This is the world-building material in which Star Wars was lacking. It was not obvious to old Star Wars fans, but once enlightened, those fans definitely appreciated it. If you go around OH, you can’t help but notice that Star Wars has fallen out of favor.
“Out of Star Wars, I have only ever seen The Force Awakens, and some of the problems I find are Rey being kind of like a Mary Sue and constantly plugging BB-8 as merchandise,” said OH senior Caleb Vesely.
The sudden use of random circumstances or power not explained is what is breaking Star Wars right now, even if Disney makes it look shinier and a global influence that it should be.
“I’ve watched The Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker, and consequently, when the Disney TV shows premiered, I started losing interest,” said Jack Beaudette.
If Star Wars wants to be more enjoyable and gain more followers, it must build its TV shows like Andor does. Given the high approval rating Andor got in season one, it shows that Star Wars still has hope if it isn’t afraid to take risks while not feeling like the old movies all the old Star Wars fans grew up on.
“I’ve seen the first three episodes of season 2 and feel like Andor is still as intriguing as it was in season one. The theme of the season feels like a political thriller and an espionage movie,” said Beaudette.
Andor’s second and final season premiered on Apr. 22, and will release three episodes each week until May 13.
Even if other Star Wars TV shows fall flat of expectations, Andor certainly has and will continue to entertain many fans of Star Wars who are willing to give it a try.
My name is Terrence K. Acosta and I am a Senior in Oswego High School.This is my first year in digital journalism, throughout my final school year i have ventured into many endeavors and school interests to see if one of them captivated me. However I've had no luck anywhere, so I have given journalism a try. I am hoping to enjoy this role in the school a little even if I still have to keeping looking for what captivates me in school.
