Andor: Season 1

"(Luna) clearly sees this as a character study that happens to be set in space instead of a part of a growing canon, and that realism grounds the entire piece."

"In its third instalment, Andor finally becomes the gritty, kinetic spy thriller it has been billed as, after a surfeit of thoughtful world-building."

"Thin writing is an issue up and down the cast list; people seem less important than the depictions of political intrigue and corporate malfeasance..."

"Some of the most innovative and interesting Star Wars storytelling in a long, long time."

"Andor is better for (its) bluntness — and for the unapologetic way it rejects the nostalgic ennui that has for so long defined this franchise."

"Early episodes are a bit slow to set the stakes (or even define the Rebellion), but their tactile environments help make up for the lag."

"Skarsgård, his voice full of glass and gravel, his grandeur and gravitas undeniable, is just the jump-start the show needs..."

"Disney Plus' Rogue One prequel starts less with a bang and more with a long, well-worded description of a bang."

"Expansive and ambitious, it gives you a real feeling of a wider universe, and Andor’s place in it as an outsider."

"There’s a flint to Gilroy’s writing, a sharpness that lends everything disarming credibility."

"Every world Cassian visits feels far more tangible and lived-in than most Star Wars sets, which otherwise tend to evoke future Disneyworld rides."

"The first two episodes are generally formless, convincing neither as episodic television nor as a 74-minute movie."

"This series isn’t looking to spoon feed us another fantastical story but tell a far more grounded, mature one."

"Andor is a dark, morally cloudy slow burn of a series. If it wasn’t part of the Star Wars canon, it would make a good noir adventure on its own."

"Andor is off to a fantastic start thanks to its compelling performances, corporate espionage undertones, and considered filmmaking."