Welcome to my weekly review of Andor, where I will be walking us through each episode and giving my thoughts on the show. My reviews will follow my usual format: an overview of the plot (so be aware, there will be spoilers!), my review of the show, then a few “Moments in canon” – references that link to other media and the galaxy as a whole. Today, we’ll be looking at Episode 10: “One Way Out”.
Plot Summary
Cassian and Kino prepare to return to their bunks while Ulaf’s body is removed. Knowing that someone will be sent in to replace Ulaf tomorrow, Cassian tells Kino that they need to use that as their chance to escape, but Kino seems hesitant due to the lack of a plan, thinking that they have no hope of success. As the pair return to their bunks, Cassian tells the rest of the shift what they discovered, and Kino eventually corroborates his story.
Dedra Meero and Supervisor Lonni Jung inform Major Partagaz that Anto Kreegyr’s group have taken the bait, retrieving their dead pilot and his ship and requesting a landing bay on the Rings of Kafrene. While the ISB had planned to stay away from the ship, Jung convinces Partagaz that they should still inspect the ship per their usual practices so as not to tip off Kreegyr, to which Partagaz agrees.
On Ferrix, a doctor goes to see Maarva, who his not taking her medicines. They are unaware that Cinta is watching them, while she in turn is unaware of a man observing her.
“It’s a lot to think about.”
“I’m not thinking about it.”
“That’s the first untrue thing you’ve said.”
Mon Mothma and Tay Colma meet with the Chandrilan banker Davo Sculdun. Though Mon is uneasy about using his services, the trio begin discussing ways in which he can help her. Things go well until Mon asks what percentage Sculdun wants as payment, and he instead suggests that he wants his son and Leida to be introduced, to which Mothma refuses and orders him seen out.
Kleya arrives at the galleria and informs Rael that one of their contacts has signalled for a meeting. Kleya is suspicious with the timing, but Rael agrees to go.
As 5-2-D prepare for their shift, Kino confirms to the group that they will make their escape attempt today. He warns them to act as normal until the moment and to say nothing to the night shift as they pass. The shift progresses as normal, but when the workers see the guards preparing to introduce the new prisoner, they all secretly arm themselves with tools and the pieces they are assembling, while a couple take positions outside of the guards’ sight and Cassian goes to the refresher, where he successfully breaks open the pipe that he had been working on in previous shifts, which releases water that begins to flood the refresher and spread into the workroom.
As the lift begins to come down, some of Cassian’s table stage a fight to draw the attention of the guards. Cassian uses this moment to jam the lift in place halfway between the workfloor and the gantry that leads to the security station. While the majority of the prisoners begin throwing their makeshift weapons at the 3 guards in the room, Cassian and a small group of prisoners try to climb the lift and get onto the gantry. A number of the prisoners are shot in the early stage of the riot. The guards order the floor to be activated to “fry” the prisoners, and Kino orders everyone to jump up on the tables. The floor activates, but the flooding causes the electrics to short-circuit, disabling the floor. Buoyed on by this, the prisoners of 5-2-D continue their revolt and eventually overpower the guards present on the gantry and the control room. The prisoners arm themselves with the weapons from the control room and begin to spread out through the corridors, taking out the guards of other rooms and floors and opening the way for the other prisoners to escape their rooms.
“One way out!”
Cassian and Kino force their way into the Level 8 control room and force the guards present to switch off all the floors and deactivate the hydro generators, which shuts down the main power. When the back-up power comes on, Cassian has Kino get on the announcement system. Kino addresses all of the prisoners on the station at once, telling them that the Empire has them imprisoned permanently and recently killed 100 prisoners to keep this secret, He tells them that 5-2-D have successfully rioted and taken control of the compound, turning off the floor. He tells all the prisoners to run, climb and kill, doing whatever they can to reach the top of the prison and escape. Inspired by his message, all the prisoners begin working together to help each other. Reaching the exis of the prison, they find themselves with no option but to jump into the sea. Loy hesitates as he can’t swim, while the force of all the prisoners rushing forward pushes Cassian off the edge before he can help Kino.
Jung makes his way through the lower levels of Coruscant to a turbolift, as the lift descents, Jung retrieves an earpiece that had been hidden in there. Through the earpiece, Rael congratulates him on the birth of his daughter, and Jung is uncomfortable in the knowledge that Rael has been spying on him. Jung has been a double agent for Rael’s rebellion, working his way up inside the ISB. He tells Rael of Dedra Meero’s rise through the ranks, her investigation of “Axis” who she believes is setting up a rebel network, his involvement in the use of stolen Imperial equipment and his involvement at Ferrix and Aldhani. He goes on to warn the truth about Kreegyr’s pilot and that the ISB is aware of the planned attack on Spellhaus. He hopes that all this information will be sufficient for him to get out, but Rael insists that Jung must continue his work, while he also says that he will not warn Kreegyr, as it would give away that there is a mole in the ISB.
At night, Cassian and Melshi reach a beach and run inland, while Imperial security continues to search the sea.
Review
Wow wow wow! I’ve been waiting for the inevitable prison break ever since Cassian arrived on Narkina 5, but boy was this a great episode! I was so drawn in, it felt like the episode was over in no time, and yet the episode was full of both action and intrigue.
So let’s start with the prison break first of all, and I loved everything about it. I loved how even after last week, it still too a little time for Kino to come round to immediate action as he worries about the chances of success, before realising that the alternative is spending the rest of his life in prison, and taking a role as one of Cassian’s key lieutenants in the plan. The action was great, and I love how simple the prisoners’ plan was considering most of it was made up overnight, while building off what Cassian had started. I’d wondered what use the pipe in the refresher would be, and it ended up being a really clever move to neutralise the floors, as there wouldn’t have been enough boots for everyone. And then to see Kino’s speech to the prison, interspersed with shots of the prisoners reacting and joining the revolt while the guards just hid in a side-room, was the real highlight of the episode for me. But what was also important was the need for stakes, which we got with a couple of notable 5-2-D prisoners being killed, while the bombardment of missiles and the sheer difference in numbers made it feel realistic as to how well the guards were overwhelmed, especially once Cassian managed to get a blaster and not hesitate to use it. It was also noticeable for me how Melshi took on a larger role in this episode. He was clearly one of the early conspirators with Cassian, while we then saw him leading prisoners through the corridors and shooting a number of guards, it’s a nice little moment to start setting him up as a capable soldier who will go on to serve with the Pathfinders and sacrifice himself in Rogue One.
And finally on this subject, I just need to mention the heartbreak I felt at the end as Kino realised that his only way of escaping was into the water but he couldn’t swim. I hope that he managed to get away, but I imagine his ending was not so lucky: either choosing not to leave and being re-imprisoned (or killed, as he would have been identified by surviving guards as one of the instigators), jumping into the seas and drowning, or potentially being recaptured as he tried to escape—while they were not focused on, there were clearly searchlights over the sea as Cassian and Melshi reached land. Will we hear of his fate? I doubt it, but I’d be interested to see if he is ever revealed to have escaped by appearing in another story.
While this was the main focus of the episode, there was plenty of other intrigue to balance out the action. I loved Jung’s suggestion to Partagaz to avoid arousing Kreegyr’s suspicions as it was just another reminder that there really are smart, capable Imperials who can be a danger, while the reveal of him as a mole was extremely well done, and his conversation with Rael would have felt suitably in place in any dark spy thriller. Meanwhile we see how willing Rael is to throw away Kreegyr and his cell in order to keep the secret of a mole at such a high level.This isn’t the Rebellion we are used to yet from Rebels and the Original Trilogy, this is a chess game where many of those who think they are players are actually just pawns on the board.
Finally a mention of Mon Mothma’s meeting with Davo Sculdun, and I absolutely love how everything built through the conversation. An early mention of Davo knowing Perrin was a nice way of showing more of their character, while leading to a conversation about their views on Chandrilan arranged marriages. It may not seem much at the time, but then as soon as Scludun mentioned visiting Coruscant again with his son, the earlier conversation immediately set my mind to thinking that he was on about arranging a marriage with Mon’s daughter Leida, and while Sculdun seems happy with them simply meeting, there certainly seems more to his “price”. And now Mon is left in the situation of how far she will go for the Rebellion, will she bring Leida into this?
“Whatever happens now, we made it! What’s wrong?”
“Can’t swim.”
A few final thoughts on the episode:
- Andy Serkis has absolutely killed it as Kino these last few weeks, give this man ALL the nominations.
- I wonder if Cassian would have found a way to help Kino had he not been knocked off.
- While we only had one quick scene on Ferrix, I must admit that I as a little surprised with no mention of Bix or Paak, especially considering the last episode saw plans agreed for Paak to be hanged..
Moments in Canon
- One thing that a number of viewers have noted on is the lack of aliens in this show. It must be remembered that non-human species generally didn’t fare well under the Empire as many Separatists during the Clone Wars were non-humans. In this episode, we see aliens largely consigned to the lower levels of Coruscant.
What did you think of the episode?
Thanks for reading. Rebellions are built on hope….
The Canon Padawan 