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‘May the Fourth’ Exchange: for @ruby-red-inky-blue

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The rest of the queers aren't allowed to exclude asexuals anymore; we've got the JK Rowling Seal of Disapproval! It's official, we belong!

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here's why Bix's Vengeance Moment felt so empty

okay so, since I went on a long rant yesterday about how much I disliked the ending of episode 6, maybe some more coherent explanation of why to follow now that I've had a think and touched grass and all that

first of all, I did miss the visual language implying that this was actually an op planned and sanctioned by Luthen, @madrone33 did a very detailed breakdown of it here. So yeah, my annoyance at "how did they even know where Gorst was" falls flat - Lonni told Luthen and Luthen told them. Cool. So let me adjust my argument slightly:

This op is very strangely executed, an ooc plan for everything we've seen both from Luthen and Cassian even just in this arc, and didn't give me the catharsis it was supposed to - and I have the nagging feeling I know why they did it that way, and the answer sucks.

Why is this really weird?

Okay, they're taking out Gorst, presumably to stop his torture programme. I feel like that's already really simplistic reasoning, because the programme runs off a doctored recording. They have those audio files. I'm assuming they have multiple copies. I really can't image that killing the guy whose entire job was essentially to dj the torture session would actually hinder the programme effectively. But for argument's sake, let's say it does.

So your main objectives are a) eliminate a key figure in the torture programme so he can do no more harm and/or teach people how to do it and b) throw Bix a bone so she can get her shit together (this argument makes me want to bite into a table but more on that later). Keep in mind you're wanting to do it in Coruscant under the eyes of the ISB where literally almost all of your main operatives also reside. And you got this information from a mole very high up in the ISB, an almost invaluably well-placed, experienced source. You would want to do it in a way that doesn't blow up your people's spot, right? Even if you're saying, let Bix do it so she gets some closure. Even if you're giving her carte blanche to torture him. There are still ways to make this look less suspicious. Abduct him, do whatever the fuck you want with the guy and then make it look like he committed suicide, or had a speeder accident - hell, make it look like the guy decided to run a little self-experimentation and fried his own brain! Instead, the plan is to *checks notes* somehow smuggle a completely undisguised Bix into an ISB building, and when by some miracle that actually works out, have her leave without killing him and instead blow up a part of the building, and killing a guard on the way out? This is Coruscant, there are cameras and eyes everywhere, someone will have seen these two idiots who were, again, looking like themselves wearing their own clothes, and Cassian triggered the explosion in plain sight with his hand raised to show the trigger. This should immediately lead back to them - and not just Bix and Cassian, but also pretty immediately to the question of how they got the info on Gorst and how they got into the building, which will lead to Lonni, and through him probably to Luthen and Kleya (they still have conventional torture, and Bix, Cassian and Lonni all have loved ones who can be leveraged against them). Plus, this is handing the Empire the opportunity to make a horrifying programme into the death of a martyr at the hands of terrorists - who are clearly so evil and dangerous that any means are acceptable to stop them! This could actually work as a way to whitewash the torture programme enough to make it public and get support for it. So you've risked your entire network to kill one guy, who, yes, was awful and heading a pretty dangerous programme, but the potential cost for both public image and the effectiveness and life of your entire cell simply cannot be worth it.

Why is this out of character?

Luthen has made some careless decisions to secure an asset, particularly Cassian, yes. But he's also been shown to be very careful, and going to great lengths not to risk discovery, and to consider public reaction to any rebel action very carefully. He masterfully used the public reaction to Aldhani and predicted the outcome fairly accurately, and he is shown calculating with the reaction to Ghorman, too. He would consider the way his op would look to the world. He would consider if shit could lead back to himself, or Lonni, and at least try to make that less likely. And also, would he really take that risk just to get Bix in line, instead of just trying a couple more times to convince Cassian to drop her? Cassian already seems half-convinced of this himself, at least at some points of their very oddly flowing conversation ("It would just be easier if I was alone"), and Luthen could just try and guilt him into it by saying Bix would be safer without him and outside of the Rebellion, which wouldn't even be a lie. So why would he take this massive risk instead of just. Having a talk? And have Cassian get Gorst out of the picture discretely?

Meanwhile, Cassian has pulled a 180 (into a direction I approve of, actually, since he's no longer attempting to shut Bix in the apartment, but still) - he has been very clear on the fact that he does not want Bix in any danger and would kill more than necessary to keep her out of it, and gets extremely aggressive towards Luthen at the thought he might use Bix for so much as a weapons appraisal. And now he's letting her do all the heavy lifting in this op - she, who has way less experience with the work than he does, and is immediately recognised by Gorst - and stands outside waiting for her and, again, detonates the building in full view like an idiot who's never done a crime? Why the change of heart? Because she "deserves her revenge"?

Why doesn't this feel empowering to me?

Look, I don't want to argue with anyone who says the fantasy of killing your abuser is uplifting or empowering to you. I'm glad the show could give you that story, and my opinion shouldn't change it! Here's why it didn't feel that way to me personally:

It still doesn't let Bix be anything outside of her trauma. Yes, she's taking charge of it in a way by taking revenge - but the story is still refusing to give her anything unrelated to what was done to her. Her happiness is still depicted as entirely dependent on Gorst, so in a way, she still feels exactly as trapped to me. And I have a bad feeling they're going to act like this was what it took to "fix" her, but I'll have to wait and see if they prove me wrong here.

The way they go about her revenge feels really condescending to me. Instead of seeing her plan her revenge, work for it in any way, employ her skills and abilities to achieve it, we jump in with her already inside, get a brief glimpse of her walking out, and that's it. If it's her revenge, it should highlight her strong suits - instead, she's not even the one to ultimately pull the trigger on the bastard. The implication that this is all Luthen's plan makes her feel like she could have been replaced on this op by literally anyone else and it wouldn't change the story, which isn't very satisfying. He's just handing her this win. And Cassian stands around outside even though he was clearly the better choice to do the heavy lifting (see above), with no implication that he pushed for that to keep Bix safe - so it implies that he's letting her get her revenge. Instead of seeing her actually be a badass and use her skills to apprehend and ice her abuser... we see two men she's been dependent on hand her a little win. As a treat. (And also, implicitly, as an incentive to stop being difficult. Love that for her.)

Why did they do it like that?

Because it looks cool, and they get to be done with her storyline in under three minutes. You know why she doesn't get to blow up the building, and why Cassian does it so stupidly openly when he could have just as well pushed the button inside his pocket?

Because this shot was in the trailer. This is a trailer shot. They really set this up against all internal logic and characterisation because "cool guys don't look at explosions" is literal shorthand for badassery and the writers really want to prove to the people who thought Cassian wasn't cool enough in Rogue One that this is gonna be different, you guys! And as far as culminations of a character arc go... Bix, after the nonstop misery they've put her through, deserved a little more thought than that.

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oh my god you're right!! stealth background Cassian! Hilarious plot twist where the show ends with a weird face-off situation: the guy who we know as Cassian gets killed, and Wilmon takes his face and name and position in the Rebellion - which is also why none of the partisans or Saw recognise him in Rogue One. It all makes sense!!

been thinking a lot about how Wilmon seems to be what Cassian should have been. just a boy who loses his father. loses his friends. lashes out and tries to fight but has no idea yet what he's doing. has a brief doomed romance with a girl he'll never see again because the galaxy is cruel and unforgiving. hardens himself, becomes a fighter. becomes a rebel. lives for the cause.

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god I could be so wealthy if I had no ethics. that's so fucking frustrating. I'm living paycheck to paycheck because I'm not grifting vulnerable idiots on TikTok. I feel like I have the ability to very easily scam people. I could make a killing with AI. but god. I have morals and ethics and so I get to be poor as shit. I hate this fucking world

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fascinated by this quora thread positing the bruce springsteen gay multiverse

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Saw: I was younger than you are now...

Me, immediately shooting up out of bed: 🎶 when I was given my first command🎶I led my men straight into a massacre🎶I witnessed their deaths firsthand🎶

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question for more musically minded folks since I'm Bad at that:

Last season, I really got the sense that the title music was building to something (the Ferrix funeral march mostly, but also perhaps morphing into some part of the Rogue One score in the long run? The string section felt very familiar). This season, I'm not finding a pattern yet - anyone else have an idea what they may be doing here?

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director Orson Krennic in Andor Season 2 Episode 6

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i always click the "track package" button as soon as i get the email. "oh boy i wonder where my package is!" warehouse.

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nope, still annoyed at the fact that Andor gave itself the neatest, most poignant way out of both the question "why is Bix not around in Rogue One" and "at what point does Cassian start doing things that he actively resents doing" (because so far he doesn't seem to feel a large amount of guilt - yes, he says the faces haunt him, but he seems very convinced he can live with it), plus being able to make an actual point about sacrifice while doing it - and then they used it instead for a cheap "badass" moment to end the arc on, even though it once again makes Bix all about her trauma with very little agency and opportunity to show off her skills or qualities, opens a bunch of plot holes and is still just setting her up to die for Cassian's manpain soon.

Because bringing Gorst back into the narrative is actually brilliant. They clearly can't figure out anything else that Bix has going on (not gonna rant about that here. again.), so it only makes sense. But it also actually presents a perfect moral dilemma:

Lonni is running the expansion of Gorst's heinous torture programme

he has likely passed this information on to Luthen, who in turn knows what happened to Bix

Bix cannot move past what happened to her, and clearly has violent fantasies about killing him, suggesting she would jump at the opportunity to kill that guy

killing Gorst would also sabotage or possibly end the torture programme

BUT any attack on Gorst, whose existence and programme is very hush-hush, will also immediately tell the ISB they have a mole very high up

now, you hand Cassian all these cards, and then you give him some kind of mission where he runs across Gorst, and recognises him. You put them in some office alone together, the doctor's back is turned, Cassian has a hand on his blaster - and, understanding that revenge is not worth blowing up their eyes and ears at the top of the ISB because almost nothing would be... he drops his hand, and politely excuses himself, and lets Gorst live.

Then, you have him either confess this to Bix or let it slip on accident. She cannot forgive him, and he cannot agree with her - because it is the greatest possible betrayal of her, but that doesn't make it the wrong choice. Then you have them split over this, and have Bix cut ties with Luthen and all the other rebel contacts too. This could be a more peaceful endpoint for her (she is, at least, free from Cassian and this Rebellion she has no agency in), or, if that is too defeatist, make her last appearances ones where she starts stalking this guy on her own. This way, she actually gets her revenge without needing an assist from the Cool Rebel Guys. So she kills Gorst independently of the Rebels, and depending on how bleak you want this ending to be, she either gets away with it and finally gets to leave Coruscant, or she gets arrested. If she gets arrested, her getting framed as a rebel terrorist for it and it serving to whitewash Gorst's actions to the public, actually boosting the programme, could be very terrible and poignant. But maybe we end on her arriving in some prison camp where she is celebrated as a hero by the other inmates, and hey, we could end it at an ambiguous shot of a rebel ship overhead, suggesting that maybe they're going to be liberated. You know, bring that hope theme from Rogue One back just a little bit.

Anyway, this accomplishes several things that the ending of the Gorst storyline we got does not:

Gorst's return actually serving some narrative purpose over "needs to come back so his death can allow Bix her Moment"

allowing Bix some actual agency and competence that doesn't smack of plot contrivance (instead of a half-minute sequence of her swanning in and out of an ISB building with no explanation or consequences)

moral conflict instead of an oddly unambiguous "you go girl!!" moment that the show has so far always avoided

pushing Cassian further to where he needs to be if they plan on lining him up with his R1-personality even slightly, and putting him more on Luthen's side instead of pitting him against him

allowing them to keep their mole without this becoming a plot hole

give Cassian something to feel genuinely guilty about without that compromising his belief in the cause or needing to fridge yet another woman to do it

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I also hate how isolated Bix is. Yes, trauma and grief can be isolating, but across the entire series she has not had a single friend or confidant besides Cassian. I was hopeful at the beginning of the season on Mina-Rau, but all of that was taken away from her before we could really see any in depth connections. Now all she has is Cassian on Coruscant and he’s extremely opposed to her even going to the fucking park or a convenience store. She is utterly alone with a man who can’t even tell when she’s fucking severely high.

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I met with the Emperor yesterday. And he suggested, I remind you that the Energy Initiative remains the centerpiece of his agenda. Access to stable, unlimited power will transform the galactic economy and solidify Imperial authority. And it turns out, spiders are not the most unique thing in Ghorman.

Andor - Season 2 Episode 1

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I think what’s really frustrating about Bix and Cassian’s rekindled relationship is that we’re shown exaclty why they don’t work romantically and it just feels like a waste of time because that was already established in the previous season. They had on again/off again flings and relationships until Bix finally had enough. You can see her fondness and care for Cassian still during s1, but most importantly you can see how far past her limit she has reached with him. This is why I was disappointed that we were never given or even shown a good reason for them to be together again. We are just unceremoniously thrust in the middle of a re-established relationship one year in, one where Bix is essentially the stay at home “wife” while her “husband” is off to war — both arcs she is stuck waiting around for him.

Also Cassian does deeply care and love Bix, I will never deny that, however he does not understand her at all. Throughout this entire arc, he is treating her like she is fragile, he is paranoid about her safety to the point of shooting her down when she finally has an idea for something that brings a little spark back into her, then he gets irritated with her (albeit her out of character behavior in this instance with her bizarre issue with him killing an imp soldier) and once again leaves her behind to go on a mission, is oddly territorial with Luthen even talking to Bix while he’s gone. Cassian simply does not understand what she needs even when she’s literally telling him. Adria herself said that Bix needs someone she can rely on, someone who she can be in a team with, someone she can ask for help. I’m sorry, that’s just not Cassian, it never has been and Bix has learned this lesson over and over and I suppose she has to learn it one last time.

And that’s what upsets me the most. This relationship is meant to be Cassian’s blind spot, Cassian’s eventual heartbreak, and it is all to her detriment. There are so many different more interesting and more sensible directions their relationship could have progressed this season, but it truly feels like they’re setting up Bix’s death to be as heartbreaking at possible for Cassian, reducing her to his accessory to fuel his story like I’ve feared these past few years.

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Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, 11x14

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So, uh, to recap on the ladies of Andor, the pinnacle of progressive writing according to internet consensus:

Bix: After her character consisting only of "good at mechanics", formerly crafty (in the first Ferrix arc) and "traumatised", Bix gains a new character trait this arc - helpless rage and ✨✨✨drug addiction✨✨✨! Goodie. I'm so mad at this arc for her. We never see this woman happy independent of her trauma. We see her make happy for men - the shopkeep, Cassian occasionally, Brasso and co. in the first arc - but the only time we get an unobserved smile is when she gets her big Girlboss Yay Feminism revenge. And the featurette has everyone going "oh this is her moment", "this scene is about her" - IT'S NOT!! It's about Gorst! It's more trauma porn! Her happiness and functionality once again are dependent on men! She couldn't save herself from her trauma - she needed Cassian to help her get the drop on Gorst (and let's ignore how fucking improbable all that is for a moment, how does he even know where Gorst is???), and her happiness is fully dependent on Gorst living or dying. Her character does not EXIST without him this season. Why do we only ever see her take charge of her life to kill her abusers? The only other positive thing she's done for her life this whole season is to clean up the apartment, and she was doing that to *checks notes* hide her drug habit from her overprotective boyfriend. Feminism!! Please don't read this as an indictment of people struggling to cope with trauma, or substance abuse - I'm just so tired of everyone acting like this is such an uplifting, empowering narrative for this character, because I really, really, really don't see it.

Bringing up Maarva and Kerri as people Cassian failed to protect and nothing else is so telling. That's not even what happened! He was abducted as a child, he didn't abandon his sister, and what was he going to save Maarva from? Old age?? But that's their whole narrative purpose to the writers I guess...

Mothma: Well, I know the constant political downward trajectory is her whole thing, but we really spend the whole arc seeing her do nothing but failing to convince other politicians (mostly men) of anything and being made to look like a fool for even bothering. So far all we've given her this season is being too soft and emotional (which, by the way, is why it's a little odd to me they're pinning the same thing on Cassian - why do we need this narrative redundancy here?). And her one "big moment" (read: over thirty seconds of uninterrupted talking) she gets to have this arc is either a front for Kleya's and Luthen's business or a pointless and reckless lashing out at Krennic's overt imperialism and propaganda.

Dedra: Yeah, she's holding all the strings, but in a weird way, her whole narrative is dependent on Syril now, and I have a bad feeling this is all leading up to him being butthurt about being used. It's a great spy storyline, but just like Mothma's part, great as it is, in combo with the deeply uncool treatment of Bix, it starts to feel like an unfortunate pattern.

Cinta: I actually liked her scenes a lot! Especially the scene in the café - it had an interesting ambiguity, for a moment there I was wondering if Cinta was running Vel, getting back with her to keep her on track on someone's orders. I think I may be giving the script too much credit here, given how weirdly stilted the other two romances were handled this arc it might have rather been a case of "the writer really thinks lovers talk that way". But even if it was an accident, I think that would be an interesting feature in the show, because they're the one couple who genuinely seem to be compatible and on the same page about what they want! And I get that they were making a point to get her killed so uselessly, by friendly fire, on accident. But man, this show refuses to give a woman happiness, even for the span of a timeskip. Whenever any of the ladies seems happy or get something she wants for herself, you can already be sure she's about to die or have something incredibly heinous happen to her immediately after. And the execution of that scene pissed me off, because if that scuffle had even just been relocated to the tunnel entrance, I would have bought it. But no, they're in a really wide, mostly empty alleyway, the blaster was mostly pointed at a wall and trapped between the two men wrestling for it, and you don't even see anyone being close behind them, and yet Cinta not only manages to get hit but instantly killed - what are the fucking chances? And yes, it's a metaphor, but again, with the overall bad aftertaste, it feels targeted and cruel at this point. With how little we got to see of Cinta, it really made her death seem like an afterthought. Like Brasso, this could have packed a punch, but we knew so little about her and had seen her even less, so it just fell flat.

My only positives(ish):

Vel: Her character is really growing on me! She has such a nice, well-executed, subtle development compared to most other characters on this show. She's clearly learned from Aldhani, and she's learning from Mothma and Luthen, too, and her resentment at the life she's leading is so beautifully expressed by her last scene: The greatest punishment she can imagine is recruitment to her cause. Because that's what she's doing to this guy. Recruitment. This is on you forever, this is all your life is now, you owe me and everyone whatever you have to make up for this. That's so heartbreaking, and so real. Am I pissed that Vel is constantly and pointedly denied happiness at absolutely every turn? Yeah! But at least for her, it feels like there is a little more agency, because she chose this life, even though she clearly has options. For her, it feels a little more tragic and narratively weighty, and less like a pointless onslaught of misery.

Kleya: I love her so much. And I could (and should) point out that it feels a little shallow to have her be completely reduced to "being the only competent person among men who are losing their shit at all times". We know nothing else about her, other than that she is Girlboss(TM). But, unlike with Bix, we actually see her be outstandingly competent completely on her own merit all the time, and even though the script neglects her, too, there is an implication that she has actively and deliberately sacrificed the rest of herself to be this spymaster - instead of the writers simply forgetting to give her anything more. And I just think Elizabeth Dulau is KILLING IT. In a weird way, Kleya is giving me the power fantasy that most Star Wars gave to little boys. It's not exactly a win for feminism - it's yet another flavour of "women can either be competent and powerful OR express their emotions and be vulnerable with people" - but I do have a soft spot for her, and her moment at the exhibition was the tensest shit I've seen this whole season. Nothing more gripping so far than watching this woman attempt to turn a screw.