‘Star Wars: Andor’ Got Fan Service Right
Lets talk about how Andor did fan service the right way.
Andor is the best Star Wars thing Disney has done. It’s an absolutely amazing show, that takes Star Wars to new heights. It’s about as close to perfect as we are likely to get from a Star Wars show. One issue a lot of Star Wars has had, especially in the Disney Era, is leaning too heavily into fan service and callbacks. Even Rogue One was guilty of this. So part of what made this show great, is that Andor got fan service right.
The Characters Make Sense 
One of the ways Star Wars often goes wrong with fan service is by bringing a ton of characters. Shoehorning in either cameos or roles from people who don’t need to be there and make little sense just because of the fans like them. This has been a problem since the Prequels and things like Young Chewie. Andor however manages to avoid this. Most of the characters in the show are new ones, leading to the show expanding Star Wars a lot. The existing characters that are brought in also all make sense. Cassian Andor and Mon Mothma are major characters and the show is about them. Both are also minor enough that focusing on them doesn’t feel like the same kind of fan service as say Kenobi.
The handful of other existing characters in the show always make sense. Saw Gerrera is one of the most important early Rebels, and ties into Andor’s later life in Rogue One. It would almost be odd if he wasn’t in the show. Likewise, Wullf Yularen is an important figure in the ISB. It would again be kind of odd for him to not show up in a show that focuses on the ISB so much. These are just a part of how Andor got fan service right.
Andor’s Fan Service is Often in the Background
A lot of people said that Andor was going to be a show without fan service. And this isn’t really true. It can be a bit hard to draw a line between was is fan service and what is a needed reminder that these people all live in the same setting. However it’s clear that there is some fan service in Andor, it’s just done right. One of the ways the show does it well is by keeping it in the background, and natural to the show itself.
Take Luthen’s shop. It is chock full of fan service, and easter eggs, and callbacks. And yet all of that is in the background. It’s not something the show lingers on its just there. It being there also makes 100% sense with Luthen’s cover. There are other minor and subtle callbacks to the old EU and other stories in the background, but they never do get in your face.
The Call Backs are Thematic
Another way that Andor does fan service right is by tying its callbacks into themes or character beats. There are a ton of references to Rogue One in the show for instance. You have the repetition of “climb” for instance, tying into that being one of the last things Andor hears from a friend. You have him meeting a KX-series security droid as a foreshadowing of his partnership with K-2SO. Andor in a scene stares off into the sunset mirroring his later death. Showing the Death Star and that he was forced to work on it all ties into his final actions. It all beautifully ties together. Even his whole “nobody is listening” line in prison is mirrored by his final line “do you think anybody is listening”. The Empire doesn’t listen, but the Rebellion does. It’s poetry.
Let us know if you think Andor got fan service right, down in the comments!
