Cassian must carefully navigate the distrust inherent in being the new member of a secret operation.

The Rogue One prequel continues to create its own path within the Star Wars universe, and that’s a very different one to what we’ve been used to. If this was say The Mandalorian or Obi-Wan Kenobi we’d have gone to the Imperial armoury last week and already moved on. Andor is a different kind of beast, instead focusing on the slow burn of the build-up to Cassian’s mission.

Even as the episode ends, we haven’t reached the armoury, but crucially we’ve learned more about the back stories of the fledgling rebels. Elsewhere, Denise Gough’s Dedra Meero is beginning to recognise patterns in well-disguised activity by the resistance, and the disgraced Karn is facing his greatest nemesis – his mother!

It’s the small people that make the show interesting, as well as the desire to make the Imperials far more rounded (though painfully bureaucratic) characters. A TIE fighter buzzing the Rebels is the only full-on Star Wars-y thing you’ll get this week, but it doesn’t matter if the story keeps us engaged.

Verdict: The story has not progressed appreciably, but the detail and the smaller moments continue to win through. 7/10

Nick Joy