Niel de la Rouviere

I want more! #wheresjinu

I knew all the songs, since it’s literally on repeat all the time in our house/car. But seeing them in context in the film gave me shivers. So much more meaning. Urgh. So good

Okay super late to the party. My kids have been obsessed with Kpop Demon hunters, finally got to watch it. My goodness. What a triumph. They don’t know what a gift this movie is yet. ❤️❤️❤️

So cool!

So fascinating! There’s two Three Sisters in South Africa too. Apparently there’s one in Australia as well. Might be confirmation bias, but wonder why 3 peaks close together seem to gravitate to this naming.

Did a trail race in Montagu over the weekend. Stunning mountains!

Treated to perfect clear winter weather too.

Bonus, found another fellow minimalist runner among the crowd. Legend!

Yeah, I think it’s time. Was my first exposure to “other” Star Wars content besides the films. So it holds a special place.

Agree on Bix. Feels so unfortunate. So much potential. Not a fan.

I have to watch Rebels again! It’s been a while. What do you mean by mystical catharsis?

Ideally, I'd prefer people to not die and live happily ever after while fighting for what is right, but I guess it has to happen sometimes. Just trying to figure out why Kanan's story felt so much more impactful than Andor...

Huh... just realized we do explore this in Rebels with Kanan & Hera. Except in Rebels it felt a lot more nuanced & impactful. Kanan wrestled forever with his "destiny" and what the force was guiding him towards. Hera chose to be a part of the rebellion regardless. They were in it together.

Andor is a marvelous show and I loved much of it. I'm okay with the ending not working for me. Sometimes you just don't get the impact you're looking for.

Just imagine Cassian & Bix eventually coming to the conclusion that from a foundation of love, choosing to fight is worth it. For Luthen, for the rebellion, for the galaxy (for Ghorm, Nemik, Cinta, Aldhani, etc). It's all worth it, you wouldn't been able to feel whole without it. You have to try.

I wanted more internal conflict on why Cassian becomes his final self in Rogue One. We had the best setup ever with Bix, and Luthen's death and questions around the past, loyalty, fate & love. But instead it fell flat and Cassian is doomed to die without knowing the love of a child.

Anyway, I loved Kleya. Loved all the Yavin interactions. K2-SO was hilarious (although the tone felt so odd now with his humour). The ISB imploding was good.

Making Cassian a messiah figure just makes all of it feel so silly. His decisions should've lead him there, now it just feels like regardless of what he does, he ends up there anyway.

We can't in the final hour let go of those brought us here. But he should've made that decision, not the plot for him. This way him leading a Rogue squad, despite his conflict shows that he learned that it's worth the risk.

Fight for Luthen's memory and impact. In the Ghorman arc, it was already revealed that Andor still struggles with where his loyalties are. It could've been a good result to show that he's fully onboard with the rebellion, but realizing that Luthen and everyone else is also the rebellion.

Then even if he decides to go save Kleya/Luthen, he should've been faced with the same dilemma that the other senators faced. Now it feels like a copy of Rogue One and Jyn's protest. Instead, it would've been more impactful if Cassian was persuaded by Kleya/Vel/Bix/Mon/Wilmon, to stand up for Luthen

Regardless of the Bix child reveal, I just didn't feel the urge or change in Cassian that leads to Rogue One. There were so many options for inner conflict here. Him "leaving" Luthen many years ago and now quickly jumping to his cause. Show me more conflict here.

Can parenthood (and caring for immediate others) live alongside fighting for a cause? I struggled that the show said "Nah". And the thing is, there are examples of this in the show itself, heck Wilmon and Dreena get to stay together? Why couldn't our two main characters also?

And it's hard, because parenthood is a beautiful gift. It's magical. I've been talking talking a lot with my wife about what's happening these days, and what happened in the past with apartheid, and how this show asked questions about "What would you do for a cause?"

Imagine how amazing it would've been to see Bix & Cassian both struggling to figure this out. In this ending, Cassian is treated like messiah, leave him alone, he must fulfil his duty, and Bix ejected to caring mother who sacrifices all her (and the kids) needs for Cassian. It sucks.

Shows like She-Ra shows that you can choose love and fight evil together. Trading these off is lazy. But also it makes Bix's side of the "sacrifice" feel so awful. It just doesn't feel right. Why couldn't Cassian & Bix be faced with the conflicting realities? Saving his family vs saving the galaxy?

I really struggle with the Bix reveal. You're telling me Cassian does all this sacrifice without knowing he has a child!? So sad and unnecessary. Instead of it feeling heroic and selfless, now feels naive. I struggle with shows that sacrifices love for individual sacrifice (ie american monomyth)

Complicated review on Andor S2 finale below. #Andor #Spoilers.
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If the goal of Andor was to make Rogue One better, it actually had the reverse effect for me. I watched Rogue One again ahead of Season 2, and felt the weight of it all, now it feels flat, mostly due to final two episodes.

I’m so in awe & emotional most of the time during this show, the cracks only appear during the come down. Like, urgh, the realization that we probably won’t see any of these Mon scenes. Gosh it would’ve been so incredible 😭

Ooof yes. So sad we didn’t get any Mon family scenes.

Pop culture has always been a stage where society’s ideals & values are contested, and my goodness is Andor making a statement. In awe of this show. Yes there’s flaws, but so happy to see a show so full of clarity. So lucky to witness this.

Yay!

YouTube video by Star Wars ONE HOUR OF DANCING MON MOTHMA | Andor Season 2 | Disney+

lol amazing. Ngl, one of my new favorite scenes in all of Star Wars. Andor is so good.