@@desputnikcommander that wouldn't make much sense, the main reason he got arrested is because of the empire cracking down as the result of the heist Andor took part in.
This episode made me realize that the whole point of this series seems to be making you feel what it's like to live under the Empire's thumb. Different characters show it from different angles. Even Mon Mothma shows that your power (if you have any) can be slowly stripped and have a target painted on you for not conforming. Your allies can quickly become enemies. This whole show is basically "Ruling By Fear" the series and shows exactly how that works at almost all levels. And they don't just tell you... They want you to feel it. Instead of explaining, they want you to feel what the Rebellion is fighting against in the original trilogy, why the Empire is feared, and why the events of those movies are so significant.
Mhm, and the central theme is Machievelli's ultimate point, one that gets ignored by dictators time and time again - even though it is better to be feared than loved, it is best to be both, and you must avoid being hated. Palpatine and his underlings ignored this, festering every kind of cruelty and barbarity imaginable until the average person decided that death was a far better alternative than the continued misery of existing under a tyrant with delusions of godhood.
The part where Cassian is in the tunnel realizing how big the facility is really puts into perspective how big the galaxy is. So many prisoners and that's only one of the facilities on Narkani 5 which is only one of the prison planets. And they're all human men - where do they put all the women and aliens? He's realizing just now how right Maarva was.
Come to that, what happened to the aliens in the majority of the show? Outside of Planet Miami we haven't seen any (certainly no characters or even speaking extras) so what has the Empire been up to with them? (or is it just a budget thing?)
There is the whole aspect that people forget, the empire is very xenophobic. So probably they are all pushed to outlying planets/ into specific penal colonies. You probably won’t see any in coruscant anymore- making space for the “just and true” humans. This whole episode just really hammered how actually terrifying and all controlling the empire is. Like legitimate control and power not comedic evil
i really love how they focused on how observant cassian is. i feel like he barely spoke this episode but how cassian noted the boots, how the guards acted and so on. it makes you hope that maybe cassian is planning how to get out. diego luna is amazing as cassian, i seriously love his performance in this show
For some reason this made me think about Luthen’s second lesson to Andor when they were surrounded in episode 3 and he detonated the explosives he’d set….build your exit on the way in. We’ve already had setup that shows how observant Andor is when he knew if each of the rebels was left or right handed. Now we see that gift for observation is his only weapon and despite being shell shocked, he’s using that to “build” his exit.
Cassian is a survivor, that is partly why he is a schemer and "scammer: as one of the guys who he owed money to on Ferrix called him. The prison intake scene is when Cassian finally portrays fear on his face. Lets not forget that courage is fear holding out a minute longer.
@@ellicel Spot on. Good analysis. By taking in everything he's seeing on the way in he can build his exit perhaps tracing his steps back a certain sense.
Or he went to the Kristen Stewart school of acting. It boggles my mind how many actors in major roles spend a huge amount of time standing around looking clueless, hurt, and mouth gaping (Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, etc) the characters have a few skills, great friends, but zero character. Yes I'm complaining about separate things, but you see this "acting" happen because the character that is supposed to be a hero.
The guard being late was brilliant. It makes them relatable, they seem like normal people that we know in our own world; getting nervous, being late, etc. And then you can see how Andor is getting nervous and you ask yourself: Will he try to flee? Is this already how he will get out of there?
It's not just to make the guards relatable. It's showing, in the context of what we will soon see of the prisoners, that the guards are prisoners too. The prisoners are worried about being short-handed. So are the guards. The prisoners worried about falling seconds behind schedule. So are the guards. The prisoners are under continual stress. So are the guards. The guards are cogs that have to keep this regimented high-pressure system running. They have to meet their own deadlines and their own quotas. They are probably competing against other prisons as well, facing subtle rewards or punishments if their prison isn't as productive as other prisons.
The guard being late is a clue that he is a spy and will help Andor break free. That's all. Movies don't make people do things so they're relatable, people do things because there is a plot drivin reason
Honestly yeah I completely related to them in that moment because everyone has had that issue in work where you're on a schedule and someone is just taking their damn time and you get frustrated. Just a simple 2 or 3 lines of pointless dialogue and it makes the world feel normal.
That little detail... those little things. Makes you wonder if it's the actors/director(s) actually putting conscious effort into it, or if it's a slightly more subconscious thing. In any case, I like the fact Andor has his hands slightly more loose. Would make moving his hands away from his head a split-second faster (like if he was trying to fight). I'm a little surprised the guards, being nervous, didn't make a fuss over that. Then again, they might've thought there was no point. I could also just be over-analyzing this all, and it's really just a guy putting his hands on his head in a "lazy" or "non-compliant" way.
@@jazermanoit’s not about possibly reacting faster, it’s Cassians way of rebelling. He keeps his hands as far away from the back of his head as possible. He cherishes every second he has on the floor before stepping into his cell. It’s how he stays sane
@@RedDeadDepressionist I like your perspective, thank you. I suppose when you put it that way... it's the little acts of resistance that keep us sane. And the small, spontaneous acts og rebellion that eventually broke the Empire.
Im surprised you didn’t mention anything about their “cells” being so open giving them the illusion they can walk around freely, until the scene where the guy ends it, that was a lot darker than i thought this show was gonna get
"“You only have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power-he’s free again.” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
the darkest part was the reaction by the other prisoners. Instead of being shocked by this alot of them were clearly used to people ending their lives this way and instead complained about how the room will smell until someone finally will come pick up the corpse.
@@blackm4niac yes, they weren’t even sorry for him, they were like “who is it this time?” But im almost glad to see this darker side of the empire that we’ve never gotten to see, they truly broke people and its never shown in the movies just how purely evil they were Edit: obviously not glad, but to finally see how far the empire took their power is something i never thought we’d see on screen
One of the most messed up things is, the food and water the prisoners are getting is probably really healthy and good for them. With this as their only dietary intake, they probably get physically healthier than they were outside. Particularly than if they came from a impoverished place, which many of them probably did.
when they said "you can eat as much as you want" I thought that was really clever. They're working 12 hours a day , so they're exhausted most of the time and the food would be their only pleasure.
You know this makes me think that while the Empire doesn't care about anyone who lives or dies in their, doesn't necessarily mean they want *everyone* to die even those in the penal system. They just kill as they do to maintain order albeit in an extreme manner.
@@catherinesanchez1185The food was hardly "pleasure" though, only a couple people per day got to have flavor in their food. Otherwise it was flavorless mush
This show has some of the best prison scenes in anything I've ever watched. I attribute a lot of it to the slow pacing and terrific acting. You feel what they feel and it pulls you into their world of despair.
Another part of the genius of the factory-prison scheme that I think was omitted is how the enforced productivity competition doesn't *just* pit table teams against each other, because they know that their whole room and floor is also competing with the other rooms and floors. So you want your table to win, but you also want your whole room to do well, and instead of motivating you to undermine the other tables and risk sabotaging your whole room, the only sensible outlet for your fear of punishment is to be the most productive individual cog you can be, and to push your whole table *and* your whole room to work harder. And because you're learning that your reward or punishment depends on the rest of your team, it creates a perverse sense of loyalty that's contingent upon your cohorts working as hard as they can. Isolated from the guards, the prisoners forget about them and the only 'bad guy' is whoever isn't carrying his weight, or whoever kills himself and leaves his team short a man, hurting their productivity. I'm betting that by the time an opportunity to escape does present itself, Cassian might be so conditioned by that system that he'll be hesitatant-- having felt his well-being depend upon his table team, the thought of leaving them to be punished for falling behind without him may produce a feeling of "pre-guilt." We'll see soon though, I guess.
There's a similar concept I observe working at UPS. While there's no punishment or competition, we push ourselves in the hope that others do too so that things run smoothly and we go home on time. Our problems stem from those who are lazy and don't load quick enough or don't break their jams, causing the flow of work to stop and back up, or those who send a too-large item and cause a jam, which has knock on effects. In the end, the real enemy is the customers who buy more than they need 🤣
@@Jootunn The real enemy is the head management at UPS which is continuously ordering more shipments of packages than the facilities can handle. When we took the Amazon contract, we should have immediately drawn back on other contracts to focus on handling what we could of our main supplier. Instead, we slammed record loads year-over-year down the hub's throats while taking crippling losses in experienced employee retention. All that's left is new guys led by new supervisors, or it was when I packed out late 2022.
What's also genius about the prison system is that there is a potential flaw in the reward system: it's based on who's fastest and slowest. Based on this, prisoners who are in contact with each other can make a deal: all of them could work slowly so that everyone wouldn't need to rush so much. Except, they are also competing against groups who they have no contact with (apart from sign language with some other groups). This makes it impossible to make this kind of deal.
I appreciated the vagueness of what they were building: equal parts functional and yet removed of purpose; they aren’t even denied a simple satisfaction of idle and natural curiosity of knowing wtf they’re accomplishing through their slave labor
The factory I worked in back in the day was like this and there was a lot of "don't work too fast" going on. There were eight different lines in different buildings, and of course upper management tried to make them compete. While yes, the workers/prisoners don't communicate, the Guards who are running each floor do and likely their pay is based on how productive their floor is so they will just try to trip up the other six floors. I am going to predict this is going to come out over the Andor's prison story arch the guards spend most of their time playing petty mind games on each other because Imperial self sabotage seems to be the series theme.
@@hellfish2309 Someone from potentially thousands of prisoners on the planet would probably know and would share with others. But it really reminds me of the work I experienced in different factories. Unless you're working at final assembly, you don't really know what you're working with unless you're told by someone. It's just parts that you might recognize from something if you're lucky, but most likely won't as it looks nothing like final product.
@@CCFONESOL If the food you're given is flavorless, then any flavour you'd occasionally be given would seem like going to flavortown. Another possibility is that they provide multiple options, or that the flavor they provide is universally appreciated (something like salt, potatoes or chips without any salt are meh, but with salt, they are liked by pretty much everyone).
I continue to be shocked at how much quality is put into Andor at all levels. I suppose I shouldn't be considering Rogue One but it's just incredible. I really hope this team is given more projects.
It would be awesome to see this team tackle some of the book series. The Thrawn series would be epic with these writers. So would the Young Jedi Knights series and the Yuzahn Vong invasion books.
I think there's another thing that is brilliant about this prison system The mental effect on the guards. Think about it, they aren't even harming prisoners directly, they push a button and zap, but they don't even have to look at what they are doing. If you don't even see the man you torment its even easier to dehumanize them and to harm them when they break a rule.
There was an experiment, I can't remember right now its name, were a voluntaty was tasked with give an electrical shock to a person if that person reponded wrong to a question. The energy will be increased for every wrong answer to a point that it would be letal to a person. What makes this experiment relevant was that the person been shocked was just acting and the people behind the experiment were trying to see how far people would follow orders blindly, sadly very far, most voluntaries just did what they were told regarless of the well being of the other person.
10:30 I think the reason that the Empire has always been portrayed as 'cartoonishly cruel', is because we always saw the Empire through the eyes of big threats who needed to be torchered and taken down to avoid any further problems. This is the first time we see normal civilians being oppressed by the empire and to avoid protests, the empire is doing it in a more subtle manner so that civilians wouldn't protest. They just handle threats/enemies in another way than civilians, both equally evil. And it's so cool seeing everything from a new, yet more relatable perspective in the Andor series.
Brutality, Torture, Slave labor. “Oppression breeds Rebellion”. That one line really highlights this episode. As if you need any more proof of the vileness of the empire. The Jedi aren’t coming so these people have to save themselves. To stand together as a united front. It’s gonna be a beautiful thing.
@@Ideo7Z remember how neglected the republic was to the outer rim despite its sky high rate of crimes and syndicates exploiting people around during the Clone Wars so u aren’t necessarily wrong
The Jedi can only operate in the jurisdiction of the republic. So even if they existed, if you're a prisoner in the outter rim, they aren't coming to save you.
The Gulags were quite 'corrupt', and many hard men on the 'inside' learned how to use the system. After the USSR fell apart, lots of the 'Red Mafia' came from both these inmates and the guards, as well as the Intel services. Guys who survived in Siberia probably laugh at an American 'Supermax'.
It's also a "real world" look into how a people unite to free themselves from oppression. Because depending on a group of anonymous "super beings," aka Jedi, to save them is not only extremely unlikely, it's probably never going to happen. This is a super-important message for the real world. Especially for what's going on in China right now.
The detail about the 7 prisoners representing the 7 spokes in the Imperial symbol is insane. This is as cerebral and artistic as Star Wars has ever been.
It was Star wars turn at a "Bridge at the River Kwai" speach. Basically wondering why our prison looks so easy to escape its because attempting it is basically death. Star Trek has Rura Penta a prison mine run by the Klingon empire on a Ice Moon. The Warden loves his welcome to Hell speach.
The power to dominate over those he has decided to dehumanize. I realize there is an odd racism involved in that word in a galaxy filled with intelligent alien life but whatever word you choose to use it's still the same concept. He looks on the prisoners as vermin, people who deserve what they are getting and do not deserve any empathy or compassion. We have a history as a species of treating our fellow man this way. Othering is used to foment hate against people that are deemed different. Those that are different are devalued and dehumanized and treated as vermin, rats or roaches. Then it becomes much easier to commit atrocities against those others and to avoid having empathy for the others...
The scariest thing about this prison… is the idea that this form of human cruelty existed in the shadows of the Republic. It all becomes normalized after the Empire takes over. Cassian was perhaps able to put the rebellion behind him because he viewed it as a ideological crusade that wouldn’t, or perhaps shouldn’t, impact those who didn’t participate. However - that isn’t the case, as we see he gets picked up and sentenced to this place for “loitering.” It’s extremely terrifying that these are the types of charges they would levy just to find slave labour… then ex-post facto longer sentences after the fact.
Whatever happened to Cassian's parents - let alone his sister - would have occurred under the Old Republic's watch. It's no surprise some systems wanted to leave the Republic officially.
Yeah, the guy with cruel but efficient ideas in how to punish so-called deviants from the normal community may have been shunned in the Republic, even seen as insane and put away somewhere he couldn't harm anybody, but in the Empire, this person would be a bastion of everything society has been reorganized to represent.
Note the massive whirlpools generated next to the exterior walls of the complex; even if a prisoner made it to open air, they would certainly drown in the attempt to swim free. There is a fantastic amount of thought put into this series.
@@SpartanK4102 I'm pretty sure the whirlpools stopped when they shut down the hydro-generators, but the editors show an internal shot instead of outside the facility.
There were two parts that really hit home, the first being the line of "Ignore whatever the number says, you're here until they're _done_ with you." Because, while you're in the system, the Empire can just invent whatever reasons they want to keep you there for as long as they want. It doesn't matter what your sentence says, you only get to leave when the empire lets you leave. The other bit that I found extremely striking was how the prisoner's reacted to a suicide. Very little empathy, just comments about smelling it for the rest of the night. They didn't really even seem that surprised, just... Annoyed. It's got to be a common occurrence. And honestly, with that first bit in mind, it makes sense. If you know you're never getting out, that working this awful soul-crushing job is the rest of your life, then really the only choice you've got, the only thing the Empire hasn't taken away, is the choice of whether you even continue existing. And maybe it's better to just... Not. Absolutely horrific, 10/10
I want to say as a person that has been to prison, And spent 4 years in prison. This was was so close to the truth of what’s it’s like it was scary, the fear, anxiety, and confusion. When Andor steps in just as I did everyone indeed stops and looks at you to asses you or size you up no matter what they were doing. The guards or Correctional Officers are really cool down to earth and just doing their job or they are just some of the worst human beings in existence who find joy in another’s suffering. In prison system they have a program called unicor and you make cups, spoons, knifes, forks and sew uniforms all for the US military. The level of efficiency they want is like that of a sweat shop and you are rewarded for high productivity levels and punished for slacking either as individuals or as teams. So the parallels to this was really well done seeing both sides of life.
This scene was heartbreaking to me because it reminds me of my actual working life. Some conditions on Andor are far superior to mine. I'm sure the idea for zapping floors will be followed in many industries soon.
I hate that I had the same thoughts. Like, it's bleak and dismal, but those prisoners actually have it better than many American prisoners (as well as many outside the system.)
They had his face and everything, but they don't even keep straight records of their own prison system. That's how gargantuan it is, they have incarcerated so many people that they can't even remember them all.
Original trilogy - horrors of Vietnam war Prequel trilogy - horrors of militarism and imperialism Andor - horrors of oppression and dehumanization Sequel trilogy - tells us about horrors of corporate GREED
Agreed 100%, but to add, the Prequel Trilogy is also about the lead-up to and the horrors of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the War on Terror. The Sequel Trilogy is about to the resurgence of Fascism and Nazism in the shadows after seemingly being defeated in the past, and the oblivious corporate Centrist governments not taking the threat seriously until it's literally on their doorstep and blowing up planets again. Like the current rise of Fascist parties in Europe and the Americas after Fascism was supposedly "defeated" in the 1940s, not being taken seriously by most current governments in the Americas and Europe.
That prison design and concept is Diabolical! Your table , your room, your floor. All keeping you in line working to avoid punishment. The ending scene reinforced what a hell they’re in.
From a meta standpoint that last point about andor’s themes and message really hits home when you think about how the show exists under the intellectual property of one of the soul crushing, monopolistic corporations that it rides against.
Thanks for appreciating Andor Ep. 8.. while some vloggers just really couldn't get a day by without trashing Andor. I find their lack of faith disturbing.
It's an unfortunate side effect of people checking social media every few seconds, CGI with a billion things going on at once, et al. Dopamine is released, affecting the brain like gambling or a drug. There's a desire for something more, and more, and more ... immediate payoffs. Storytelling doesn't activate that reward center.
No Its wose than that. Some of these channels just make more money hating on things. So when something good like andor comes along they continue to trash it.
Seeing the Empire so threatening and actually acting like Imperialist instead of a bunch of clowns is really eye-opening. Heroes and Villain's defined from a spreadsheet. Data is the new frontier. We will all become just algorithms in the sea of the Metaverse with Emperor Zuckenberg overseeing his empire.
When human population increases they will mass produce genetic altered insects for us to consume all traditional meats will sold to the superiors. They will harvest our minds and make us more docile select bunch of us will be neutered and sterilised to maintain human pop. Elon musk jeff bezos will have orgy parties with the fertile young population for their pleasure and amusement as theyre immortal being cybernetically enhanced they get bored from previous enertainment and seek more. All the dead population or defevted people will be put into tanks and nutrients will be absorbed and injected to modified children. Human evolution will be rapid it will be artificial and there will many sub races within earth all with different duties based on their genetic makeup. Mark zuckenverg will be considered true god everyone will worship and follow him and do good so they can enger paradise you will enter inside of him and feel all the chemicals enterimg your body and it will make you feel pleasure and numb until youre dissolved and reborn as another sub species if do bad you have punishment and you will enyer him and dihested slowly for eons while chemicals will make you hypersensitive.
This is why I can't stand it when Stormtroopers or other Imperials are shown as stupid, incompetent or cackling moo haha overly evil clowns because these new woke writers want so badly to compare them to American "white supremacy " 🙄 Star Wars Rebels did this all the time. It does a real disservice to the rebellion. I mean how brave and heroic do you need to be to defeat stupid, incompetent or over the top, eye rolling villains. A lot of 1940s, 50s & 60s movies did this with the Germans & Japanese. Just to make the Allied (usually American) troops look like heroes. But if you ever asked any WWII vets about it I guarantee you everyone of them would say the Germans & Japanese were anything but stupid, incompetent or cackling moo haha evil. They were crack troops in the service of their country. It just turned out that their country at that time had some extremely bad intentions. That's why saving PVT Ryan was so good. It was so real. So stop making my stormies morons will ya. And ah- Long Live The Empire.
You can add Elon Musk to that list, now that he has Twitter. What would you bet that the first thing he does is silence his critics? Perhaps critics of Russia too?
I can't get over how GOOD this show is. It's so professional and brilliantly done. And absolutely riveting. And my obsessive-compulsive mind is ecstatic, gorging itself in all the details and minutiae!
Interesting bit of trivia, the prison guards in Andor are using the same blaster models as the security guards / Death Troopers / Naval Troopers use in a New Hope. Nice touch.
Rather than being a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, this all feels like it could be in the not too distant future, in a town near you. I imagine there could be powerful people seriously taking notes on these scenes.
The whirlpools are a nice touch. Anybody dumb enough to try swimming gets drawn by the currents into the whirlpools. What I can't get over is the electric floor. When the system is activated, the tiles will be at different charges, ether positive and negative, or positive OR negative with neutral ground, either works. The problem is that the tiles are too large. If you stand with both feet on the same tile, you'd be completely fine. Need to make the tiles smaller to make this work.
Out of all the spinoff series, Andor is really hitting the marks. I went into it skeptical and now I am impatient until the next episode is released. This prison told a whole story by itself.
The execution of the tungstoid shock was so on-point: disturbingly unnatural contortiony human puppetry… add a little Andy Serkis slavedriving, lite squidgaming, amazon legos, and inmate suicide and it cooks up a pit of dread and terror
I’ve also heard it’s a possible nod to THX-1138 which is just the icing on the cake. Andor is now achieving perfect dystopian vibes on top of its other amazing feats.
One of my favorite things about this channel is you don’t rush out content. You take time to create thoughtful analysis and quality content. It really shows.
You nailed it when you said negative reinforcement. In organizations, when negative reinforcement is the main contingency you will see workers producing the bare minimum just to avoid punishment or penalty. This makes so much sense the empire would be an unethical, poorly run organization. Classic "bad boss".
@@toddkes5890 definitely is positive reinforcement for SOME of them, so good call there. but I think the main reason they work hard is just to not be in last place (and get severely punished). So predominantly negatively reinforced avoidance maintained behavior.
I recognized what the prison guard boots were immediately. That color orange is the same color as insulated tools for electrical work. Sure enough, electrified floors. The prison seems to be designed around the concept of "Span of Control". Military and First Responder leadership training is structured around this, basically one person can reasonably and reliably control up to 7 tasks, people, squads, battalions, etc without being overwhelmed. My two biggest questions about the prison, first is what are they making? I couldn't think of anything in Star Wars that has 6 points of articulation like that, the pins clearly indicate it is meant to move. Second question, what is the giant drainage wells around the prison? First guess was that it feeds turbines for hydropower, but it occurred to me it might also be another layer of deterrence to escape. Anyone trying to approach or leave the prison through the water should get caught up in the current.
I've seen many possibiliies suggested, but I think we're not supposed to know, just like the prisoners. The purpose of the articulated mechanism, as well as the purpose of the whirlpools, are withheld from the prisoners (and us), thus robbing us of freedom of information. Still, the best suggestion I've seen is that the pieces are for building giant honeycomb lattice structures for the shell of the Death Star. That would certainly require six articulated appendages, and it would also explain the incredible number required.
@@kentslocum I don't see why those tiles would need to move. On the other hand, the left side of the TIE Bomber that drops the payload seems to have an internal rotational symmetry of 60 degrees.
All those floor tiles would have to be of opposing electrical charges for the system to work. All you need to do is stand with both feet on the same tile, and you're fine.
@@kentslocum The whirlpools are obvious. Anybody who attempts to swim gets drawn by the currents into the whirlpools. Probably a grinder at the bottom to chomp up anybody dumb enough to try.
All they had to do was stand with both feet on the same plate. The only way this electric floor can work is if the different plates are at different charges when the system is activated, so there's no path to ground if both feet are at the same charge.
I have to wonder just how depressed the writers were after coming up with this, cause I bet they did all sorts of research when putting this together ( the system is just too well thought out, efficient and seamless to be the usual 15 seconds on google looking for ideas you see from most of Hollywood ) Getting some serious 1984 vibes from all this ( a book I was surprised to learn is actually banned in schools in several states....disturbing )
The technique of making everyone compete against everyone else, even within the power structure of the Empire was lifted wholesale from the way the Germans operated internally within the Reich, before and during the Second World War. This was a large factor in their rapid advancements in the early years. It was also a strong contributing factor in many of the missteps they made later on. When it comes to systemic cruelty, the writers have plenty of real-life examples to draw on for inspiration.
I agree that 1984 shouldn't be banned, but I'm pretty sure it's banned in heavily Christian-dominated states because of the explicit sex, not because of the statements about tyranny and destruction of ideas
Small nitpick and correction for anyone who's interested. The type of learning described at 3:40 is actually "positive punishment" not "negative reinforcement" and is a common mistake. The four types of influences on learning are a combination of positive/negative and reinforcement/punishment. The positive/negative axis is in reference to adding or removing stimuli in response to a behavior, and the reinforcement (or reward)/punishment axis is in reference how you want a behavior to be repeated in the future. In the case of the prison, the electrified floor is a new stimulus (positive) meant to punish any uprising or rebellious behavior which the guards certainly don't want to reinforce more of. A "negative reinforcement" treatment usually refers to removing some kind of burden to encourage or reinforce more of the same behavior.
This was a brilliant examination of the prison, but also of the Empire overall, as well as meaningful commentary on our own corporate prisons like Amazon and the forced slave labor in correctional facilities. The changing of people into numbers, cogs, statistics. Chilling, and so relevant. Thank you so much!
I'm really glad you made the connection between the prison and Amazon. Having worked at an Amazon warehouse, that was the FIRST thing I thought of when we saw the prison.
@@Wylie288man, listen again since 8:58 The point is not about competition, but about the absence of human interaction while dealing with the matters of punishment and reward, imo
I honestly had a dream i was in such a prison the night i watched this episode. Nothing is more terrifying than being completely stripped of your freedom
. ⚠️ SPOILER WARNING ⚠️ I have a Theory about the prison, I think I just figured out why the guards were so nervous about being one man short and having to wait for him to check in so they could prep Cassian, also this has a lot to do with the Sign Language between the two inmates while they were waiting in line to be taking back to there cells, here goes. The Prison only has maybe 10 guards and that's it, 10 guards to run all three prisons we saw on the Water and that's why the prison is so to the point when it comes to moving the prisoners around. You see there being only 10 Guards they have to give the impression that there are a lot of them maybe in the hundreds, you see the prisoners never really see the other Control Guards only the floor guards and if you notice we keep seeing the same Guards over and over all over the place and that one guard who was late well the reason I think he was late was due to him having to run quickly from the other prison to get to the next one because there is Noone else to to fill in his shoes. As we could see the guard being late pissed off the other guards, they do not want the inmates to discover the fact that its just them a small 10 man squad running the place but I believe its to late, thats why the two prisoners were communicating between the two using sign Language, they are counting the guards and how long it takes each guard to move around they know the prison is short staffed and they will make there plan to easily take the prison over, thousands of prisoners vs a 10 man squad? Once they shut down that electric floor grid it will be a cake walk to escape for everyone. They will more and likely make shoes out of their uniforms or those plates in the wall to avoid the shock.
@@AudioAndroid quite close but we still quite don't know. We just had a indication of how many guards there are per level at least on Andor's level but there can be less guards on others level or not more than 12 that's what Andy Serkis character seems to be sure about. I don't want to spoil you, there's some massive twist in episode 9 and it's not about the guards but for Andor it's important to know how many guards there are per level to help his escape plan.
This episode reminded me of working at the saw mill. Production bonuses which you basically had to achieve to make ok money. You didn’t get fried, but your kids might not have much of a Christmas. There was competition between shifts. It actually became very toxic. Wait for next episode when they off the old man because he’s holding them back. This isn’t a dystopian future, it’s a concentrated dose of our reality. Had a friend who made liscence plates in jail. I hope they have an episode all about how everyone knows how bad things are, but they are held ransom by a fanatical minority.
I used to work for Amazon in the tul2 fulfillment center, we weren't allowed to talk to our coworkers during our breaks, and if you decide to go to a therapist through them they will fire you, just because you decided to use the benefits that give you. it's a trap
When the Narkina guards first appeared down the pristine white hallway, the way those doors open makes them look like some dark creature materializing out of thin air. Such a great deceptive entrance. Also, do we think the inmate Veemos’ death is of any importance since they must now bring in a replacement? I’m just enthralled by the competency of this Empire’s portrayal. Wednesdays cannot come soon enough. P.s. I was truly saddened when they landed an it was NOT our beloved Sargent Tactical Blueberry.
On that note, the one thing that made less sense to me was that they set up the floor at cell time to kill whoever walks on it, facilitating suicides From an efficiency standpoint, allowing your workers to kill themselves isn't really ideal, even if it only happen once every now and then, because as you said you need to bring in a replacement afterwards If anything, it provides the prisoners a method to escape their little hell, even if this escape is not an ideal one On the contrary I would expect imperial labour prisons to be full of safety nets, forcing the labourers to toil until their bodies fail them without a possibility of escape not even through death
@@KalashVodka175 I see your point. Perhaps their self-assured hubris prevents them from seeing this logic. To them, these workers are all disposable; there will always be more. “Oppression breeds rebellion” and Narkina 5 is bound to be a simmering pressure cooker.
@@KalashVodka175 Good point. However, they have plenty of replacements, given how many prisoners are flooding into the system. Plus, if you have no will to survive, then that's the same as death.
@@KalashVodka175 They want as little contact with inmates as possible because they are so outnumbered. It's easier to just replace someone who attempts suicide than to beat them/whip them repeatedly until someone tries to make it stop - and then you have a riot on your hands.
Yikes, that amazon comparison was real. The way you described Bezos and Zuck too, as despising human interaction and wanting to replace it with brutal efficiency was truly terrifying and eye opening. I mean, I knew it already but seeing it in context while juxtaposed against this show's depiction, while fantasy, made it somehow more real.
How does each room know if they are actually behind other rooms? I just thought of it. The Empire could say to ALL the rooms, you are behind, you must catch up. And see a HUGE boost in productivity from everyone.
Yes, but the Empire needs to have enough carrots along with the sticks that rooms don't despair. It didn't have to reward the winning table, but it does in order to prevent despair setting in. The prisoners need something, no matter how small, to look forward to in order to get buy. Suicidal individuals with nothing left to live for are dangerous. That's probably why the prison makes it so easy to commit suicide. They are winnowing out the ones willing to die to escape. If you have a whole room despairing, then you risk the whole room revolting. And a whole room equipped with tools can revolt very effectively.
I'll have to go back and watch the scene, but during Cass's 'orientation' someone pointed out to him that there's a visible display of the ranking of the rooms, so everyone knows where they stand.
@@fumfering That display could be lying, but one way to show the truth is by letting the floors compete with each other, and all the floors get to see one of the floors getting a reward. So each of these would count as one point: - your team in the room was best - your room on that floor was best - your floor in the prison was best - your prison out of the others was best Subtract a point if your team on the room was worst. (So your team knows you were the one who held them back from getting the benefits) So 1 point means you get flavor in your food 2 points means you get flavor and music 3 points means you get flavor, music, and some other easy benefit (a movie about the joys of hard work and fitting in?) Not sure what 4 points would be
@@trooper326 And those Twi'leks are from another prison and being rewarded by sent to pleasure the guys? If the Empire has heavier prison penalties for aliens, that could be possible, and show just how evil the Empire was. They are being just a few steps short of the "Pius Dea" movement.
Never have I despised the Empire more than when we watched the prison scenes. Ingenious and brilliantly executed on every level. Huge respect for the director, cast and whole crew - this is next level Star Wars.
I don't think I've ever been terrified of the Empire in Star Wars before. This is a whole new level of deep psychological terror. The electric floor idea is so disturbing.
During the scene where they're flying in you can see giant whirlpools at each corner just outside the walls of the prison. Even if you could jump from the top, you'd be sucked under immediately.
Any bets those whirlpools lead to the giant equivalent of a blender? So even if you get to the top of the prison, even if you are healthy enough to swim to shore, the whirlpools will just suck you in and kill you.
@@BlackEpyon When you're getting tossed around by a violent current and undertow, that isn't so easy. If you manage to escape the current you could probably manage it.
What I like most about the infighting (both in ISB, Senate and Prison) is that it keeps everyone in check. They won't move against their superior because they are worried about fighting their equals.
Eight episodes in and we finally saw Gerrera too 😊 Love the video analyses btw, pls keep them coming! There's just so much to unpack in Andor, it's great to see someone who does such great analysis of it!
I loved that they made him a completely un reasonable ideologue. I saw hope just fade in Luden. It seems like Gerrera was actually being energized by his laundry list of political differences.
@@redharvest298 Exactly! When the camera closed in on Saw’s face during Luthen’s “coward” speech, for a moment I thought Luthen was getting through. But then he said the differences were petty and Saw became so energized and dismissed every other point. It made me realize he was only listening intently to find the one thing in Luthen’s argument that he can shoot down so he can feel justified in continuing down his chosen path.
You mentioned the rooms being clean and simple, but I've heard others refer to white room torture when talking about the cells. The bright lights and flat white walls are designed to minimize mental interaction with the environment.
The underwater prison part reminds me of Impel Down prison from One Piece. That prison as well has several levels that torture their occupants from beasts that chase you and razor plants that cut you up to starvation and freezing you to death.
I just found this channel but man I just love the way this dude talks, idk its just so chill and casual but yet insightful and informed, love the content keep it up
Plus Luthen told Andor to always prepare his escape as he is going IN somewhere. He was undoubtedly planning how he would escape when he was heading out
Ditto on the snowboard boots. Funny but distracting. However, that's after a Polaroid served as a navigation device in this series. Part of the Star Wars tradition going back to the ice-cream maker in Cloud City and, let's not forget, flashlights that turn into laser swords.
Escape plan: 1. If your shirt/pants are not conductive, they _could_ possibly be used as makeshift shoes. The bed mattress material can possibly be added for extra protection. 2. The white (non metal?) sidings along the wall seem slanted so one might be able to walk along this perimeter. 3. Take the welding gun Andor was holding to be used as a makeshift weapon. 4. Steal those shoes we saw near the security station. 5. You'll need help from other inmates so start getting friendly with those attempting to communicate. 6. You might need to go for a swim, avoid the whirlpools. 7. Steal a transport somehow and profit!
The tiles will be at different charges when the system is activated, so just stand with both feet on the same tile, and the floor can't hurt you. Anybody with a basic knowledge of electricity should have figured this out. You can't be electrocuted if you provide no path to ground!
@@BlackEpyon the floor is made of a fictional material anyways, so what gives you the confidence over how its constructed? I'd assume the aforementioned material is at least in part a cause for its properties. The panels could contain a positive and negative wire within the same panel in a winding pattern to always maximise contact. Personally from the first prison episode I assumed the floor actually vibrates at very high frequency and just uses electricity to stimulate that, but the latter episodes make it less likely even if not impossible.
Star Wars has such cool prison concepts. I got major “Corran Horn trying to observe everything to break from Lusaka” vibes from Andor looking at everything
Another interesting thing is that in the same episode, Belsavis was at least namedropped just before Cassian gets into the ship. So imagine we would have seen that planet with all its glory, now that its back in canon.
An electrified floor only works if you're standing on two different plates at two different voltages. If you're on one plate, there's no difference in voltage between your feet to induce a flow of current.
FINALLY! Somebody else noticed! They need to make the floor plates smaller, otherwise anybody with a basic knowledge of electricity can figure out how to beat that system!
When they first started touring the facility and showing off the working conditions and then how big the facility really was... that was far more terrifying than I ever expected to feel in the show... Horror movies having to put that type of dread into me before
When the guard said “Take off your shoes.” It hit so hard. I cannot believe that a Disney show allowed a scene where a guard said that to prisoners in a transport before they enter the facility.
I worked in an auto factory for 8 months...there were quotas for parts per hour and quotas for total parts per shift which often increased. If you didn't meet your shifts quota, the next shift would have them added to theirs, it's designed to feel competitive and you'd be reprimanded for being too slow even when quotas were impossible meet safely. So the factory prision here feels very grounded, similar methods/sentiments are used every day in factories and prisons in our real lives making it all the more chilling.
Yeah, hugely ironic. Did not get busted for the heist, but does get busted for it's implications on imperial policy while doing nothing wrong. Things like this are one of the many reasons why I love this show so much.
My wife knows some people who’ve lived through the US prison labor system, several aspects of this came out as very familiar to them. They didn’t create a dystopian system, other than the floors. They just did their homework.
Straight up bro, when writing a dystopia set in future America and I write something and go "Okay Surely this isn't already a thing" some American drops I and goes "Oh yeah lol,m they've been doing that for decades" and I die a little more in inside.
Loving your Andor content!!! Hoping this is a sign of Star Wars getting back to an upward trajectory. This writing reminds me of the books and KOTOR. More of this please.
It's hilarious that everybody is looking for Andor and probably assuming that he's skillful enough to disappear. When in reality, he got arrested for walking to the store.
That prison is actually scary. Reminded me of a factory job I did for a while three years ago, where the different lines competed with each other to assemble certain machinery parts.. I hated it.
I love the irony of Andor being put in prison for no reason despite having just committed numerous real crimes an episode before.
I said the exact same thing
I thought this is from his past. Right?
I had a similar thought. Dude kills two people and robs an Imperial Garrison. Then he's arrested for walking on a beach.
@@desputnikcommander he gets arrested while he's "on vacation" after the raid
@@desputnikcommander that wouldn't make much sense, the main reason he got arrested is because of the empire cracking down as the result of the heist Andor took part in.
This episode made me realize that the whole point of this series seems to be making you feel what it's like to live under the Empire's thumb. Different characters show it from different angles. Even Mon Mothma shows that your power (if you have any) can be slowly stripped and have a target painted on you for not conforming. Your allies can quickly become enemies. This whole show is basically "Ruling By Fear" the series and shows exactly how that works at almost all levels.
And they don't just tell you... They want you to feel it. Instead of explaining, they want you to feel what the Rebellion is fighting against in the original trilogy, why the Empire is feared, and why the events of those movies are so significant.
Mhm, and the central theme is Machievelli's ultimate point, one that gets ignored by dictators time and time again - even though it is better to be feared than loved, it is best to be both, and you must avoid being hated. Palpatine and his underlings ignored this, festering every kind of cruelty and barbarity imaginable until the average person decided that death was a far better alternative than the continued misery of existing under a tyrant with delusions of godhood.
@@ladygrey7425 you say delusions, i say he was getting there.
That aside, you are right.
This is what's great about Andor they follow that golden rule 'show don't tell'
you just glimpsed America's corporate-fascist future under one-party republican rule
True true
The part where Cassian is in the tunnel realizing how big the facility is really puts into perspective how big the galaxy is. So many prisoners and that's only one of the facilities on Narkani 5 which is only one of the prison planets. And they're all human men - where do they put all the women and aliens? He's realizing just now how right Maarva was.
Come to that, what happened to the aliens in the majority of the show? Outside of Planet Miami we haven't seen any (certainly no characters or even speaking extras) so what has the Empire been up to with them?
(or is it just a budget thing?)
There is the whole aspect that people forget, the empire is very xenophobic. So probably they are all pushed to outlying planets/ into specific penal colonies. You probably won’t see any in coruscant anymore- making space for the “just and true” humans. This whole episode just really hammered how actually terrifying and all controlling the empire is. Like legitimate control and power not comedic evil
It simple aliens are too expensive (from a wardrobe point) to do for the series so just make it a human prison. Don't read too much into anything.
The empire is extremly xenophobic towards non-humans. They probably don't have the same "luxury" as Humans.
@@Dave0G There where some aliens in 1st episode in Corpo planet and at Mon Mothma's parties but other then at we haven't seen much aliens
i really love how they focused on how observant cassian is. i feel like he barely spoke this episode but how cassian noted the boots, how the guards acted and so on. it makes you hope that maybe cassian is planning how to get out. diego luna is amazing as cassian, i seriously love his performance in this show
And his despair was so obvious. He doesn't think he can break this puzzle.
For some reason this made me think about Luthen’s second lesson to Andor when they were surrounded in episode 3 and he detonated the explosives he’d set….build your exit on the way in. We’ve already had setup that shows how observant Andor is when he knew if each of the rebels was left or right handed. Now we see that gift for observation is his only weapon and despite being shell shocked, he’s using that to “build” his exit.
Cassian is a survivor, that is partly why he is a schemer and "scammer: as one of the guys who he owed money to on Ferrix called him. The prison intake scene is when Cassian finally portrays fear on his face. Lets not forget that courage is fear holding out a minute longer.
@@ellicel Spot on. Good analysis. By taking in everything he's seeing on the way in he can build his exit perhaps tracing his steps back a certain sense.
Or he went to the Kristen Stewart school of acting. It boggles my mind how many actors in major roles spend a huge amount of time standing around looking clueless, hurt, and mouth gaping (Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, etc) the characters have a few skills, great friends, but zero character. Yes I'm complaining about separate things, but you see this "acting" happen because the character that is supposed to be a hero.
The guard being late was brilliant. It makes them relatable, they seem like normal people that we know in our own world; getting nervous, being late, etc. And then you can see how Andor is getting nervous and you ask yourself: Will he try to flee? Is this already how he will get out of there?
It's not just to make the guards relatable. It's showing, in the context of what we will soon see of the prisoners, that the guards are prisoners too.
The prisoners are worried about being short-handed. So are the guards. The prisoners worried about falling seconds behind schedule. So are the guards. The prisoners are under continual stress. So are the guards. The guards are cogs that have to keep this regimented high-pressure system running. They have to meet their own deadlines and their own quotas. They are probably competing against other prisons as well, facing subtle rewards or punishments if their prison isn't as productive as other prisons.
The guard being late is a clue that he is a spy and will help Andor break free. That's all. Movies don't make people do things so they're relatable, people do things because there is a plot drivin reason
I think the point of that is that those details of how they operate that Andor observed will factor into his eventual escape plans
@@TraceguyRune Unless they are very well written.
Honestly yeah I completely related to them in that moment because everyone has had that issue in work where you're on a schedule and someone is just taking their damn time and you get frustrated. Just a simple 2 or 3 lines of pointless dialogue and it makes the world feel normal.
The Prison sequence made me so fearful that even Andor's minor rebellion of not fully clasping his hands behind his head had me tensing up.
Same here.
That little detail... those little things. Makes you wonder if it's the actors/director(s) actually putting conscious effort into it, or if it's a slightly more subconscious thing.
In any case, I like the fact Andor has his hands slightly more loose. Would make moving his hands away from his head a split-second faster (like if he was trying to fight). I'm a little surprised the guards, being nervous, didn't make a fuss over that. Then again, they might've thought there was no point. I could also just be over-analyzing this all, and it's really just a guy putting his hands on his head in a "lazy" or "non-compliant" way.
@@jazermanoit’s not about possibly reacting faster, it’s Cassians way of rebelling. He keeps his hands as far away from the back of his head as possible. He cherishes every second he has on the floor before stepping into his cell. It’s how he stays sane
@@RedDeadDepressionist I like your perspective, thank you. I suppose when you put it that way... it's the little acts of resistance that keep us sane. And the small, spontaneous acts og rebellion that eventually broke the Empire.
Im surprised you didn’t mention anything about their “cells” being so open giving them the illusion they can walk around freely, until the scene where the guy ends it, that was a lot darker than i thought this show was gonna get
At the end, he was free...
"“You only have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power-he’s free again.” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In a cell with no bars the prison is your mind
the darkest part was the reaction by the other prisoners. Instead of being shocked by this alot of them were clearly used to people ending their lives this way and instead complained about how the room will smell until someone finally will come pick up the corpse.
@@blackm4niac yes, they weren’t even sorry for him, they were like “who is it this time?” But im almost glad to see this darker side of the empire that we’ve never gotten to see, they truly broke people and its never shown in the movies just how purely evil they were
Edit: obviously not glad, but to finally see how far the empire took their power is something i never thought we’d see on screen
One of the most messed up things is, the food and water the prisoners are getting is probably really healthy and good for them. With this as their only dietary intake, they probably get physically healthier than they were outside. Particularly than if they came from a impoverished place, which many of them probably did.
when they said "you can eat as much as you want" I thought that was really clever. They're working 12 hours a day , so they're exhausted most of the time and the food would be their only pleasure.
You know this makes me think that while the Empire doesn't care about anyone who lives or dies in their, doesn't necessarily mean they want *everyone* to die even those in the penal system.
They just kill as they do to maintain order albeit in an extreme manner.
Made me think the food is Star Wars' own Soylent Green, and they're eating old, dead prisoners.
Everyone forgets they said the food is unflavored tho only ones that exceeded quota got to enjoy occasional flavor
@@catherinesanchez1185The food was hardly "pleasure" though, only a couple people per day got to have flavor in their food. Otherwise it was flavorless mush
This show has some of the best prison scenes in anything I've ever watched. I attribute a lot of it to the slow pacing and terrific acting. You feel what they feel and it pulls you into their world of despair.
Yeah, the Imperial prison was really, really, REALLY sinister.
The only one i've seen as good as this would be Colony, which is another brilliant show.
@@ArgentWolf95 Another Classic prison movie is Papillon starring Duston Hoffman, from 1973 excellent film.
@@farwoodfarm9296 and you can't forget the Classic: The Great Escape!
Hogan’s Heroes, obviously!
Another part of the genius of the factory-prison scheme that I think was omitted is how the enforced productivity competition doesn't *just* pit table teams against each other, because they know that their whole room and floor is also competing with the other rooms and floors. So you want your table to win, but you also want your whole room to do well, and instead of motivating you to undermine the other tables and risk sabotaging your whole room, the only sensible outlet for your fear of punishment is to be the most productive individual cog you can be, and to push your whole table *and* your whole room to work harder. And because you're learning that your reward or punishment depends on the rest of your team, it creates a perverse sense of loyalty that's contingent upon your cohorts working as hard as they can. Isolated from the guards, the prisoners forget about them and the only 'bad guy' is whoever isn't carrying his weight, or whoever kills himself and leaves his team short a man, hurting their productivity.
I'm betting that by the time an opportunity to escape does present itself, Cassian might be so conditioned by that system that he'll be hesitatant-- having felt his well-being depend upon his table team, the thought of leaving them to be punished for falling behind without him may produce a feeling of "pre-guilt." We'll see soon though, I guess.
Couldn´t have said it any better.
or the whole place gets attacked the power shut off etc and all of them can escape etc. aka a outside attack can break the whole place down.
What the fisp-
There's a similar concept I observe working at UPS. While there's no punishment or competition, we push ourselves in the hope that others do too so that things run smoothly and we go home on time. Our problems stem from those who are lazy and don't load quick enough or don't break their jams, causing the flow of work to stop and back up, or those who send a too-large item and cause a jam, which has knock on effects. In the end, the real enemy is the customers who buy more than they need 🤣
@@Jootunn The real enemy is the head management at UPS which is continuously ordering more shipments of packages than the facilities can handle. When we took the Amazon contract, we should have immediately drawn back on other contracts to focus on handling what we could of our main supplier. Instead, we slammed record loads year-over-year down the hub's throats while taking crippling losses in experienced employee retention. All that's left is new guys led by new supervisors, or it was when I packed out late 2022.
What's also genius about the prison system is that there is a potential flaw in the reward system: it's based on who's fastest and slowest. Based on this, prisoners who are in contact with each other can make a deal: all of them could work slowly so that everyone wouldn't need to rush so much. Except, they are also competing against groups who they have no contact with (apart from sign language with some other groups). This makes it impossible to make this kind of deal.
I appreciated the vagueness of what they were building: equal parts functional and yet removed of purpose; they aren’t even denied a simple satisfaction of idle and natural curiosity of knowing wtf they’re accomplishing through their slave labor
The flaw is...what is the flavor, and will it be one i like???
The factory I worked in back in the day was like this and there was a lot of "don't work too fast" going on. There were eight different lines in different buildings, and of course upper management tried to make them compete. While yes, the workers/prisoners don't communicate, the Guards who are running each floor do and likely their pay is based on how productive their floor is so they will just try to trip up the other six floors. I am going to predict this is going to come out over the Andor's prison story arch the guards spend most of their time playing petty mind games on each other because Imperial self sabotage seems to be the series theme.
@@hellfish2309 Someone from potentially thousands of prisoners on the planet would probably know and would share with others. But it really reminds me of the work I experienced in different factories. Unless you're working at final assembly, you don't really know what you're working with unless you're told by someone. It's just parts that you might recognize from something if you're lucky, but most likely won't as it looks nothing like final product.
@@CCFONESOL If the food you're given is flavorless, then any flavour you'd occasionally be given would seem like going to flavortown. Another possibility is that they provide multiple options, or that the flavor they provide is universally appreciated (something like salt, potatoes or chips without any salt are meh, but with salt, they are liked by pretty much everyone).
I continue to be shocked at how much quality is put into Andor at all levels. I suppose I shouldn't be considering Rogue One but it's just incredible. I really hope this team is given more projects.
same here man. the talent on display is just astounding. making me happy to be a star wars fan again; a feeling I been missing.
It would be awesome to see this team tackle some of the book series. The Thrawn series would be epic with these writers. So would the Young Jedi Knights series and the Yuzahn Vong invasion books.
Rogue One was super mid, Andor has been the best star wars media since episode 6.
@@IntrusiveThot420 Rogue One was quite good tbh
I think there's another thing that is brilliant about this prison system
The mental effect on the guards. Think about it, they aren't even harming prisoners directly, they push a button and zap, but they don't even have to look at what they are doing.
If you don't even see the man you torment its even easier to dehumanize them and to harm them when they break a rule.
There was an experiment, I can't remember right now its name, were a voluntaty was tasked with give an electrical shock to a person if that person reponded wrong to a question. The energy will be increased for every wrong answer to a point that it would be letal to a person. What makes this experiment relevant was that the person been shocked was just acting and the people behind the experiment were trying to see how far people would follow orders blindly, sadly very far, most voluntaries just did what they were told regarless of the well being of the other person.
It's basically the Milgram experiment, down to the levels of electrocution
Stanley Milgram did a psychological study on this in the 60's along the same lines as this, its discomforting how grounded this show can be in reality
Drone pilots sitting safely in the US have high incidents of PTSD.
That prison was a mental mind screw they were tormented mentally more than physically which can be worse.
10:30 I think the reason that the Empire has always been portrayed as 'cartoonishly cruel', is because we always saw the Empire through the eyes of big threats who needed to be torchered and taken down to avoid any further problems.
This is the first time we see normal civilians being oppressed by the empire and to avoid protests, the empire is doing it in a more subtle manner so that civilians wouldn't protest.
They just handle threats/enemies in another way than civilians, both equally evil. And it's so cool seeing everything from a new, yet more relatable perspective in the Andor series.
It’s like the stormtroopers skill . Our protagonists are usually exceptional people . But the average guy running a shop in this galaxy is not
Brutality, Torture, Slave labor. “Oppression breeds Rebellion”. That one line really highlights this episode. As if you need any more proof of the vileness of the empire. The Jedi aren’t coming so these people have to save themselves. To stand together as a united front. It’s gonna be a beautiful thing.
The Jedi wouldn't save them anyway unless a potential Padawan was there for them to traffic in.
@@Ideo7Z remember how neglected the republic was to the outer rim despite its sky high rate of crimes and syndicates exploiting people around during the Clone Wars so u aren’t necessarily wrong
The Jedi can only operate in the jurisdiction of the republic. So even if they existed, if you're a prisoner in the outter rim, they aren't coming to save you.
The Gulags were quite 'corrupt', and many hard men on the 'inside' learned how to use the system. After the USSR fell apart, lots of the 'Red Mafia' came from both these inmates and the guards, as well as the Intel services. Guys who survived in Siberia probably laugh at an American 'Supermax'.
It's also a "real world" look into how a people unite to free themselves from oppression. Because depending on a group of anonymous "super beings," aka Jedi, to save them is not only extremely unlikely, it's probably never going to happen. This is a super-important message for the real world. Especially for what's going on in China right now.
The detail about the 7 prisoners representing the 7 spokes in the Imperial symbol is insane. This is as cerebral and artistic as Star Wars has ever been.
The Imperial symbol have 6 spokes only but nice try, it would had been so beautiful
@@fabulousfrance
Ah, got ahead of myself. :p It looks like the things they’re making have 6 spokes though.
@@drksideofthewal You spoke too soon.
That guard was so excited to deliver that demonstration. I’m picturing him excitedly rehearsing the speech in his head all morning in the mirror. 😆
Well this ain’t the guy’s first plate at this particular buffet
@@hellfish2309 but probably the highlight of his day
It was Star wars turn at a "Bridge at the River Kwai" speach. Basically wondering why our prison looks so easy to escape its because attempting it is basically death. Star Trek has Rura Penta a prison mine run by the Klingon empire on a Ice Moon. The Warden loves his welcome to Hell speach.
@@JeffreyPiatt I’d much rather vacation on Rura Penthe than try my case in Cardassian Tribunal
The power to dominate over those he has decided to dehumanize. I realize there is an odd racism involved in that word in a galaxy filled with intelligent alien life but whatever word you choose to use it's still the same concept. He looks on the prisoners as vermin, people who deserve what they are getting and do not deserve any empathy or compassion. We have a history as a species of treating our fellow man this way. Othering is used to foment hate against people that are deemed different. Those that are different are devalued and dehumanized and treated as vermin, rats or roaches. Then it becomes much easier to commit atrocities against those others and to avoid having empathy for the others...
The scariest thing about this prison… is the idea that this form of human cruelty existed in the shadows of the Republic. It all becomes normalized after the Empire takes over. Cassian was perhaps able to put the rebellion behind him because he viewed it as a ideological crusade that wouldn’t, or perhaps shouldn’t, impact those who didn’t participate. However - that isn’t the case, as we see he gets picked up and sentenced to this place for “loitering.” It’s extremely terrifying that these are the types of charges they would levy just to find slave labour… then ex-post facto longer sentences after the fact.
Whatever happened to Cassian's parents - let alone his sister - would have occurred under the Old Republic's watch. It's no surprise some systems wanted to leave the Republic officially.
Yeah, the guy with cruel but efficient ideas in how to punish so-called deviants from the normal community may have been shunned in the Republic, even seen as insane and put away somewhere he couldn't harm anybody, but in the Empire, this person would be a bastion of everything society has been reorganized to represent.
Note the massive whirlpools generated next to the exterior walls of the complex; even if a prisoner made it to open air, they would certainly drown in the attempt to swim free. There is a fantastic amount of thought put into this series.
That was my first thought as well, there will be no escape by sea.
lol
I thought the same. Was surprised when swimming away actually worked... well if you COULD swim
@@SpartanK4102 they shutdown the hydro generators first. That was Andor's command when he took the control room.
@@SpartanK4102 I'm pretty sure the whirlpools stopped when they shut down the hydro-generators, but the editors show an internal shot instead of outside the facility.
There were two parts that really hit home, the first being the line of "Ignore whatever the number says, you're here until they're _done_ with you." Because, while you're in the system, the Empire can just invent whatever reasons they want to keep you there for as long as they want. It doesn't matter what your sentence says, you only get to leave when the empire lets you leave. The other bit that I found extremely striking was how the prisoner's reacted to a suicide. Very little empathy, just comments about smelling it for the rest of the night. They didn't really even seem that surprised, just... Annoyed. It's got to be a common occurrence. And honestly, with that first bit in mind, it makes sense. If you know you're never getting out, that working this awful soul-crushing job is the rest of your life, then really the only choice you've got, the only thing the Empire hasn't taken away, is the choice of whether you even continue existing. And maybe it's better to just... Not.
Absolutely horrific, 10/10
Guantanamo Bay anyone?
@@Mandosami no, moron
I want to say as a person that has been to prison, And spent 4 years in prison. This was was so close to the truth of what’s it’s like it was scary, the fear, anxiety, and confusion. When Andor steps in just as I did everyone indeed stops and looks at you to asses you or size you up no matter what they were doing. The guards or Correctional Officers are really cool down to earth and just doing their job or they are just some of the worst human beings in existence who find joy in another’s suffering. In prison system they have a program called unicor and you make cups, spoons, knifes, forks and sew uniforms all for the US military. The level of efficiency they want is like that of a sweat shop and you are rewarded for high productivity levels and punished for slacking either as individuals or as teams. So the parallels to this was really well done seeing both sides of life.
How did you deal with finding decent work after such an ordeal? Like with applications asking "have you committed crimes or been prosecuted?"
This scene was heartbreaking to me because it reminds me of my actual working life. Some conditions on Andor are far superior to mine. I'm sure the idea for zapping floors will be followed in many industries soon.
I hate that I had the same thoughts. Like, it's bleak and dismal, but those prisoners actually have it better than many American prisoners (as well as many outside the system.)
Everyone: "Where is Andor?!"
Hilariously he's already in your prison but that's probably the LAST place you'll be looking for him.
That's the BEST !!!! They 're scouring the galaxy for him and they already have him in custody!!
Nobody's listening!
literally.
To be fair he’s using an alias.
KEEF GIIIIIIRRGOOOOO
They had his face and everything, but they don't even keep straight records of their own prison system. That's how gargantuan it is, they have incarcerated so many people that they can't even remember them all.
Original trilogy - horrors of Vietnam war
Prequel trilogy - horrors of militarism and imperialism
Andor - horrors of oppression and dehumanization
Sequel trilogy - tells us about horrors of corporate GREED
Agreed 100%, but to add, the Prequel Trilogy is also about the lead-up to and the horrors of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the War on Terror. The Sequel Trilogy is about to the resurgence of Fascism and Nazism in the shadows after seemingly being defeated in the past, and the oblivious corporate Centrist governments not taking the threat seriously until it's literally on their doorstep and blowing up planets again. Like the current rise of Fascist parties in Europe and the Americas after Fascism was supposedly "defeated" in the 1940s, not being taken seriously by most current governments in the Americas and Europe.
That prison design and concept is Diabolical! Your table , your room, your floor. All keeping you in line working to avoid punishment. The ending scene reinforced what a hell they’re in.
Some folks it reminds them of The John Woo Movie, 'Face/Off' with Nic Cage and Travolta.
From a meta standpoint that last point about andor’s themes and message really hits home when you think about how the show exists under the intellectual property of one of the soul crushing, monopolistic corporations that it rides against.
Thanks for appreciating Andor Ep. 8.. while some vloggers just really couldn't get a day by without trashing Andor. I find their lack of faith disturbing.
All too easy!
I mean I’ll trash it if it’s not good… but Andor is just objective high quality cinema and storytelling
The story being told is very good. The pacing makes it a chore to watch.
It's an unfortunate side effect of people checking social media every few seconds, CGI with a billion things going on at once, et al. Dopamine is released, affecting the brain like gambling or a drug. There's a desire for something more, and more, and more ... immediate payoffs. Storytelling doesn't activate that reward center.
No Its wose than that. Some of these channels just make more money hating on things. So when something good like andor comes along they continue to trash it.
Seeing the Empire so threatening and actually acting like Imperialist instead of a bunch of clowns is really eye-opening.
Heroes and Villain's defined from a spreadsheet. Data is the new frontier.
We will all become just algorithms in the sea of the Metaverse with Emperor Zuckenberg overseeing his empire.
When human population increases they will mass produce genetic altered insects for us to consume all traditional meats will sold to the superiors. They will harvest our minds and make us more docile select bunch of us will be neutered and sterilised to maintain human pop. Elon musk jeff bezos will have orgy parties with the fertile young population for their pleasure and amusement as theyre immortal being cybernetically enhanced they get bored from previous enertainment and seek more. All the dead population or defevted people will be put into tanks and nutrients will be absorbed and injected to modified children. Human evolution will be rapid it will be artificial and there will many sub races within earth all with different duties based on their genetic makeup. Mark zuckenverg will be considered true god everyone will worship and follow him and do good so they can enger paradise you will enter inside of him and feel all the chemicals enterimg your body and it will make you feel pleasure and numb until youre dissolved and reborn as another sub species if do bad you have punishment and you will enyer him and dihested slowly for eons while chemicals will make you hypersensitive.
Something changed befor "A New Hope"
Most likely instrument of change was Tarkin.
This is why I can't stand it when Stormtroopers or other Imperials are shown as stupid, incompetent or cackling moo haha overly evil clowns because these new woke writers want so badly to compare them to American "white supremacy " 🙄 Star Wars Rebels did this all the time. It does a real disservice to the rebellion. I mean how brave and heroic do you need to be to defeat stupid, incompetent or over the top, eye rolling villains. A lot of 1940s, 50s & 60s movies did this with the Germans & Japanese. Just to make the Allied (usually American) troops look like heroes. But if you ever asked any WWII vets about it I guarantee you everyone of them would say the Germans & Japanese were anything but stupid, incompetent or cackling moo haha evil. They were crack troops in the service of their country. It just turned out that their country at that time had some extremely bad intentions. That's why saving PVT Ryan was so good. It was so real. So stop making my stormies morons will ya.
And ah- Long Live The Empire.
You can add Elon Musk to that list, now that he has Twitter. What would you bet that the first thing he does is silence his critics? Perhaps critics of Russia too?
@@BlackEpyon saying as if twitter wasnt like that before gahah
I can't get over how GOOD this show is. It's so professional and brilliantly done. And absolutely riveting.
And my obsessive-compulsive mind is ecstatic, gorging itself in all the details and minutiae!
Interesting bit of trivia, the prison guards in Andor are using the same blaster models as the security guards / Death Troopers / Naval Troopers use in a New Hope. Nice touch.
I keep hoping those guys will show up.
Rather than being a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, this all feels like it could be in the not too distant future, in a town near you. I imagine there could be powerful people seriously taking notes on these scenes.
Considering the inspiration came from our reality's not so distant past, history is doomed to repeat.
Brings a whole new meaning to the floor is lava. The whirlpool security gates were nasty too.
Anakin: I don’t need to be retaught the meaning…
The whirlpools are a nice touch. Anybody dumb enough to try swimming gets drawn by the currents into the whirlpools.
What I can't get over is the electric floor. When the system is activated, the tiles will be at different charges, ether positive and negative, or positive OR negative with neutral ground, either works. The problem is that the tiles are too large. If you stand with both feet on the same tile, you'd be completely fine. Need to make the tiles smaller to make this work.
Out of all the spinoff series, Andor is really hitting the marks. I went into it skeptical and now I am impatient until the next episode is released. This prison told a whole story by itself.
The execution of the tungstoid shock was so on-point: disturbingly unnatural contortiony human puppetry… add a little Andy Serkis slavedriving, lite squidgaming, amazon legos, and inmate suicide and it cooks up a pit of dread and terror
I’ve also heard it’s a possible nod to THX-1138 which is just the icing on the cake. Andor is now achieving perfect dystopian vibes on top of its other amazing feats.
One of my favorite things about this channel is you don’t rush out content. You take time to create thoughtful analysis and quality content. It really shows.
You nailed it when you said negative reinforcement. In organizations, when negative reinforcement is the main contingency you will see workers producing the bare minimum just to avoid punishment or penalty. This makes so much sense the empire would be an unethical, poorly run organization. Classic "bad boss".
IT's also how slave plantations and a lot of forced labor concentration camps were and are run. It never goes anywhere good.
Not just negative, but also the best team gets positive reinforcement. You have to have the carrot to make the stick work properly
@@toddkes5890 definitely is positive reinforcement for SOME of them, so good call there. but I think the main reason they work hard is just to not be in last place (and get severely punished). So predominantly negatively reinforced avoidance maintained behavior.
I recognized what the prison guard boots were immediately. That color orange is the same color as insulated tools for electrical work. Sure enough, electrified floors.
The prison seems to be designed around the concept of "Span of Control". Military and First Responder leadership training is structured around this, basically one person can reasonably and reliably control up to 7 tasks, people, squads, battalions, etc without being overwhelmed.
My two biggest questions about the prison, first is what are they making? I couldn't think of anything in Star Wars that has 6 points of articulation like that, the pins clearly indicate it is meant to move.
Second question, what is the giant drainage wells around the prison? First guess was that it feeds turbines for hydropower, but it occurred to me it might also be another layer of deterrence to escape. Anyone trying to approach or leave the prison through the water should get caught up in the current.
Maybe it's part of a TIE Bomber mechanism?
I've seen many possibiliies suggested, but I think we're not supposed to know, just like the prisoners. The purpose of the articulated mechanism, as well as the purpose of the whirlpools, are withheld from the prisoners (and us), thus robbing us of freedom of information. Still, the best suggestion I've seen is that the pieces are for building giant honeycomb lattice structures for the shell of the Death Star. That would certainly require six articulated appendages, and it would also explain the incredible number required.
@@kentslocum I don't see why those tiles would need to move. On the other hand, the left side of the TIE Bomber that drops the payload seems to have an internal rotational symmetry of 60 degrees.
All those floor tiles would have to be of opposing electrical charges for the system to work. All you need to do is stand with both feet on the same tile, and you're fine.
@@kentslocum The whirlpools are obvious. Anybody who attempts to swim gets drawn by the currents into the whirlpools. Probably a grinder at the bottom to chomp up anybody dumb enough to try.
Prison warden: _turns on the electric floor and shocks the prisoners_
Me: Whoa. Andor and the boys are in their bboy stance.
LMAO! You sir won the internet today.
Andor 2: Electric Boogaloo
All they had to do was stand with both feet on the same plate. The only way this electric floor can work is if the different plates are at different charges when the system is activated, so there's no path to ground if both feet are at the same charge.
I have to wonder just how depressed the writers were after coming up with this, cause I bet they did all sorts of research when putting this together ( the system is just too well thought out, efficient and seamless to be the usual 15 seconds on google looking for ideas you see from most of Hollywood ) Getting some serious 1984 vibes from all this ( a book I was surprised to learn is actually banned in schools in several states....disturbing )
You need not look further than the US prison system, and extrapolate and exaggerate from there.
The technique of making everyone compete against everyone else, even within the power structure of the Empire was lifted wholesale from the way the Germans operated internally within the Reich, before and during the Second World War. This was a large factor in their rapid advancements in the early years. It was also a strong contributing factor in many of the missteps they made later on.
When it comes to systemic cruelty, the writers have plenty of real-life examples to draw on for inspiration.
I agree that 1984 shouldn't be banned, but I'm pretty sure it's banned in heavily Christian-dominated states because of the explicit sex, not because of the statements about tyranny and destruction of ideas
IMO, everyone needs to read 1984 and heed the warnings it gives.
@@nullone3181 I'm pretty sure some executives are already taking notes.
Small nitpick and correction for anyone who's interested. The type of learning described at 3:40 is actually "positive punishment" not "negative reinforcement" and is a common mistake. The four types of influences on learning are a combination of positive/negative and reinforcement/punishment. The positive/negative axis is in reference to adding or removing stimuli in response to a behavior, and the reinforcement (or reward)/punishment axis is in reference how you want a behavior to be repeated in the future. In the case of the prison, the electrified floor is a new stimulus (positive) meant to punish any uprising or rebellious behavior which the guards certainly don't want to reinforce more of.
A "negative reinforcement" treatment usually refers to removing some kind of burden to encourage or reinforce more of the same behavior.
This was a brilliant examination of the prison, but also of the Empire overall, as well as meaningful commentary on our own corporate prisons like Amazon and the forced slave labor in correctional facilities.
The changing of people into numbers, cogs, statistics.
Chilling, and so relevant.
Thank you so much!
Man imperial prison can be so evil, but so effective lol. Great video
I'm really glad you made the connection between the prison and Amazon. Having worked at an Amazon warehouse, that was the FIRST thing I thought of when we saw the prison.
If you worked at amazon, you'd understand how amazons system works and wouldn't be making this comment. There is no competition.
@@Wylie288man, listen again since 8:58
The point is not about competition, but about the absence of human interaction while dealing with the matters of punishment and reward, imo
Every time I watch one of your videos on Andor, I just appreciate this show even more.
They somehow made the destruction of the Death Star even more satisfying to watch. A great show with great writing.
Laughed when you included Barad-dûr in the imperial building segment in the beginning of the video. So apt.
I was not expecting this video to apply to my everyday life, but it's uncomfortably eerie how much of it rings true.
I honestly had a dream i was in such a prison the night i watched this episode. Nothing is more terrifying than being completely stripped of your freedom
. ⚠️ SPOILER WARNING ⚠️
I have a Theory about the prison, I think I just figured out why the guards were so nervous about being one man short and having to wait for him to check in so they could prep Cassian, also this has a lot to do with the Sign Language between the two inmates while they were waiting in line to be taking back to there cells, here goes.
The Prison only has maybe 10 guards and that's it, 10 guards to run all three prisons we saw on the Water and that's why the prison is so to the point when it comes to moving the prisoners around.
You see there being only 10 Guards they have to give the impression that there are a lot of them maybe in the hundreds, you see the prisoners never really see the other Control Guards only the floor guards and if you notice we keep seeing the same Guards over and over all over the place and that one guard who was late well the reason I think he was late was due to him having to run quickly from the other prison to get to the next one because there is Noone else to to fill in his shoes. As we could see the guard being late pissed off the other guards, they do not want the inmates to discover the fact that its just them a small 10 man squad running the place but I believe its to late, thats why the two prisoners were communicating between the two using sign Language, they are counting the guards and how long it takes each guard to move around they know the prison is short staffed and they will make there plan to easily take the prison over, thousands of prisoners vs a 10 man squad? Once they shut down that electric floor grid it will be a cake walk to escape for everyone. They will more and likely make shoes out of their uniforms or those plates in the wall to avoid the shock.
Wow! It's a great theory and very plausible, you got eyes of eagle there. Never tought the sign language could be to count the guards
I think it was mentioned that there are twelve guards.
@@bjornh4664 yes recently. But more than a week ago, on the previous episode, it wasn't mentionned, that's what we were talking about.
@@fabulousfrance my internet is out so I haven't seen the latest episode were we right?
@@AudioAndroid quite close but we still quite don't know. We just had a indication of how many guards there are per level at least on Andor's level but there can be less guards on others level or not more than 12 that's what Andy Serkis character seems to be sure about. I don't want to spoil you, there's some massive twist in episode 9 and it's not about the guards but for Andor it's important to know how many guards there are per level to help his escape plan.
The place seemed to take a lot of visual inspiration from THX 1138, which was most appropriate and would surely bring a smile to George's face
This episode reminded me of working at the saw mill. Production bonuses which you basically had to achieve to make ok money. You didn’t get fried, but your kids might not have much of a Christmas. There was competition between shifts. It actually became very toxic. Wait for next episode when they off the old man because he’s holding them back. This isn’t a dystopian future, it’s a concentrated dose of our reality. Had a friend who made liscence plates in jail. I hope they have an episode all about how everyone knows how bad things are, but they are held ransom by a fanatical minority.
The design of the Imperial prison is utterly brilliant.
I used to work for Amazon in the tul2 fulfillment center, we weren't allowed to talk to our coworkers during our breaks, and if you decide to go to a therapist through them they will fire you, just because you decided to use the benefits that give you. it's a trap
I wonder what Solzhenitsyn would think of Amazon compared to Siberia.
When the Narkina guards first appeared down the pristine white hallway, the way those doors open makes them look like some dark creature materializing out of thin air. Such a great deceptive entrance.
Also, do we think the inmate Veemos’ death is of any importance since they must now bring in a replacement?
I’m just enthralled by the competency of this Empire’s portrayal. Wednesdays cannot come soon enough.
P.s. I was truly saddened when they landed an it was NOT our beloved Sargent Tactical Blueberry.
On that note, the one thing that made less sense to me was that they set up the floor at cell time to kill whoever walks on it, facilitating suicides
From an efficiency standpoint, allowing your workers to kill themselves isn't really ideal, even if it only happen once every now and then, because as you said you need to bring in a replacement afterwards
If anything, it provides the prisoners a method to escape their little hell, even if this escape is not an ideal one
On the contrary I would expect imperial labour prisons to be full of safety nets, forcing the labourers to toil until their bodies fail them without a possibility of escape not even through death
@@KalashVodka175 I see your point. Perhaps their self-assured hubris prevents them from seeing this logic. To them, these workers are all disposable; there will always be more.
“Oppression breeds rebellion” and Narkina 5 is bound to be a simmering pressure cooker.
@@KalashVodka175 Good point. However, they have plenty of replacements, given how many prisoners are flooding into the system. Plus, if you have no will to survive, then that's the same as death.
@@KalashVodka175 They want as little contact with inmates as possible because they are so outnumbered. It's easier to just replace someone who attempts suicide than to beat them/whip them repeatedly until someone tries to make it stop - and then you have a riot on your hands.
Yikes, that amazon comparison was real. The way you described Bezos and Zuck too, as despising human interaction and wanting to replace it with brutal efficiency was truly terrifying and eye opening. I mean, I knew it already but seeing it in context while juxtaposed against this show's depiction, while fantasy, made it somehow more real.
How does each room know if they are actually behind other rooms? I just thought of it. The Empire could say to ALL the rooms, you are behind, you must catch up. And see a HUGE boost in productivity from everyone.
Yes, but the Empire needs to have enough carrots along with the sticks that rooms don't despair. It didn't have to reward the winning table, but it does in order to prevent despair setting in. The prisoners need something, no matter how small, to look forward to in order to get buy. Suicidal individuals with nothing left to live for are dangerous. That's probably why the prison makes it so easy to commit suicide. They are winnowing out the ones willing to die to escape. If you have a whole room despairing, then you risk the whole room revolting. And a whole room equipped with tools can revolt very effectively.
I'll have to go back and watch the scene, but during Cass's 'orientation' someone pointed out to him that there's a visible display of the ranking of the rooms, so everyone knows where they stand.
@@fumfering That display could be lying, but one way to show the truth is by letting the floors compete with each other, and all the floors get to see one of the floors getting a reward.
So each of these would count as one point:
- your team in the room was best
- your room on that floor was best
- your floor in the prison was best
- your prison out of the others was best
Subtract a point if your team on the room was worst. (So your team knows you were the one who held them back from getting the benefits)
So 1 point means you get flavor in your food
2 points means you get flavor and music
3 points means you get flavor, music, and some other easy benefit (a movie about the joys of hard work and fitting in?)
Not sure what 4 points would be
@@toddkes5890 A conjugal visit with a twilek?
@@trooper326 And those Twi'leks are from another prison and being rewarded by sent to pleasure the guys? If the Empire has heavier prison penalties for aliens, that could be possible, and show just how evil the Empire was. They are being just a few steps short of the "Pius Dea" movement.
Never have I despised the Empire more than when we watched the prison scenes. Ingenious and brilliantly executed on every level. Huge respect for the director, cast and whole crew - this is next level Star Wars.
The prison was brilliant. This why I love this channel, I was hoping you'd cover this because it was so interesting to me
I don't think I've ever been terrified of the Empire in Star Wars before. This is a whole new level of deep psychological terror. The electric floor idea is so disturbing.
During the scene where they're flying in you can see giant whirlpools at each corner just outside the walls of the prison. Even if you could jump from the top, you'd be sucked under immediately.
Any bets those whirlpools lead to the giant equivalent of a blender? So even if you get to the top of the prison, even if you are healthy enough to swim to shore, the whirlpools will just suck you in and kill you.
THAT is a brilliant touch. Probably got a grinder at the bottom to chomp up anybody dumb enough to try.
@@BlackEpyon they'd more than likely drown or be exhausted long before they'd get there
@@fartpluswetone8077 You'd be surprised how long you can tread water. Just roll onto your back when you get tired.
@@BlackEpyon When you're getting tossed around by a violent current and undertow, that isn't so easy. If you manage to escape the current you could probably manage it.
Thanks!
thanks timothy!
As someone who likes being barefoot, the whole prison scene makes me want to avoid metal at ALL COSTS 😂
Just stand with both feet on the same tile, and you're fine. There's no electrical path to ground if both feet are at the same charge.
@@BlackEpyon mm- i dont know
What I like most about the infighting (both in ISB, Senate and Prison) is that it keeps everyone in check. They won't move against their superior because they are worried about fighting their equals.
Eight episodes in and we finally saw Gerrera too 😊
Love the video analyses btw, pls keep them coming! There's just so much to unpack in Andor, it's great to see someone who does such great analysis of it!
Yeah omg that was a great scene
I loved that they made him a completely un reasonable ideologue. I saw hope just fade in Luden. It seems like Gerrera was actually being energized by his laundry list of political differences.
@@redharvest298 Exactly! When the camera closed in on Saw’s face during Luthen’s “coward” speech, for a moment I thought Luthen was getting through. But then he said the differences were petty and Saw became so energized and dismissed every other point. It made me realize he was only listening intently to find the one thing in Luthen’s argument that he can shoot down so he can feel justified in continuing down his chosen path.
"finally *saw* Gerrera"
See what you did there, I did.
@@GenerationTech yes it was! The exchange between Luthen and Saw was amazing!
You mentioned the rooms being clean and simple, but I've heard others refer to white room torture when talking about the cells. The bright lights and flat white walls are designed to minimize mental interaction with the environment.
The underwater prison part reminds me of Impel Down prison from One Piece. That prison as well has several levels that torture their occupants from beasts that chase you and razor plants that cut you up to starvation and freezing you to death.
I just found this channel but man I just love the way this dude talks, idk its just so chill and casual but yet insightful and informed, love the content keep it up
I never expected this show to be so good
I especially loved the dig at contemporary Authoritarians, since so few people recognize how close we are to being entrapped in Authoritarianism.
The shot at 1:46 looks like the guards are about to drop the most fire music hologram the galaxy has ever seen
Plus Luthen told Andor to always prepare his escape as he is going IN somewhere. He was undoubtedly planning how he would escape when he was heading out
Ditto on the snowboard boots. Funny but distracting. However, that's after a Polaroid served as a navigation device in this series. Part of the Star Wars tradition going back to the ice-cream maker in Cloud City and, let's not forget, flashlights that turn into laser swords.
The casting choice for the main guard is just perfect. The guy looks like one of the imperials from New Hope. And he has the craziest eyes 😨
Soberingly scary how similar we are to the empire with the Amazon Warehouse comparison.
I can HONESTLY say I have NEVER been as terrified of the Empire as this show is making me.........man! 😦😧😨
This is like the highest level of Generation Tech. This video has all the best of you in it
The scene where they're all naked in a decontamination chamber is something straight out of a concentration camp.
The prison might just be one of my favorite arcs in Star Wars. I've never felt so much dread the Empire before.
Escape plan:
1. If your shirt/pants are not conductive, they _could_ possibly be used as makeshift shoes. The bed mattress material can possibly be added for extra protection.
2. The white (non metal?) sidings along the wall seem slanted so one might be able to walk along this perimeter.
3. Take the welding gun Andor was holding to be used as a makeshift weapon.
4. Steal those shoes we saw near the security station.
5. You'll need help from other inmates so start getting friendly with those attempting to communicate.
6. You might need to go for a swim, avoid the whirlpools.
7. Steal a transport somehow and profit!
The tiles will be at different charges when the system is activated, so just stand with both feet on the same tile, and the floor can't hurt you. Anybody with a basic knowledge of electricity should have figured this out. You can't be electrocuted if you provide no path to ground!
@@BlackEpyon the floor is made of a fictional material anyways, so what gives you the confidence over how its constructed? I'd assume the aforementioned material is at least in part a cause for its properties. The panels could contain a positive and negative wire within the same panel in a winding pattern to always maximise contact.
Personally from the first prison episode I assumed the floor actually vibrates at very high frequency and just uses electricity to stimulate that, but the latter episodes make it less likely even if not impossible.
Star Wars has such cool prison concepts. I got major “Corran Horn trying to observe everything to break from Lusaka” vibes from Andor looking at everything
Another interesting thing is that in the same episode, Belsavis was at least namedropped just before Cassian gets into the ship. So imagine we would have seen that planet with all its glory, now that its back in canon.
Oh boy
If there's one thing I like about the new cannon, it's all the references they keep dropping.
*Loads Slugger shottie with malicious intent* It's time to Break another Prison Boys
the prison escape was absolutely cathartic after 3 episodes of constant despair and hopelessness within that hellhole of a prison.
An electrified floor only works if you're standing on two different plates at two different voltages. If you're on one plate, there's no difference in voltage between your feet to induce a flow of current.
FINALLY! Somebody else noticed! They need to make the floor plates smaller, otherwise anybody with a basic knowledge of electricity can figure out how to beat that system!
They very well could be. The plates we see could be an overlay to the assorted plates underneath
When they first started touring the facility and showing off the working conditions and then how big the facility really was... that was far more terrifying than I ever expected to feel in the show... Horror movies having to put that type of dread into me before
I just love Tony Gilroy's attention to detail.
When the guard said “Take off your shoes.” It hit so hard. I cannot believe that a Disney show allowed a scene where a guard said that to prisoners in a transport before they enter the facility.
Here’s a question. How did the parents that gave their children to the Jedi react to Order 66? Are there any who were prominent in the rebellion?
Maybe but you're talking about maybe a few thousand total people across millions of planets
I worked in an auto factory for 8 months...there were quotas for parts per hour and quotas for total parts per shift which often increased. If you didn't meet your shifts quota, the next shift would have them added to theirs, it's designed to feel competitive and you'd be reprimanded for being too slow even when quotas were impossible meet safely. So the factory prision here feels very grounded, similar methods/sentiments are used every day in factories and prisons in our real lives making it all the more chilling.
Crazy how it's technically his fault he wound up there because of the ferix heist and the imperial response
Yeah, hugely ironic. Did not get busted for the heist, but does get busted for it's implications on imperial policy while doing nothing wrong. Things like this are one of the many reasons why I love this show so much.
The truely scary thing is when you are given just enough freedom to not be able to see your a slave.
The announcer voice sold it. Didn’t feel like Star Wars very dystopian 😧 but I liked it!
My wife knows some people who’ve lived through the US prison labor system, several aspects of this came out as very familiar to them.
They didn’t create a dystopian system, other than the floors. They just did their homework.
Straight up bro, when writing a dystopia set in future America and I write something and go "Okay Surely this isn't already a thing" some American drops I and goes "Oh yeah lol,m they've been doing that for decades" and I die a little more in inside.
Can we just stop and appreciate allens Morgan Freemon impression?
I love how you're a super intelligent person who can add adult deep observations
Loving your Andor content!!! Hoping this is a sign of Star Wars getting back to an upward trajectory. This writing reminds me of the books and KOTOR. More of this please.
Alan, you've really found your voice. You're focused on maxing out your videos and gotten better and better, ty
Disney finally gave him content worth discussing.
It's hilarious that everybody is looking for Andor and probably assuming that he's skillful enough to disappear. When in reality, he got arrested for walking to the store.
The prison episode seems to have struck a nerve with so many viewers! Such an epic show.
"Snow-boarding is a counter-culture symbol." Generation Tech dude is showing his age. I'm right there with him.
That prison is actually scary. Reminded me of a factory job I did for a while three years ago, where the different lines competed with each other to assemble certain machinery parts.. I hated it.