Things Begin to Drag | Andor S1E2 | Dudes Daily
When I was considering contemporary designed-for-streaming shows for this project, I wondered how they would fare in the weekly format. Here I got my first answer: not well.
While most of Andor was released weekly, the first three episodes came out simultaneously, and this second one really doesn't stand on its own at all. Between its title card and credits, there's less than thirty minutes of material, and most of it is taken up with paint-by-numbers love triangle drama and the glacial flow of elements set up in the pilot.
I remember thinking years ago that the freedom of runtime in streaming TV meant episodes could be exactly the length they needed to be. Watching the first two episodes of Andor, I miss the structure of cable TV. There's just over an hour of footage onscreen, and it feels like a tight 55-minute pilot is in there.
I'm hopeful that the final of the first three episodes stands better on its own, and interested to see where the show's format goes when it becomes weekly.