Techwright

Andor Episode 7 - back to building intrigue, and a surprise cameo (no, not the big guy, the other one)

probably also caused severe shortages for fish and chip shops and animal rescue societies.

His Get-up-and-go has Got-up-and-went? Odd. Suddenly I have an hankering for a hunk of cheese.

This thread's still going? wow. Not bad. could use another 8 gig RAM (I read it can upgrade to at least 32 GB, that's good), GDDR6 is good, though 4 GB graphics is going to gimp you on the number of possible games, not terribly, but many you'll have to play on the lower settings (just got over a 3GB graphics myself, and was tired of how many rejections I had on Can You Run It.) 6GB RAM opens up the field. Still, if you're only playing older games: no problem. Built-in ethernet port: positive. 3 USB 3.0 A ports: positive. No listing of USB-C: Not great for today's environment (there is a port to the user's right side that might be USB-C but can't clearly see it from the angle.) Windows 10 Home (meh, but okay). That price is the "Renewed" unit (refurbished: sometimes just a catch all for someone returned it 'cause they didn't want it, sometimes for repairing major components). You spends your money and you takes your chances. Tiny bit disturbed at the renewed/refurbished promise of "a battery that exceeds 80% capacity relative to new." It's probably fine and close, if not at 100%, but I wonder how long the unit was active if 80% is acceptable for the battery's current capacity. Not bad. Could be worse. Certainly doable for CoH Homecoming. And I see no "3 left", just "In Stock". Since laptop video cards are rare for replacement upgrades, I think I'd be more onboard with this if it had 6 GB, so that I'd have, hopefully, access to more recent games for years.

You're right! I'd not considered CoT.

Were those professionally made costumes for NCSoft or just really great amateur cosplay work? Oh, and the ladies' costumes, too?

Allow me to offer a helpful guide. While it lacks notes on Antarctica and mangos, it definitely offers substantial advise on planning and, um, well, monologuing. Have you a 5-year old child on retainer for consultation yet? Peter's Evil Overlord List

Only if you write the name three times. Wait...does copying it make it two times now?

Trying to decide if I should like this or not. It is like Tim Burton is trying to fuse The Addams Family with Harry Potter and turn it into a series. I'm not sold...yet...on Gomez and Morticia (even if it is Catherine Zeta-Jones), though it looks like they got the right actor for Fester. Kudos for bringing Christina Ricci into the show. I get the distinct feeling she's going to be one of Wednesday's main antagonists, and possibly just as savage as Wednesday, just with a sugary personality mask. And an upbeat orchestral version of Paint It, Black for the trailer.

Excellent episode! I had a few nitpicks, but nothing story-breaking. Those saying the show is slow better be satisfied now, or risk being seen as unbelievable. Have you reserved that name? 😄 EDIT: Forgot to add...

Serious Green Goblin vibes with this, with maybe a dash of the Scarecrow thrown in. Nicely done!

Dropping your comments into a spoiler box to respond @ThaOGDreamWeaver

Well, there was no need for "Chase Manhattan" anymore. The Muppets already took Manhattan. I'll...let myself out. The exit is this way, yes? 👈👉

Trailer: Couple of things caught my eye:

My Big Fat Speed Wedding? Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Year One?

Episode 5 I get the impression from watching reviewers that a lot of people are wanting more "pew! pew!" and less development in Andor. I suppose this is a result of modern spy shows leaning more that way. Well, that and we're now in a binge-watching, slide-to-key-moments, instant gratification society. Me, I feel this is like the slow-burn setups common to the 1960s TV spy shows, which I loved. I am gratified to see that the action-only folk are not as prevalent as those saying they really love the writing: the dialog, character development, and the slow fuse burn to the big events. Now, spoilery talk on episode 5:

I swear it was an accident! 😂 Jackson is an interesting choice. I'd like to hear a calmer performance than Mojo, however. Doom always strikes me as calm and in control, at least until the surprise and "No! It cannot be!" moments.

Curiously, the work filters allow CoH Homecoming but ban the Quantic test, so I took it on my phone. Apparently, I'm Samwise Gamgee. "...there's some good in this world...and it's worth fighting for." Bard/Gardener Bard: "Playing a part in a Grand Story" Gardener: "Quiet, Relaxing Task Completion" Gamer Motivation Profile: Calm, Spontaneous, Grounded, Creative Highest marks, 89% in the Creativity Components. I'm actually not surprised. I was an art minor in college, and I'm always drawn to the parts of games where the most creativity can take place: costume design, base/housing design, etc. Action Components, 18%, I am surprised at. Once in the fray, I tend to fight very aggressively. It's especially true when pugging in CoH, though I tend to play more defensively and strategically when soloing, like taking on a nest of Sentinels in No Man's Sky. Perhaps that is what the test picked up on.

Anthony Daniels springs to mind. The droids are sort of the Star Wars equivalent of Hamlet's Horatio: they are both observers and surviving testifiers. Having the ability to provide C3PO's voice for the future allows the droids to continue that function. Admittedly R2D2 is the only one of the two with his memories fully intact (Senator Organa ordered C3PO's memories wiped, probably to remove his ability to speak about Anakin), but both still fill this role. In Star Wars lore, droids can exist indefinitely as long as there are parts, funding, and a lifeform's will to keep them running. As to the base performances for future Darth Vader works, I'd love to see either Scott Lawrence or Matt Lantern in the driver's seat. Matt, of course, was Anakin in the Clone Wars animation. Scott has voiced Vader in multiple animated and game projects including Jedi: Fallen Order. I find Respeecher full of potential. With it, we may get future Star Wars animated works filling in story bits of Leia, Luke, and Han. Leia's rise after Return of the Jedi as a different kind of Jedi, more of a Jedi consular, has always intrigued me, but we only have a thin skeleton of the story. Chances are they lost a lot of viewers to Hurricane Ian as well. I hope critics take that into account when examining the numbers. Episode 4 was indeed quite good. My comments in orange in the hidden parts below.

Just adding a comment on one of the actors. Rupert Vansittart, the actor who portrays Chief Inspector Hyne in Andor episode #1: despite the brevity of his appearance, I was struck by his appearance and acting skill. It has me thinking: I wonder if they'd consider casting him as Marvel's Secretary (& General) Thaddeus Ross to replace the late William Hurt? The character of Ross was rumored to have a lot more storyline in the near future with the upcoming Thunderbolts as well as the possibility of the Red Hulk storyline.

Late to the party, and I've an unusual angle. I've long taken tips from Peter's Evil Overlord List, like my favorite: Shooting is NOT too good for my ene....wait...that's not it, that's #4. Hmmm... Ah, #12! One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation. While I lack access to a five-year-old child (I keep telling my niece and nephew-in-law to hurry up), I do find the principle of taking a good hard look with a fresh perspective to be beneficial in both personal and professional life. There's actually some other nuggets of wisdom hidden in the whimsical guide: #17: When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice. AND #61: If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them. (Be willing to take advice/counsel) #20: Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly. (Never let yourself get too distracted) #24: I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.) (A balanced self-assessment) #27: I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times. (Never put everything in one basket. Always plan to have a something to fall back on.) #32: I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by. (Think of the effects on the future before acting) And... #60: My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords. (As a computer tech, I really wish people would implement this in their own lives and on their company laptops.)

I'd forgotten Martin Freeman played Arthur, but if I remember, this was before Sherlock when I really took notice of him. I do want one of those knives, though.

^ commenting above in orange - Techwright I said we might be able to infer some things regarding Thrawn. I hate tossing up a spoiler for this. as the info's been out for a while, but just in case...

I've just finished the 3rd episode. But I'll break it down by episode so as not to spoiler anything (I hope). Episode 1 On to episode 2: And episode 3: Okay my big thought so far... Critiques aside, I am enjoying the show and look forward to episode 4.