Diego Luna is one of the most handsome and charismatic men in this or any other galaxy. So it should come as no surprise that he’s always cut a dashing figure as thief, freedom fighter, and Rebel spymaster Cassian Andor in both Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the first season of Andor on Disney+.
However, the character of Cassian Andor has never been more upsettingly hot than he was in this week’s Andor Season 2 Episode 5 “I Have Friends Everywhere.” Playing the part of a “pretty” fashion designer named, heh, Varian Skye, our orphan boy from Kenari transformed into a suave super spy right before our very eyes. It wasn’t just that he was primped and polished to the nines; Cassian Andor has never come across as more determined to the cause or competent as a spy.
This is the week that Cassian Andor went full intergalactic James Bond on our butts and I, for one, celebrate it.
**Spoilers for Andor Season 2 Episodes 4-6, now streaming on Disney+**
Audiences first met Cassian Andor as an accomplished Rebel Intelligence Officer in 2016’s Rogue One. The character had Han Solo’s self-assured swagger, but operated with the sang froid of a true believer in the greater Rebel cause. We’re literally introduced to him murdering an informant in cold blood to cover his own tracks! This Cassian was disciplined, courageous, and unflappable.
The Cassian Andor we meet in the very first episode of Disney+’s Andor, on the other hand, is a diamond in the rough. He’s just a petty thief in over his head, drawn into the Rebellion on the promise of a quick buck. Over the last fifteen-plus episodes of the Tony Gilroy-created series, we’ve watched him transform first into a disciple to Luthen Rael’s (Stellan Skarsgård) cause and, now, into one of its leaders.
Case in point: Cassian’s mission to Ghorman in Andor Season 2 Episode 5 “I Have Friends Everywhere.”
As a rebel front begins to quietly foment on a prominent world secretly earmarked for genocide by the Empire, Luthen Rael dispatches Cassian to go undercover to the capital city to suss out the local organization’s chances. Cassian slips into action with nary an issue, taking on the mantle of a fashion designer taking a pilgrimage to the textile mecca of the universe.
The thing about Cassian’s cover, “Varian Skye,” is that he’s not designed to blend in as a nobody, but to stand out as a dandy. Cassian is clean shaven, well-coiffed, and even better dressed. The tailoring of his rich blue clothes identifies him as a man who cares about how he looks, ergo he wants to you to look. What’s great is that Cassian carries himself in a way that suggests he knows he looks good. (He even brags to partner Bix later about how “pretty” he was. She seductively asks if he can bring Varian home sometime. That sizzle you feel is pure sexual desire.)
But what makes this incarnation of Cassian Andor so smoldering isn’t just his fancy cloak or sweet sunglasses. It’s his competence.
When Cassian lands on Ghorman, he immediately takes on the role of Varian Skye, strutting through the central square of Palmo and cheerfully chatting up bellhops for intel. This isn’t the guy skulking about Coruscant, nervous about being recognized by the shopkeeper. He’s been transformed.
So much so, when the Ghorman version of Princess Leia, the local Ghorman Front leader’s daughter Enza Rylanz (Alaïs Lawson) attempts to corner Cassian at a Viennese-esque coffee house, it’s honestly dazzling to see him turn the tables. He slyly points out her utter incompetence, from her naïveté trusting him to the all-too-obvious tails she’s got following him. As Enza’s confidence crumples, Cassian’s ascends. For the first time perhaps in the whole series, he’s a man in control.
That’s why Cassian Andor’s transformation into Varian Skye is so scintillating to behold. This isn’t just a man taking on the billowing Ghorman twill of a power player; he’s a master spy embracing his calling. It’s this leveling up of Cassian’s status and abilities that’s twinkling behind his eyes as he gabs through Palmo. It’s this newly found self-awareness that’s bracing his confident stride.
Only as Varian Skye does Cassian Andor finally start to become the hero we know he’s destined to be.
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