Oh what an episode of Star Wars: Andor! In the series’ fourth episode, titled “Aldhani,” we got to see Cassian on a new planet and with a new group of what is building to be the rebellion. There, we got to see Alex Lawther as Karis Nemik (who fans might know from The End of the F**king World), and he was there with Arvel Skeen. Now, for fans of both Marvel and the FX series The Bear, the minute that Arvel Skeen came on screen, they all screamed the same thing: COUSIN!
Ever since I saw the press screener for this episode, I have been sitting and waiting to see the sea of “cousin” tweets, and I was not disappointed. Arvel Skeen is played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who played Richie in The Bear and Microchip in The Punisher. But The Bear contains plenty of quotes you can repeat over and over again, and one of them is screaming “Cousin!” at any given moment.
That “Cousin!” applies to Moss-Bachrach’s character on The Bear, and the minute that he appeared in Star Wars: Andor, fans knew what to do. And that’s tweeting it out and screaming because now he was one of the Rebels Cassian was going to work with.
While we still have a lot to learn about Arvel and the Rebels that Cassian is now with, we can talk about Richie, a.k.a. Cousin, and why everyone jumped to yell. In The Bear, we get to meet Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) who is a chef and used to work at an elite restaurant before his brother’s (Jon Bernthal) death. He then goes home to run his family’s shop, called the Original Beef of Chicagoland.
There is where we meet Cousin.
Moss-Bachrach plays Richie who isn’t related to Carmy or Mikey (Bernthal) but was a good friend of Mikey’s. So, he has been in Carmy’s life the entire time and is close to the family. He works at the restaurant and Carmy calls him Cousin. Which I get.
It has now led to fans of Andor just tweeting it out without anyone else knowing what is going on. And if you don’t know what “COUSIN” means, it’s time to head over to Hulu and catch up on The Bear. You can thank me once you’ve done it.
Time to yell “Cousin!” at each other
The thing is: This is very fun. The Bear has a lot of references to kitchens, and lines like “Behind” and “Thank you, Chef” are often quoted between (at least) my friends and I because The Bear just sticks with you long after you’ve finished it. It’s a quick watch and truly one of the best shows on television currently, so having Moss-Bachrach take on Star Wars has merged the two worlds together.
I can’t wait to see more of these Rebels, and this show continues to be a beautiful entry into the world of Star Wars for Cassian Andor. We just now get to have fun online with Arvel.
(featured image: Lucasfilm)
