Star Wars: Andor has become my favorite show in the Disney+ era and while it is perfect and I love it so much, I also have a gripe with episode 7 titled “Announcement” because…you gotta prepare the internet for certain things. Like waiting up super early in the morning and having to deal with all my feelings about Diego Luna boiling over.
In the episode, Cassian leaves Maarva and goes to live a “simple” life on the planet Niamos and honestly having it cut to Cassian clearly having just had sex with a woman and then going to the shower to clean up was such an adult move for Star Wars, I yelled but it didn’t stop there. No, we also got a shirtless Cassian Andor and when you drop this stuff so early and I have to wake up early to watch it, I should be warned that all day long I’ll be thinking about shirtless Cassian.
And look, it does stem from the fact that many of us have been in love with Diego Luna since his dancing days in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. So having the surprising delight of Cass in the shower was both a joy and also something that did, in fact, derail my entire day.
When you think about it, Disney should know that things like this will take over our minds. Like…we haven’t stopped thinking about Captain America ripping a log in half so what do you think this scene will do to us? Especially when we watched it first thing in the morning!
Star Wars has given us a great many things and while I was changed as a person when Hayden Christensen was shirtless in Revenge of the Sith, this was different because I didn’t expect it to happen and found myself screaming in the morning and honestly, I am not ashamed.
It’s worth noting that I have now moved on to the next stage of whatever this is and I am just simply singing “I Love You Always Forever” while looking at pictures from this scene.
Look, this is rare when it comes to Star Wars
The moments that they show anyone in the Star Wars universe as human beings (let alone sexual beings) can be counted on one hand. But the three shirtless moments that do spring to mind are Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi, Anakin Skywalker waking up from a nightmare in Revenge of the Sith, and now Cassian washing up.
And it is so oddly satisfying to see how sex is viewed in Andor. In the first few episodes, Cassian was at a brothel and then we got to see a bit of Bix and Timm’s relationship (it did cut away but it was clear the two had sex together) and that is something very new in Star Wars. The positivity about it and the casual nature in which it was introduced is nice! And it works in Andor which is a more adult show by nature.
I suppose I do owe my thanks to Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna for completely taking over my Wednesday but hey, it was worth it.
(image: Lucasfilm)
