‘Andor’ Recap & Review: Ep. 9 “Nobody’s Listening” Shows the Truth Behind Narkina 5

If you’ve gotten this far into Andor, you’re fully invested in a story that’s making no promises of a payoff in the end. Rather you’re devoted to the journey. It’s a quantum journey that doesn’t only give us the title character’s struggle but explores the deepest motivations and tribulations of dozens of characters. Episode 9’s title, “Nobody’s Listening,“ refers directly to Cassian Andor’s line, “Nobody’s listening,” when he’s tempting Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) with ideas of freedom and how to achieve it; but it connects to all the characters in focus throughout the episode.

While Nobody’s Listening, Andor Schemes for a Prison Break

Bix Caleen is interrogated by the Imperial Security Bureau’s Dedra Meero. Gough’s menacing performance and Arjona’s progressively defeated one come together to open the episode with a powerful reminder that while our protagonists have hope the Empire is still in control. Cassian is correct, for the most part. Nobody is listening, with the exception of Meero and Syril Karn. Karn wants so desperately for Meero to know he’s listening that he stalks her to make sure she’s aware of his allegiance. Their aspirations are insurance against the hubris of the Empire.

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Cassian has been working with his team of prisoners to win the daily production competition, but he’s been taking notes on his surroundings. He’s been gathering information with designs to break out. He can act coldly in the interest of survival, as he did in the murder that got Meero connecting him to Axis. When one of his team members, Ulaf, begins to fall ill Cassian shows concern, but he manages to use the opportunity to gather more information about the schedules and patterns of the prison.

We have no way of knowing whether he suspects what we suspect (that they are building the bricks to assemble the Death Star), but his contributions to the management of his team have given them the lead in production. More importantly, perhaps in Cassian’s eyes, he’s winning the favor of his foreman, Kino Loy. Cassian sees the value of Kino in whatever escape plan he’s cooking up. He needs Kino to listen.

Mon Mothma Gets a Visit

Senator Mon Mothma continues to use her position to call out the Empire’s growing overreach on the galaxy, but the divided Senate is not listening. The Public Order Resentencing Directive (PORD) is the new set of powers that allowed the Empire to arrest and imprison Cassian. Presumably, PORD is designed to enlist the manpower necessary to build the Death Star, but no one in the Senate knows this. They won’t know until it’s too late because they are not listening.

Mon Mothma’s secret dealings with the growing Rebellion are threatening to be exposed as she learns of the ongoing investigations that may soon reveal her financial support of the Rebellion. It’s an interesting choice to have her driver (the Imperial plant watching her) announce the arrival of her cousin. Surprise! Vel Sartha is Mon Mothma’s cousin. It’s a small galaxy, after all.

This link could be the nail in the coffin for Mon’s political career, but as we know, she’s a powerful player in the original Star Wars trilogy. This puts Vel in the hot seat as the scapegoat this story needs to save Mon Mothma’s position. Vel may likely take the fall for her cousin when the ISB finds Axis and all Luthen Rael’s tentacles.

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As the Empire gets closer to the realization that they already have Cassian Andor in custody, Cassian is getting closer to escaping. Plot-wise, it looks like a rescue is off the table. Cassian may have found the perfect situation to make a cover for his escape. The prisoners on Narkina 5 are beginning to learn of the effects of PORD.

A rumor got around that one prisoner who was supposed to have completed his sentence was seen in another prison section with a new sentence. Rumblings on that level apparently got an entire wing of prisoners executed. Given that the finite duration of sentencing is the only thing keeping them in line, it looks like enough unrest is being sewn to brew a riot.

Kino Loy, whose loyalty to the production line is based solely on his descending number, may be a key asset for Cassian’s escape. When Cassian first asks his foreman how many guards there are on each level, Kino tells him to turn off that part of his brain and serve his sentence.

By the end of the episode, the emotional toll of a fellow prisoner’s death and the discovery of the PORD directive have changed his mind. Kino Loy is finally listening.