What a Festive Evening

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"What a Festive Evening"
Andor episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 6
Directed byAriel Kleiman
Written byBeau Willimon
Featured musicBrandon Roberts
Cinematography byChristophe Nuyens
Editing byJohn Gilroy
Original release dateApril 29, 2025 (2025-04-29)
Running time55 minutes
Guest appearances
  • Richard Sammel as Carro Rylanz
  • Pierro Niel-Mee as Erskin Semaj
  • Thierry Godard as Lezine
  • Robert Emms as Lonni Jung
  • Jacob James Beswick as Heert
  • Alaïs Lawson as Enza Rylanz
  • Ella Pellegrini as Dreena
  • Ewens Abid as Tazi
  • Abraham Wapler as Samm
  • Caroline Vanier as Leeza
  • Théo Costa-Marini as Dilan
  • Alex Skarbek as Capso
  • Joshua James as Dr. Gorst
Episode chronology
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"I Have Friends Everywhere" 		Next →
"Messenger"

"What a Festive Evening" is the sixth episode of the second season of the American science fiction political spy thriller drama television series Andor. It is the eighteenth episode of the series overall; it was written by Beau Willimon and directed by Ariel Kleiman.

"What a Festive Evening" was released on Disney+ on April 29, 2025 as part of a three-episode block also including "Ever Been to Ghorman?" and "I Have Friends Everywhere", and received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.

Plot

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Cassian insists to Luthen that Ghorman's rebels are unprepared, and is resentful that Luthen secretly made contact with Bix to persuade her to return to action. Luthen chastises him for his short-sighted vision and instead sends Vel and Cinta to help the rebels pull off the heist. Vel and Cinta fully reconcile and rekindle their romance. The heist is successful, but one of the fighters disobeys Vel's orders and brings a blaster, only to accidentally kill Cinta when a passerby interferes, devastating Vel. At Sculdun's Investiture party, Krennic and Mothma debate the ethics of war while Kleya manages to extract her bug using Jung as a distraction. Bix breaks into Gorst's new office and uses his own torture device on him before leaving with Cassian, who remotely blows up the facility.

Production

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Writing

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The episode was written by Beau Willimon, in his sixth writing credit for the show, and directed by Ariel Kleiman, after directing the previous five episodes of the series.[1][2][3] During an interview with TVLine, Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy said he treats the kiss between Vel and Cinta as "a regular thing" and described their relationship something which connects to bigger themes "about revolution and what it costs you to be involved in it, and the kind of courage it takes" and defended the death of Cinta, saying that if people don't die, "it would really be disingenuous", while adding that calling for Cinta to die was "tough decision to make, tough phone calls to make to the actors".[4]

Varada Sethu, who plays Cinta, told Variety, in an interview, that she was glad to see that "people cared about Cinta in the way that I care about her", calling it heartwarming, and saying Cinta's death was "cleverly done and...truthful in how people experience death", while saying it is "shocking", she predicted that Cinta would "die in the rebellion", and adding that if Cinta and Vel had survived, they would dream of going "into hiding somewhere if they could" but would actually "end up staying in the rebellion".[5] In an interview with Elle, Sethu said that the death of Cinta "made perfect sense" while tragic and clever, adding that she could "fangirl about this show forever" noted that the kiss scene between Vel and Cinta was "a bit...off-the-cuff" and called the relationship between Cinta and Vel as a real and flawed which is a "mirror into the world".[6]

Casting

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By March 2023, Benjamin Bratt had been cast for the episode in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be Bail Organa, replacing Jimmy Smits in the role.[7][8] In "What a Festive Evening", marking his second appearance on Andor, Ben Mendelsohn reprises his role as Orson Krennic from previous Star Wars media, including Rogue One (2016), in which he served as the main antagonist.[9]

Music

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The original score for "What a Festive Evening", as with nine other episodes of the season's twelve,[a] was composed by Brandon Roberts, replacing Nicholas Britell, the composer for the show's first season, due to scheduling conflicts.[10]

The soundtrack for the episode was released alongside that of the other two episodes in its block on May 2, 2025 via Walt Disney Records as part of the second of four volumes of the second season's original score.[11]

Andor Season 2: Episode 6 (Original Soundtrack)
No.TitleLength
1."Andor (Main Title Theme) – Episode 6 – Brandon Roberts"0:39
2."Kafhaus Reunion"2:20
3."Oathkeeper"1:04
4."Sculdun Tower"1:43
5."Crates in Motion"2:43
6."Doctor Heal Thyself"2:22
7."The Bix Is Back"1:41
Total length:13:32

Release

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"What a Festive Evening" was released on Disney+ on April 29, 2025 as part of a three-episode block, alongside "Ever Been to Ghorman?" and "I Have Friends Everywhere".[4]

Reception

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Critical response

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The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 100% approval rating, based on 7 reviews.[12]

William Hughes of The A.V. Club gave a positive review, writing "This episode was tense, occasionally funny, well-acted, and with a couple of stand-out moments."[13] Mike Redmond of Pajiba also gave a positive review, summarizing that "Instead, we're literally speed-running through this season because here's the very depressing reality: It's already halfway over".[14]

The death of Cinta Kaz in the episode received mixed reactions from critics and fans. Some critics called her death a "misstep", a "slap in the face" which furthers the "emotional arc of her white counterpart", furthers "regressive tropes" like bury your gays, reinforced the franchise's bad track record for LGBTQ characters, and said that fans were "rightfully upset", while calling inclusion of Cinta Kaz and Vel Sartha a "step forward".[15][16] PinkNews and Den of Geek reported that fans were "rightfully upset" with the death of Cinta, with a "mixture of heartbreak and rage", and asserting that the series was deploying negative tropes in the process.[17][15] Other critics and commenters said that the death of Cinta was a "painful reminder of how rarely our stories are allowed to be fully told", and was heartbreaking, following a trend of how "queer relationships often get written in Hollywood".[18][19]

Critics for Gizmodo, TheGamer, and Polygon gave a different view. They argued that the death of Cinta did not follow negative tropes, but that treating queer characters as full characters requires "sometimes...putting them at risk" and has queer characters being "treated the same as straight ones", with her death treated with weight rather than pure "shock value", with no character safe from death in the series. These critics acknowledged that the franchise has work to do when it comes to "introducing prominent LGBTQ characters", criticized the queer representation in Star Wars as "incredibly bleak", called her death "bitter", "retrograde", and praised Vel's speech to the one who killed Cinta.[20][21][22]

Notes

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  1. ^ All episodes of season 2 but "Ever Been to Ghorman?" and "I Have Friends Everywhere" credit Roberts as the main composer

References

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  1. ^ Lovitt, Maggie (April 8, 2023). "Tony Gilroy on the Race to Finish His Final 'Andor' Season 2 Script". Collider. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  2. ^ "Andor (2021–2024)". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on June 9, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  3. ^ Lovitt, Maggie (November 3, 2022). "'Andor's Season 2 Directors Revealed by Series Creator Tony Gilroy [Exclusive]". Collider. Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Mitovich, Matt Webb (April 29, 2025). "Andor Creator Tony Gilroy Shrugs Off That Star Wars 'First' in Episode 6, Stands by 'Tough' Cinta Decision". TVLine. Archived from the original on May 7, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  5. ^ Moreau, Jordan (May 1, 2025). "'Andor' Star Varada Sethu on Cinta's [SPOILER], Her Future With Vel and Killing Tay Kolma: 'It's Like Death When She Turns Up'". Variety. Archived from the original on May 3, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  6. ^ Puckett-Pope, Lauren (April 29, 2025). "Why Cinta's Shocking Fate in Andor 'Made Perfect Sense' to Varada Sethu". Elle. Archived from the original on May 16, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  7. ^ "Los actores y técnicos de 'Andor' ya están en Valencia a la espera de Diego Luna". March 17, 2023. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  8. ^ "THE STAR WARS FILM CREW VISITS EL MERCADO DE LA IMPRENTA". HOSTELERIA EN VALENCIA. March 18, 2023. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  9. ^ Perez, Rodrigo (June 24, 2024). "'Andor': Ben Mendehlson Will Reprise His Orson Krennic Role In Season Two [Exclusive]". The Playlist. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  10. ^ "Brandon Roberts Scoring Disney+'s 'Andor' Season 2". Film Music Reporter. April 11, 2025. Archived from the original on April 16, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  11. ^ "'Andor' Season 2 – Vol. 2 (Episodes 4-6) Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter. May 1, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  12. ^ "What a Festive Evening". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  13. ^ Hughes, William (May 1, 2025). "Andor ends its third year by telling us about the time the Rebellion nearly began". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  14. ^ Redmond, Mike (May 2, 2025). "'Andor' Season 2 Recap: Space Drugs the Movie". Pajiba. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Arens, Bryanna (May 1, 2025), "Andor Season 2 Represents a Win (and a Loss) for Queer Representation in Star Wars", Den of Geek, archived from the original on May 2, 2025, retrieved June 23, 2025
  16. ^ Scott, Lyvie (April 30, 2025). "Did Andor Season 2 Just Bury Its Gays?". Inverse. Archived from the original on May 1, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  17. ^ Wratten, Marcus (May 2, 2025). "Andor viewers 'heartbroken' after episode six twist: 'I'm p*ssed'". PinkNews. Archived from the original on May 14, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  18. ^ Epstein, Mika A. (April 30, 2025). "Is Queer Love Doomed Even in a Galaxy Far, Far Away?". LezWatchTV. Archived from the original on May 1, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  19. ^ Stevenson, Rick (May 1, 2025). "Star Wars Finally Gets Queer In Andor Season 2, But It Embraces A Miserable Trope". Slashfilm. Archived from the original on May 2, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  20. ^ Whitbrook, James (May 1, 2025). "Andor Walked a Delicate Line With Its Latest Tragedy". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on May 2, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  21. ^ Krur, Tessa (May 5, 2025). "Andor's Lesbians Deserved Better, But Not From Its Showrunners". TheGamer. Archived from the original on May 5, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  22. ^ Millan, Zosha; Polo, Susana (May 1, 2025). "Should Andor have killed [redacted]? Let's discuss". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 5, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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