Development

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February 2018 that there were several Star Wars series in development,^[1] and that November one was revealed as a prequel to the film Rogue One (2016). The series was described as a spy thriller show focused on the character Cassian Andor, with Diego Luna reprising his role from the film.^[2] Jared Bush originally developed the series, writing a pilot script and series bible for the project.^[3] By the end of November, Stephen Schiff was serving as showrunner and executive producer of the series.^[3] Tony Gilroy, who was credited as a co-writer on Rogue One and oversaw extensive reshoots for the film,^[4] joined the series by early 2019 when he discussed the first story details with Luna.^[5] Gilroy's involvement was revealed that October, when he was set to write the first episode, direct multiple episodes, and work alongside Schiff;^[4] Gilroy had officially replaced Schiff as showrunner by April 2020.^[6] Six weeks of pre-production for the series had taken place in the United Kingdom by then, but this was halted and production on the series delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[7][8] Pre-production had begun again by September ahead of a planned filming start the next month. At that time, Gilroy, who is based in New York, chose not to travel to the UK for production on the series due to the pandemic, and was therefore unable to direct the series' first episode. Instead, the UK-based Toby Haynes, who was already "high on the list" of potential directors for the series, was hired to direct the first three episodes. Gilroy would remain executive producer and showrunner.^[9] In December 2020, Luna was revealed to be executive producing the series.^[10]

The tenth episode, titled "One Way Out", was written by Beau Willimon.^[11]

Writing

Following the standalone episode "Announcement", Andor resumed its structure of a three-episode story arc. The third story arc features Andor being imprisoned within Narkina 5 and galvanizing his incarcerees into escaping.^[12] Actor Andy Serkis had interpreted the episode as being a turning point in Kino Loy's character arc, as he "finds that desire to act on behalf of others again, to serve others, to enable others to find their freedom, even though he knows ultimately it's not going to happen for him" after being oppressed by the Empire.^[13] Andor had known that Kino was the right person to galvanize the prisoners into escaping, and as such, encouraged him to deliver a speech to inspire them. Serkis had felt that it had reflected the similarities between Kino and Andor's characters, and interpreted Kino reusing Andor's words of "I'd rather die trying to take them down than die giving them what they want" as being his way of thanking Andor.^[14] The intercutting of footage that occurs during Kino's monologue was written into the script.^[15] Writer Beau Willimon had noted that the rallying cry of "One way out" could be interpreted both literally, as the only way of going through was escaping, or metaphorically, as the prisoners were chanting it together while also conveying that "you're seeing [that the] only one way out of the oppression, and the Empire, is collectively working together. With risk and sacrifice". He went on to describe it as the "bigger launcher for the rebellion". While writing the scene in which Kino reveals he can't swim, writer Beau Willimon felt it exemplified that Kino's "greatest moment of triumph is also his greatest moment of tragedy" and included it after it was suggested from the writers' room, while director Toby Haynes had felt it was them saying "goodbye", who was surprised by it while reading the script.^[16][17] Kino's fate was deliberately written to be ambiguous, but Serkis and Haynes confirmed that though he was alive, his fate was unknown.^[18]

Commenting on Luthen Rael's sudden decision to sacrifice Kreegyr in order to protect his ISB information Lonni Jung, Gilroy had described Luthen's decision as being that of a "chess player" who was "sacrificing a castle to protect his queen". He also added that Luthen would start to become more paranoid as he would be in more danger once he had begun to expand his schemes, saying "You’re seeing the beginning of those issues in episode ten and in this tranche", going on to label his tactics as being accelerationist. As such, he felt Luthen's monologue had "comes out of that, and the whole concept of the engineer comes out of that and a whole new approach to the shabbiness and shittiness of it".^[19] Meanwhile, Willimon had described the scene between Lonni and Luthen as being "incredible", as Luthen had spoken honestly and was in "the process of sacrifice and risk", and observed that Lonni seeing Luthen's face was a "huge risk".^[20] The monologue had also highlighted the moral conflicts that Luthen and Mon Mothma had been facing when supporting the Rebellion movement. Willimon had noted that Mon Mothma was contemplating sacrificing her daughter's fate to support it while Luthen had "sacrificed everything", particularly love, to which Willimon remarked that it "is perhaps the biggest sacrifice you can make because a life without love is sunless".^[16]

Casting

The episode stars Diego Luna as Cassian Andor,^[2][21] Kyle Soller as Syril Karn, Adria Arjona as Bix Caleen, Joplin Sibtain as Brasso, James McArdle as Timm Karlo, and Rupert Vansittart as Chief Hyne.^[21]

Filming

Filming began in London, England, at the end of November 2020,^[22][23] with the production based at Pinewood Studios.^[24][25] The series was filmed under the working title Pilgrim,^[24] and was the first live-action Star Wars series to not make use of the StageCraft digital background technology.^[26] Filming locations included Black Park in Buckinghamshire, England for the flashback scenes, as well as at Middle Peak Quarry in Derbyshire, England.^[27] The Narkina 5 scenes were shot at the end of Andor's filming. The final scene of the prison break, in which the prisoners jump from the platform into the ocean and Kino Loy states he can't swim, was filmed on the final day.^[28][29] During Kino's monologue, Serkis had wanted to balance his performance in order to ensure it had come across as authentic rather than feeling scripted. As such, he had described Kino "trying to find his mojo" following Andor saying "Is that all you got?" as being a "genuine sort of thing".^[29] Haynes had filmed his monologue in single takes, estimating that they had filmed five of them. However, he felt that Serkis had "nailed it" on the second take, saying that "the energy, the emotion, that all came from take two" and that the rest of the takes had been to correct minor issues.^[15] He also said that it took Serkis some time to figure out the perfect tone to deliver Kino's line, "I can't swim", until he decided to perform it in a "serene way".^[17] While filming Luthen Rael's monologue, actor Stellan Skarsgård had performed the scene 10 times "in a row, very fast, right on top of each other" until both he and Gilroy was satisfied with the final outcome.^[30]

Music

Nicholas Britell composed the musical score for the episode.^[31][32] The episode's soundtrack was released in December 2022 as part of the third volume for the series.^[33]

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports 100% approval rating, based on 21 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Andy Serkis unleashes his fury and steals the show in "One Way Out", a galvanizing climax to the "Narkina 5" arc."^[35] The episode was ranked by many publications as one of the best television episodes of the year.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41]}

Accolades

At the American Cinema Editors Awards 2023, Simon Smith's work on the episode won the award for Best Edited Drama Series.^[42][43] At the 2022 British Society of Cinematographers Awards, Adriano Goldman's work on the episode was nominated for Best Cinematography in a Television Drama.^[44][45] At the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, Beau Willimon's work on the episode was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.^[46]