Drama
Andor
The critically acclaimed Star Wars series ‘Andor’ is back. For fans, it is a return to form. For families, the show is still potentially a ride through an asteroid belt.
When Vatican City burns, the only image of the incident includes a winged shadowy figure flying away from the scene of the crime.
The mainstream media blames Russia. The not-so-mainstream media (a guy with a podcast) blames “terrorist demons from Hell.” The late-night shows laugh at that guy.
But little do they know, he’s right … though it’s a little more complicated than that.
That winged creature, a demon known simply as White Rabbit, got what he was looking for that night: the sword of Sparda.
You see, 2,000 years ago, our world and Hell were once cojoined on the same plane of existence. But that was until the demon Sparda chose to side with humanity. And with his magical sword powered by a magical amulet, he permanently separated Hell and Earth.
Scientifically, the spell he cast blocked the worlds via quantum interference, a technique which, while effective, has ways around it. For instance, while the big bads of Hell are far too large to get through to Earth, some lower-level demons can still occasionally slip through the cracks. And more powerful demons can still project their consciousnesses into human objects to empower and possess them.
That’s essentially what happened with White Rabbit, who is on a mission to obtain the sword and the amulet so. If he’s successful, he’ll reconnect Hell and Earth back as one and unleash the Age of the Demon. The entity entered our world with half of the amulet. And, with the sword, it’s only missing the amulet’s other half to literally unleash Hell.
And that’s where a fellow named Dante fits into all of this. Those smaller demons who slip into our reality? He’s one of the guys who people hire to kill them. And he also just so happens to have a necklace passed down to him by his mother … one with a very specific piece of magical jewelry attached to it.
How many demons has Dante slain? Enough to fill six video games’ worth of content. But this time, that bloodshed seeps onto Netflix.
Canonically, there’s no heaven or God in the DMC universe—just Hell and Earth, separated by whatever spiritual/scientific mumbo jumbo you want to throw out there. In that case, Hell is less a place of divine punishment and more of just another physical realm where things are a bit scarier (sort of like the difference between Target and Wal-Mart).
Ultimately, here’s what that means: Should people like Dante (who, by the way, is half-demon, half-human) fail, then it won’t be long before the best realm out there gets literally dragged straight to … well, I’ll give you three guesses.
This simmering demonic stew is seasoned with one part Dante’s Inferno and one part Alice in Wonderland. And the show’s squishy spirituality is rounded out by a secondary villain whose fervent devotion to God leaves him diametrically opposed to demons (including Dante) while constantly mumbling about holiness and judgment.
But the show’s sketchy spirituality is hardly its only problem. Practically every character who encounters a demon rather quickly turns into a pile of guts. Blood spews, heads fly, and souls go … well, as before, that’s not exactly clear. And heavy language, including the f-word, spews from mouths as quickly as blood from sliced arteries.
All that to say, there’s plenty of Inferno in Dante’s world, but Paradiso will be far harder to find.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Following an attack on Vatican City, Dante suddenly learns that the world’s last hope literally hangs from his neck.
A baby gets stolen away, blipping into nonexistence. It is replaced by a shapeshifting doppelganger, and that being attempts to attack Dante. We see roughly a dozen Vatican guards die. They’re shot to death, crushed under falling debris or enveloped by explosions. Mercenaries get stabbed to death, and White Rabbit lops one man’s head from his shoulders. Dante slays a handful of demons by shooting them with his pistols. A mother gets choked in front of her child (though she is saved). Vatican City burns. A building explodes. We’re told that Dante’s mother and brother were brutally murdered by demons.
Someone calls the attack on the Vatican a “strike against God Himself, carried out by a sophisticated network of terrorist demons from Hell.” We’re told that demons are “a related but separate evolutionary branch from homo sapiens,” native to a parallel universe. When someone questions the truth of this, the man responds, “Why do you think every culture on Earth tells the same stories about demons and the underworld?”
A man asserts that the “Word of the Lord has been proven beyond dispute. Hell is real, and the Holy War is here.” A priest prays in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Someone describes Earth as a labyrinth of sin.
A sword glows a malicious purple. One character says it’s ironic that the Vatican City would “house the most powerful weapon of Hell.” A demon comments on how the fear of Hell mitigates human wickedness. White Rabbit discusses bringing forth the “Age of the Demon” by opening the gates of Hell. We’re told the backstory of Sparda, an ancient demon who cast a spell to protect humanity.
Someone smokes a cigarette. People drink.
We hear the both f- and s-words once each. “A–,” “d–n” and “p-ss” are each heard once, too. God’s name is used in vain twice, including one instance paired with “d–n.”
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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