‘Andor’ appreciators praise a scene-stealing supporting player that’s much more than stunt casting

Andor‘s first seven episodes were already top-tier television, but then in episode eight The Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis showed up as prison labor foreman Kino Loy, propelling the show to new heights. This isn’t even Serkis’ first trip to a galaxy far, far away as he provided the performance capture and voice of Supreme Leader Snoke in the sequel trilogy. But whereas Snoke fizzled out, Kino Loy is proving to be a truly fascinating character.

Much of episode nine revolved around the character’s inner conflict, with Kino recognizing that the prison is hell, but just trying to keep his head down and serve out his sentence. That isn’t going to happen, and he seems to be reluctantly on board with Cassian’s prison break as the credits roll.

Star Wars fans are loving it, saying that Serkis is already stealing the show:

Replies agree, with many saying it’s nice to see Serkis acting in person rather than under CGI:

Others jokingly wonder if we might secretly be seeing the secret origin of Supreme Leader Snoke:

Could this be what the electrified floor is setting up?

So what’s really going to become of Kino Loy? We’re hoping he makes it through the prison break and goes on to join Cassian Andor in the early days of the Rebellion, as he’s very obviously a get-stuff-done kind of character who now has a righteous hatred of the Empire. On the other hand, his arc is hinting that he might sacrifice himself for the inmates he manages.

Let’s hope it’s the former, as anytime Andy Serkis is onscreen, the show’s quality skyrockets.

Andor airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.