½ , on Disney+ Caution: spoilers.
Season One
There is so much going on in this show, and I found pretty much all of it dour and tedious. Which is not to say it's a bad show. In fact, many people consider it the greatest Star Wars show ever (and better than some of the movies). I'm afraid I don't feel that way about it, but I can't deny that it's a good, quality show. I'm just not sure how much I actually enjoyed it.
So, it's mainly about Cassian Andor, who was first introduced in the movie Rogue One, and is set five years before that movie. The show starts with Andor looking for his missing sister, when he gets harassed by a couple of Imperial officers, and he kills them. After that, another Imperial officer, Syril Karn, becomes obsessed with capturing Andor, an obsession that soon leads to the end of his career. But even then, he never gives up on finding Andor. Meanwhile, on the planet Ferrix, Andor gets his friend Bix Caleen to contact someone to whom he might sell a black market item. Bix's contact is an antiques dealer named Luthen Rael, who is secretly an important member of the rebellion against the Empire, though at this point there is no Rebel Alliance, just scattered, insular pockets of rebellion throughout the galaxy. Luthen ends up hiring Andor to take part in a raid on an Imperial facility on Aldhani, to steal a payroll. Luthen also has contact with Imperial Senator Mon Mothma, who helps fund the rebellion. Part of the series is about her entanglement with the rebellion, and part of it is about her family life, which includes some friction between her and her husband, Perrin Fertha, and their 13-year-old daughter, Leida. Things become more complicated for Mon when the Empire starts paying closer attention to funds transfers after the raid on Aldhani, and she's forced to work with someone she'd rather not, but I'll avoid any specifics about that until season two, I think. And there's an officer in the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) named Dedra Meero, who takes an interest in finding Andor, though she has other concerns as well. And Syril eventually becomes obsessed with her, to her great annoyance. We also see some flashbacks to when Cassian was a child. I don't want to say anything about that, except that he ended up being adopted by a woman named Maarva Andor (from whom he took his last name, obviously). And she has a janky little droid named B2EMO (or Bee, for short). Maarva is also part of the rebellion, though I don't think we ever really learned much about her involvement in it.
On Aldhani, Andor calls himself "Clem", and meets several other people who have been planning the raid for some time, and aren't exactly pleased to have Luthen spring this newcomer on them so close to the mission. Andor meets several people in this group, not all of whom I feel the need to mention. But the group is led by Vel Sartha, who we later learn is Mon's cousin. We'll see more of her after the Aldhani mission, as well as another rebel named Cinta Kaz, who is apparently Vel's lover. The one member of the team who actually likes "Clem" is Karis Nemik, who has written a rebel manifesto, which he eventually leaves to Andor. We also sometimes seen Luthen in talks with a rebel leader named Saw Gerrera, who was also previously seen in "Rogue One". The two of them don't often see eye to eye on how to do things. After the Aldhani mission, Andor goes to a tropical planet where he uses the name "Keef Girgo", and begins to enjoy his share of the heist money. Then he gets arrested for something he didn't even do, and is sentenced to six years in an Imperial prison on Narkina 5. After several episodes of that imprisonment, he and some other prisoners stage an escape. Later, Andor learns that Maarva has died, so he decides to return to Ferrix for her funeral. But both Dedra and Syril independently learn of Maarva's death, and they both go to Ferrix in the hopes of capturing Andor. Meanwhile, Luthen wants his own agents to kill Andor before he can be captured, so he can't reveal any secrets about the rebellion. But Andor manages to avoid being captured or killed, and sneaks onto Luthen's ship, where he asks Luthen to either kill him or take him in. (Into the rebellion, I assume he means.)
And... there are lots of other characters I haven't mentioned, and lots of details of the plot that I haven't mentioned. I couldn't manage to keep track of everything and everyone. But I will say I think it's a pretty good story, I just wish it hadn't been so slowly-paced. But I do look forward to season two, and it's possible that after I've seen that, I'll raise my rating of the series.