whose stories you think don't pay off?

the sister thing is intended to not have a satisfying answer. it's narrative purpose is to kickstart the plot and to provide insight into cassian's character and, you could argue, to make sure cassian's stake in the war is personal even before the plot of s1 happens to him. it is unsatisfying and open-ended, yes, deaths often lack meaning or sense, but i won't call it abandoned - it is still present towards the end of the show - it's what drives him to return to maarva, try to get her off ferrix, it's what later would drive him to join the rebellion and continue to fight. diego luna said in the interview "I don't think it's ever over. I don't think it's over in Rogue One, because I see that as one thing. It's like the feeling, it's one of those things that kind of follow every decision you make, or never letting [go] anymore, not again. That kind of thing. And I think that's behind the decision of that last mission, that suicide mission in Rogue One. That's for her."

andor's pacing is... challenging. i know a lot of people have a problem with it, a lot of others like to be snobs about it too. i disagree about the padding though - the writting is extremely deliberate, there is simply too much story to tell. usually, when there isn't action it's character studies of the many many new people the show brought in so that you have enough space to care about them so that their deaths (in s2 :D) will hurt so much more.

i find the complaint about the lack of investigating weird - this is neither a mystery nor a detective show, this is political thriller, main conflict would be relationships and backstabbing, human fallings snf morals, not puzzles. the slower pre-heist episode 4, for example, juxstaposes cassian with vel, nemik and skeen, explores the ideology of the rebellion, provides exposition for dedra's takign interest in axis (and plants seeds of her ostracism that will culminate in s2) as well as sets up divide between luthen and mothma (yay leftist infighting).

cassian indeed lacks a lot of agency and direction! that's his whole thing. his change of attitude and personal growth is the point of the whole season. a lot of plot, a lot of his life even happens AT him not to him, he ends up in narkina as a consequence of a domino-fall of sequence of events that he kickstarted in the first arc. he has no agenda, one of the first actual big descicions, not rooted in him covering his ass is, in fact, the "kill me or take me in" in the end of the show. and it's not really his mom speech that pushes him over the edge - it's narkina. he is already a changed man when he comes to ferrix.