The first season of “Andor” defied expectations and became the best thing to come out of the “Star Wars” franchise. So it’s obvious that expectations are sky high for its concluding chapters.
Covering five years over 12 episodes, there is a lot of ground to cover before we get to the opening of “Rogue One,” and “Andor” Season 2 feels as epic in scope as the entire original trilogy despite being set years before the Rebel Alliance engages in open war against the Empire. And yet, Tony Gilroy and his team deliver an ambitious, spectacular, poignant, emotionally crushing and very timely season that not only cements this show as the best “Star Wars” story, but also one of the best TV shows of the decade.
A year after the events of Season 1, the new episodes find Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor as a full-time rebel, but not yet the man fans met in “Rogue One,” who is quick to follow orders and willing to sacrifice anyone and everything for the cause. Season 2 covers multiple storylines across different planets (for the first seven episodes) before jumping forward a year in time every three episodes. This could easily become a “Game of Thrones” situation where there are too many characters to keep track of, too many storylines to care about and not enough time for any one of them to really stand out. But every character gets something significant to do in each batch of episodes to earn some development. Everyone from Syril (Kyle Soller), everyone’s favorite imperial bootlicker who gets more than he bargains for and some big realizations, Wimon (Muhannad Ben Amor) becoming a proper rebel, or Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) stepping out of the shadows as a hero of the Rebellion, gets their moment to shine.
The biggest compliment for “Andor” Season 2 is that it never feels bogged down by the weight of its multiple storylines. The pacing is tight, and editor Matthew Cannings does a fantastic job maintaining the tension throughout, even when juggling completely separate storylines. On several occasions, the edits become faster and faster, ratcheting up the tension with rhythmic cuts, like going between a high-stakes heist and a tense attempt at retrieving a bug from an art exhibit filled with high-ranking imperial officers. On their own, they are already nerve-wracking sequences, but when cutting back and forth at the right moment, they become “Uncut Gems” levels of palm-sweating stress.
High tension and stakes are appropriate given “Andor” Season 2 is all about the origins of the Rebel Alliance. Fans of “Star Wars Rebels” should keep their eyes open for a few great tie-ins into that show, but never in a way that feels forced or with references that are shoehorned in. On the contrary, this season is perhaps the best example of how to connect pieces of the “Star Wars” universe together. Whether it’s calling back to moments or small details from “Rogue One,” bringing back parts of the “Legends” canon and making them fit the show’s narrative, or showing events only briefly mentioned in the cartoons, this is a marvelously written season that makes the franchise feel much bigger.
Building a rebellion is easier said than done, and “Andor” uses its final season to portray a mix of contrasting nuances and moral stances, showcasing different approaches to resisting the Empire and the problems that come with each of them. From attempts at playing nice in politics while your opponent is waving a cannon at your face and orchestrating atrocities behind your back, to playing dirty and ignoring the human cost of fighting back, to the naïveté and excitement of new formed insurgency, the season is as timely as it is timeless. “Andor” already gave us a first season that showed a different, more mundane evil in its portrayal of the imperial prison system, but Season 2 takes it to another level. From a storyline about an authoritarian regime cracking down on immigration after they themselves encouraged undocumented immigration to be exploited for work, to a seemingly ordinary boardroom meeting with cakes and coffee that’s also about unleashing unspeakable atrocities in a scene straight out of “The Zone of Interest,” this season feels explicitly of this moment in history.
Though there are subtle parallels to our current political landscape that easily blend with the more sci-fi “Star Wars” aspects of the show, there are also elements that are as loud and clear as a sledgehammer through a glass in how little they hide that the show is meant to reflect a reality not in a galaxy far, far away or set a long time ago — such as introducing news broadcasts and morning talk shows meant to spew imperial propaganda. The Ghorman storyline becomes not just the throughline of the season and the connective tissue that ties everything together neatly, but also the storyline that feels the closest to George Lucas’s vision of “Star Wars” as an allegory for the Viet Cong’s fight against the American Empire.
It’s not just that the story of “Andor” is utterly riveting, but that the production is gorgeous and awe-inspiring. There are dozens of locations, and a much bigger scale than the first season, yet the look of the show never feels artificial. Season 2 seamlessly blends stunning VFX with huge, practical sets that are rich in detail and breathtaking to look at. Every new planet feels alive, with its own unique culture — special shout-out to the French and German-coded Ghorman — while the wardrobe department’s incredible and varied work is reminiscent of the incredible work on “The Phantom Menace” and Padmé’s increasingly elaborate costumes throughout the prequel trilogy.
This is “Star Wars” at its very best, a show that’s as much sci-fi as it is a spy thriller, a war drama and a very human story. Does it feel like the space opera of the first movie? No, but it feels directly in conversation with it, and as much a part of this franchise as “The Empire Strikes Back.” Season 2 of “Andor” doesn’t just make the first season even better, it makes the entire franchise better, while setting an impossibly high bar for whatever comes next to have even a fraction of the timeliness, the nuance, the sense of scale, or the emotion of these 12 episodes.
“Andor” is not just great “Star Wars” TV, but great television, period.
“Andor” Season 2 premieres Tuesday, April 22, on Disney+.
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