Andor (season 2)

The second and final season of Andor spans four years, tracing Cassian Andor’s transformation into the resolute Rebel leader from Rogue One. Beginning one year after Season 1, the season unfolds in four three-episode arcs, each covering a pivotal few days in the burgeoning Rebellion.

Andor Review (S2:E1-3)

For many Star Wars fans– let’s say the type of fan who hypothetically named one of his children after a legacy character –the last decade of content from a galaxy far far away has felt less like the fun, genre-defining, zeitgeist-threading pop culture phenomenon of yore and more like Empire propaganda. When the news that Disney was purchasing the beloved property was announced, many were worried that The House that Mickey Built would take all of the wrong lessons from the prequel series and go full Jar-Jar– turning Star Wars into a sci-fi Captain Kangaroo. Oh, you sweet summer child.

However, by the time The Force Awakens was released, Disney’s MCU had a dozen films under its belt and was already hyping what would turn out to be a mega-multibillion-dollar-super-ultra successful Phase Three with films like Homecoming, Infinity Wars, and of course Endgame all in the works. So, one could be excused if he looked at the release of TFA with a new hope.

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that Kathleen Kennedy et al had no idea what made Star Wars successful in the first place, and failure after dismal failure, we find ourselves with season two of Andor.

For those who haven’t watched the first season, do. Aside from some fun moments in seasons one and two of The Mandalorian, season one of Andor– and to a lesser degree, Rogue One are the only Disney Star Wars products to add anything that feels as though they enrich the tapestry of the Star Wars universe. Andor imbues The Empire with a visceral oppressiveness, and the Rebel Alliance with a moral complexity that breathes new life into the property, which any fan of the originals should appreciate. Regrettably, the first three episodes of season two do not.

Diverging from the linear storytelling of the first season, Season 2 tells its tale in three-episode arcs, with each trio focusing on a different year of the rebellion and ending where Rogue One begins. The reason for this is simple. There won’t be a third season. So, Andor’s creator, Tony Gilroy, had little choice if he wanted to tell anything close to what he had planned for the series.

The initial three episodes are largely unengaging, as each episode spends far too much time establishing the whereabouts of the leading players and the mundanity of their daily lives, without much of a story to accompany them.

Moreover, the first season devoted very little time to the supporting cast, and for good reason. No one cares about Mon Mothma’s daughter, or the two’s strained relationship, and no one has time to start, as nothing is helped by how unlikable the daughter is. No one cares about Bix and her PTSD, and no one has time to start. It all adds up to a bloated and unfocused narrative that does very little to advance the primary arc. Include the fact that Andor, himself, was never the most dynamic or charismatic character, and that you already know the ultimate outcome, and the result is three episodes that feel both rushed and sluggish at the same time. Trying to force us to emotionally connect with a now bloated cast over the course of three very unfocused episodes isn’t only asking too much, but it isn’t necessary.

That said, even with its narrative weaknesses, no series or film, not even the original trilogy, has done such a remarkable job as Andor at making the Star Wars universe feel lived in and real. The practical effects and sets are beautifully crafted, while the judiciously employed digital effects are tastefully and masterfully integrated, much like Dune, and give the world a tactile experience unlike any other franchise entry. Even the excruciatingly long wedding ceremony feels absolutely authentic.

Hopefully, despite its rocky start, the subsequent episodes will help the show regain its footing.

WOKE ELEMENTS

It’s So Fun Being An Illegal Alien

• Andor’s friends, Brix, the big guy whose name no one remembers, and a little guy who no one remembers, spend all three episodes as literal illegal aliens working manual labor jobs on a farm planet, and their entire plot revolves around immigration services hunting them down, and the abuses that they visit upon them whilst doing so.
  • It was a completely irrelevant subplot that could have been omitted entirely.
  • The Imperials even refer to one of them as “undocumented.” Heavy-handed much?

Chick Filleting

• Syril, a would-be Imperial officer, has an overbearing and emasculating mother and a girlfriend who is also stronger than he is, so much so that she puts his mother to rights.

Leeeesbiaaaaaaaannns in Spaaaaaaaacccccceee

• The completely tacked-on lesbian subplot from season one is buried in the background, but it’s still there.

Andor Review (S2:E4-6)

Andor Review (S2:E7-9)

Andor Review (S2: E10-12)

The final season of Andor has been as uneven as the Andes—starting flat as sun-warmed root beer, soaring higher than Star Wars has in decades, and settling into a whole lot of well-shot nothing.

Had Disney not botched nearly every other Star Wars project, Andor might’ve been given the breathing room to explore the threads it set up in season one. Instead, they crammed five years of story into twelve episodes.

The finale doesn’t stick the landing. Like the rocky start, the last three episodes focus on the wrong characters, leaving an emotional void between viewer and story. No one cares about Kleya, her backstory, or her permanent scowl (I had to look up her name because she mattered that little), and last-minute flashbacks don’t fix that.

Worse, the final shot is a jaw-dropping misfire—an act of selfishness masquerading as noble sacrifice.

Wrapping this up was always going to be tricky since we already know where it ends, but there might be enough good here to make it worth watching if you’re a Rogue One fan. Just think of Rogue One as the true finale, and this might sting less.

WOKE ELEMENTS

Disney’s Gotta Have It’s Girl Time

• These three episodes are dominated by Luthen’s female assistant, who has been an afterthought throughout much of the season and is the most unlikable character in the series after Bix (if you weren’t certain about how much you hated her, just wait until the final scene). But Disney can’t be happy if interesting male characters get too much screen time.

Light In The Jackboots

• The Imperial officer put in charge of the finalé’s investigation doesn’t seem to be intentionally portraying the character as a rampant homosexual, so much as the actor himself is so super gay that he can’t help it. That he’s an itty-bitty guy does nothing to help him appear intimidating.