Andor - Season 2 Premiere - Review

When Andor was first announced, I was not sure what to make of it. How does a prequel work to a character that dies at the end of the movie, that he was introduced in. But as it turns out, the first season of Andor was pretty amazing, with essentially four stories in one season, it proved that Star Wars did not need lightsabers and the force to be amazing. Now that Season 2 has begun, were they able to spy some of that old magic?

Some Spoilers Ahead – Please be aware

I did consider attempting to write this review without spoilers, but there was just no way that I could do it, there are so many interweaving plots, that to write about one, without mentioning another would just not make any sense. But do not worry, the spoilers are going to be very high level. When the first episode begins, we see a lone imperial officer readying some new Tie Fighter, and we learn moments later that the reason is Cassian Andor has infiltrated the base and plans to fly off with it. This gives the start a real sense of urgency, which did feel a little like the opening to the first season, with Andor’s walking into the club. Like the first season, he doesn’t quite make a clean getaway, but he does get away and that flips us over to some of the former friends of Andor’s from Ferrix. I won’t say who for spoilers, but they have found themselves on a new planet and are trying to build a new life for themselves. Unlike the first season where they had no idea where Andor was, this time they know he is off on a mission and while he eventually misses his check-in and they begin to worry, he does ultimately arrive back home.

Back on Coruscant, there are plots within plots going on. Luthen Rael, the founder of the rebellion or core member of it at least, is still running Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest with his assistant Cleya Marki, but also running ops. Having the pair of them leave the city planet to head to Chandrila for the wedding of Mon Mothma’s teenage daughter, could have easily been a bland experience, but again those plots within plots kept the fun happening. The three episodes all take place over three days, which is made evident by the fact that according to ancient Chandrilian traditions, the wedding takes three days and guests are encouraged to pace themselves.

What I liked about the story was that it didn’t introduce a new wave of characters for us to get to know, but rather took those we did know and put them in new situations. Luthen is a character that we have seen be fierce and determined when he is being the rebellion leader, but also charming and suave when he dons his wig and rings. Being able to see more of the latter was a nice treat, because if you recall, one of the last things we saw him do at the end of the first season was admit that everything he does is for a time he knows he won’t see. Because of the back and forth of the stories, it can be a little hard at first to track things, especially when familiar faces appear, but in the end, everything comes together in a fun way.

Perhaps my greatest concern with the three episodes is just how under used Andor is, when we left him at the end of the first season, he was stepping in to be more involved and here it kicks off in a big way. But he spends most of the three episodes content to sit around and do nothing, well maybe not content, but he does not do a lot. The reason why this bothers me so, is that if your main character spends more time doing nothing, it sort of removes a reason to care and sure, eventually he gets moving again, but it felt like the events dragged on. I will say that the ending of the second episode was a nice oh wow moment.

Stepping out of the story, I have to give credit to the actors and the rest of the crew, because everything is amazing. When I watch The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, or even The Book of Boba Fett, I have learnt to be able to tell when something is on the Volume and when it’s not. That does not happen here, sure there are some locations where you can guess that the background has been replaced, there are no cars flying past the windows after all. But the grounding of everything, from random benches on a walkway, worn paths leading around a building and even the clothes that the farmers wear, everything builds a world that feels like a real place. So, when you do see a ship flying overhead or a unique looking creature, it never feels out of place, because everything feels like it has a place. When you see a character repair something, you don’t think about the prop itself, but how that thing works in the context of the world. The first season had such a grounded feeling, it is great to see the second kick things off feeling the same.

The first three episodes of Andor’s second season were much slower than I was expecting them to be, they are not bad, just not what I was expecting. Seeing some returning faces undertake some new challenges is fun, there is a lot more set up for the remaining episodes, which does remove some of the tension. Given every there episodes is one year in the countdown to the events of Rogue One, I knew going in that things would not be the same as the first season, but so far it might be a change that some folks can’t quite get behind.

The Score

8.0

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

So many returning faces, all dealing with new challenges

There are some truly tense moments across the three episodes…

The Cons

… but the overall tension feels a little lost by the odd placement of events

Andor feels totally under used in these episodes