******DEATH STAR-SIZED SPOILERS!******
Originally planned for five seasons leading up to the events of 2016’s “Rogue One,” Disney+ has streamed the first three episodes of Disney+’s “Andor” season 2, which is now being billed as its final season; due in part to the time requirements needed to shoot this feature film-quality series. Personally, I’m okay with short and sweet, as it clears the field for the recently announced “Star Wars: Starfighter,” the new Star Wars movie starring Ryan Gosling (“First Man”), set for release on May 28th, 2027; just a few days after the 50th anniversary of the original release of “Star Wars.” The original Star Wars was a life-changing event for me as a kid back in 1977, but too much of any good thing becomes problematic, and Disney has certainly pumped the well dry in that galaxy far, far away. There’s a lot of new Star Wars content that I have absolutely zero interest in, which would’ve been incomprehensible to my ten-year old self back in 1977.
Diego Luna returns as Cassian Andor, the Rebel spy whose fate has been preordained with 2016’s “Star Wars: Rogue One.”
However, some Disney Star Wars streaming shows have yielded pleasant surprises. That first season of “The Mandalorian” (2019) made me remember why my heart still skips a beat for Star Wars after all these decades. In fact, Mando (Pedro Pascal) easily out Boba-ed Boba Fett himself. Then came other stuff. The third season of “The Mandalorian” got too mired in Mandalore’s politics and rituals to hold my interest. More recently, “Ahsoka” (2023) featured a live-action “Star Wars Rebels” reunion (‘Rebels’ is my favorite animated Star Wars), but it didn’t stay in my memory the way that “Rebels” had. One of the worst of the lot was “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” which was simply awful. The more I saw of it, the more I despised it. The recent “Skeleton Crew,” wasn’t bad, though I quickly realized I wasn’t its target demographic. Then there’s 2022’s “Andor,” and like the series itself, my feelings for it were generally quite positive, but also very complicated. Created and shepherded by Tony Gilroy, who cowrote “Rogue One,” “Andor” was designed as a countdown to Gilroy’s 2016 Star Wars movie; filling in the murkier, grayer corners of the Star Wars universe.
My interest was piqued with the return of Ben Mendelsohn as Director Krennic; old school villainy in this somewhat grayer corner of the Star Wars universe.
I certainly appreciate “Andor”‘s deeper look at daily life within the fascist Galactic Empire (something I sadly relate to much more these days, given the situation here in the United States), but it’s a hard watch. In fact, I had difficulty getting through the first season. “Andor” was so heavy and brutal that it became about as much fun as a root canal. As a kid from the 1970s, I found myself missing the adventurous side of Star Wars. Nevertheless, I couldn’t dismiss or ignore “Andor,” because it’s a genuinely good show; easily the best of Disney+’s current Star Wars streaming content. The trailer for season 2 also piqued my interest with the return of the delightfully snarky Director Krennic from “Rogue One,” played by Ben Mendelsohn (“Ready Player One”). I also wanted to see series’ lead Diego Luna take the reins a bit more in his character’s titular series.
Directed by Ariel Kleiman, the first three episodes of season 2; “One Year Later,” “Sagrona Teema” and “Harvest” have streamed this past week. And despite a few minor issues, they were worth the wait.
Synopses/Notes
Hoping to do things a bit differently this time, I’ve listed shorter synopses for each of the three episodes (quoted directly from StarWars.com) with my own notes for each in the photo captions, followed by my overall summary afterward.
Episode 1, “One Year Later”
Imperial technician Niya works on the experimental TIE Avenger while secretly aiding the Rebellion. It’s a great scene to open the episode, with Cassian right back in the thick of things, stealing an advanced TIE fighter for the Rebellion. Despite his ambivalence last season, he’s clearly committed to the cause now.
“Rebel agent Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) goes undercover as a test pilot to steal an experimental TIE Avenger, successfully flying the Imperial craft to a jungle moon. But once at the rendezvous point, Cassian finds himself caught in the crossfire of a conflict erupting between stranded Rebels from the Maya-Pei Brigade, a disparate rebel cell. Meanwhile, B2EMO, Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), and Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier) have eked out a humble life hidden among the farmers of the agricultural world of Mina-Rau. And while Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie) prepare for their daughter’s wedding on Chandrila, Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), an ambitious and loyal servant of the Empire, hosts a secret meeting with key members of the Imperial Security Bureau to discuss the planet of Ghorman.”
Rebel sympathizer Niya (Rachelle Diedericks) and Cassian (Diego Luna) enjoy a moment before he steals a TIE Avenger from an Imperial test facility on Planet 73. I very much enjoyed this brief, tender scene between Cassian and Niya; who’s clearly smitten with him. There’s also room for humor, as Niya passes Cassian off just another Imperial pilot, with her friend commenting “he’s cute.” It’s also one of those rare times we see a pilot in Star Wars really struggling to master a new spaceship. This opening scene feels most like classic Star Wars; with tension, humor, action, and a subtle hint of romance.
Cassian is captured by the biggest bunch of screwups in the Star Wars galaxy; a group of stranded Rebels who are too dense to realize that Cassian is not an Imperial pilot (let alone tie their own shoes). Despite its ‘big reveal’ that the jungle planet is the 4th moon of Yavin from “A New Hope,” this plot thread goes on far too long. It’s about as believable as Jason Bourne being kidnapped by a vicious gang of Ewoks with butter knives.
Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) gives an Imperial pep talk to the ambitious Deedra on the Empire’s little Ghorman problem. Ben Mendelsohn’s subtle brand of villainy feels like a cross between Heinrich Himmler and Bill Lumbergh from 1999’s “Office Space.”
Ferrix refugees Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier), Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) and their friend Beela (Laura Marcus) find their peaceful farming existence on Mina-Rau threatened by an Imperial ‘audit.’ The dialogue about the hiding Ferrix survivors being undocumented “illegals” on Mina-Rau was very topical, especially when migrant farm workers are currently being unduly persecuted without due process. At times, the Imperial officers feel all too much like ICE agents from the United States.
Episode 2, “Sagrona Teema”
Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie), Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) prepare for their daughter’s nuptials, while ally Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) puts on his best phony smile (needs work) while he attends to something more deadly. The Chandrillan wedding storyline is a contrast between glamour and tension. Rael circles like a shark for banker Tay Kolma, who’s loosening lips endanger Mothma and Rael’s clandestine funding of the Rebel Alliance.
“The Empire arrives on Mina-Rau, endangering Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), and Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier) who are on the run after the violent insurrection on Ferrix. On Coruscant, Imperial Security Bureau Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) frets about a new assignment that will take her to Ghorman while her partner Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) continues to climb the ladder at the Bureau of Standards. On Chandrila, Senator Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly) cover story for funding the rebellion is jeopardized when her friend and confidante Tay Kolma (Ben Miles) exhibits unpredictable behavior in the face of personal strife. Meanwhile, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) plots to escape his captors.”
Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) wins the young Kyle MacLachlan lookalike contest, third year in a row. Once again providing a source of humor and pathos, Syril is the epitome of an office drone living in the Galactic Empire; loyal to his cruel government, he’s only concerned with rising in the ranks of his wildly unimportant career.
Outspoken Tay Kolma (Ben Miles) presents a bit of a problem for his secretive Rebel friends. The banker’s instability threatens to expose the connection between Mothma, Rael and Rebel Alliance funding. Something tells me he’s gonna go fishing on Lake Tahoe with Fredo Corleone real soon…
Episode 3, “Harvest”
Cassian steals the TIE Avenger right out from the feuding ‘Maya-Pei Bridge’ still stranded on an ‘unnamed’ jungle planet (Yavin 4). Their unseen leader’s name, Maya-Pei, is also something of an easter egg regarding the planet’s name; since the stone temples seen on Yavin 4’s horizon in “A New Hope” were real-life Mayan ruins shot second unit in Guatemala for the original 1977 film.
“Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) struggles to make contact with Coruscant, barely maintaining control of the temperamental TIE Avenger. On Mina-Rau, Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), and Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier) plan to evade the Imperial inspection using forged emergency work orders. But their gambit falls apart as the Imperials arrive before sundown, taking Brasso into custody while Bix and Wilmon contend with officers invading their home. Meanwhile, on Chandrila Mon Mothma’s (Genevieve O’Reilly) daughter’s wedding ends in a raucous reception and the gift of a priceless historical artifact delivered by Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau), and on Coruscant Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) and Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) enjoy an awkward dinner party of their own with a special guest: Eedy Karn (Kathryn Hunter), Syril’s mother.”
Imperial Supervisor Dedra (Denise Gough) and her bureaucrat partner Syril prepare for their most dangerous mission yet; dinner with Syril’s annoying-as-hell mother, Eedy Karn (Kathryn Hunter). While I enjoyed seeing Eedy being given clear boundaries by Dedra, I still have issues with the Eedy Karn character; who’s written and played like a bad 1960s Jewish mother stereotype. Ethnic stereotyping for laughs is never cool, even in “a galaxy far, far away…”
Mon Mothma’s frantic drinking and dancing is a desperate attempt to mask her anxiety over Tay’s situation. Realizing Tay’s going to be ‘taken care of’ soon, Mothma (beautifully played by Genevieve O’Reilly) feverishly drowns her conscience by throwing herself into the partying, but with all joy glaringly absent. The scene is a reminder of how many of us self-anesthetize our way through moral dilemmas.
Cassian arrives on Mina-Rau, managing to take out some of the Imperials threatening his friends, but losing one as well. Once again, writer/creator/showrunner Tony Gilroy pulls no punches with the loss of Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), a lifelong friend of the Andor family. Cassian is also reunited with Bix, who narrowly avoids being raped earlier by killing her smug Imperial attacker. Bix’s justifiable self-defense marks a dark first for Star Wars; it’s the franchise’s first scene depicting an attempted rape.
Summing It Up
Despite a few issues, such as the overlong “Lord of the Flies” thread on Yavin 4, the second and final season of Tony Gilroy’s “Andor” is off to a strong start. The Ferrix refugees’ short-lived resettlement on the farming world of Mina-Rau offers typically strong commentary on life within an authoritarian galaxy. The characters Bix (Adria Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) and Wilmon (Muhannad Bhaier) serve as powerful metaphors for undocumented migrant workers on 21st century Earth. I hope audience identification and sympathy with these characters might spur greater, more productive conversations about the humanity of their real-life counterparts. Bix’s brutal near-rape is also a terrible new first for “Star Wars,” yet it fits within the innate horror of this series, which depicts a harsh existence under draconian rule; something only hinted at in the original trilogy. Sadly, it’s an existence that’s becoming all-too relatable.
Only three episodes in, and the second season certainly doesn’t shy away from loss (as we saw with season 1). We see the character of Brasso gunned down while fleeing on a speederbike, as well as the implicit “Godfather 2”-style assassination of outspoken banker Tay (Ben Miles), who’s seen escorted away in a speeder piloted by Cinta Kaz (Doctor Who’s Varada Sethu); a Rebel operative connected to the ruthless Rebel leader, Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård). Once more, Rael’s refined facade as an art/antiquities dealer is maintained, with the alibi of young Leida Mothma’s wedding. While we saw plenty of death in the original Star Wars trilogy (Alderaan, anyone?), the losses are more intimate and hard-hitting in this bleaker corner of the Star Wars universe.
Doctor Who companion Varada Sethu plays ‘chauffeur’ Cinta Kaz who is taking really good care of Tay…
The regal Chandrillan wedding of too-young Leida Mothma (Bronte Carmichael) to her equally underaged (and apparently loveless) fiancé almost feels like something ported over from the “Dune” universe. However, the wedding serves to illustrate the increasing conflicts within future Rebellion leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), who’s marrying off her daughter and losing an old friend on the same day. Mothma’s heavy drinking and frantic dancing during the reception scene of “Harvest” is a standout moment for the character, who is still several years away from being the coolheaded guerrilla leader who will finalize the assault plans against the Death Star 2 in “Return of the Jedi” (where she’s played by Caroline Blakiston). At this moment in her life, Mothma still struggles with the hard choices to be made, and needs a bit of liquid courage to drown her conscience.
One of my favorite scenes of the three episodes is an early scene from “One Year Later” on the unimaginatively named “Planet 73,” home of an Imperial testing facility. There, Cassian (Diego Luna) is attempting to steal a prototype Imperial TIE fighter, Avenger-class. Cassian is aided by a sympathetic Imperial technician named Niya (Rachelle Diedericks), who is clearly smitten with the Rebel, but she keeps her cool; providing him cover that allows him to complete his mission–realizing it might cost her life. The gravity of the scene is broken up with an unexpected bit of humor, as Cassian comically bangs into the hangar walls as he struggles to master the advanced prototype. With tension, humor, action and just a hint of romance (on Niya’s part, at least), it’s a scene right out of the original trilogy; and a tribute to Tony Gilroy that he can let old school Star Wars fans like myself have a bit of cake along with the bitter wine that follows.
It’s this tonal disparity that epitomizes my issues of reconciling this worthy and well-made series with the Star Wars I grew up with in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We see a woman fighting off a brutal sexual assault not long after seeing the wonky droid B2EMO, colorful blaster beams, and other bits of canonical Star Wars silliness (meant with affection, not derision). “Andor” often feels too sophisticated and adult to be related to the pop-friendlier Star Wars universe. It might take a bit of getting used to for generations weaned on R2-D2, Wookiees and Ewoks, and that’s perfectly fine. “Andor” is ultimately worth the stretch.
Where to Watch
Both seasons of “Andor” are available exclusively on Disney+, along with most other Star Wars feature films and TV series. The first season of “Andor” is also on Blu-Ray/4K through Amazon.com
One Comment Add yours