When you take heed to the very finish of the “Andor” episode credit, you’ll hear the acquainted melody of John Williams’ authentic “Star Wars” rating. Comparatively few folks will get that far, partly as a result of streaming platforms like Disney+ encourage viewers to skip the credit and transfer onto no matter’s subsequent of their queue (and likewise as a result of the “Andor” credit run for a patience-testing 5 minutes, with half the names proven in a font so minuscule it’s borderline illegible).
However people who catch the hovering theme could also be greatly surprised; like they’ve been reminded of one thing they didn’t notice they’d forgotten. “Oh yeah,” they could assume. “‘Andor’ is a ‘Star Wars‘ story.”
After struggling too many journeys to galaxies far, far-off that have been both frustratingly confined to earlier visions or in any other case did not flourish, Tony Gilroy’s two-season restricted collection units itself aside, regardless of functioning like a puzzle piece. Sure, “Andor” is a prequel collection to a prequel movie to a trilogy that first debuted almost 5 a long time in the past, however as a substitute of getting caught prior to now (like so many comparable I.P. performs), these characters look steadfastly ahead; their pressing goal firmly rooted within the current, their poignant perspective certain to their fellow man.
Whereas watching, it’s straightforward to neglect this is identical world the place Jedis wield Power powers and Jar Jar Binks as soon as addressed the Galactic Senate. However for probably the most half, forgetting is strictly the purpose.
And a ringing endorsement. Like many legacy prequels, “Andor” Season 2 can wrestle now and again beneath the burden of constructing its personal fulfilling arc because the bridge of a three-act story. Followers craving a richer decision as soon as the twelfth episode wraps should queue up “Rogue One” and hope for the perfect (a dodgy endeavor, relying in your willpower to see previous sure flaws). However Gilroy’s resolve to craft an earnest tribute to the unsung heroes who constructed the rise up is just surpassed by his potential to ship a “Star Wars” story as aching and soulful, tragic and tenacious as this. “Andor” stands out, even whereas becoming in, and it does so with fashion and urgency not often felt in our conformist period of dreary I.P.
Season 2 picks up one yr after the rebellion on Ferrix, the place Maarva (Fiona Shaw) turned her personal funeral right into a public revolt in opposition to the Empire. Now, Bix (Adria Arjona) is laying low. Her time being tortured lives on in her nightmares — a few of which ship her sleep-walking towards the sadistic physician her goals inform her has returned. Throughout the day, she fixes farm gear alongside Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) and Wilmon (Muhannad Bhaier), the latter of whom has develop into fairly the Tooley (aka a mechanic) and fallen onerous for an area farmer. Wilmon, like Bix, has discovered his real love at a time of battle, forcing him to steadiness his obligation to the trigger together with his private happiness. How a lot of himself should he give to serve the Insurrection? How a lot can select to save lots of for himself?
The solutions aren’t straightforward or equal, nor are they meant to be. Gilroy’s narrative doesn’t shrink back from an all-or-nothing ethos, which turns into starkly, fervently clear in Cassian’s Season 2 journey. Once we first greet our lead protagonist, performed with breathless charisma and lingering disappointment by Diego Luna, he’s donned the uniform of the enemy. Tasked with stealing a TIE fighter he doesn’t know find out how to fly, Cassian quickly — and sometimes — finds himself pretending to be on one aspect to higher serve the opposite. The spy’s life is a lonely one, and it’s not the life Cassian needs. He plans to run away with Bix when the time is true, however as long as the Empire is controlling the clocks, when would that be? Can he cite his many hours of harmful service and file for an early, if well-earned, retirement? Or, like his Season 1 jail stint, is there just one means out whenever you’re dwelling beneath oppression?
As for its oppressors, “Andor” casts them within the extreme gentle of fearful obedience. Ben Mendelsohn sinks his enamel, yet one more time, into Imperial director Orson Krennic, belittling his officers with curt taunts and prolonged admonishments, relying on how a lot time he can spare towards excoriation. Krennic’s fixed sneering makes it straightforward to know why every ISB (Imperial Safety Bureau) officer carries out their orders, irrespective of how illogical or duplicitous. When the consequence of asking questions is his merciless model of self-discipline, no surprise one officer chooses loss of life over an exit interview.
What little empathy is prolonged to the darkish aspect is seen in Dedra (Denise Gough) and Syril (Kyle Soller), the fascistic company climbers who are actually a wannabe energy couple. In Season 2, Dedra earns a spot on a choose advisory council overseeing a mission involving the planet Ghorman, which has minerals integral to finishing the Dying Star. Syril advantages from his accomplice’s proximity to energy, wanting to really feel like he’s contributing to the grasp plan nonetheless he can, however their relationship grows darker and extra difficult regardless of their adherence to the rulebook. (Gough and Soller are wonderful, lending fury and anguish to their writhing worms.) It’s nearly as in the event that they’re cogs in an unfeeling machine, keen to maintain the wheels turning even when it means grinding them up within the course of, unaware their treasured few emotions received’t match between the gears.
“Andor’s” blunt disdain for tyrants and colonialists makes all of it the better to see the collection as trendy metaphor. Emperor Palpatine remains to be, technically, held in verify by the Galactic Senate, however his government overreach appears nearly timid in comparison with President Trump’s day by day decrees. There are scenes of state media framing peaceable protests as illegal assaults and dialogue that bravely describes genocide as precisely that, in defiance of a cacophony of boos. All of the whereas, disconnected insurgent teams pressure to beat disinformation campaigns, mass detainment, and normal complacency to kind a resistance that may impact change — not simply within the long-run, however right here and now.
“We combat to win,” Luthen (Stellen Skarsgård) says to a younger apprentice. “Which means we lose and lose and lose — till we’re prepared.” Bringing an finish to oppression requires sacrifice, and whether or not which means sacrificing your particular person goals or sacrificing your life itself, “Andor” commiserates these losses nearly as a lot because it rallies its characters round causes to just accept them.
Season 2 gives quite a few thrilling episodes constructed on motion and espionage. There are large, gleaming set items and slick, momentary callbacks. Large speeches make the hair in your neck get up (shout-out to my favourite psycho, Forest Whitaker’s Noticed Gerrera), and the forged assembled by Nina Gold and Martin Ware is sterling across-the-board. (Elizabeth Dulau as Luthen’s assistant, Kleya, stands out as the breakout of the season.) Everybody from the obsessive “Star Wars” fan to the informal TV viewer ought to discover one thing to latch onto. (Not for nothing, the Disney+ rollout is designed to finest match the season’s construction, not the streamer’s technique: Launched weekly in three-episode batches, every little trilogy has its personal thematic arc, and so they’re finest appreciated accordingly.)
However I’m nonetheless most awestruck by “Andor’s” distinctive deference to an plain end result. The tip of “Rogue One” and the beginning of “A New Hope” inform greater than the plot; they form the collection’ temperament and beliefs. Cassian, Bix, Luthen, and the remainder of the rebels know what they’re signing up for, and somewhat than undergo the motions till their inevitable finish — as if their responsibility to the Insurrection explains each resolution they make — they combat. They argue over every selection, every mission, each bit of data. They quarrel amongst themselves, and so they get up for one another, on a regular basis, at each flip.
The combat provides them life, even once they know the combat may even be what takes it away. One might argue that’s at all times been part of “Star Wars.” However how “Andor” elevates the agony of a life misplaced and the exhilaration of a life well-lived — a sacrifice that’s price it — is what makes it a “Star Wars” story that’s without delay a outstanding aberration and the epitome of the franchise. One thing tells me the following saga received’t be capable to match it.
Grade: A-
“Andor” Season 2 premieres Tuesday, April 22 on Disney+ with three episodes. The 12-episode season will likely be launched in three-episode batches every Tuesday by Might 13.