Andor | Season 2 Review

Andor Season 2 dropped on Disney+ on April 22nd and concluded the adventures of Cassian Andor before he stepped into his role as a rebel leader in Rogue One. The series received a 96% from Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.6 out of 10 from IMDb. From what I’ve personally seen, the consensus has leaned more positive than negative, which is a plus in today’s age of Star Wars. From shootouts to stolen ships to life-threatening secrets, the season was packed full of action!  

If you’re new to my recaps, I will be mentioning specifics from the storyline. If you haven’t finished watching, make sure to pause this video if you don’t want any spoilers. 

The season began with Cassian disguised as a test pilot to steal an Imperial ship. He quickly found out that the ship wasn’t one that he had experience flying and blew his cover while sneaking away. He eventually landed on a planet to reconnect with one of his partners, who had unfortunately been overrun by a rebel group. He was able to successfully escape and made his way to Mina-Rau to rescue his friends from season one.

Intertwined with Cassian’s storyline, there was also the plot of Mon Mothma trying her hardest to get financial support for the rebel alliance without blowing her cover, Luthen doing his part to keep up appearances and advance their cause, and the Imperials working overtime to build the Death Star and take over more star systems. 

Later in the season, more of the plot was revealed and it was very interesting to see how it was written like a true political show with betrayals, secret agendas, and grave consequences. It definitely kept me guessing until the very end. I saw ahead of time that Cinta had to die, but the way she was killed off was insane. 

I was guessing that Dedra and Syril were working together, but I never expected that Dedra was planning on double crossing him at the end of things. It goes to show that the Imperials would drag their very own down just to get ahead or sustain their position in the Empire. 

There was a secret plot to frame peaceful planets as rebels so the Empire could come in, subjugate them, and take their valuable resources for an energy program that really was the Death Star. It was terrible seeing all the worlds that refused to stand up and fight for the cause, but it helped emphasize exactly why the resistance was so important in Rogue One, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. 

The action really picked up in episodes 7, 8, and 9 with the massacre on Ghorman, Mon Mothma’s declaration against Emperor Palpatine, and the resistance gaining momentum. It was beautiful how the entire build up of the conflict on Ghorman came together. Previous episodes alluded to the mounting stakes and the culmination of it was both riveting and drove home the overall theme of the suppressive, deceptive Empire. The tension was palpable throughout the storyline, which added to the viewing experience.

There were rumors that Andor was supposed to have five seasons, and honestly I wish it got approved for more than just two seasons so we had more time to really flesh out and enjoy the story. Towards the end, characters started dying off quickly as the number of remaining episodes dwindled. I absolutely hated how Bix was written out of the story. For those of us who have seen Rogue One, we know that she had to step aside to make room for Cassian falling in love with Jyn Erso, but I just didn’t like that she left him while he was sleeping. 

I assume she didn’t want to carry the guilt of holding Cassian back from his instrumental role in the rebellion, but it just didn’t hit like I wanted it to. I would’ve much rather seen her die tragically than her just step away. It was giving weak sauce and made it obvious the writers and production team had to quickly wrap things up. 

The Mon Mothma arc and connection to Rebels was very nice to see. I absolutely loved Rebels and to see Andor link to the events in a random episode that I didn’t initially pay much attention to was truly wonderful. Andor really set Mon Mothma up to be the strong, powerful leader of the Rebellion we know her as in the Original Trilogy. 

The last three episodes of the season revealed the existence of the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance and showed how they organized over time to take down the Empire. Luthen’s imperial spy, Lonni, came through with major intel that ultimately led to his death and Dedra got compromised and tossed by her superiors. 

Unfortunately, we saw Luthen’s death, but not before we got the backstory on who Kleya was to him and how they became a team. It was refreshing to see just how Luthen molded her into a ruthless, yet brilliant revolutionary who was willing to die for the cause. She refused to let Luthen become a pawn of the Empire and took matters into her own hands to protect the Rebellion from getting infiltrated. 

The final episode provided the vital link to the events in Rogue One as Cassian embarked on his mission to Kafrene. It also showed just how much the Rebellion had grown in strength and numbers compared to the beginning of the season. We also got a sneak peak of Dedra in an imperial prison similar to the one Cassian escaped from in season one, the beginning of the end for Saw Gerrera, and the formation of the K-2SO, Melchi, and Cassian Rogue One crew. 

As a whole, I thought the season ended on a rather rushed note, especially in the last episode. It was obvious to me that the writers hurried to close out the story, but they did give us a cliffhanger that Bix had a child. I think it’s only fair to assume that the child is Andor’s and that’s why Bix decided to leave so he wouldn’t be distracted from fighting the Empire. My husband suspects that there will be a Bix spin off show that follows her and the kid, but I’m really not sold on the idea. 

My favorite storyline and characters were Mon Mothma and Kleya because they both controlled a lot while maintaining the appearance of not being involved. They had the gall to fight for what they believed in and helped push the needle forward in vital missions like removing the listening device in the art gallery in episode six and doing everything possible to gather support for the resistance. 

The cast did a remarkable job of bringing the story to life. It’s so cool that this project was Elizabeth Dulau’s very first professional on-screen acting role after getting cast as Kleya fresh out of drama school. She definitely embodied the strong, resilient nature of the character. I also really appreciated Genevieve O'Reilly returning for the role of Mon Mothma, especially since she’s a close resemblance to the original Mon played by Caroline Blakiston in Return of the Jedi. My only gripe with the casting is that I wish Jimmy Smits returned to play the role of Bail Organa instead of the new guy Benjamin Bratt. No shade to him, but I was just expecting to see the original Bail that we’ve all come to love. And, as always, Diego Luna did a phenomenal job as Cassian. 

I thought it was rather interesting that Disney decided to drop three episodes each week instead of dragging the series out by releasing only one episode per week. That makes me think they have something else planned for later in the year that they don’t want to be interrupted by Andor. It’s either that or they just decided to rush and wrap the series up so they could wipe their hands of it. Unfortunately, you just never know with Disney nowadays, especially after Acolyte massively flopped. 

Season 2 started similarly to season 1 as a slow, meticulous burn. Honestly, it felt like there was a lot of time wasted throughout the season with long dramatic scenes of nothing substantial. When Cassian crashed in episode 2, there was an abnormal amount of time and emphasis placed on the infighting amongst the rebel group before he was finally able to escape the planet. In episode 3, the whole long, drawn out scenes of Mon Mothma dancing at her daughter’s wedding could have been summarized and condensed into only one scene. 

I personally really enjoyed season one of the show, but I can admit that it was a very slow burn. Nothing happened until episode five or six and then all the “boring” groundwork that was laid in the previous episodes came together and made sense once the action actually popped off. 

The pacing of season two was extremely similar to season one. Andor is a show that requires time to set the scene, explain what’s going on, and pop off the action. It’s definitely not one that hooks you in immediately on the surface, but it is one that, if you can get into it, buries deep into your subconscious and completely engulfs you in the story. I waited to release my review until season 2 was finished airing because it’s oftentimes difficult to see the whole forest when you’re only concentrating on the trees right in front of you. 

I’m not sure what live-action show Disney will release next, but I’m really hoping they can either hire some new writers that can truly tap into the essence of Star Wars, or at least fire some of the writers that have been putting out the recent atrocities. Over time, titles like Book of Boba Fett, Mandalorian (season three in particular), Acolyte, and even Ahsoka have suffered from poor writing, too much time wasting, and overwhelming agenda pushing. 

There’s a different team of producers, directors, and writers that make the animated content, and they are truly the diamonds in the rough when it comes to Star Wars content. It’s a shame that they don’t get the exposure or credit they deserve simply because the mass majority of people won’t give them a chance. Bad Batch, Rebels, and Tales of the Jedi truly cater to the Star Wars fans that have seen every piece of content and are deeply entrenched in the lore. 

Nevertheless, I’m weary, but somewhat excited for the future of Disney’s version of Star Wars. They have to be extremely careful going forward to not further fracture the fanbase, while trying everything they can to get back fans that have jumped off the bandwagon. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if they can toe that fine line or if they’ll drive off a cliff with another blunder like the Acolyte series and the Rey sequels. 

If you enjoyed this episode, let me know by giving this video a thumbs up, leaving a comment, and subscribing to my channel. I’ll see you in the next episode! 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie