Andor: Series 2 - Review

Rating: 5 out of 5

IF THE first season of Andor established that the Star Wars franchise was capable of transcending its genre by offering an adult and very political examination of the cost of resisting oppressive regimes, then season two most definitely doubled down.

Under the stewardship of its writer, Tony Gilroy (who has previously shone with the likes of Michael Clayton, Nightcrawler and many of the Bourne films), the sophomore run of episodes was overtly political and unafraid of pointing its finger at things like fascism, misinformation, genocide and rape.

It directly fed into the opening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, yet kept its eye on current events - aligning perfectly with existing Star Wars mythology (and the fates of its primary characters), while also taking aim at the likes of US President Trump, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, Russia's Vladimir Putin and historical figures such as Hitler and the Nazis.

Yet it also didn't compromise on excitement or humour, providing plenty of room for edge-of-your-seat style action and nice, knowing humour that further enhanced and made human the characters at the centre of the story.

Gilroy has regularly stated that Andor is a Star Wars entry for the everyday people who populate its vast Empire. There's little or no talk of Jedis and light-sabres, while the presence of the Empire is felt without feeling the need to appease fans with diversionary shots of Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker.

It has confidence in its own power and refuses to pay unnecessary lip service to the fans.

Hence, while universally acclaimed and adored by the majority, there remain some who have expressed outrage at the use of things like rape in Star Wars, while lamenting the lack of some of the aforementioned nods. For me, Andor remains more potent and more memorable by sticking to its guns.

If anything, it offers social commentary and state of the world addresses for those willing or wanting to pay attention, which is why it has become so revered in so many intellectual circles.

My only criticism might be that the changed format - four chunks of three episodes, each separated by a year from each other - disrupted some of the overall momentum of the show, especially during the first half of the second run, when some of the standalone missions seemed unnecessary at first.

The season openers, from One Year Later to Harvest, had some great moments, yet required a lot of viewer patience in seeing how they aligned with the overall arc. That being said, they did eventually reward that patience it asked for, once the bigger picture was properly revealed.

And talking of standalone sequences, then Cassian's early escape from an Empire base with a TIE fighter was genuinely thrilling (and comedic), while the political intrigue and duplicity surrounding Mon Mothma's wedding weekend was cleverly orchestrated, culminating in a sensational solo dance sequence involving Genevieve O'Reilly's central character, which expertly reflected the tumultuous state of her mind.

The aforementioned rape scene also took place in Harvest, providing a window into one of the many abuses that come with conflict. It was sensitively handled, and no less shocking for it - but fell into line with Gilroy's stated intention of exposing the harsh realities of war. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he states: "I mean, let’s be honest, man: The history of civilization, there’s a huge arterial component of it that’s rape. All of us who are here — we are all the product of rape. I mean armies and power throughout history [have committed rape]. So to not touch on it, in some way … It just was organic and it felt right, coming about as a power trip for this guy. I was really trying to make a path for Bix that would ultimately lead to clarity — but a difficult path to get back to clarity."

Similarly, the fortress at which the Empire plans the Ghorman massacre is deliberately modelled on the castles that were used by the Nazis to plot the Final Solution, complete with deliberate nods to the kind of misinformation that was required, as well as the engineering of false narratives that are now synonymous with modern day media manipulation.

The second season really hit its stride, however, with the final six episodes - which were as shocking as they were thrilling, and genuinely emotionally draining.

The Ghorman massacre itself, as depicted in the eighth episode, Who Are You?, was an absolute masterclass in political commentary and emotionally compelling storytelling. It had everything, including references to resistance movements such as the French during WWII, the genocide currently taking place in Gaza, tragic character confrontations and resolutions, a direct reference to a key line in Rogue One ("revolutions are built on hope"), and a relevance that extended well beyond the parameters of its genre.

When the Ghormans start chanting, "Raise your eyes to homeland skies, We are the Ghor, Breathe the air and know you're there, We are the Ghor, Valley, Highland, Let me spend my every day there!", I couldn't help but feel this was referencing protests against things like the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as historical movements such as the French Resistance during WWII. It was earth-shudderingly powerful.

Once the massacre starts, and all hell breaks out, you're as gripped as you are appalled. And that's while still keeping up with the reactions of key characters, most notably Diego Luna's hero Cassian and his long-term nemesis Syril (Kyle Soller), whose own arc has a tragedy that's genuinely surprising. It's Cassian who gets to utter the line, 'who are you?', in what represents a devastating dismantling of one man's life and purpose, particularly within the context of what else is happening around him (and his realisation of his role in it).

But then, as Gilroy has also stated, these episodes serve as an examination of the way that things like fascism unfold and how, in many cases, fascism ends up eating its young as it manifests itself and grows, becoming ever more extreme.

If Who Are You? as an episode arguably represented the highest point of the series, then the momentum remained. Welcome To The Rebellion was thrilling in its own right as both Mon Mothma and Cassian once more took the spotlight: the former to deliver one of the most telling speeches of the series; the latter to rescue her once that speech had been delivered and its impact made her a target.

The speech in question finds Mon Mothma denouncing the Empire and exposing the truth about events on Ghorman Plaza, where an "unprovoked genocide" occurred, and marks a pivotal moment in her transition from senator to rebel leader. But it also contains so much contemporary resonance, as evidenced by this extract: "I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous."

This is a series that is worth paying attention to.

Leaping further forward, the resolution of Luthen's journey (brilliantly realised by Stellan Skarsgard) enables the show to hit another of its emotional highs, with yet more subterfuge, sleight of hand, political message making and huge personal sacrifice.

Again, Gilroy and his production team cover all the key bases, combining intelligence with genre thrills, as well as a ruthlessness befitting the desperation of the situation. Key characters fall - the impact of which reverberates throughout the series. But the back-end episodes were also, to a fault, breathlessly exciting and odten unbearably tense.

But, as previously mentioned, this was a show that never skipped a beat. Its performances were uniformly brilliant throughout, adding extra resonance to the script, and the journeys they were taking. The true cost of rebellion, of resistance, of speaking out was never lost or trivialised. There was genuine weight to the words, and genuine significance to the sacrifices. Their loss became our loss.

And in those final moments, as events inevitably dove-tailed into the opening moments of Rogue One, there was even deeper tragedy than we'd previously come to expect - albeit a bittersweet one, as the true extent of Cassian's own sacrifice was revealed through a final shot [of Bix] that was as devastating as it was hopeful. I doubt there was a dry eye in any house!

Andor was monumental in its storytelling achievement. It represented the pinnacle of the Star Wars universe, informing the way fans re-watched previous movie entries. And it was also top-tier TV in general, deserving of every accolade and [hopefully] award bestowed upon it; fully deserving of its place alongside the likes of Succession, The Sopranos, Shogun and The Bear as an out and out TV classic.