Published April 2025
ANDOR:
SEASON 2
-
Lorem Ipsum
Creator:
Tony Gilroy
Year:
2025
Genre:
Sci-Fi
Watched:
1x
Lorem Ipsum
SPOILERS
Andor's first season is one of my favorite shows in recent memory. I even argued in my review that it might be the best production ever to come out of the franchise. I had always dreamed of getting a Star Wars story told with this level of tonal maturity, finesse and quality, and Tony Gilroy and co exceeded all my expectations in doing so. After years of failure and mediocracy it seemed we finally had creators who would restore balance to the universe, delivering the most natural extension of the universe since The Empire Strikes Back, while establishing a new standard to which all future Sci-Fi's could be measured.
They certainly delivered something special in that first season. The groundwork had been laid and anticipation for its second chapter was high. We watched Andor grow from backwater renegade to leader committed to fighting the Empire. I was looking forward to seeing his integration into the cause, exploring the formation and nuances of the Rebellion, diving deeper into the depths of the Empires tyranny, and witnessing the magnificent rise of Andor as he evolves into the leader he is destined to become.
At least that’s what I had hoped we’d see. What we got instead was something much less interesting, often confusing, and far more uninspired. The standards and expectations had been set high, but Season 2 is far from the masterclass of storytelling we had previously experienced. I completely disagree with the streams of perfectly scored reviews and unwavering praise I am seeing across the review landscape. This was a step down in writing quality and it’s given me that disappointing feeling in my chest when you see something you love coming so close to greatness fail to sustain that magic after a single 12 episode season.
I think many would agree that those first act episodes were poor. Three inconsequential plot lines are messily edited together, each drawing out what should have been condensed or skipped entirely. The wedding plot was particularly boring. I didn’t care about the drama between the friends and family of the Mothman’s, and the dialogue was often awkward and hard to follow. The farm arc was also un-imaginative and predictable. Is a generic visa-check story, with a stock rapist immigration officer really the best they could come up with?
The jungle scenes on Yavin 4, whilst more interesting on paper, also dragged on for far too long, reliant on the stupid behavior of unlikable, poorly acted rebels to force escalation that amounted to rock-paper-scissors levels of drama. The dialogue was particularly bad in these scenes. We also get to see how Dedras and Syrils relationship developed, anchoring the dynamics around an insufferable mother, which although provided some well acted and humorous moments, is just one more plot line we don’t tune into Andor to see.
At this point I refused to believe this was going to be the level of quality throughout the show. The first season after all was also slow to come to life, but eventually rewarded us with those incredible Aldhini Heist episodes (4 to 6), followed by the unforgettable prison escape episodes directly after (7 to 9). I therefore kept hope, and patience, that the writing would return to the expected quality, and that something special was just around the corner. But as I sat there in episode 7, watching another pointless side story with Wilmon and Saw, with the latter rambling on about gas and a important machine I knew nothing about, I realized that time was running out for this show to pull itself back on course and realize its legendary potential.
So yes I would agree, some great TV was given to us in those final episodes, but it is too little and too late. Even then, I challenge anyone to tell me those episodes were as good as Aldhini and the prison. There were no performances like we had with Andy Serkis. If that's the bar of quality, season 2 fails to capture that lightning in a bottle again.
I do also want to point out some smaller gripes I had with those last episodes. The decision to side-line Deedra and replace her with the new ISB member at the peak of her culminated efforts was strange. Why rob her and the audience of what she's been building towards for 2 seasons? Her and Andor finally coming face to face, even for a moment, would have been amazing. A lot growth was invested into her development but it turned out to be little consequence to the finale.
We did get a cool confrontation with Luthen, but despite the great dialogue, both showed levels of amateurism that was uncharacteristic and hurt the suspension of belief. She's practically asking Luthen to strike at her, or himself, which of course he does, and thus ruins The Empires chance for interogation. He flaws are offered, but it is so sloppy from Deedra. Luthen too, always shown to be in control, has no serious contingency to defend himself or destroy damning rebellion evidence when they find him. His half baked attempt to melt the communication console nearly leads to Kleya's capture. Where was the detonation of the entire office? Even his choice to end his life via a stab wound is dangerously unreliable by his standards. It's all very careless, and kind of undermines many of those lectures on protocol and caution he was often dishing out.
Now that I think about it, Kleya also acts un-characterstically in her hospital infiltration. She has the knowledge of the Death Star and makes no attempt to preserve or pass it on before risking her own potential capture or death. It also seems very easy to fly in an out of Coruscant. Andor does it just fine when they extract her. Surely she would have had her own getaway ship tucked away that she could have used to leave the planet immediately after the hospital, versus holing herself up helplessly.
I also think its unrealistic that Deedra was kept alive by The Empire. Her failure with Luthen was catastophic, but she knew about the Death Star. There's no way they would imprison her and allow the possibility of her leaking it. An execution would have been more fitting, and helped provide some of that Empire brutality and merciless that I felt was missing from them this season.
All those points seem like nitpicking, and I would agree they are deal breakers, but I do think its a shame some of the seasons biggest moments and conclusions are in part predicated on some inconsistent and lazy writing, that seemed more goaded towards manufacturing drama versus intelligently connecting all the key characters and plots together in its final moments for a satisfying payoff.
VERDICT
Season 2’s worst critic is Season 1. Whilst still a good season, it’s not a great one, which is a huge disappointment given what could have been. It’s carried mostly by the world class production and acting, whilst filling a tonal space that is truly appreciated given how long the franchise has starved us of quality. The contrast here is in the storytelling, which had too much filler and generic central motifs, whilst also putting its best character, Cassian Andor, (and to a large degree the Rebellion) frequently on the periphery with a lack of inspired content. Its brightest moments were excellent, but came far too late, with the final culmination of events still missing the cleverness and tightness of writing to impress with a satisfying and remarkable conclusion.
RATING BREAKDOWN
Story
58
Directing:
77
Visuals:
94
Acting / Dialogue:
-
Music / Sound
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BONUS
-
FINAL
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MOOD
Thanks for reading
