Andor Season 2 Premiere Review: Rebels with a Cause

The wait is finally over! Star Wars: Andor™ season 2 premiered last night with three new episodes. Following Cassian Andor in the time prior to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story™, this live-action drama is filled with tension and highly topical themes.

After all, as we follow Cassian on the path toward a heroic yet tragic fate, there’s still plenty of tragedy to fill in the gaps. “One Year Later,” “Sagrona Teema,” and “Harvest” set a patient pace yet brutal tone for the remaining episodes. Join us as we review the three-part premiere below.

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Seeds of Discord

Andor season 2, episode 1 starts with a time skip. Clearly, Cassian’s got the hang of things. In a short plot reminiscent of Sabine Wren’s story in Rebels™, Cassian infiltrates a TIE fighter academy and steals a ship. The opening establishes just the right amount of tension and release — comedic relief, that is. Cassian flirts with a young Imperial traitor, and it’s sweet. An extra calls him cute, and I cheer. Diego Luna deserves the hype.

Then, Cassian reassures his contact that she’ll have done something good if she dies tonight. “Will it be worth it?” she asks. It struck me. Throughout all of Star Wars, we’re always rooting for the Rebels. Of course their sacrifice is worth it. But we forget, moment-to-moment and person-to-person, how fear and doubt can creep in. Cassian consoles her beautifully. While that’s heavy, we can laugh a little later as Cassian totally wrecks his escape plan. But that’s what Star Wars is good at: a balance between dark and light.

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The Best Laid Plans…

Cassian’s rendezvous point is compromised by infighting insurgents. Honestly, I was pretty tired of these guys right away and so was Cassian. The ragtag group turned their blasters on each other and couldn’t agree what to do with Cassian (disguised as a TIE pilot). We get it. Some activists can’t agree on the best course of action, so they destroy themselves from the inside. I don’t think we needed to spend time learning their names or watching them play a deadly game of hands (essentially rock-paper-scissors) to understand that.

Elsewhere on Chandrila, Mon Mothma juggles her hidden political agenda with her daughter’s marriage. The wedding festivities are supposed to be joyous. Yet underneath them runs a current of fear and resentment. Mon Mothma is willing to upend her daughter’s life in order to secure her financial welfare — all part of the larger picture of Rebellion. At one point, she gets cold feet, and her daughter declines to walk away from the ceremony anyway.

Mon Mothma’s role in Andor

Mon Mothma is definitely one of the most interesting parts of Andor. She’s always been calm, composed, and collected in Star Wars media. Yet this Mon Mothma is a wreck behind her mask of high society. She’s anxious and emotional, breaking through the ice to reach out to her distant daughter and basically estranged husband. Luthen Rael’s presence is a constant thorn in her side. Her final scene in episode 3, as she dances through her panic, is an absolute standout of the series.

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Bix and Brasso in “Harvest”

*Warning for discussion of sexual assault below

I will say that episodes 1 and 2 felt very much just like set up. The writers could have tightened some of these stories to get to their main points faster. Basically, Andor spent the 2-hour runtime of a combined “One Year Later” and “Sagrona Teema” re-establishing/refreshing some canon and plot points. Syril Karn and Dedra Meero are romantically involved. Orson Krennic is planning something big — presumably involving the Death Star — on the planet Ghorman due to its kalkite silk. Luthen Rael is still Cassian’s boss. That’s really all you need to know.

“Harvest,” however, is immaculate from start to finish. From earlier episodes, we know Bix and Brasso are hiding out as mechanics. They are undocumented workers, lacking visas and on the run from the upheaval in Ferrix. Bix, haunted by her time as a prisoner, has nightmares of an Imperial creeping into her bed. Brasso’s friends betray him to the Empire. And suddenly, Imperials swarm, arrest fleeing mechanics, and shut down all communication frequencies.

One Imperial officer gives Bix a choice. She can accept his sexual advances or be arrested for not having a work visa. When she refuses, he beats her and tries to rape her — a word she herself uses and something I never expected from a Disney show. However, from enslavement inside prisons and corrupt governments, Andor has never shied away from its real-world parallels and commentary.

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What’s next in Andor?

Cassian swoops in on his stolen TIE fighter and saves the day. Sadly, though, Brasso dies protecting his friends. With only Bix and Wilmon aboard, Cassian flies away from the corn-covered planet to … where exactly? Hopefully, Luthen Rael gives the pilot a safe location to drop off the ship. But Bix’s emotional and physical wounds only continue to fester. The trailer shows us that she’s signing up to be a lot more hands-on in the Rebellion. Good. I think blowing up a few Imperial compounds is just what the doctor ordered.

Overall, despite my pacing complaints, Andor is once again making waves. The writers are telling necessary stories in a tumultuous time. I’m excited to see where they take it, from introducing K-2SO to whatever’s going on with Dedra and Syril. Episode 4 airs next Tuesday on Disney+ — will you be watching?

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