Andor season two review: Impressive political thriller stands above Star Wars origins

Andor wasn’t always a natural choice for the folks at Star Wars.

For a franchise steeped in lore and canon, the choice to make a political thriller that was light on supernatural force shenanigans, Skywalker connections and alien creatures was a bold one.

But it paid off. The first season was widely lauded for its taut plotting, high-end production that focused on practical effects over CGI, character-driven focus and, hate to say it, but that it wasn’t obsessed with the fact it was a Star Wars story. You’d struggle to recall if anyone wields a lightsabre.

It’s not that Andor downplayed its heritage, not at all, but it wasn’t burdened with fan service nor was it beholden to tonally vibe with the rest of the franchise.

It carries that north star into its second and final season with 12 episodes that are pacy, thrilling and smart. Andor is a great show, and that’s true for whether you’re a Star Wars fan or not.

There is a bit of backstory if you’re not. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is a character that was introduced as part of the ensemble of Rogue One, a 2016 prequel movie that is, arguably, either the most beloved or least divisive Star Wars movie of this century.

Rogue One leads directly into the events of the 1977 original film and charts the story of how the resistance got their hands on the Death Star plans that revealed the weakness which allowed Luke Skywalker to destroy it.

Andor is a prequel to that prequel. The Cassian we met in Rogue One is a spy working for the rebellion, dedicated to bringing down the oppressive Empire led by Palpatine, the big bad of the Skywalker ennealogy.

Andor rewinds the character five years when he was just a smuggler. The story engine is what happens to Cassian in that time that turns him into a rebel?

The Star Wars-ness of it all is a useful narrative framework because it’s an already established world that has identifiable oppositional forces – the fascistic Empire and the freedom-fighting rebellion.

It’s a familiar trope but there is richness in the details that creator Tony Gilroy and his writers exploit. If you’re a sceptic, just think of Andor as a political thriller that could take place in any country in any galaxy.

Gilroy and scribes including Beau Willimon have worked on projects including House of Cards, Ides of March, the Bourne movies and Michael Clayton. Vibe-wise, Andor is drawn from those films and series more than it is from The Mandalorian.

The second season is structured as four batches of three episodes, with a time-jump of one year between each instalment, counting down to its closing moments, which is set immediately before Rogue One.

That gives the show an air of inevitability, which is the burden of all prequels, but it’s the journey, not the end, that matters. Andor manages to create plenty of tension even if you know how it all turns out, at least broadly speaking.

That odyssey is marked by dramatic beats as different arms of the rebellion make gains and then lose them, and characters weigh up what they’re willing to sacrifice to do the right thing.

This is particularly poignant for Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), a long-time senator who wields political influence and has been stealthily working against the Empire. We know she becomes a leader of the rebellion, but the individual choices she has to make offers plenty of suspense.

There is also a storyline involving a planet named Ghorman, which in Star Wars lore was the site and victim of a historical atrocity. The Eastern European-coded Ghor are used as pawns in a malicious and manipulative imperial scheme to rob them of a natural resource.

It’s a heart-thumping and enraging subplot because it is so familiar to what has happened to communities all over our world.

That’s the strength of Andor’s storytelling, the way it weaves together political movements across history where fascistic, oppressive and dictatorial regimes have used fear and might to repress dissent and freedom, and twisted the rule of law to further their agenda.

The Empire’s propaganda machine is working overtime, and the long arm of law enforcement are deployed against citizens. Rights are encroached, slowly and then all at once.

There is also an element of the present. Although the scripts were written three years ago and the episodes filmed before the current American administration, Andor is resonant now. It’s unmistakably in conversation with today.

But it’s also optimistic. How else do you characterise a group of people coming together because they can see what’s been done is wrong, and vow to stop it.

Andor season two is streaming on Disney+ with new episodes available on Wednesdays