LOS ANGELES, April 21 (UPI) -- Andor is the Star Wars series that takes the most different approach to the galaxy far, far away. Season 2, on Disney+ Tuesday, fulfills the promise of the show's first season.
Diego Luna returns as Cassian Andor, the rebel who in the 2016 film Rogue One helped retrieve plans for the Empire's Death Star from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Season 2 opens with Andor still working for the rebellion prior to the events of Rogue One.
Without spoiling his journey, there is more spy missions but also more down time to show life for people in hiding. Andor also shows characters working for the Empire, not because they are true believers but simply because it is a paying job.
Season 2 begins with a bang though as Andor's mission involves a ship that will be very familiar to fans of the franchise. Since this is presumably the ship's first flight and Andor is not familiar with it, it becomes a messy undertaking.
The messy side of Star Wars is part of the appeal of Andor. Though Star Wars creator George Lucas established the idea that spaceships were already common and worn down by the time of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, they flew elegantly in innovative visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic.
Like new technology in the real world, sometimes you have to fumble around with trial and error. It's still awesome when Andor figures the ship out.
The messiness is also why Rogue One was more effective than the sequel trilogy. It depicts Star Wars for the typical person, instead of trying to recreate the Luke, Leia and Han epic hero journey.
Not that Andor and the rebels aren't heroic, but they're on their own. They don't have Jedi knights guiding them.
Andor's ally Bix (Adria Arjona) is still experiencing PTSD from what she endured under Empire torture, and she faces more hardship this season. Season 2 depicts the Empire committing abuses in the most mature way yet in the franchise, sometimes to a point where parents might want to watch Episode 3 with their kids.
This also highlights a poignant difference between Andor and the main films or series like The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan -- while Darth Vader blows up entire planets, his underlings just abuse their power on a one-on-one basis.
Even during peaceful times, living on the run and in hiding is difficult. Andor and Bix are able to have somewhat of a private life and relationship, but it is conditional because they have protocols to watch their backs.
Also, Bix wasn't in Rogue One so every time she is in danger there is an extra threat looming. Her exclusion from that film is not necessarily a death sentence, however, just like how Better Call Saul's Kim Wexler never appeared in Breaking Bad.
On the political side, the Empire has plans for the planet Ghorman which they pitch as a mutually beneficial opportunity. There are references to the activity of Grand Moff Tarkin, but fortunately they do not CGI the late Peter Cushing like they did in Rogue One.
The politics of Ghorman are much more mundane than stealing spaceships, but unlike the Galactic Senate meetings in the prequel films, this is much simpler and comprehensible. Ghormans attend town halls because real people would object to the Empire building on their planet, but short of registering complaints there's not much they can do.
Meanwhile, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) is enjoying his promotion in the Bureau of Standards. His mother, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), remains as meddlesome as ever, bringing a Meet the Parents element to Star Wars.
Syril is aware of the Empire's tyranny but he's just middle management. Both his superiors and rebels come to him for help, but all he does is review documents.
This will surely change, otherwise the creators of Andor probably wouldn't spend so much time developing Syril. Still, it is interesting to explore how in a vast empire, not every employee is privy to all the inner workings.
Season 2 is confirmed to catch up the story with the beginning of Rogue One. On its way there, Andor explores exciting and fascinating corners of the Star Wars world.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
