Andor Season 2 Episodes 1 - 3 review

 

I only got to see the first season of Andor last year so its fresher in my mind than it will be for many, which is a help as this second season jumps right into things. Set a year on from the end of season one this first trio of episodes charts events that represent the differing fortunes of the Empire and the rebels. The scenes- sometimes intermeshed with the same incidental music- paint a vivid picture of life at the top and at the bottom while also humanising both sides with some rich characters that make even the slowest sequences shine. In other words it’s as good- and often even better - than season one.

 Spoilers after the break

No sooner have we seen Cassian Andor furtively mooching around an Empire base sporting a uniform than we know he’s already up to no good, stealing a new type of TIE fighter no less with the help of Niya, who works there. A short but eveyr effective performance from Rachelle Diedreicks shows another side to the hardened Empire workers we often see in this and other wings of the franchise. Niya is nervous, worried she’ll be found out but when he reassures her, they are the words of a leader, of a rebel who really cares about things. It’s a brief scene but says everything about the events that are about to unfurl. Surprisingly perhaps this tense scenario gives way to some amusement as Andor proves less adept at flying than he is at giving speeches. He almost takes put half the base just getting the craft through the doors! It reminds us too of something we almost take for granted now; that the special effects are top notch.

Andor ends up finally getting the hang of flying the protype, taking it to a prearranged rendezvous where he meets a motely crew of rebels who haven’t been briefed and end up taking him prisoner before falling out amongst themselves. There;s a lot of humour in this despite the peril it places them all in as they argue like school children in a playground. Andor is caught up in this and rather like last season’s  prison scenario the perilous situations he finds himself in create edge of the seat material. While obviously we know he’s going to survive, the intriguing thing is how! Diego Luna keeps things real- you get a real sense of the character's strengths and weaknesses. 

Some may find the extended scenes of both sides sniping and shooting, which occupies a lot of screen time in parts two and three, a bit tedious but they serve a vital function when juxtaposed with what else is going on. Far away, an elite group of Empire officials of varying ranks and status are called together to discuss a project to subdue the population of a planet with valuable resources. What strikes the viewer is the efficiency with which the Empire has arranged this mountain top meeting (the location could be a fantastic lair for a Bond villain) off grid yet with the emperor’s awareness, which contrasts with what we see when the drama cuts back to the rebels. They are shooting at each other due to earlier miscommunication and no shared agenda while the Empire are seamlessly discussing the sacking of an inhabited planet while sipping lattes and chatting pleasantly. You can see there’s a long way to go for the rebels!

The secret conflab is led by none other than Orson Krennic played as he was in Rogue One by Ben Mendelsohn who has lost none of his penchant for realising a slippery character. Deedra is there too; its always hard to read this character though Denise Gough is gifted some excellent moments notably when Krennic asks for her opinion. Later she also gets a fabulous scene when Syril’s hard headed mother played with plenty of barb by Kathryn Hunter arrives for a memorable dinner.

Meanwhile on the agricultural planet of Mona- Rau - realised as picturesque fields of golden wheat and groups of silver silos – Bex, Brasso and Willmon are hiding out working but aware that their presence is technically illegal. Bix appears to have mostly recovered from the mental torture she suffered last season though Adria Arjona’s nervous looks remind us that the character is by no means wholly settled. They haven’t heard from Andor so have no idea what’s happened to him and now the Empire have turned up to do an audit – and its not just grain they’re counting. The sense of impending panic is built up slowly – there’s some excellent direction on this location using the height of the wheat to suggest the approaching officers are more like sharks moving through the water. It leads to a disturbing scene involving one of the officers and Bix who does seem to be forced to endure the very worst of the Empire. I do feel this scene last longer than it needs to given we all know what is about to happen, it really crosses the line into being gratuitous for the sake of it.

Linking the above scenarios, though at first seeming so far removed from them , is the wedding of Mon Mothma’s daughter to Sculdan’s son, a union that has nothing to do with love either between the betrothed or their families. We see an enormous amount of detail of the three-day Chandrilan wedding rituals fusing what seem like various Eastern cultures together with homilies that could perhaps originate only from scriptwriters. This seemingly innocuous ceremonial gains subtle pace as it weaves in and out of the other storylines. Luthen’s presence unnerves Mon Mothma as does the fact she is being forced to allow the wedding. Genevieve O'Reilly is excellent at conveying the serene, poised exterior while cutaway shots show the mixed emotions on her face. 

 Contrasted with the swampy jungle in which we see the two rebel groups exchange fire while also being picked off by the indigenous animals, the wedding looks serene yet is just as dangerous under the surface. It’s not like the celebrated Red Wedding from Game of Thrones where all the rivalries and tensions explode into brutal life yet in many ways shares that tension. It climaxes with Mon Mothma dancing herself into some kind of oblivion.

The production values are sky high; if you watch these three episodes back-to-back (and that is advised!) you will feel as if you’ve seen a great film and the good news is there are still nine episodes to go. Should they reach the standards laid out here, it will reaffirm what the first season suggested- that Andor is a classic. I don’t get preview episodes so I’ll just have to wait till  they drop but its already shaping up to be one of the series of the year.