Here’s something that will piss some people off. (And I don’t care.) Star Wars has a political element to it. Always had, and hopefully always will. It was baked right into the premise of the very first film it’s the opening lines of the title crawl which state “It is a time of civil war.” And it is something that creator George Lucas has stressed in numerous interviews over the decades.
So it came as no surprise that Andor the live action Star Wars series that premiered on Disney+ in 2022 would wear its politics on its sleeve. Coming from Tony Gilroy, the writer of 2007’s Michael Clayton and who launched the Jason Bourne franchise, the series follows the story of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) as he tries to make his way through the galaxy, slowly being radicalized as the Galactic Empire tightens its fascistic grip across the stars. The character was first introduced in the 2016 spinoff film Rogue One, a prequel to the original Star Wars feature on which Gilroy co-wrote and did uncredited direction on reshoots that helped to solidify that film’s third act, and the series serves as its own prequel to that film.
Across the first season, the series not only charted Andor’s recruitment into the Rebel Alliance, but the rise of officers within the Imperial bureaucracy and the members of the Galactic Senate realizing that political maneuvering will not stop the galaxy’s slide into total fascism. Along the way it traded in stories that touched on such subjects as extrajudicial rendition to labor prisons while exploring themes of moral complicity and sacrifice for the greater good.
Andor season two, which Disney is rolling out in three episode chucks a week starting this week, continues this mature and nuanced look at the Star Wars galaxy in the lead up to Luke Skywalker showing up to start blowing up Death Stars. Across the season’s twelve episodes we see Andor as he slowly loses his divided feelings about serving the Rebellion versus wanting to just go somewhere to hide and live a quiet life. But as all who have seen Rogue One know, the galaxy has a different path in store for Cassian.
But Andor’s second season is no mere exercise in continuing to draw a narrative line from season one to the Rogue One film. It is a complex story that shows how small decisions can lead to events that will change the history of the galaxy. There may be no singular galvanizing statement from the show like season one’s “I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see” speech from Rebel spy Luthen (Stellan Skarsgard), but that’s ok. The time for speaking is quickly passing, as Andor and his allies realize that the time for action is upon them. The show gives a great balance of action, like the TIE fighter theft sequence in this season’s opening episode, with the political intrigue and character exploration storylines.
Andor runs counter to a recurring criticism that has been leveled at much of the more recent Star Wars output in how the galaxy can sometimes feel rather small due to the way the films and series would stick to revisiting planets already seen in other various installments. Sure there are one or two pre-established planets we return to, but Andor takes us to a number of new places where we get to see and meet a wide of variety of citizens from across socio-economic classes, many who will rise up to join the growing Rebellion. Although the writing process for season two lasted across the end of 2022 and into the first few months of 2023, it feels as if the show is speaking to us in our current moment. And that makes this particular story in a sprawling science fantasy sage of space wizards, dashing heroes and heroines and contemptible villains stand out as one its best.
