Andor - Season 2 Part 2 - Review

With the first three episodes of Andor’s second season, things started off slower than I had expected them too, so I was hoping the next batch of episodes would pick up the pace. What they did was start to show off more of why the empire is truly evil and beyond that we got to see Andor live up to the spy moniker that he has been wearing since Rogue One. Did all these aspects come together, to make for some great television?

Some Spoilers Ahead – Please be aware

It was funny, I knew that these three episodes would jump forward a year and yet when the text appeared on the screen, counting down ever closer to BBY, it still managed to catch me unaware. This jump meant that we never got to see what happened right after the events of the previous episode, as there are now a full 12 months since Andor, Bix and Wilmon escaped. That also means that the ISB has had a year in which to continue their plans for Ghorman, the planet that contains the valuable mineral, that the Empire needs. While the grander narrative carried through, there was only really one character that was still dealing with things from the first batch of episodes and that was Bix. I won’t say how she resolves her issues, but it is not an instant fix, and I appreciate that. Andor is given new orders from Luthen, to head to Ghorman after he was tipped by his ISB mole, with the goal being to see if the fledging resistance there, is ready to step into the big leagues. What I liked about this, was that it was the first time that we really got to see Andor be a spy, not a soldier and not a thief, but an actual spy.

While the previous episodes gave us a, shall we say unique look at Ghorman, because of the increase in both Imperial and Rebel activity on the planet, we get a much grander look this time and Ghorman has become one of my favourite planets in Star Wars. There is a nice blending here, basically if Germany and France had a baby, but it was raised Italian, that is Ghorman. There is a central location that many things spread out from, there is also a sad story behind its central feature, but the design just looks impressive. Getting to see Andor embrace his cover and explore part of this planet was a treat, not only because Spy Andor is delightful, but again seeing more of the world was fun. What I really like about this area is much like the main street of Ferrix in season one, there is a lot that happens here across the episodes, which makes the location as much of a character as the people that call it home.

What was interesting about the flip side of the Ghorman setting is that we got to see another aspect of Coruscant, something we have not seen before. Over the course of Star Wars, we have seen the Jedi temple, the Senate Chambers, countless high-class residences and even a weird opera/theatre place. This time is the first time we have seen a slum type local, sure in the first season we saw cereal Syril in his mother’s apartment, but that was still middle-class or close it. Where Andor and Bix are hiding out is definitely not that and it is such a treat to see the poorer aspect of the giant city planet, maybe one day we will really get to see level 1313.

For me these three episodes were more character driven, we got to see a new side to Bix and it was one that I honestly think the character needed. Andor finally got a chance to be a real spy, something that we had been told he was good at but hadn’t seen until now and I approve. The Empire pushing forward their agenda on Ghorman was insidious, if only because we know from their meetings before things began, that they were literally orchestrating everything. There were a few action moments of course, but these episodes were more about the character and as we know, the characters of Andor are the real stars.

The Score

8.5

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

We finally get to see Andor be a real spy, and it is a good fit for the character

The others all have some strong growth, Bix being a standout among them

The Cons

The jump from episode 3 to 4 does mean that some story beats are not quite tidied up

These episodes really feel like they are setting things up and that is ok