Andor - Season 2 Part 3 - Review

It has been 2 years since Andor stole that Imperial Tie Fighter and he has been a busy boy. He investigated a potential group of fellow rebels on Ghorman, helped Bix overcome her issues and hopefully did much more off camera. Because we have jumped forward another year and things, well things are about to kick off like you would not believe.

Some Spoilers Ahead – Please be aware

If the first six episodes were all about the setup, then these next three are where the spark is lit, and things really start to happen. We first got to discover Ghorman in episodes 4-6 and yes, there were tensions that were mounting, but things were not volatile, at least not completely. But now the tensions are not just boiling, they are erupting and that is when things go bad for Ghorman. I won’t say anything more about the events there, but Cassian is in the middle of things and there are good and bad parts to his time there. But while Ghorman is having a rough time, events on Coruscant are also ramping up, partly in response to those events, but also as Mon Mothma has run out of patience, but more importantly time.

There is a lot of things that I could say about what happens, but in order to avoid spoiling what happens, I won’t give specifics. What I will say is that for the first time, since she showed up back in Season 1, I feel like Mon Mothma finally is worth watching. The entire first season, I felt like she was there just to show that she was involved, but whisper conversations at parties were not doing it for me. My issue also stemmed from the character not really doing anything in the movies, yes, she is there, but apart from informing us that many Bothans died, she has never really done anything. This lot of episodes, I feel that she has finally earnt a spot, well in the spotlight. Her actions put her in directly in the sights of the ISB and it gives some great context as to why she is with the rebels in Rogue One.

Across the episodes so far, Genevieve O'Reilly has shown multiple sides of Mon Mothma, and it was crazy to me, that she could go from uninhibited wedding guest to where she ends up. There is a scene in one of these episodes, where it is her and another character and the conversation is direct and has repercussions, but not in a good way for Mothma and you can see the fear on her face. If the second batch of episodes was all about Bix, then these are about Mon and it makes the character so much better for it. She is not the only one who gets time to shine in these episodes as Luthen Rael has some really intense moments as well and just like in the first season Stellan Skarsgård adds some real weight to those moments and its delightful.

Syril as a character has never appealed to me, way less so that Mon, the constant starring at people and the stalking of Dedra Meero just irked me. But over the course of Season 2 of Andor, Kyle Soller has made me care about Syril, yes, he knows there is more going on and yes, he is still weird at times, but he is beginning to show more of what he can do. There was a moment in this batch of episodes where the character really shone, it was such a moment of clarity for them and it ended in such a great way, that it made me think about some of his earlier actions in new ways.

Much like how Ferrix became a scene of a riot and fight in the first season, Ghorman gets that treatment this time around and they telegraph how it’s going to start very easily. You might think that basically calling out the starting events, would take away from things, but the show manages to keep the tension in a way that, even when things do kick off, it feels right. Why I am bringing this up, is because we get to see Ghorman lose is appear, Ferrix was a working mans place, so its transition into battleground never really changed the look, but Ghorman is different. In contrast to that, the final moments on Coruscant are also delightful, because again we are seeing new aspects to a place that we have seen so many times before.

The third act of Andor’s second season is the best one yet, because it finally starts to put things into action. For the longest time we have heard about the Rebellion being formed, we have seen events happen in other shows that highlight things happening, but this is the start. Seeing incredible performances from Genevieve O'Reilly and Kyle Soller, really made me care about their characters, something I had not done until now. The show only has one act to go, and it has to be an incredible act, because this one is not just great Star Wars, but incredible television.

The Score

9.0

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

Cassian being in the middle of two very important events, highlights how much the character has grown

Both Mon Mothma and Syril Karn are characters that finally prove why they are here

The Cons

The events on Ghorman go from 0 to 100 fairly quickly and it can be hard to keep up