Tripwire Reviews Andor Season Two Episodes Four To Six

The Power Of Belief

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows reviews the latest three episodes of Andor Season Two. Warning:a few spoilers ahead…

Andor: A Star Wars Story  Season Two
Ever Been To Ghorman?/ I Have Friends Everywhere/ What A Festive Evening
Directors: Ariel Kleiman
Writers: Tony Gilroy
Stars: Diego Luna, Adria Arjona, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Stellan Skarsgard, Kyle Soller

Two and a half years since Andor Season One where showrunner Tony Gilroy set up arguably the most cerebral and intriguing Star Wars tale of all time. Beset by delays thanks to the writer’s strike of 2023, the second season was reformatted, with its original intentions of running Andor to five seasons cut back. So after the 10 episode season one, we have 12 episodes of season two, with three ‘chapters’ released each week.

Season Two jumps forward a year each week from the end of the previous run and the second batch of new episodes really ramps up the momentum nicely. Ever Been To Ghorman? sees Andor and Bix adjust to life in a Luthen safehouse while we also witness Syril Karn in his new position on Ghorman, getting involved with the Ghorman freedom fighters. Karn is quite obviously out of his depth here and sometimes you can see how torn he actually is. Also, Wilmon visits Saw Gerrera to plan the next set of rebel attacks. Gerrera was an intriguing character in Rogue One but Gilroy and co really flesh him out here. Gerrera is a rebel zealot, a little like Luthen, a man who sees that the only way to beat the Empire is to play them at their own game in some ways. Whitaker is magnetic on screen here, really bringing the role to chilling life with the fickle nature of his character at the fore here and a sense of foreboding that Wilmon may not survive this encounter. We see just how shambolic and ill-prepared the Rebels are compared with the well-oiled machine that the Empire operates. The strange relationship between Deedra and Syril continues to evolve and adapt nicely. Empire functionary Deedra is truly ambition writ large here and Syril has probably bitten off more than he can chew. Senator Mon Mothma tries to assist the Ghorman rebels through her political machinations in the senate.

The next episode, I Have Friends Everywhere, sees Andor  visiting Ghorman under the pretext of masquerading as a fashion designer with his real intention of advising the Ghorman rebels on how to fight the Empire. Meanwhile, both Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau) and Luthen (Skarsgaard) hear radio chatter that could jeopardise both of them. Paak’s continued engagement with Gerrera just cements the disturbingly monomaniacal nature of the character that Whitaker plays. Syril continues to find himself even more enmeshed in the web of intrigue spun by Deedra and her boss Major Partagaz  (Anton Lesser) in Ghorman.

Episode six has the Ghorman rebels conduct their robbery which has echoes of the heist in season one but the heist doesn’t quite go according to plan. Meanwhile, Mon Monthma puts on a soiree that sees Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn)  visit Luthren’s shop where Kleya also has to remove a listening device in full sight of the empire. We also see Bix get her revenge on her Imperial torturer too in episode six, a scene which manages to feel incredibly unsettling but also weirdly uplifting at the same time, considering the horrors they have put her through. Bix, like Garrere, has been traumatised by her treatment and her place in the rebellion. The scene is shot and edited in a very precise manner too, with nods to classic sci-fi that has come before. The programme makers understand Andor’s antecedents and pay them due respect.

So six episodes into the second season and Gilroy and co have moved the action along with aplomb. We are halfway through the latest raft of episodes but it feels like we are much further along in the story of Andor and co. Cassian himself has developed and evolved as a character.

As with the first three episodes, Andor uses nuance and subtlety to make its points with clarity and assurance. its ensemble cast marks it out as still the best and most cerebral and thoughtful Star Wars TV show ever made. I shall be back with another review after this week’s batch of chapters.

JOEL MEADOWS

Andor Season Two is on Disney Plus each week