‘Andor’ Season 2, Episodes 1-3 Recap And Review: Mommy Issues

A daring theft of imperial property. A lavish wedding cut through with intrigue. Imperial domestic life and all its trials and tribulations. The first three episodes of Andor Season 2 are dark, oddly hilarious at times, and a bit all over the place. Spoilers ahead.

I knew going in that the first three-episode arc of Andor’s second season would be somewhat divisive, for a number of reasons. The season starts with a bang, but then takes its time, moving between a handful of largely disconnected stories as the season’s over-arching plot begins to materialize. It’s a bit slow, and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is shoved aside for much of it, but it’s still gripping, intelligent television with so much to unpack I won’t possibly have room in just one post. There’s also a scene of attempted sexual assault that was bound to be controversial, so be aware of that if you haven’t seen the episodes yet.

Forbes‘Andor’ Season 2 Review: A Masterpiece, Some Of The Best ‘Star Wars’ Ever MadeBy Erik Kain

My biggest problem with this chapter, however, is something I haven’t really seen discussed much in the fandom or amongst critics: The use of video footage, and not merely for coms. This is something I don’t recall seeing in Star Wars, and it felt a bit off. When Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) is hosting his top secret meeting in a Bond villain-esque retreat at the Maltheen Divide, he shows the Imperial attendees a promotional video for the planet Ghorman, in which we learn that the planet is known for its alien spider-silk, which is woven into some of the galaxy’s most prized and pricey apparel. It’s weird because typically in Star Wars, these sorts of things are done with holograms. A later talk show of some sort plays in Coruscant. This may be a weird quibble, but it irked me a little (but only a little).

That aside, I actually really enjoyed these three episodes, even if hardcore Disney Star Wars detractors disagree. Sure, these are slower than the rest of the season, but so were the first three episodes of Season 1. It may not seem like much happened, but this is the establishing arc, setting up the dominoes before we can knock them all down. As I pointed out previously, have a little patience. A good payoff requires a good setup.

ForbesA Brief Warning For ‘Andor’ Season 2’s First Three EpisodesBy Erik Kain

The year is BBY 4, four years before Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star and the rebels score their first major victory against Emperor Palpatine. There are four separate stories that take place across four different planets: The idyllic farming planet of Mina-Rau; the jungles of future rebel moon base, Yavin 4; the luxurious mansions of Chandrila; and the urban megalopolis of galactic capital city Coruscant.

Mina-Rau

On Mina-Rau, we find Bix (Adria Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), Wil (Muhannad Bhaier) and the adorable droid, B2EMO living as undocumented workers, hiding from the Empire. Andor was here previously, but he’s gone off to steal a high-tech Imperial ship that uses some kind of new energy technology.

I couldn’t help but think of the dreadful Netflix Star Wars ripoff, Rebel Moon, when we first touch down on Mina-Rau. That Zack Snyder film also had a farming planet, but the difference in quality is quite stunning. Mina-Rau, with its floating silos and sweeping fields, just feels much more lived-in and realistic than Snyder’s hokey Veldt. But I digress.

This storyline is by far the most controversial. Here, Bix is struggling to overcome the trauma of her horrific torture on Ferrix at the hands of the Imperial torture-master, Ghorst. She has night terrors and her suffering is only momentarily abated. When an Imperial ship appears above the fields of Mina-Rau, the refugees know something bad is coming.

That something comes in the form of Imperial inspectors. They’re moving from station to station, checking documents and rounding up anyone who seems out of place. Brasso and some of the locals try to come up with a plan to keep one step ahead of the inspectors, but things go badly when young Wil, smitten with a local girl, disappears and Brasso has to go find him.

While he’s away, an Imperial lieutenant, who had his eye on Bix earlier, shows up while she’s alone. The following scene is quite harrowing, especially for a Star Wars series. The lieutenant had previously made his intentions known to Bix, inviting her to dinner and making not-so-subtle suggestions about what he’d like to do with her. Unconcerned with her mentions of a husband, soon to be returning, the lieutenant returns and tries to force himself on Bix. Sexual assault is certainly shocking in a Star Wars context, but the parallels here to Nazis are as strong as they’ve ever been in this franchise, right down to the vehicles they drive. The Nazis were known for a lot of atrocities, and rape was certainly one of them.

Bix is tough, however, and she fights back. It’s a pretty desperate fight, with Brasso off on his speeder and Andor still not back after his misadventures on Yavin 4. But Bix manages to grab a hammer and gets a hard shot to the rapist’s dome. The Imperial officer outside calls for backup when he hears blaster fire, and despite Bix pleading with him that his commanding officer just tried to rape her, he moves to take her out. Wil shows up at this point, just in the nick of time.

Brasso, meanwhile, makes a run for it after he’s caught by Stormtroopers, and it’s about this time that Andor shows up in his sleek Imperial ship, blasting Imperial troops as he descends. But it’s too late for Brasso. He’s taken out as he speeds back toward Bix. Andor finds his body, but the three of them have to leave in a hurry. They aren’t able to retrieve Brasso’s body or poor B2EMO, who was waiting all this time for Andor to return. Poor Bee. Poor Brasso.

This is a thrilling, nail-biting sequence. And yes, it pretty much all occurs in the third episode of the season, but there’s too much to cover if I tried to recap everything in all three episodes.

Yavin 4

I will admit that Andor himself gets the weakest arc in this chapter, but this is an ensemble show now, not just the story of Andor joining the rebellion. After his daring theft of an experimental Imperial ship, he heads to a jungled planet we later learn is Yavin 4, future home of the Rebel Alliance. He’s supposed to meet another pilot who will take the ship to the next destination. Instead, he finds a group of incompetent, squabbling rebel fighters who take him prisoner. They’ve killed the other pilot, taking him for an Imperial agent.

One thing leads to another, and the rebels turn on one another. The arrival of an alien rhino-like monster during a confrontation between factions gives Andor the break he needs to escape, racing through the jungle and into the Imperial ship, which none of these other rebels could figure out how to fly.

The best part of this whole sequence was the extended game of Star Wars rock, paper, scissors, which was pretty hilarious. But mostly, this did feel a little bit drawn out, even though it only occupied the end of Episode 1 and all of Episode 2. Still, it’s a good reminder that the Rebel Alliance is still fractured, disorganized and amateur compared to the Empire they have to eventually go up against.

In the third episode, Andor makes contact with Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) who tells him not to go back to Mira-Rau. Of course, this raises all sorts of red flags for Cassian, and he does exactly that, and not a moment too soon. He arrives in time to save Bix and Wil, but not Brasso. And if Bix hadn’t been such a fighter, he’d have been too late to save her from even more trauma, and perhaps worse.

Coruscant

Perhaps the most surprising twist in these first three episodes comes in Episode 2, when we discover that Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) are now an item. She had little patience for him in Season 1, but after he saves her life on Ferrix, scorn has turned into something bordering on affection. They now cohabitate in Dedra’s stark white flat in one of Coruscant’s swankier districts, far above the cramped apartment of his mother, Eedy, played with oppressive, nagging glee by Kathryn Hunter when she pays the happy couple a visit.

We also learn that Dedra was raised in an Imperial “Kinder-block” so she’s basically been in the system her entire life (which I suspect extends beyond Imperial rule, so said Kinder-block must have its origins in Republic times).

The dinner is wildly awkward but delightfully so, and poor Syril is so overwhelmed by his overbearing mother that he excuses himself so that he can flop miserably on the bed:

While Syril is away, Dedra lays down the law, telling Eedy that if she wants to have any sort of relationship with her son, she’ll stop with the constant negativity. Dedra tells her she’ll guarantee he visits twice a month, as well as some other perks, but only if Eedy does exactly what she says. The entire segment is hilarious.

Dedra, of course, is up to no good. We first meet her at the Maltheen Divide with Director Krennic, Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) and a bevy of other spies, ISB officials, generals and propagandists. Ghorman, we learn, has raw materials that the Empire needs for the Emperor’s new energy program. The pesky spiders and weavers and merchants are in the way and barring a better option, will have to be forcibly relocated.

Krennic is worried about the optics. The Empire is still in its pre-Alderan phase. They have no Death Star yet. As powerful as they are, they want to avoid giving any nascent rebellion any kind of advantage. So the matter is delicate and secret. Dedra suggests that alongside the propaganda smears, casting the Ghormans into doubt in the public eye, they should foment rebellion themselves. They need the right rebels to do the wrong thing to justify an imperial crackdown.

Krennic likes the plan, and Dedra is removed (unwillingly) from her investigation into Axis and placed in charge of the whole thing.

Chandrila

Finally, on Chandrila, wedding bells are ringing. Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and her husband Perrin (Alastair Mackenzie) are marrying off their daughter, Leida (Bronte Carmichael) to the son of the powerful Chandrillan Oligarch Davo Sculdun (Richard Dillane, brother of Stannis Baratheon actor Stephen, who is the father of Fear The Walking Dead’s Frank Dillane).

The wedding is a wild affair, and I was genuinely fascinated by the care that went into portraying it all on-screen. They really went all out with the customs and rituals, the costumes and sets. It’s quite something.

The wedding is not all sunshine and roses, however. Mon Mothma is already guilty at having arranged it in the first place. Though her daughter is all about Chandrillan traditionalism, Mon Mothma and her cousin Vel (Faye Marsay) are not. On top of the guilty feelings, Mothma’s old friend Tay (Ben Miles) who has been such a great help with her shady finances, shows up and tells her that he’s separated from his wife and his financial situation is in dire shape. While he’s helped her with her efforts, the results of rebel activity and Imperial crackdowns have been bad for business.

Take the lyrics of “Forgot About Dre” and just insert Tay instead of Dre and you basically get Tay’s motivation here. He wants compensation for his troubles . . . or else. “All these rebels act like they forgot about Tay.” Mon Mothma tells Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) but insists that when she meets with him in Coruscant they can “find a number” and come to a deal that makes everyone happy.

Luthen has other plans. The last we see of Tay is as he flies away from the wedding, his driver none other than Cinta (Varada Sethu) one of Luthen’s most fearsome agents. We don’t see her actually kill him, but it’s pretty obvious that is what’s coming.

Luthen and Mothma’s scenes are among the best in this arc. Mon Mothma is still the moderate idealist. She doesn’t want to hurt anybody. “How nice for you,” Luthen tells her when she expresses her misgivings. He’s ruthless, cunning, shrewd and utilitarian. If someone needs killing, Luthen won’t hesitate. If an agent needs to be burned, he’ll burn them. Everything he does is in service to the cause.

Everything comes together in the end. Cinta driving Tay off to his death. Mon Mothma, heeding her daughter’s scornful advice–“I wish you were drunk!”–dancing at the wedding, losing herself in the music, numbing her guilt, Andor and his friends blasting off to safety. It’s quite a thrilling conclusion. And from here, we jump into hyperspace and move a year into the future. The next three episodes will take place in BBY 3.

All told, while there were certainly some slower bits, and the rebels on Yavin 4 were a little goofy at times, I still loved this opening arc of Andor Season 2. I love that this show isn’t afraid to take its time. Some have complained that there’s too much talking or that it’s too exposition-heavy, but I just fundamentally disagree. This is a spy thriller that’s much more John Le Carre than James Bond. You should expect a lot more talking and a more deliberate pace, punctuated now and then with intense action and violence. I also disagree that having the threat of sexual assault was a bridge too far.

The Empire is an allegory for Nazi Germany. While it’s fine to humanize some of the Imperial bureaucrats and agents, like Dedra and Syril, we shouldn’t flinch from its uglier elements. And even in today’s world, undocumented farm workers are some of the most vulnerable people in our society, facing this kind of terror in their day-to-day lives. I think the writers did a good job including this without making it overly graphic or overly preachy. It’s a horrific moment, but we should be horrified by the atrocities carried out by totalitarian regimes.

More horrors are coming. Andor isn’t “Star Wars for kids” after all. This is a show made for adults who grew up with Star Wars and want something that’s serious and challenging and powerful. We still want lightsabers and Jedi duels and all that fun stuff, but it’s okay to have both. It’s a big galaxy, after all.

You can read my spoiler-free Season 2 review right here. I also made a video review, which you can watch below:

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