Andor Season 2 Review: A Thrilling Conclusion to the Greatest Star Wars Spin-Off

At a time when every streaming service has its own megabudget sci-fi/fantasy project, Andor is still operating on an entirely different level: a sharply written political thriller with stunning production values, exploring a desperate insurgency against fascist colonial power. Everyone involved is bringing their A-game, from the sprawling ensemble cast to behind-the-scenes contributors like production designer Luke Hull (Chernobyl) and composer Nicholas Britell (Succession), immersing us in a richly textured alien galaxy. 

Reaffirming its role as the greatest Star Wars spin-off, Andor ups the ante in its second season, following rebel spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) during the precarious early years of the Rebel Alliance. "The only special thing about me is luck," Cassian says at one point, exhausted after yet another grueling mission. But we know that he's underselling his own importance. Cassian's talent for subterfuge and improvisation is a crucial asset to the Rebellion, doing unpleasant work that will eventually be overshadowed by a shinier brand of hero. 

Exhibiting far more insight than mainstream political dramas like The Diplomat or Zero Day, Andor deepens the anti-authoritarian themes of the Star Wars movies. Hollywood can't endorse a real-world drama heroizing a violent uprising against the government, but you can apparently get away with covering the same ideas in a galaxy far, far away. In Andor, we're encouraged to sympathize with self-sacrificing revolutionaries who blow up Imperial buildings, supply weapons to underground resistance cells, and periodically resort to cold-blooded assassination. Meanwhile, the Empire utilizes tactics straight out of the CIA handbook, spreading propaganda and planting double agents to undermine civilian protest groups. The allegorical subtext couldn't be more clear, introducing a hierarchy of charmless white men in Nazi-inspired uniforms, remorselessly torturing dissidents and subjugating entire populations. 

Beginning five years before Rogue One and A New Hope, Andor envisions the early rebel movement as a disparate web of undercover agents and terrorist cells, overseen by the ruthless spymaster Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and his assistant Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau), a communications expert who plays a more significant role this season. As the Rebellion grows, so does the ethical divide between its various factions, with Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) at one end of the scale, and the emotionally volatile guerrilla fighter Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) at the other.

Cassian is now an accomplished spy, embarking on perilous solo missions while his friends struggle with the daily grind of surviving under a fascist regime. Yet their lives still include moments of joy and camaraderie, underlining what these characters are fighting for. Leaning into a longtime strength for the Star Wars franchise, Andor's design choices emphasize the spiritual gulf between the heroes and villains. Imperial officers exist in a soulless world, jockeying for promotions in sterile conference rooms, while Cassian's allies build cozy communal homes in jungles and pastures. Even when the outlook seems hopeless, Andor's rebels exhibit a sense of solidarity that is fundamentally incomprehensible to their enemies. 

While Cassian gets his hands dirty, life remains largely unchanged for Senator Mon Mothma, who smiles tightly through glamorous parties while secretly funding the rebel movement. Still attempting to do good work within a decaying democracy, she's shielded by her reputation as a well-meaning but ultimately powerless liberal politician — a mild annoyance that the Imperial leadership can comfortably overlook. However, we know from the films that she'll eventually become a key military leader within the Rebel Alliance. As we approach that turning point, a paranoid atmosphere begins to close in.

9.5

Andor Season 2

at Disney+

Like

• Diego Luna is magnificent as the troubled and multilayered rebel spy Cassian Andor
• The combination of Cold War vibes and anti-fascist allegory build on the smart political insight of Season 1
• Every new location is a masterpiece of production design
• The wealth of memorable and idiosyncratic supporting characters
• Excellent action scenes

Dislike

• The arc for Adria Arjona's character Bix is somewhat underwhelming

Showrunner Tony Gilroy and his writing team embrace Cold War espionage this season, homing in on the oppressive surveillance and misinformation campaigns of the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB). The Empire's wide-reaching tyranny provides a backdrop for a nail-biting style of thriller, full of dark twists and abrupt deaths as the rebels scramble to stay afloat. 

As a collective entity, the Empire makes for a terrifying opponent. Yet as Season 1 already established, its individual agents can be amusingly pathetic. That idea is embodied by the show's main antagonists, Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), an ambitious ISB officer and a comically inflexible Imperial zealot, respectively. In the gap between seasons, this pair of distasteful workaholics have become a couple (I hesitate to use a phrase like "fallen in love"), receiving a deliciously uncomfortable domestic subplot in the first episodic arc. Their shared journey is among the season's most rewarding elements, charting the day-to-day logistics of authoritarian cruelty — and the off-putting personalities required to get that work done. 

A veteran of political thrillers (Michael Clayton; The Bourne Identity), Tony Gilroy understands precisely what kind of people sign up to work for a fascist state, introducing a slew of boneheaded foot soldiers, petty sadists, and amoral rule-followers. Andor's casting department deserves an award for sourcing this many pallid British creeps to fill the ranks of the Imperial officer class, from the malevolent ISB boss Lio Partagaz (Anton Lesser, essentially playing a John le Carré character) to Dedra's hollow-eyed former assistant Heert (Jacob James Beswick). Rogue One's villain Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) also makes a welcome return, snarling venomous threats at any underling who interrupts his goals. 

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This season covers a lot of ground in 12 episodes, to the point where you occasionally wish they had more time. Then again, the Star Wars universe is always full of interesting side characters whose future remains in flux, waiting to return in some future spin-off. The real priority here is wrapping up the big-picture story of the Rebellion — something Andor achieves in a moving and conclusive manner. As the tension mounts toward the end of the season, I only had one real qualm: the somewhat underwhelming role given to Cassian's longtime friend Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona). 

Partly defined by her relationship to Cassian, Bix spends much of her screen time worrying and suffering at home while he's away on missions — an uninspired dynamic that feels like a letdown compared to the wealth of complicated female characters with more independent roles elsewhere. There's a marked difference between the narrative treatment of Mon Mothma (a conflicted figure who is textually restricted by her status as an upper-class socialite in an arranged marriage) and Bix (a rebel mechanic whose storyline unintentionally falls foul of sexist tropes). Without going into spoilers, her arc reflects some familiar blindspots among all-male creative teams. 

In the grand scheme of things, however, that's a minor complaint. Building on material from across the franchise, Andor is leagues beyond the rest of Disney's Star Wars slate, rejecting cheap nostalgia in favor of enriching the wider historical arc. Serious fans will obviously spot the more obscure details, but as long as you're familiar with Rogue One and A New Hope, you can appreciate the weight of the events at play. We feel the urgency of the stakes, and we understand the evil that the Empire represents, hitting even closer to home in 2025. At the center of all this, Diego Luna's Cassian Andor remains a powerfully compelling protagonist: fierce, quick-thinking, and charming, yet increasingly wounded by the traumatic nature of his work. 

In a franchise full of intriguing characters who never quite reached their full potential onscreen, Cassian is virtually unique, completing a definitive arc that makes full use of the lead actor's range. Andor receives so much praise for its writing and production values that Diego Luna almost feels underrated, taken for granted for his ability to carry intense emotional scenes, subtle internal conflicts, and the tonal shifts required for Cassian's undercover personas. At the end of Andor's two-season run, we need to recognize the rare gift that we've been given as viewers, delivering a standard of adult drama we're unlikely to see from Star Wars again.

Premieres: Tuesday, April 22 on Disney+ with three episodes, followed by new batches of episodes weekly
Who's in it: Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O'Reilly, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, Adria Arjona, Elizabeth Dulau, Forest Whitaker
Who's behind it: Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy, Beau Willimon, and Tom Bissell (writers); Ariel Kleiman, Alonso Ruizpalacios, and Janus Metz (directors)
For fans of: Battlestar Galactica, Snowpiercer, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
How many episodes we watched: 12 of 12