Diego Luna returns as the titular lead of the Disney Plus series, courtesy of Lucasfilm.
Powered by an abundance of righteous anger and seething vengeance, the rebellion turns deadly in Season 2.
(The first two episodes are now streaming on Disney Plus. Subsequent episodes will debut every Tuesday night.)
Without getting into any story points at all, the season struck me as arriving early for an orchestra performance filled familiar compositions, and then listening with rapt attention as they tuned up. Creator Tony Gilroy conducted the first season brilliantly, and the second season is likewise a brilliant composition, if a tad lesser, as much as anything because we can anticipate some of the riffs that Gilroy and his creative team will play, based on Season 1.
(The creative team includes Tony Gilroy himself, who wrote Episodes 1-3; and writers Beau Williman, Episodes 4-6; Dan Gilroy, Episodes 7-9; and Tom Bissell, Episodes 10-12, as well as directors Ariel Kleiman, Episodes 1-3; Janus Metz, Episodes 7-9; and Alonzo Ruizpalacios, Episodes 10-12.)
Diego Luna returns as Cassian Andor, now a committed rebel against the evil Empire. His challenge this season is convincing other rebels of his sincerity, since he spent much of Season 1 demonstrating that he was out for his own intentions first and foremost.
With some of those motivations cleared off the deck, Cassian must prove again and again that he is a changed man, which is the challenge for anyone who has made a profound change in their life. (Think of the Biblical Apostle Paul, who was a fire-breathing prosecutor of first century Christians, known as Saul, until he made a profound change and became even more zealous as a committed Christian known as Paul.)
Of course, Andor is in no way a conventional “religious” picture, and I trust secular readers will be able to fill in their own comparisons of Cassian Andor to historical figures who made similar profound changes in their life, yet that’s the idea: Cassian has changed, and he is dedicated to converting others to his new life of fighting on behalf of the Rebellion. He is, however, radical and deadly as he carries out his mission, just as likely to kill genuine enemies as he was earlier in the series; the difference in Season 2 is that he hesitates before pulling his trigger, hoping that reluctant doubters will See The Light as he did.
The action picks up fairly quickly in Season 2, beginning with a large-scale sequence in the first episode, before largely laying dormant until the back half of the series. That allows various machinations to take place among other leading players, which are divided between pro-Empire and anti-Empire, though the shading becomes finer as the series progresses. As the characters grow, some of them begin to question their own actions and those of their comrades; truly, what prices are they willing to pay to achieve their goals, which are often unclear to others?
Much of the series comes back to the idea that everyone must be true to their own selves, and so each person in the series, good and evil, must act in accord with their convictions, even to the detriment of themselves or, more often, others. It’s a very watchable series, in that, even though it’s a prequel series to a prequel movie (Rogue One, the movie), and so we know how it’s going to end, Tony Gilroy and his team create more than enough diversion to justify the investment in time and energy it will require for viewers.
Packing more than enough firepower, Andor: Season 2 is mighty entertaining and simultaneously mighty thoughtful, a rare combination that is unexpectedly rewarding.
Dallas Film Now. 