It is totally fine that “Star Wars” series like “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Ahsoka” are aimed at deep-lore fans who collect the action figures, play the video games, watch the cartoons and know the difference between a Twi’lek and a Togruta.
But it is also OK to think that “Andor,” which returns to Disney+ on Tuesday at 9 p.m., stands apart. This show appeals to the kind of fan who also likes Lucas’s arty pre-“Star Wars” science fiction film “THX 1138” and has read the “Star Wars” novels written by esteemed fantasy writers like Alan Dean Foster and Elizabeth Hand. Created by the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton”), “Andor” foregrounds the political intrigue and guerrilla warfare elements that have always been a part of “Star Wars,” with a heightened level of storytelling sophistication and moody style.
Ostensibly a story about who put the “war” in “Star Wars,” “Andor” is a densely packed study of dictators and dissidents, set across multiple planets, with a colorful cast of characters who each have very different opinions about how this galaxy far, far away should be run. And because Season 1 aired in 2022, even devotees may need a reminder of who all these major players are and what they are up to. Here is a quick refresher ahead of the second and final season.
The series is a prequel to a prequel
The original 1977 movie “Star Wars” (or “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope” for the pedantic) begins with the rebellious diplomat Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) loading the blueprints for a planet-killing mega-weapon onto the droid R2-D2, who then carries those plans to the hermetic Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) and the starry-eyed farm boy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) — thus setting a whole saga in motion. Nearly 40 years later, in 2016, Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Studios released “Rogue One,” a prequel film about the courageous guerrilla warriors who stole those blueprints.
“Rogue One” was directed by Gareth Edwards from a screenplay originally by Chris Weitz. Gilroy was brought in after the initial shoot to write and direct additional scenes. Collectively, this team made a different kind of “Star Wars” movie, with less whiz-bang fantasy and more gritty military action, emphasizing the hard personal toll of a rebellion against a powerful authoritarian state.
“Andor” Season 1 begins five years before “Rogue One” and covers the origins of the Rebel Alliance that, by the time of the 1977 “Star Wars,” had already become organized enough to have a defined hierarchy, long-range strategies and fleets of fighter ships. In “Andor,” by contrast, the rebellion is more scattered, manifesting mostly on poorer planets, where the excessive demands of the Galactic Empire can push a frustrated populace to respond with violence.
Whenever one of these planets reaches a boiling point — as happens on the grubby, industrial planet Ferrix in Season 1 — the mercurial Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) arrives to make those hot spots even hotter by providing personnel and equipment. His goal? To weaken the Empire’s hold, one planet at a time. And he does not like it when anyone — even an ally — stands in his way.
One rogue
This series’s title character is Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), an experienced thief and mercenary who has a grudge against the Empire, which stripped his home planet of its natural resources, rendering it uninhabitable. When the series begins, Cassian is not part of any rebellious cadre. He is mostly a lone wolf, self-centered and profit driven. But after he kills two Empire-connected corporate security officers, Cassian becomes a desperate fugitive, willing to do anything — and thus becoming the perfect candidate for Luthen’s missions.
Over the course of Season 1, Cassian develops sympathy for the rebellion as he spends time with true believers. He becomes even more radicalized when he is thrown into prison under an assumed identity for a crime he did not commit. Before escaping, he spends endless, grueling days and nights building parts for what will turn out to be the Empire’s super weapon: the Death Star.
Even at the end of Season 1, though, Cassian’s commitment to Luthen’s cause is tied frequently to whether the missions benefit him personally — either helping line his pockets or helping keep his loved ones safe. One of the most important of those people is Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), a childhood friend who is a skilled mechanic, a well-connected black marketeer and Cassian’s true love.
The creepy and the kooky
Every fantasy epic needs some hiss-worthy villains, and “Andor” has two doozies. Early in Season 1 we meet Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), a fussy bean counter from the trade organization whose security officers Cassian killed. Syril’s determination to track down the murderer catches the Empire’s attention, although most people in authority find him too intense, stiff and socially awkward to trust. A lot of Syril’s single-minded personality comes from his mother, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), an aspiring Coruscant socialite who pulls a lot of strings for her son and eventually helps him land a new job as a government bureaucrat — where his obsession with Cassian continues.
Cassian also ends up on the radar of Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), a rising supervisor within the Imperial Security Bureau, the Empire’s information and espionage wing. Dedra has been tracking Luthen’s activities — even though she has no idea that Luthen is behind them — and has been trying to convince her superiors that all of these mini rebellions around the galaxy are part of a larger plan. She thinks Cassian could lead her to the mastermind, given the code-name “Axis” by the I.S.B. When Cassian proves elusive, she arrests Bix and has her tortured by the I.S.B.’s cruelest interrogator, Dr. Gorst (Joshua James).
“Star Wars” fans will also recognize some names that get tossed around in “Andor” — like Emperor Palpatine and Grand Moff Tarkin — even if these characters never appear on-screen. And Season 2 sees the return of the main “Rogue One” antagonist: Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), the man behind the Death Star project, who like Luthen can find a use for any true-believer, no matter how weird and off-putting he or she may be.
Playing politics
Luthen moves in diverse circles, engaging with peasants, criminals and militants. His most impressive ally is Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), a galactic senator who publicly supports the Empire — albeit from a left-wing, “voice of the people” position — while privately helping raising money and support for the rebellion. The stakes for Mon become increasingly personal in Season 1 as a cash crunch and a need to curry favor with the establishment leads to her agreeing to an arranged marriage for her teenage daughter.
Mon also has a cousin, Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay), who is a high-ranking soldier in the fledgling Rebel Alliance; and the demands of the rebellion often keep Vel away from her lover, Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu), one of Luther’s most dedicated agents.
Although Luthen and Mon are pulling in the same direction, they do not always agree on how hard they should yank — or when. Luthen also clashes with Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), the leader of an organized insurgency, who is trying to push the rebellion into something more like a traditional war. Luthen prefers his craftily covert acts of terrorism, which he orchestrates mostly from his Coruscant antique shop, where he and his highly capable and bitingly opinionated assistant, Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau), squeeze intel from high-society types and set up fake identities for their operatives.
With each passing year, though, all of these defiant, courageous men and women are winning hearts and minds. The words of some of their fallen disciples and fellow travelers — including Andor’s adoptive mother, Maarva (Fiona Shaw), and the manifesto-writing rebel Karis Nemik (Alex Lawther) — have begun spreading throughout the galaxy, unable to be contained by the I.S.B. no matter how hard the Empire tries.
The arcs, and how they bend
Some TV creators who began their careers in the movie business like to talk about how each season of their show is “an eight-hour movie” and not really “television” per se. With “Andor” Season 1, Gilroy split the difference between movies and conventional episodic TV by dividing his 12 episodes into “arcs” that run typically three episodes each — with each arc roughly the length of a feature film.
“Andor” Season 1 held mostly to a traditional episode-per-week release schedule; but Season 2 embraces the arc concept more boldly. The season’s 12 episodes are being released three at a time across four consecutive weeks. Each arc is also set in a different year, as the timeline moves gradually toward the time of “Rogue One” and “Star Wars.”
What this means is that “Andor” fans can expect the equivalent of a full movie every week, each with its own story and stakes. And that matters, because while the ultimate end to this tale is already known — again, thanks to “Rogue One” and “Star Wars” — the path to any big heroic moment is hard, and it requires a lot of smaller choices and sacrifices. Those stories are worth telling too.
Even though it is science fiction, think of “Andor” as the “Star Wars” equivalent of one of those PBS documentaries examining the root causes of the American Civil War or World War II. It’s like a rich and fascinating history play.
The post ‘Andor’ Is Coming Back. Here Is a Recap of Season 1. appeared first on New York Times.
