Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’ Reilly, Denise Gough, Elizabeth Dulau, Kyle Soller, Anton Lesser, Robert Emms, Adria Arjona, Varada Sethu, Faye Marsey, Ben Mendelsohn, Benjamin Bratt, Alan Tudyk, Alistair Petrie, Jonjo O’ Neill, Joplin Sibtain, Kathryn Hunter, Alastair Mackenzie, Ben Miles, Forest Whitaker, Muhanned Bhaier, Sam Gilroy, Benjamin Norris, Richard Sammel, Thierry Godard.
If ever there was a series for our times, one that captured the zeitgeist through powerful story telling and a remarkable vision, then the second and final season of Andor would surely be the science fiction fans casting and over riding vote, one delivered with confidence and sincerity.
If the series as whole deserves plaudits and cheer, then in one particular episode the creative team and cast merit the highest praise, the sense of highlighting and underlining the dramatic tension that comes from the scenario of all rebellions, that of the socially aware protest cut down by an evil so rampant that it controls every narrative, any media output that will claim the opposite of the truth and wrap it up with a convincing, gaslighting, psychopathic government account.
Andor already was special, a prequel to a prequel, a history that we already knew the outcome and future of many of its players, and yet it arguably stands out as being one of the most important plots in the Star Wars canon, not only because of its position of some of the characters, the moral ambiguity of some, the fearful presence of others, and in the case of the unknown heroes that made the rebel mission to provide the plans to blow up the Death Star, a remarkable tale of heroism in the character of Kleya Marki, portrayed by the exciting newcomer of Elizabeth Dulau.
The episode of Who Are You, the eight in the series, must be considered one of the most important and weighty in television history, the slow build up to what becomes one of the savage treatments of the seeds of any rebellion is captured with full devastating effect, and the scene in which the titular character is finally cornered by his relentless pursuer is one of expectant and dramatic conclusion.
Despite already knowing the fate of many who grace the two series, including the brilliant portrayal of Mon Mothma by Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael, Kyle Soller as the dedicated Syril Karn, and the ambitious, almost psychotically ruthless Dedra Meero, given complete promise by the superb Denise Gough, Andor was willing to promote itself as a genuine television series of wealth, integrity and motivated force, and with the central role being once more played by Diego Luna, as he did in Rogue One, that assurance of connection was upheld, uplifted, and guaranteed to succeed.
A pity that it only lasted for two series, but then perfection rarely needs further evidence to maintain its truth.
Ian D. Hall