WARNING: This review contains SPOILERS for Andor season 2, episodes 4-6.
What is Star Wars if not a continuous tale of heart-stopping chain reactions? If anything, Andor season 2 is a masterclass in the delicate art of slow-burn storytelling. Perhaps you're used to fast ships and monumental deaths in your Star Wars, but Tony Gilroy is most interested in how we get there, rather than repeating what we've already seen a thousand times.
The second arc of season 2 is, put as simply as I can manage, good in a way that far exceeds the word. The way each episode brilliantly builds upon the previous one, tensions occasionally breaking into action but rarely in the way we're used to in these stories, is nearly unprecedented for these live-action shows. Andor doesn't care about loud victories. It offers only satisfactory melancholia. We get to see the rebels win. But the cost is so devastating that it almost -- almost -- isn't even worth it.
Let's start off with the obvious wins this week: Lady-on-lady smooches (finally), Bix's fiery revenge against her tormenter, Luthen and company not getting caught at that insufferable party. Somehow Perrin is still the worst, but now in a fun way? And we have to give credit to actor Faye Marsay, who plays Vel, for her incredible performance in the aftermath of one of the most heart-shattering character exits yet in the entire series so far.
I suppose we have to address that now, despite how much it hurts. Writers, like their characters, have to make sacrifices all the time for the sake of storytelling, and it's so often executed poorly. I'm not hesitant to admit that once again, Andor has handled a sensitive choice in the best way it possibly could have. No one wants to see a beloved character die, especially not a community of people who saw themselves in Vel and Cinta. But until we're the ones holding the metaphorical pens, we have to both praise the wins and carry the losses simultaneously. It is the only way forward.
Cinta's death is upsetting for a handful of reasons -- largely: Can't we just let gays in space be happy for once? But it's complicated. No matter who you kill off in the most tragic ways this season, the point is that rebellion is bloody. Wars are sinister. Those immersing themselves in this fight have to do so knowing what -- and whom -- they stand to lose even more so than what they hope to gain.
The cracks in the rebellion's armor are starting to show. Luthen is angry. Cassian is becoming a little reckless. The tragedy on Ghorman -- Cinta was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the most literal way possible -- happened because a small act of rebellion was heavily dependent on people who did not know the weight of their personal choices.
This three-episode arc was likely frustrating to some. A lot of people like their Star Wars loud and fast and filled with blasterfire and explosions. All of this arc's drama is born of quiet tension that leads to explosions of emotion -- not always the fun kind, to many. But it's the best arc of the season yet because of how uncomfortable it is to watch in a completely different way than the previous one. We have not yet reached the loudest peak of the Galactic Civil War. We are still in the age of carefully calculated, nearly silent destruction. You have to set the charges in secret before pulling the trigger. You have to witness the small breaks in the glass before it shatters.
Patience is not a strength in the Star Wars fandom, but the payoff, I can only predict, will hardly disappoint.