Following the April 22 premiere of its second and final season, Andor has once again stuck the landing! Securing a Rotten Tomatoes score of 99 percent for season two, the show has been praised by critics and audiences alike for its grounded storytelling and charged political commentary. While not as popular as the mainline films and shows, it remains an insightful piece of Star Wars media.
In a galaxy dominated by intergalactic dogfights, space mysticism, and laser swords, it’s easy to overlook the struggles of the common person. The show reminds viewers that, at its core, Star Wars is a world under the thumb of tyranny and injustice. It’s that reality that Andor echoes: the harshness of modern social struggles against oppression. It speaks to tangible frustrations with real-world systems. Yet, it also offers a perspective on hope: change is not only possible amidst injustice but worth fighting for.
The show follows Diego Luna returning as “Cassian Andor” before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, where he starred as a cold-hearted rebel assassin. It explores Cassian’s rough beginnings as a young thief living under the looming threat of imperial rule. He soon finds himself enlisted in the rebellion by an undercover rebel leader named “Luthen” (played by Stellan Skarsgård).
Andor came as an impressive surprise to fans of the franchise. While Cassian offered a darker look into rebellion and the morally complex deeds that must be done to fight tyranny, many questioned whether the character deserved a show over more popular characters. However, creator and writer Tony Gilroy exceeded expectations by masterfully developing Cassian and the seedy, cutthroat world he was forced into. Upon first watch, viewers can pick up the tone Gilroy wants to set. It’s cinematic, serious, and slow. It’s a setting void of heroes or saviors, no powerful Jedi or charismatic bounty hunters to stop the Empire. The galaxy is on its own, forced to bow to authoritarian rule. The Empire’s power structures and politics are deliberately written to reflect Nazism and unfortunate real-life Alt-Right ideologies. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and Cassian intends to survive.
This is how the show parallels modern struggles. Much like many of society’s downtrodden, disenfranchised, and marginalized groups, civilians in Andor struggle to get by, and the systems in place are largely uninterested in supporting them. The world feels selfish, and as life becomes harder, it becomes easier to embrace that selfishness. Corporations continue to uplift other corporations to keep the status quo—anything to keep the wheels of bureaucracy turning. In a world of inequality and hatred, it becomes an active battle to maintain hope.
Cassian’s home planet, “Ferrix”, is also a powerful reflection of real-life circumstances. It’s a working-class planet populated by people salvaging and scraping under Imperial occupation. They value honest work as both a doctrine and a way of avoiding Imperial trouble. Strong work ethics are the culture, and one is shamed for not conforming to that community structure. Cassian himself is scolded and mocked for his shifty outlaw mannerisms. This reflects the dominant capitalist society. People struggling to get by, passively accepting the unfair power structures that loom over their lives, simply because they didn’t outwardly oppress them. However, tyrannical systems built on compliance seldom stay stagnant; they continue to push the boundaries of oppression until they control everyone.
The Empire’s most notorious display of fascism so far occurs in season one, episodes eight, nine, and ten. The arc takes place on a prison planet called “Narkina-5”, as Cassian is unjustly arrested and sentenced to work in an imperial prison. Prisoners are forced to assemble unnamed machine parts, never knowing what they’re building. Failure to comply results in inhumane execution. They’re forced to walk around barefoot, and if they don’t obey, the floor is electrified, instantly killing whoever’s standing on it. This reflects how incarceration cultivates an environment of dehumanization. It’s designed to suppress hope. As the prisoners eventually learn that the Empire never intended to end their sentences, the spark of rebellion and determination to live emerges, led by Cassian and prison leader Kino Loy (played by Andy Serkis). In his radicalization, Cassian finds purpose in rebellion and discovers a possibility for change.
It’s those deeply human sentiments toward modern social struggles that Andor embraces. Unafraid to shake up the dynamics of the Star Wars universe, Gilroy seeks to peel back the layers of social change through the lens of the gritty and morally gray. Modern social change is not simply defined by direct fighting; the shared desire for hope is what keeps the human spirit alive.
What's Your Reaction?
