Similar to how season one of “Andor” began slowly but developed into a propulsive adventure and the best streaming “Star Wars” series to date, season two also takes its time to get going, particularly an early Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) storyline, one of at least four main character plots that play concurrently through the 12-episode second and final season. (View a helpful recap of season one at youtube.com/watch?v=VOfBli5P7fs.)
Streaming its first three episodes at 9 p.m. today on Disney — three episodes drop weekly over four weeks — by the end of its run, which brings this prequel story right up to the start of “Rogue One,” season two of “Andor” stands proudly alongside season one as the most sophisticated, smartest “Star Wars” storytelling to date, thanks to showrunner Tony Gilroy.
This “Star Wars” story is less about space battles and more about political rivals at the dawn of the Rebel Alliance as Andor joins Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and Sen. Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) to thwart Emperor Palpatine’s authoritarian tyranny.
Just as the show’s most impressive visuals are earthbound — an enormous, practical town square set on the planet Ghorman — the drama of “Andor” is most potent when Luthen’s assistant, Kleya Marki (Elizabeth Dulau), embarks on a mission that would make her boss proud. Or when Mothma addresses the Imperial Senate with a speech that resonates in 2025 America as she declares, “The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whichever monster screams the loudest.”
“Andor” season two also benefits from the funniest scene of domestic drama ever in a “Star Wars” show when IBS supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and boyfriend Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) invite Syril’s meddling mother, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), to dinner.
Quality-wise, Disney has big “Star Wars” shoes to fill after this final run of “Andor” episodes, but there are no new live-action “Star Wars” series on the immediate horizon (“Ahsoka” season two is in production and will likely stream in 2026). However, just last week, Lucasfilm announced a new animated series, “Maul: Shadow Lord,” coming to Disney in 2026 with actor Sam Witwer reprising his role as the voice of Darth Maul in a show set after “The Clone Wars.”
In addition, “Star Wars: Visions Volume 3” will debut with nine episodes Oct. 29, and a spinoff series, “The Ninth Jedi,” based on a story from the first volume, is in the works.
‘Alma’s Way’ guest star
Bassist Esperanza Spalding, who once starred in a “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”-influenced one-woman stage show, voices Zelda Jazz, a new character introduced on Fred Rogers Production’s “Alma’s Way” (7:30 a.m. weekdays, WQED-TV), which airs three new episodes April 28-30. Spalding’s Zelda appears in the “Subway All-Stars” story airing in the 7:30 a.m. Tuesday episode.
Canceled/spun off
Amazon’s Prime Video canceled comedy “Clean Slate” after one season, and Prime Video also canceled the second season of “Citadel” spinoffs “Citadel: Honey Bunny” and “Citadel: Diana” and will weave their storylines into season two of “Citadel,” streaming in 2026.
It’s been 28 years since Fox sitcom “Martin” last aired an original episode, but the show is getting a belated spinoff. BET ’s “Varnell Hill,” stars Tommy Davidson, reprising his “Martin” guest role in a workplace comedy.
Channel surfing
Finally! After weeks of buzz but no appearance on Nielsen’s Top 10 original streaming series chart, Pittsburgh-set Max medical drama “The Pitt” finally showed up (ranking No. 8) for the week of March 17-23 in Nielsen data released late last week. … Max travel series “Conan O’Brien Must Go” returns for a three-episode season streaming at 9 p.m. Thursdays May 8, 15 and 22.