‘Andor’ season 2’s gripping premiere sets the stage for an epic final season — and I’m convinced this will be the best Star Wars show yet

We open with a genuinely thrilling setpiece. Andor, now fully committed to the rebel cause, poses as a test pilot to steal a new TIE fighter from an Imperial base, in a sequence that’s both exciting and surprisingly funny.

Cassian’s mission quickly goes wrong. After getting to grips with the controls, he shakes off his pursuers. But upon delivering the stolen spacecraft, our hero gets caught in the crossfire of a splintering group of in-fighting rebel soldiers.

Meanwhile, Mon Mothma’s off being tangled up in politicking (and throwing shapes on the dance floor) at her daughter's wedding, and Bix Caleen and co. are busy trying to fly under the radar as simple farmers and mechanics on Mina-Rau while Imperial officers root out illegal migrants.

On the Imperial front, Orson Krennic and a select group of senior Imperial officials start spinning up plans to “gouge-mine” the planet Ghorman in search of a coveted mineral that will be used to “solidify Imperial authority” (i.e. presumably to power up a certain planet-cracking spaceship).

This opening salvo of episodes works not because it’s all-out action, but because it’s sharply written, deftly performed, and continues to build on the escalating tensions of what’s come before.

More than anything else, it seems interested in highlighting the colossal disparity between the strength of the Empire and the rebels’ lack thereof.

Here, at BBY 4, the Empire’s staff can lackadaisically muse over the best way to win public approval for the destruction of a planet, or are free to bicker with their mother at a dinner party (Syril and Dedra butting heads with Eedy Karn is a chapter 1 highlight for sure).

On the flipside, rebel factions — like the splintering Maya Pei Brigade whom Andor falls foul of — are disorganized and barely able to feed themselves, let alone contemplate their next move.

If you’re reading this before streaming “Andor” season 2’s first episodes, though, know that this instalment isn’t just set up. I’ll try and stay vague, but consequences are felt.

Our protagonists suffer losses both personal and political, and these challenges are sure to stoke the flames of rebellion just that little more.