I’ve been very excited forAndor’s second season.Like my colleagues, and also basically anybody that’s ever seen this show, I consider it to be the best television thatStar Warshas to offer. Hell, it might be the best thing the franchise has ever produced, fullstop.
It’s been a landmark achievement, garnering universal critical praise and a ton of award nominations. The first season was widely considered some of the best television of 2022, if notthebest. Even if you don’t particularly care about Star Wars, it’s damn good television, an entirely compelling spy thriller that delves into contemporarily relevant themes of fascism and resistance. It’s one of my favourite shows of all time.
Andor’s Chapter Structure Isn’t All Bad
But I haven’t watched the second season at all. I simply can’t bring myself to do so, and that’s entirely because of its unorthodox release schedule. When it comes to shows like HBO’sThe Last of Us, which I’ve beenwatchingandanalysingas episodes release, it’s fairly easy to keep up. I do this partly because of the nature of my job, yes, but it’s also very easy to sacrifice an hour out of my week to keep up with a series I’m genuinely interested in watching. It’s something I can do after my work day or during a lunch break. It’s something to get excited about – when Monday comes, I have a new episode to deep dive into.
Season two of Andor doesn’t have a typical release cadence. Every week, three full length episodes are released at the same time, all of which are around 40 minutes to an hour long. Each trio of episodes makes up a chapter, which covers a span of time within a single year. A year passes between each chapter, allowing the series to cover a significant swathe of time in a single season, focusing on smaller chunks of time on an episode level but telling a larger story over the full season
This structure, in itself, isn’t a bad idea. In fact, the negative space between each chapter would allow for audiences to see the long-term consequences of actions unfolding over time, and how those actions dovetail into the events of Rogue One at the end. It’s an interesting concept. Does it work well in practice? I don’t know! I don’t have time to watch it!
But It’s A Weird Release Cadence Nonetheless
Three episodes being released in a week feels like a compromise between entire seasons being released at once, which we’ve become accustomed to since the advent of streaming services, and the weekly episode release schedule thatusedto be the norm, back in the days of yore when television shows had dedicated time slots on cable. you may’t quite binge the whole season on a hungover Sunday, but youcanbinge what’s basically an Andor movie on a weekly basis.
A very long Andor movie, at that. There are people who prefer this schedule because they’re used to the way streaming typically works – you can watch as much as you want of a season whenever you want. This schedule gives fans a full-length movie to enjoy, a feast instead of a snack. Some fans are very happy to get more every week.
I’m not happy, largely for selfish reasons: I don’t have three spare hours a week to watch one show. A lot of people don’t. We have jobs and hobbies and social lives. Some of us have families. Sure, most people don’tneedto watch Andor as it unfolds, but a lot of peoplewantto and just can’t spare that kind of time.
But also, importantly this isn’t actually how the series was made to be viewed – the release schedule waschosen by Disneyafter filming was done, and it wasn’t showrunner Tony Gilroy’s decision. This is a very carefully written and paced spy thriller, not something meant forbinging. The format feels like a disservice to Andor, and I’m not loving that it’s been intentionally made more bingeable for audiences.
I really wish streamers would move away from dropping entire shows all at once, because it dilutes the reasons why television used to be so special. A weekly release schedule was, and continues to be, a completely different format of storytelling that makes television unique, and leaving that behind feels like a dilution of the medium. Andor is as close to prestige TV as Star Wars has ever gotten, so why isn’t it being treated with the respect it deserves?
Andor
Cast
Andor is a Star Wars prequel series set before the events of Rogue One, following Cassian Andor as he navigates a world of danger and deception. The series delves into his transformation into a pivotal figure in the struggle against the Galactic Empire.
