TV Recap / Review: Cassian's Situation Intensifies in "Andor: A Star Wars Story" Season 2, Episode 2 - "Sagrona Teema"

This evening saw the debut of the first three episodes of the second season of Lucasfilm’s live-action series Andor: A Star Wars Story on Disney+, and below are my recap and thoughts on the second installment.

Andor season 2, episode 2– entitled “Sagrona Teema"-- begins on the jungle planet where Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is being held captive by two feuding groups of freedom fighters. Cassian is tied up in the wreckage of a transport while the two groups attempt to sabotage each other. “They’re messing with one," says one of the rebels about the other faction, as two fighters crawl around in the muck outside the ship hunting for each other and the body of their fallen comrade. Blaster fire erupts again and the rebels scramble back to their respective ships, with the opposing group occupying Cassian’s stolen TIE Avenger. Then we cut to Coruscant, where Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) has a discussion with Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) about how she doesn’t want Director Krennic’s Ghorman assignment. Partagaz berates Dedra about not having captured the rebel organizer known as Axis yet, and says she should consider the Ghorman assignment a gift. “Take it, then win it," he orders.

On Chandrila, preparations for Leida’s wedding are still underway as Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) has a statue-sized ancient relic brought into the main dining hall. Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) quietly tells him that she reached out to Bix and learned about the Imperial inspection on the way. Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and her husband Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie) enter and discuss the expensive gift brought by Davo Sculden. Perrin accuses Mon of having been sleeping with Tay Kolma, who had to be taken home drunk after the pre-party the night before. “He was always weak," says Fertha. Next we cut to Mina-Rau, where Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) and Bix are working on the enormous silos. They’re warned again by a friend about the Imperial audit: “Nobody’s happy." He asks about Cassian, and Bix responds, “He’ll be here." On the jungle planet, the freedom fighters divide up meal bars they found in the wrecked transport while Cassian drinks from a water bowl that was left for him.

“They’ve gone very quiet over there," remarks Cassian about the opposing rebels. A fog has now settled over the area, and we see the other group chopping large coconut-like fruit in half and trying their best to eat it. On Coruscant, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) gives orientation to a new hire at the Imperial Bureau of Standards and Measurements. He tells a story about having uncovered a cabal of corrupt purchasing agents stealing Imperial supplies. “There’s a future here for those who dare," Syril asserts to the new hire. On Mina-Rau, Wilmon promises his girlfriend Beela (Laura Marcus) that he won’t leave without saying goodbye. Then they hear an Imperial patrol approaching from a distance and watch as it arrives with several officers and soldiers. The farmers are grilled by these Imps, while outside Bix is approached by an officer who pretty much begins hitting on her immediately. “It’s a simple life, isn’t it?" he asks, then basically asks her out on a date, which Bix rejects by saying “I’m not sure my husband would approve." She says her husband is off-planet for a few days and that he's a mechanic as well.

This conversation is interrupted by Brasso, and the officer leaves, but not before implying he’ll be back. On Chandrila, the wedding party hikes up to the top of a mountain as part of a tradition on the planet. Perrin chats with Davo (Richard Dillane) while Leida (Bronte Carmichael) bonds with her betrothed and Mon Mothma talks with her cousin Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) about her estranged girlfriend Cinta Kaz. “There’s work to be done," says Vel, but Mon responds, “We have to live to do it, though, don’t we?" On the jungle planet, Cassian tells his captors that the opposing soldiers don’t have any food on the stolen TIE starfighter. Another fighter returns to the transport and informs them that the other group is trying to rotate the TIE so that its weapons are pointing toward the transport, although it’s only moving a handful of centimeters each hour, even with the greatest effort. On Coruscant, we find Dedra at home in her apartment listening to opera music when Syril enters– apparently these two are now living together.

Syril says he wants to delay something that he’s dreading the following day, though Dedra says they can’t cancel again without revealing what’s happening. On Chandrila, Mon Mothma is dressed elegantly for the wedding banquet, and finally finds a moment to talk with Tay Kolma (Ben Miles) while Luthen watches from the other side of the room. Tay admits to Mon that he’s been having a difficult time. “I have concerns," he says. “The foundation is up and running. Everyone seems quite pleased with how they’ve landed, and I’m left worrying about the risk I’ve taken on. Rebel activity soured my investments. You can see how I might feel undervalued." Mon says she regrets not knowing about this sooner and promises Tay that they’ll have a meeting the following week on Coruscant, though Luthen appears not so certain about the outcome. On Mina-Rau, our heroes discuss strategies to evade the Imperial inspection with the farmers who have taken them in, and on Coruscant we see Kleya enter Luthen’s antique shop and start up the covert communication device in the back room.

She begins to plug wire into different sockets like an old-fashioned telephone switchboard, and we cut back to Chandrila, where Luthen is giving Mon a talking to about Tay Kolma. Mon promises she’d get a number to keep Tay quiet, though Luthen responds, “It’s very troubling." They’re interrupted by Perrin’s wedding speech, but Luthen warns Mon that they can’t leave this situation be. Perrin gives a stirring welcome to the assembled group in the dining hall, toasting his daughter Leida and giving her this advice: “Pain will find you. But my hope is that you learn to reach past this constant cloud of sadness." He goes on, as Mon and Luthen watch from the tables. On the jungle planet, the two warring groups yell at each other across the clearing. “You can’t live on these melons!" one of them shouts, dropping a challenge. On Mina-Rau, Bix silently stares up into the sky, clearly wishing for Cassian’s return, and we cut back to the jungle planet where the groups call a ceasefire to meet in the middle of the two ships, playing a Ro Sham Bo-like game for the rights to leadership.

Cassian uses the brief opportunity to distract and manipulate his lone remaining guard, grabbing a blaster out of a nearby drawer and switching places with his captor. Evading the non-violent conflict in the center, Cassian makes his way around the perimeter and through the jungle, where he begins to hear noises in the trees. Then an enormous creature suddenly attacks the rebels, giving Cassian enough cover to reach the TIE and clamber into the cockpit, shooting its inhabitant and stealing the ship back once again. The fighters fire their blasters up at the ship but it’s no use: Cassian pilots the vehicle up into the sky, revealing Massassi temples on the planet’s surface and letting us, the audience, know that this is indeed the fourth moon of Yavin– where the Rebel Alliance will have their base in the original Star Wars film (AKA Episode IV: A New Hope) later on in the timeline.

Two things really stuck out to me about this episode: I feel like the point of Cassian’s predicament is to underline how infighting can erupt even among well-meaning revolutionaries who are ostensibly on the same side without proper leadership and organization. Then there’s the Kay Tolma dilemma, which is a twist on what we expected coming out of the first season (the implication certainly was that Davo Sculden would be the problem, not Kay). Luthen makes the point here that everyone is bound to disappoint you eventually, and I think that’s the part that disturbs Mon the most. For the middle chapter of an arc I thought this installment played well, and I’m very glad Cassian was able to escape his captivity on Yavin IV sooner rather than later– two episodes were enough time spent dealing with those chumps.

The first three episodes of Andor: A Star Wars Story season 2 are now available to stream, exclusively via Disney+.