Time to say goodbye to our favorite dashing rebel spy. The Disney+ series Andorofficially came to an end on Tuesday, May 13 with the final three episodes dropping all together at once on the streamer.
For those who don’t know, Andor is a Star Wars franchise prequel of a prequel. Diego Luna stars as Cassian Andor– a former criminal turned insurgent for the Rebel Alliance’s fight against the Galactic Empire. Seasons 1 and 2 follow the radicalization of Andor, formation of the Rebel Alliance and a dark look at civilian life under interstellar fascism. This all comes beforeRogue One: A Star Wars Story, released in 2016, where we first meet Cassian plotting to steal the Death Star plans. Rogue One is also a prequel to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
And for those who are familiar, you know this is unfortunately the final season of Andor, as the 12th episode takes us right up to the events of Rogue One. Originally planned to be five seasons, the show took a creative turn to two after seeing how long it took to shoot a single season.
“It is the final season because it takes two years and a half to make one season,” Diego Luna recently explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “We promised five at the beginning, but then we were doing the first… The amazing Tony Gilroy came to Scotland and we were shooting and we sat down and said, ‘Like this is going to be impossible. I mean, how can we do five seasons? It’s more than a decade. I cannot fire a blaster for another ten years.’”
Although, there’s good news for both parties! Those who haven’t watched Andor yet, all episodes are available to stream now. For those who have, here are 7 more shows to fill the astronomical hole on your screens:
Photo: HBO
If your preferred niche is sci-fi prequel TV shows, don’t fret; there are plenty of those to go around. It just so happens another famed space opera film also recently came out with a companion TV series. 10,000 years before Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides enters the scene, the Harkonnen sisters Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula (Olivia Williams) establish and lead the Sisterhood– the group of women who train their minds and bodies to acquire superhuman powers and later to be known as the Bene Gesserit. The Harkonnen sisters battle forces threatening their sacred sect while striving to grasp more political power and put one of their own on the throne.
What if the Soviet Union had beaten the United States in their quest to be the first nation to put a man on the moon? If you’re looking for more space exploration, For All Mankind takes a dramatic, alternate look at history reimagining the global space race. After losing out to the USSR on the moon landing, NASA expedites efforts to “catch up,” inadvertently creating a new decades-spanning competition, vastly changing American culture and integrating women and minorities into storylines history previously excluded them from. Created by Ronald D. Moore, the mastermind behind sci-fi classics like Star Trek and the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, each of the four seasons out now takes place 10 years after the last, with Season 1 taking place in 1969, Season 2 in the ’80s, and so on.
If the political spy elements drew you into the orbit of Andor, this Apple TV+ series is your perfect next watch – if you’re okay with earthside drama. MI5 screwups get sent to Slough House, and get dubbed the slow horses, to push pencils and dig through trash under the once great, now quite smelly, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). Desperate to prove themselves again, the misfit agents band together to work through cases that get them back in with the top dogs. There’s suspense, stellar performances, cynical humor and some pretty crooked government systems, just like some of the best parts of the Star Wars spinoff.
Now, how about another space-set prequel show to add to your watchlist? A decade before Captain Kirk’s mission in the OG Star Trek series, First Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) joins the USS Discovery after accidentally waging a war between the Klingons and the United Federation of Planets. Some familiar faces throughout the five seasons include Michelle Yeoh, Jason Isaacs and Tig Notaro. The series made headlines with its pilot becoming one of the most pirated episodes of TV, and being the first of the iconic franchise’s many spin-offs to introduce transgender and non-binary characters into the Star Trek universe. If you’re looking for more cosmic adventures, at this one to the list.
For more gritty depictions of crusades against fascist regimes in alternate realities, Prime Video holds your next binge with The Man in the High Castle. Imagine Franklin D. Roosevelt was assassinated and the Axis powers won World War II. The U.S has been split into three parts, with one going to the Japanese, one to the Nazis and the neutral and a buffer territory between the two. Juliana (Alexa Davalos) lives a seemingly happy life in Japanese-controlled San Francisco. That is, until her sister gives her life to deliver film reels that depict the Allies winning the war…
Elliot (Rami Malek) is a real complicated guy working as an engineer for a cybersecurity company called Allsafe. After being recruited into an underground group of hacktivists called “fsociety” by the mysterious Mr. Robot (Christian Slater), the vigilantes work to cancel all consumer debt by hacking E Corp– Allsafe’s biggest client Elliot harbors immense hatred for. Global chaos ensues as Elliot grapples with his own mind and moral beliefs. If you’re wanting another techno-thriller about a band of rebels attempting to begin another sort of revolution, Mr. Robot is your next up.
Finally, whether you’re a fan or not, you may know there’s a plethora of Star Wars TV shows out there in the world– some better than others and all running differently in tone, how they adapt the larger storylines of the original films and what age demographics are targeted. Though canceled after one season amidst racist backlash, The Acolyte dives into a period of Star Wars lore that previously remained untouched until now, inviting a fresh, new story into the franchise. In the High Republic Era, a century before the original story begins, a Jedi Master begins to investigate a series of crimes leading him to his former Padawan. With sinister forces at play, the legitimacy of the Jedi is brought into question. Though the show met its end, it’s an innovative take on such a longstanding saga.
Claire Waheed is a recently graduated freelance writer currently based in Texas. She loves all things pop culture and new adventures.
