“Andor” season 2 is already over halfway done. In fact, by the time you’re reading this, we will be 75% of the way through the final season of the acclaimed “Star Wars” show.
So with the three-part series finale now just a week away, it’s time for us to admit something very painful: The show’s release schedule is killing the show.
To be clear, I’m not saying the show is bad. While I don’t think what I’ve seen so far has lived up to season 1, the new episodes have been “gripping” when the show is at its best and undeniably well-made at its worst.
But with three hours of TV to watch each week, the show has avoided picking a weekly release schedule or dropping the entire season as a Netflix-style binge drop.
Instead, it’s somehow chosen a worse release strategy that requires you to get a babysitter, block out your calendar and come in late to work the next morning so you can consume three episodes between the hours of 9 p.m. ET and midnight. And it’s making you do it four weeks in a row.
3-episode drops are worse than weekly releases or season-long binges
I’ve long been a proponent of the weekly release schedule for shows. It builds anticipation for the and therefore when the show ultimately reaches a satisfying climax, the intensity of that moment is so much greater.
Unfortunately, with “Andor” season 2, I’m not anticipating what’s coming next. Instead, at 9 p.m. ET every Tuesday, I’m instantly three episodes behind and dreading the next batch of episodes for fear they’ll put me even further behind.
If “Andor” season 2 had gone with a binge model, I could have at least broken up episodes over a few nights in a row or blocked out a weekend to watch it all.
That would have had me at least anticipating the chance to finish the story all at once, and that would have been better than what this three-episode release schedule has given me.
If the episodes were required to be released all at once for story reasons, I’d maybe be more forgiving. But while each trio of episodes takes place over a brief period, a year apart from the last, I frankly haven’t seen a reason these couldn’t have been doled out one at a time.
The current slate of shows is burying ‘Andor’
If there was nothing else on TV or the best streaming services right now, maybe this would all be a moot point.
If I were watching nothing else, I would have seven days to watch a mere three episodes. I’d be behind diehard fans and the internet, but I could keep pace with the show before the next three episodes arrive.
The problem is that the current slate of shows is loaded.
For me, there’s “MobLand” and “The Last of Us” on Sundays, “Andor” (of course) on Tuesdays, “The Studio” on Wednesdays, “Hacks” on Thursdays and “Your Friends and Neighbors” on Fridays. That’s not even accounting for network TV shows or any binge drops from Netflix.
If you’re watching even a few of these shows, suddenly the ability to fit “Andor” season 2 into your schedule becomes a lot harder. And you might be prioritizing those other shows instead, because they all come in a more accessible one-episode-a-week release cadence.
Unfortunately, it’s too late for “Andor” season 2, which I am now concerned will ultimately be forgotten by the end of the year.
We’re undeniably not talking about it more than “The Last of Us,” another well-made show driven by a beloved IP on a popular streaming service, but one that opted for a weekly release schedule.
Personally, more people have talked to me about “The Studio,” an original 30-minute comedy series on Apple TV Plus and “MobLand,” an hour-long British gangster drama on Paramount Plus. Respectfully to those shows, a “Star Wars” show from the guy who brought you Jason Bourne should be blowing both out of the water.
I just hope Disney learns from this and never adopts this release schedule for a Disney Plus show ever again. Because it’s been an unmitigated disaster and an unforced error for “Andor.”
Malcolm McMillan
Malcolm has been with Tom’s Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He’s not one to shy away from a hot take, including that “John Wick” is one of the four greatest films ever made.
Here’s what he’s been watching lately:
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