“If there is one show from 2025 that I wish everyone reading this list would watch, it would be Andor. Rarely has decades-old IP felt this fresh, this exciting, this carefully and beautifully realized. It’s tough to make any prequel series work, let alone a prequel series set in the Star Wars universe, where the Skywalker saga seems to loom over every character like a giant, heavy-breathing Darth Vader helmet. But, rather than loom, Tony Gilroy’s Andor dives deep, digging into the often ugly details of the Rebellion that would one day culminate in Luke Skywalker’s decisive victory at the Battle of Yavin. Diego Luna is an absolute wonder as Cassian Andor, the thief-turned-spy-turned-soldier who learns, as Stellan Skarsgard’s rebel leader Luthen puts it, that the revolution will cost him ‘everything.’ The struggle to make that sacrifice ‘worth it’ is at the heart of each fantastic character arc in Andor season 2, which, despite covering years of story, never feels rushed or repetitive. Unflinchingly political in an otherwise milquetoast era of TV, Andor is a gift. I can’t wait to watch it again.”—Lauren Puckett-Pope, staff culture writer
