The second season of “Star Wars: Andor” is now streaming on Disney+, and I swear series creator Tony Gilroy personally writes the first three episodes of each season purely to subject viewers to the most glacial pacing imaginable, just so he can win them back with outstanding season finales.

Of course, the rest of “Andor” Season 2 has yet to be released, but the back half of “Andor” Season 1 was some of the finest politics-minded sci-fi ever to reach audiences through such a mainstream media franchise.

The first three episodes of “Andor” Season 2 haven’t done the series’ ostensible lead actor Diego Luna (playing Rebel spy Cassian Andor) any favors, though, since his talents have been wasted on a subplot devoted to the internecine squabbles of a ragged band of very dumb and boring bandits that’s clearly been killing time to sync up his story arc to that of his Rebel allies.

Those allies, his fellow former inhabitants of the working-class planet Ferrix, make for a more intriguing plotline, as we see them attempting to dodge Imperial inspections on the agricultural planet of Mina-Rau.

Yes, this makes them undocumented migrant farm workers, which makes their plot thread more politically charged than perhaps even Gilroy intended, since filming on Season 2 had wrapped by February of 2024.

Adria Arjona does some tense, tightly controlled acting as Bix Caleen, Cassian’s estranged quasi-love interest, since she’s still clearly traumatized by the tortuous Imperial interrogation she underwent at the end of Season 1, and we see her struggling to deal with the increasingly unsubtle abuses of power to which she’s subjected by the visiting Imperials on Mina-Rau.

Another rewarding plot thread is devoted entirely to the Empire’s point of view, affording the welcome return of Anton Lesser as savvy social navigator Major Partagaz, who’s still mentoring Denise Gough as the insightful but recently disgraced Dedra Meero, with Kyle Soller as her creepy, ambitious paramour, Syril Karn.

We’re even treated to brief appearances by one of my favorite character actors, Ben Mendelsohn as the grasping, manipulative Orson Krennic (from “Star Wars: Rogue One”), as he leads his fellow Imperials in a fascinating exercise of what Noam Chomsky would deem “manufactured consent,” plus Kathryn Hunter as Eedy Karn, Syril’s formidable mother.

The dinner date between Dedra, Syril and Eedy is a hilarious subversion of a meet-the-parents rom-com scene, since everyone involved is essentially playing different aspects of Patrick Bateman in “American Psycho.”

What’s great about how “Andor” portrays the Imperials is that they only rarely descend to anything so uncouth as open threats or acts of violence, because the true privilege of unchecked power is that those without power already know what will happen if ever their oppressors abandon the pretense of their insincere courtesies.

As Dennis Reynolds said in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” it’s “The Implication.”

Amazingly, the most engaging story arc of Season 2 to date has been watching another loose confederation of secret Rebel sympathizers — headlined by Genevieve O'Reilly as Imperial Senator Mon Mothma, and Stellan Skarsgård as affluent antiques dealer Luthen Rael — as they orchestrate her daughter’s wedding.

The tradition-bound ceremonies of Mon Mothma’s wealthy core planet of Chandrila have constituted some excellent world-building. And O’Reilly has been doing yeoman’s work in portraying her character’s conflicted loyalties, obligations and unmet emotional needs, as a loving mother who’s nonetheless relying on the political alliance that will be cemented by her daughter’s arranged marriage to cover up her own involvement in the Rebellion.

Meanwhile, Skarsgård is absolutely ruthless as Luthen Rael, using his affected eccentricities as a mask for his mercilessly pragmatic need to cover for the Rebellion at all costs.

When Luthen and Mon started talking about whether one of her oldest friends, who’s also supported the Rebellion, might choose to sell them out, due to his recent financial troubles, it gave me the same chills as when I watched “Goodfellas” and heard Ray Liotta say, “That's when I knew Jimmy was gonna whack Morrie.”

Mon still thinks she can retain some vestige of her former life of polite pleasantries, before she became a covert insurgent, but as seen in Season 1, Luthen has long since made peace with no longer having a redeemable soul.

Bonus points for the brief return of Varada Sethu (now playing Belinda Chandra on “Doctor Who”) as Season 1’s cold-blooded Rebel assassin Cinta Kaz, and to O’Reilly for fully committing to Mon Mothma’s disturbingly frenzied, ecstatic wedding dance.

Stick it with it, gang. If the first season is any indicator, the rest of this season of “Andor” will only ramp up from here.