Much better than its predecessor, but there's still room for improvement.
The pilot episode didn't do much to differentiate this series from its predecessors in the Gundam franchise. The second try is a lot more informative, and a lot more fun, but the series still hasn't hit its stride yet.
This installment opens with brief bit of narrative setup that gives us a better idea of the setting for the series. The year is 2307, and a solar power generation system based on orbital elevators has recently been completed, ushering in a new era of energy stability. There are three major political factions in this world: The Union, The Human Reform League, the A.E.U (Advanced European Union). Celestial Being has formed with the goal of becoming the force that will unify the splintered factions and put an end to war, once and for all. This is all useful information that would have made the first episode make a lot more sense.
Other useful information given in this episode include the full names of some of some of the main characters. We've got Graham Aker (the blond) and Billy Katagiri (the fellow with the unfortunate ponytail). They're two members of the Union, and part of a research team developing mobile suits. They're apparently best buds, and so far they've only been seen together. They, like everyone else, are trying to figure out how Celestial Being popped up without any warning, using the most advanced weapons in the world without any apparent support from a powerful nation. It's later revealed that the leader of Celestial Being has a name, Aeolia Schenberg, and he's supposed to have been dead for 200 years.
Besides the action, there's a lot of political buildup as well. It's very obvious that the show is going for some contemporary military and world event themes, and in that respect it's starting to resemble another mech series, Gasaraki. An interesting moment in the show is when the President of the Union, referring to Celestial Being, says something to the effect of "We intervene in other nations' conflicts for our own people's safety and for national interest. We are not running a charity." (not an exact quote, but it captures the gist). This is looking like a series that is heavily influenced by interventionist politics, particularly relevant in this post-9/11 world. The show could deliver some interesting political commentary, if it can find a way to execute its themes better.
The most hilarious moment of the series so far is when Lockon's orange Haro taunts him with, "Sucks to be you, sucks to be you". For those of you who aren't familiar with the Gundam franchise, the robotic Haros are kind of the mascot of the shows, and they're basically a more hilarious but less useful version of R2 units from Star Wars.
The episode ends with Aker showing up in a mobile suit to challenge Setsuna, which would've been cool if he didn't deliver a cheesy line with his appearance. This dub certainly has its share of cringe-worthy moments.
With the first two episodes, we have a pretty clear idea what the purpose of Celestial Being is. But the characters are still largely a mystery, and it's kind of hard to care about them, outside of the fact that the goal of Celestial Being is noble, though probably misguided.
The show so far definitely has the feeling of some past Gundam series like Gundam Wing (Setsuna is practically a carbon-copy of Heero Yuy). But it remains to be seen if Gundam 00 will add anything new to the franchise, or just rehash old themes that have already been done to death.
