(image courtesy IMP Awards)
Star Wars: Andor, now four episodes into its second season, is a remarkable show in many ways.
But one of the things that really sets it apart is the sheer raw humanity of many of the characters, best exemplified in the third episode, “Harvest”, where a world weary Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) loses herself in alcoholic and trance dance oblivion at her daughter’s wedding on her home planet of Chandrilla.
Worn down by funding the Rebellion and the pressures that come with it, while presenting a face of diplomatic ambivalence to an Imperial world which brooks no deviation from or challenge to the fascistic norm, and all too aware she is about to lose a very good friend so the cause she has devoted her life can continue to prosper, she is woman who has and is losing a lot in order to bring about freedom for a galaxy.
It’s a hugely heavy price to bear, and it finally becomes too much for one of the leading lights of the Rebellion who, on one night and one night only, surrenders to the pain and the loss and the grief and disappears into a blaze of music and sound and celebratory oblivion.
It’s a mesmerising scene to the captivatingly piece of music by Nicholas Britell called “Niamos!” which beautifully captures the brokenness of a woman who has given up so much, and it is intercut with scenes of other characters also facing up to some very dark tidings too.
Star Wars: Andor is streaming on Disney+
And here’s the single track which is available to stream …
