Mon Mothma dancing in 'Andor' is the meme we need now
When the galaxy is going to hell, you're fighting with your daughter at her wedding, and you've just learned an old friend will die for the sake of the Rebellion you're leading, how do you shake it off?
If you're Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) in Andor Season 2, episode 3, here's your answer. You down some shots, hit the floor with other moms in a stunning gold number with shoulder capes when the DJ drops an EDM banger, and make like an X-wing: Lock S-foils in dance position.
"We wanted to get inside her head somehow," O'Reilly explains to Mashable. "We wanted to see the physical chaos. She was releasing ... in a way we've never witnessed before. She got to throw off the strictures of her physicality, and that says something about her."
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The result is the first electronic dance music scene in Star Wars, and arguably its best dance scene ever (sorry, Ewoks), in which the future leader of the Rebellion, plus a floor full of dignitaries from Mon's highly traditional home planet, Chandrila, throw some shapes in the church of noise.
And in context, it's all played as incredibly dark irony. Which only makes Mon's wild moves more meme-worthy.
Making the dance scene look natural, and incorporating a lot of made-up Chandrilan styles, took "days" of choreography rehearsals, and Chandrilan formalwear that was also designed to be danced in, O'Reilly says: "There's a lot of work in there."
What is that EDM banger?
Mon's chaos groove moment begins after the kids hit the dancefloor. A drone-like DJ droid has floated in playing what Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy wanted for the scene: "a galactic hit."
"The young people are waiting to cut loose," Gilroy says. (After a three-day Chandrilan wedding that has been all tradition at this point, no wonder.) "And what do they want to hear? They want to hear the Tarzana EDM mix of 'Niamos!'"
"Niamos!" was composed by Nicholas Britell, the genius behind that ultimate TV earworm, the theme from Succession. It's cropped up repeatedly in the background of Andor so far, Gilroy points out — starting in the brothel scene on Morlana that opens Season 1, episode 1.
Prior to this brand new EDM remix, "Niamos!" has also been available in "Coruscant Lounge Mix" and the funkier "Galaxy Mix" on Britell's Andor Season 1 soundtrack albums. Niamos turned out to be the name of the vacation planet where Cassian is arrested.
Whether Britell's banger from a galaxy far, far away is also a hit in the here and now ... remains to be seen. Especially after Gilroy made the interesting choice to have this thumping track also play over Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) as they deal with some intense grief and trauma.
Why the dance scene is Star Wars' darkest moment yet
Mon Mothma doesn't just need some balm for that burn from her daughter (whom Mon suggested back out of an arranged marriage to a 15-year-old boy). She also just learned that Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) has arranged the death of suave old school friend Tay Kolma (Ben Miles), a banker who was suggesting a little light blackmail.
"How nice for you," Luthen says when Mon doesn't catch his meaning at first. Waves of doubt and guilt then cross Mon's face as she peeks outside her bubble of privilege — before retreating back into its safety by downing those shots and allowing herself to be pulled onto the dance floor.
She may be the coolest dancing mom in the galaxy. But while Mon shakes it off like Tay-Tay, Tay is still going to die — and at the bottom of the social ladder, far worse things are happening.
Intercut with the dance, Bix knocks out an imperial officer, ending what is the first attempted rape scene (and the first use of that R-word) in Star Wars. Cassian arrives to take Bix away, but not before their dear old Ferrix friend Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) dies on his way to save her.
Already, there may not be enough clubs in the galaxy for our downtrodden heroes to shake off their grief. And be warned: Worse is on the way as Andor continues its dark prequel path toward the Death Star and the battle of Yavin.
It's murder on the dance floor, but Andor won't kill the groove as it burns the Empire's house right down.
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
