Women of 'Andor' see their roles get bigger in Season 2

Mon Mothma was first introduced to “Star Wars” fans as the rebel leader who appears only long enough to move the plot forward by delivering battle plans in hushed tones.

- Associated Press

But in the last moments of the most recent “Andor” episodes on Disney+ (spoilers for already released episodes ahead) she is a patrician senator who, soaked in high-end space and potent emotions, tears up the dance floor to a bass-and-drums rave-up at her daughter’s wedding. The scene would play as comic if it weren't tragic. None of her fellow revellers know that she has just taken a major step in her rise — or descent — into radicalism by washing her hands of an old friend who may be a threat to the burgeoning Rebel Alliance.

The size of the scene — and its subtleties — shows off the new levels of depth and breadth given to actors Genevieve O'Reilly, Adria Arjona and other central women in the second season of “Andor”; three new episodes drop on Tuesday.

“It's a techno-galactic dance moment, but it’s also this moment of internal chaos for this woman,” O'Reilly said in an interview. “She's tacitly agreed to have her friend murdered.