The Expanse Begins Its Final Chapter With Thrills and Ultimatums

It’s lastly returned—for simply six episodes, however at this level any Expanse is healthier than no Expanse, and we’re greater than able to see the Rocinante again in motion. Season six kicks off with “Strange Dogs,” and we meet the title creatures even earlier than the opening credit roll. Strange? Yes. Dogs? Well…

“Strange Dogs” begins with a “previously on” recap flashing on the largest moments of season 5, which implies the very first thing we see is an asteroid plummeting towards Earth. But earlier than we return to that epic crime scene, we go to an alien planet full of lush greenery and a few very uncommon animals, together with human settlers. Our introduction to this place comes via the eyes of a small woman who’s clearly an keen explorer. She spots an odd-looking “dog,” which resembles a delicate purple dinosaur, lurking within the bushes. However, her careless resolution to toss a crumb of her snack to a local chook turns tragic when the creature all of a sudden takes ailing; as she panics, the digital camera pans as much as present us a construction within the planet’s orbit emitting flashes in a really distinctive shade of protomolecule blue. Titles inform us that is “Ring #673, Planet 2,” often known as Laconia.

On Earth, we get a montage of stories footage reminding us simply what number of rocks managed to hit their marks, and what number of thousands and thousands of individuals have misplaced their lives. And the asteroids aren’t outdated information, we quickly be taught; Free Navy commander Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) continues to be firing them from the Belt at common intervals, and although most of them are actually being destroyed earlier than they attain the planet’s ambiance—a activity that’s been retaining Earth’s navy defenses working ragged—some are nonetheless breaking via; the harm has ravaged each floor and ambiance. “Now Earthers know what it feels like to be Belters,” an elated Inaros supporter yells into the digital camera. Bundled up towards the perma-winter, UN Secretary General Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and her proper hand, Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams), observe firsthand a former agricultural hub that’s now a frozen wasteland. “Every rock kills us a little more, even when they miss,” Avasarala says sadly… and angrily.

Meanwhile, our first encounter with the Rocinante this season finds our outdated friends—Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper), James Holden (Steven Strait), and Amos Burton (Wes Chatham)—within the Belt, battling it out with a Free Navy vessel. Everyone’s locked in, doing their job, however you’ll be able to inform they’re not having fun with any of this. Naomi particularly appears haunted (no shock after what she went via in season 5, which by the appears of it wasn’t so way back in The Expanse’s timeline). A couple of seeds of battle are sprinkled into the terse dialog the trio has within the aftermath: Amos wonders if “Chrissie” would possibly pay them extra for each Belter they kill, to which Holden says “We’re not mercenaries,” to which Amos mutters “We’re not soldiers, either.” When Holden says he needs to go in for a more in-depth look, Naomi warns they need to hold their distance, as a result of “the Free Navy loves improvised bombs and proximity triggers. They know it gets Marco off.”

They’ve received this battle, however the Rocinante is simply as battered (structurally) as they’re (mentally). As Amos shuffles off to start out restore work, we’re reminded of the Rocinante crew member who perished final season (because of a lingering shot of Alex Kamal’s title on the ship’s plaque), in addition to the brand new sorta-crew member who’s nonetheless discovering her footing: Clarissa (Nadine Nicole), who Amos calls “Peaches.” She’s a proficient mechanic, however as we quickly see, Holden and particularly Naomi haven’t warmed to her but. Meanwhile, it appears the Belters have left one thing surprising behind on a small asteroid, aside from items of their wrecked ship: a drive.

While we’re left to puzzle what which may imply, The Expanse takes us to some acquainted stomping grounds: Ceres Station, now beneath Free Navy management, and the present location of Marco Inaros. His son with Naomi—Filip Inaros (Jasai Chase Owens)—is extra taken with hooking up with ladies than studying the ropes from his father, one thing Marco and all the opposite Belter bigwigs, together with stern new character Rosenfeld Guoliang (Kathleen Robertson), have taken disapproving observe of. Filip saunters into a gathering between Marco, Rosenfeld, and Ceres’ head administrator, Nico Sanjrani (Joanna Vannicola), who’s been updating the group on the Belt’s agricultural scenario. Much like their foes on Earth, they’re not precisely rolling in bounty, although that’s nothing new for the Belt. As they stride away from the assembly, Marco asks Rosenfeld if there’s been any replace on his largest enemies—anti-Free Navy Belter Camina Drummer (Cara Gee) and, after all, the Rocinante—and orders her to extend the bounty on each. When Marco leaps upon his soapbox… er, some delivery crates, to ship a speech about how he considers Ceres to be “a home to me and to every other Belter,” the digital camera lingers on Filip’s petulant face as the gang chants Marco’s title. One will get the sensation that Filip’s antics have much less to with being his sexy child, and are extra indicative of some deeper turmoil—and The Expanse doesn’t make us wait lengthy to see how true that’s.

We meet up with Drummer’s crew subsequent. Unsurprisingly, given what Marco simply stated, they’re being pursued by Free Navy bounty hunters, however since that is Drummer, she’s bought a plan prepared that entails each her ships, the Dewalt and the Tynan, coordinating to blast her would-be captors out of existence. It appears hermetic, however one among her crew members, Michio (Vanessa Smythe), by accident pushes the mistaken button on the essential second. That causes a scramble that finally spells the tip for the bounty hunters, however the Dewalt can also be misplaced. Fortunately, its crew is ready to escape simply in time, however Michio’s crumbling beneath strain exhibits us simply how jittery and exhausted Drummer’s crew is. Drummer and crew mate Josep (Samer Salem) know Michio is devastated—and her household doesn’t need to push her away—however she’s a salvage employee and a med tech, not a warrior. Maybe discovering a safer place for her to be is the kindest transfer.

Speaking of jittery and exhausted, Holden does an area stroll to take a look at the mysterious drive up shut whereas Naomi retains watch from the Roci. They share a somber second remembering Alex, when all of a sudden Holden realizes the reactor he’s actually standing proper subsequent to has unexpectedly began powering up. While Naomi shrieks at him to get out of there, he takes a device and begins smacking it till it powers again down—a second of sudden, excessive hazard that enables The Expanse to point out us, but once more, how everybody’s nerves are stretched impossibly skinny proper now. It’s possibly not the perfect second—Naomi’s undereye circles are world-class at this level—however Amos has the pressing want to talk to her about Clarissa. Naomi resents that Amos introduced her aboard within the first place, and he reminds Naomi that she’s additionally made some main, unpopular choices in seasons previous (like, say, that point she gave the protomolecule pattern to Fred Johnson). This little chat does nothing to clear the air between them.

A short time later, Holden exhibits Amos one thing uncommon he’s come throughout: intel about Free Navy property, particularly concerning the Barkeith, the rogue Mars gunship we noticed being consumed by pink vitality because it handed via the Ring within the season 5 finale. Holden says it reminds him of the entities that destroyed the protomolecule builders, and he’s anxious about what it’d imply for the massive image, particularly since “the only reason the Rings are here is because of us.” Amos reminds Holden he’s there for one goal: to kill Marco Inaros. He doesn’t need to abandon Holden, however Holden higher not abandon him, both. Again, air not clear… however then Detective Naomi steps in together with her personal bit of knowledge, gathered from the drive they simply investigated. It appears the Earth rocks are launched utilizing a selected transmission burst that’s coming from one spotter ship, the Azure Dragon—a goal the Rocinante would very very like to search out and destroy. Holden apologies to Naomi in regards to the reactor factor and says he’ll be extra cautious sooner or later, however her response lets him comprehend it’s greater than that: “I tried for so long to stay away from the violence but Marco pulled me back into it, and now the people we’re hunting and killing are the same ones I used to call my own. I don’t know how much longer I can bear it.”

Back on Ceres, Filip and his buddy are doing their greatest to impress a few Belter ladies—principally via tales of Filip’s heroics as part of the Earth assaults—when Filip all of a sudden stands up and stalks out of the room, his face an unemotional masks however with excessive “I’m teetering on the edge!” bodily vitality. He heads to Marco’s ship, the Pella, the place his father and Rosenfeld are having a boring however vital dialog about provides for Ceres versus the extra strategically vital Medina station, which is positioned contained in the Ring. When Filip tries to butt into their dialogue, saying that the folks of Ceres ought to get what they want—straight contradicting Rosenfeld’s commentary that “we owe these people nothing”—the adults change dismissive smirks and stroll away to proceed their chat someplace the place Filip… isn’t.

He hasn’t earned their respect along with his habits, but it surely’s such a blow to his splintering ego that he dashes to the bar the place they have been assembly earlier to strive his luck with the beautiful bartender, who’s equally dismissive of him. It’s the final straw for a man who was barely retaining it collectively to start with, and when his pal all of a sudden pops again as much as ask why he flounced out of their celebration, Filip snaps. Their argument turns bodily however solely Filip has a gun, and all of a sudden Filip has shot and killed his greatest (and solely?) good friend.

Aboard the Earth-orbiting UNN Zenobia, Avasarala is confronted with a well-recognized foe of types: journalist Monica Stuart (Anna Hopkins), who’s decided to get a scoop off the UN Secretary-General regardless of her tight-lipped angle towards the press (her response is actually “that’s none of your fucking business,” as a result of Chrissie gonna Chrissie) and the interference being run by an unamused Bobbie. In their subsequent scene collectively, Avasarala tells Bobbie she is aware of she doesn’t like her job, however when Bobbie (who’s clearly been itching to rejoin the battle) shortly gives to stop, Avasarala tells her she has one other task in thoughts as she reads over the knowledge Holden despatched her about Inaros’ Azure Dragon and is moved to make a bit speech that units up season six properly: “We’re wounded, broken, trying desperately to keep ourselves going by pretending we’re not… little wins here and there will not hold us together. We need more than that. Something big. Something to give us a reason to hope.” It’s fairly clear that Avasarala and Holden have the identical plan—observe down that pesky Azure Dragon and annihilate it—and now, Bobbie’s going to deliver her appreciable preventing expertise to that plan too.

The Expanse premieres right now on Amazon Prime, with new episodes arriving each Friday.

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