A strong argument can be made that the fifth season premiere of
The Expanse isn’t just ‘Exodus’, but really a three-parter with Amazon Prime having dropped the first three episodes together. ‘Churn’ continues the themes and stories from the premiere in an effective manner and catches us up with some of the series’ other main and supporting players. The balance of the character driven story and the tense intrigue is well handled and takes the characters into more interesting places.
Much of ‘Churn’ centred around Amos and his mysterious past which is fleshed out just enough for audiences to understand why he never talks about it. From being used in a sex ring to taking the name of a murdered criminal, it explains a lot of why Amos is the why is, but none more so than his relationship with his mother. It is clear that while this was a loving relationship, it was far from a typical one for a mother and son to share as she didn’t sugarcoat the reality of their lives and acknowledged her faults as a caregiver and protector. It fleshed out Amos’ personality more while showing the two sides of him often in conflict with each other as he was seemingly ready to lash out at his mother’s partner before suddenly showing compassion to the old man. All Amos has really cared about is sticking to his own personal code and looking out for the people he feels a kinship to which was on perfect display here in the writing and Wes Chatham’s performance.