Ricky Church reviews the third episode of The Expanse season 5…
The Expanse‘s return started off in an interesting way with Amazon putting out the first three episodes of the season at once, acting as almost a three-part premiere that has been strongly character focused as the crew of the Rocinante have gone their separate ways on their own journeys for the time being. While the third episode, ‘Mother’ directed by former
Expanse star Thomas Jane, is still character driven, its story features more of the main plot of the season and ends on a gigantic cliffhanger the series has been building toward ever since the fourth season finale. For something built up for that long, the immediate payoff succeeds in creating suspense and dread.
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The Expanse just dropped its first three episodes of season 5 early this week. Next week, they’re back on a weekly release. “Exodus,” “Churn,” and “Mother” separates our core group for the first time across their storylines, and it looks like it might stay that way for a while.
Perhaps the most interesting journey is Naomi’s (Dominique Tipper). After a brief scene with Holden on Tycho Station, she departs to meet up with her son, Filip (Jasai Chase Owens), in an effort to get him away from his father, whose movement against people not of the Belt will one day get him killed. However, Naomi doesn’t seem to be aware of just how deep Filip is in. The opening sequence of the season shows Filip and his group board a science vessel, stealing their research, and executing everyone on board.
The Expanse came racing out of the gate after Amazon swooped in to save the cult favorite from cancellation. While the crew of the
Rocinante dealt with alien artifacts on frontier planet Ilus, the seeds for
The Expanse Season 5 were laid back on Earth, Mars, and the Belt with Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), Bobbie (Frankie Adams), and Drummer (Cara Gee) investigating contraband weapon sales and Belter extremist factions. Now, as the
Roci crew returns to their home solar system, those storylines begin to bear fruit.
In an intense Season 4 cliffhanger, viewers saw Belt revolutionary Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander), alongside Naomi’s estranged son, Filip Inaros (Jasai Chase Owens), launch stealth-coated asteroids towards Earth. The impending doom that those asteroids could spell for the entire planet hangs over early episodes of
When recommending
The Expanse, I often highlight its rare ability to improve with every season. The show is now five for five, with the new season delivering more nail-biting action and a shift in the balance between Earth (the old political superpower), Mars (the upstart military colony), and the asteroid belt, which is home to a hardscrabble diaspora of miners, criminals, and spacefaring separatists. While the stakes were always high, they were high in the way of a blockbuster apocalypse: we don’t necessarily care about the body count or the size of the explosion. In season 5, those stakes finally feel earned. Without going into spoilers, the introductory episodes pack a serious punch, tying a massive interplanetary event into some deeply personal storylines.
The Expanse Season 5 Is About Going Your Own Way to Confront the Past
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Amos heads home. (Image: Amazon Studios)
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The crew of the Rocinante has long been a solid unit, travelling the galaxy to save humanity from evil spores and, well, itself. But in season five of Amazon Studios’
The Expanse, these crew members are doing something they’ve avoided until now: they’re going their separate ways.