The slow ascent is somehow made more entertaining by the group’s dependence the super-strong Konechek, both through his cavalier attitude and through Amos’ use of the nickname “Tiny.” Even though the eventual betrayal is unsurprising, the battle leading to Amos throwing the prisoner down the elevator shaft was everything we could ask for in a fight scene. Very effective storytelling!īut of course all eyes in this episode of The Expanse are on Amos as he extracts himself and Clarissa from the underground prison. Despite the fact that Cyn defends Naomi against Marco’s power games, his attempts to take her mind off of her imprisonment fail spectacularly but also give Naomi the opportunity she needs to let Holden know where she is. Marco is clearly very manipulative of his son, and it’s likely he was just as controlling of Naomi in the past. The fact that Naomi inferred Marco’s use of her Augustin Gamarra code is quite telling of her past with the extremists. Holden’s small progress was made more thrilling by this narrow escape, and without that moment of drama, all we would have is his fruitless interrogation, his uncovering of Zmeya’s flight plan, and the fact that Bull will be accompanying him as pilot. ![]() ![]() Interesting timing, that! Marco’s ships are either very close to Tycho or her transmission delay was just short enough to arrive just in time - an understandable narrative allowance for The Expanse as a TV show rather than a book. It may not have been the best idea to take a knife to the bridge, but Filip’s interference (“I saved your life!”) gave her the hint she needed to warn Holden about the sabotage onboard the Rocinante. We can almost feel her hunger and discomfort as she navigates the ship, supposedly free to go where she wishes. Naomi’s confinement, however, has given us some of the best acting from Dominique Tipper we’ve seen in The Expanse. Alex is at his best when piloting, and besides confirming with Bobbie that the Martian military has been selling frigates to the Belters (something we kind of already knew), it was nice to see the Razorback in action. Not that we would wish for them to dump their core and be drifting in space, but their storyline was in danger of becoming too procedural and expository. With a cliffhanger ending and lots of unresolved questions, The Expanse is still one of the best sci-fi shows on TV but season 5 just misses the mark of excellence that its predecessors achieved so effortlessly. In the case of Alex and Bobbie, it was a desperately needed boost. While it’s not a disappointment, the show is also not quite as expansive as it could have been. In this way, the show is able to maintain tension in the background even as drama unfolds on Earth and aboard Marco’s ship. Ironically, Season 5 feels more cohesive than last season, even though the characters are more separated than they’ve ever been, because they’re united by their reactions to world-shaking. ![]() Naomi and Amos take center stage in “Down and Out,” but the episode also expertly foreshadows future confrontations and highlights the consequences for going after conspirators, whether with Holden’s aborted pursuit of the Zmeya or Alex’s narrow escape from the Barkeith. There’s a sense in The Expanse season 5 that with all of the characters separated, each one is going to get their chance to shine. This The Expanse review contains spoilers.
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