The EXPANSE

[faizoff]

I thought the same, I was hoping it wouldn't have been so abrupt but I guess it was the best move forward. Someone found behind the scenes pictures of Cas in the scenes at Luna, so they had to have done some reshoots for sure. They also made an observation about how the uneven pace of the last few episodes was probably due to editing out much of Cas' storyline. I think that makes sense, they must've had to shuffle a few things around which is why he lingered in that ship for so long between episodes and was barely there in many episodes. Either way the wait for the next/final(?) season is going to be very long.

[gmillerdrake]

Loved the season.....just a really good show. I had no idea about the Cas/Alex thing.....looked it up and that’s pretty creepy if true. Dude treating fan events like his own feeder brothel. It’s a shame. The character Alex ‘deserved’ better but I understand them wanting to cut ties. I couldn’t believe how abrupt it was in the show and for a moment I thought my video had glitches or something and I missed a scene.

[hefdaddy42]

Holy shit, that was awesome.

[Podaar]

Question for the non-book readers. How much sense did the closing moments of the episode make to you? Mrs. P was looking at me like, "What the actual...?"

[faizoff]

I have to admit I had zero clue what happened and figured it would be revealed in the next season which is why I was dreading they would end the season in such a cliff hanger way.

I did find a comment online that referenced a scene from early this season where Holden actually talked to Fred about it and they play a simulation which I suppose gives it a little bit more context. But truth be told I'm not trying to dig in more about it, I think I just want to rewatch the whole season again and catch up on references I must have missed.

[gmillerdrake]

Gregg.....I’m in line with faizoff. I just figured it’s something that will be fleshed out in S6. I assumed it was showing us what happens when you go through the rings on a molecular level? It was just a really advanced depiction of all the physical matter transferring to whichever realm of the universe the ring takes you to.

Then the ship reveal at the end was tough to speculate as well. It did look like it was waking up more? Who knows? I mean, I guess book readers know but I just assume it’ll be revealed in time.

[Podaar]

Yeah, the flashy orange effect should be nonsensical at this point.

What I was more driving at was the relationship between Inaros (especially his comment to Philip that this was all his creation), the MCRN renegades, the communique between the MCRN Captain and the scientist somewhere on a distant planet, and finally his conversation with the woman that Alex had the date with earlier in the season. Was all this made clear to most of the viewers was really my question. It all seemed to go by a bit quickly.

[ariich]

Yeah, the flashy orange effect should be nonsensical at this point.

What I was more driving at was the relationship between Inaros (especially his comment to Philip that this was all his creation), the MCRN renegades, the communique between the MCRN Captain and the scientist somewhere on a distant planet, and finally his conversation with the woman that Alex had the date with earlier in the season. Was all this made clear to most of the viewers was really my question. It all seemed to go by a bit quickly.

What I took from it was as follows.

Inaros and the rogue Martians led by Sauvaterre and Babbage had a pact where Inaros's Free Navy takes control of the ring, and therefore all the systems beyond it (sort of, let Earth and Mars keep the Sol system, we'll have the rest), and Sauvaterre's purist Martians would start again in one of the other systems (Laconia or something) with the proto-molecule which Inaros gave them and which Cortazar was already experimenting with.

Then when actually passing out of the ring into that new system, something weird happened where they froze and it looked like they were disintegrating. No idea what that means yet - the freezing was like what the Ring had done to other ships originally, the orange distintegaty effect was kind of like what happened on Venus earlier on in the show. From your post, I gather that we're not supposed to know what it means yet though.

Is there anything else we're supposed to have picked up?

[Podaar]

No that's it, other than Admiral Duarte being mentioned as waiting for them on Laconia.

It appears that that sequence was less fuzzy than I thought. Well done Rich.

[ariich]

Duarte isn't someone we've seen in the show yet though, is he? The name didn't mean anything to me but that whole segment felt very much like a set up for the next season.

Anyway I thought the episode (and indeed the season) was amazing, and I didn't find the end fuzzy at all. Quite the opposite actually, I found the conversation between Sauveterre (no idea if I'm spelling that right or even the same as last time I typed it ) and Babbage finally explained why a faction of Martians has been siding with Inaros, which has been a question all season. The show does require concentration to really follow what's going on though, I just find it worth that effort. The narrative and characterisation is fantastic and really memorable as a result - there's very little fluff or tangents that don't go anywhere.

[Podaar]

Duarte isn't someone we've seen in the show yet though, is he? The name didn't mean anything to me but that whole segment felt very much like a set up for the next season.

No, he's not been in the show. He was only mentioned briefly by the mad scientist, who's name I forget, and by Sauveterre himself. It's not really important other than to show that there was a power mind behind the apparent power mind of Sauveterre. Honestly, I'd be surprised if they got to Duarte next season.

Anyway I thought the episode (and indeed the season) was amazing, and I didn't find the end fuzzy at all. Quite the opposite actually, I found the conversation between Sauveterre (no idea if I'm spelling that right or even the same as last time I typed it ) and Babbage finally explained why a faction of Martians has been siding with Inaros, which has been a question all season. The show does require concentration to really follow what's going on though, I just find it worth that effort. The narrative and characterisation is fantastic and really memorable as a result - there's very little fluff or tangents that don't go anywhere.

Yes, quite amazing! I was still kind of reeling from the short, sharp, shock of how they wrote Kamal out of the show...as was Mrs. P. That probably explains why I thought the ending went by a bit fast. 

[ariich]

I actually thought they did a great job with Anvar's departure. I wasn't sure they'd have had time/capacity to do reshoots and figured they'd just deal with it at the start of next season, but fair play to them. The death itself was a bit sudden and didn't have any direct build up, but as a non-book reader it felt natural enough with the character arc Alex had been on this season. And the way they dealt with it after, focusing on the reactions of the surviving characters and some little tributes to Alex but not going overboard felt really well balanced considering the reasons why Anvar had to leave.

[Podaar]

I was expecting them to write the character out in the off season as well. I suppose this way is better though, now they don’t need to waist time next season on him. Any guesses on who becomes the pilot? Bull, maybe?

[faizoff]

I think they pretty much setup Bull to be the pilot now. With the obvious focus on him drinking from Kamal's coffee cup lol.

ariich summed it up as well, I did get that setup with Inaros and the Martians, like I mentioned in one of my comments, it was a LOT of stuff packed in that episode. It was a great finale and even with the somewhat weird and abrupt ending of Kamal's arc they did as best circumstances would allow I suppose. The pacing of the last few episodes was definitely a bit off and I'm convinced it was somewhat related to Anvar's departure. The behind the scenes photos with Kamal celebrating with the crew in the end and crew reunion are a bit uncanny to see, I'm sure there were reshoots and some very creative editing and VFX involved.

That said I think I'll rewatch the season very soon. I felt this season more than others was very dense with information.

[gmillerdrake]

I think they pretty much setup Bull to be the pilot now. With the obvious focus on him drinking from Kamal's coffee cup lol.

ariich summed it up as well, I did get that setup with Inaros and the Martians, like I mentioned in one of my comments, it was a LOT of stuff packed in that episode. It was a great finale and even with the somewhat weird and abrupt ending of Kamal's arc they did as best circumstances would allow I suppose. The pacing of the last few episodes was definitely a bit off and I'm convinced it was somewhat related to Anvar's departure. The behind the scenes photos with Kamal celebrating with the crew in the end and crew reunion are a bit uncanny to see, I'm sure there were reshoots and some very creative editing and VFX involved.

That said I think I'll rewatch the season very soon. I felt this season more than others was very dense with information.

With only one season left and the fact we’re ‘familiar’ with Bull now, I imagine that he will be the pilot now. It’d be a tall order to introduce someone new and have the viewers buy in on them. With Bull we’ve gotten to know his character a bit and I think it’ll be an easy transition. Although, I had an underlying feeling all season that he was ‘up’ to something and that he was out to get Holden the whole time. He just had that look.

I agree that the odd pacing of some of the episodes would seemingly have to do with them re-editing and re-shooting scenes with  Cas/Alex. Had this happened in a normal setting and not the COVID environment.....I wonder if the re-shoots would have been more extensive? Either way....they salvaged it pretty good and I don’t think it was a very big detriment to the enjoyment of the season. It’s more of just a bummer because the character of Alex was pretty cool.....apparently the actor not so much.

[faizoff]

Agreed! I loved the character of Alex, he had great chemistry with the rest of the cast and esp Amos I thought. I'm hoping the last season is on track with filming and production to premiere late this year. Definitely have to do a rewatch of the series sometime.

[CrimsonSunrise]

What a great season finale!!! 

SPOILER -  if you want to read books don't read the below....

I didn't think I could be shocked with this show, having read the books.  So when they killed Alex off I was like...WTF!!!!!   Then I heard about the actors sexual harrasment allegations.  I'm not sure why they didn't just recast him.  He is such an integral part of the Roci 4 family.  I mean hell, they re-cast Arjun already.

[Podaar]

What a great season finale!!! 

SPOILER -  if you want to read books gon't read the below....

I didn't think I could be shocked with this show, having read the books.  So when they killed Alex off I was like...WTF!!!!!   Then I heard about the actors sexual harrasment allegations.  I'm not sure why they didn't just recast him.  He is such an integral part of the Roci 4 family.  I mean hell, they re-cast Arjun already.

Exactly. That's what I was expecting, considering the timing of when the allegations came out in relation to the production.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

It almost feels like everyday business to write off characters these days and extra points if you do it smoothly. Just move along...nothing to see here...

I really enjoyed his character. 

[DoctorAction]

Just finished season 5. Have binged it harder than anything else we've ever watched, I think. Have stayed away from this thread as didn't want to know anything in advance but, fuck, what a great show! So impressed.

[faizoff]

Just sucks there's no episode tonight, lol. I need to rewatch the last season soon. The wait for the new/final season is going to be long.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Just sucks there's no episode tonight, lol. I need to rewatch the last season soon. The wait for the new/final season is going to be long.

Honestly I actually forgot the finale was last week and was looking forward to a new episode today. 

[Podaar]

Funny you guys should say that. Mrs. P and I have been watching 2 - 3 episodes per night since last Friday--started at 01:01 

[WilliamMunny]

A solid season for sure, and while I was bummed (shocked) to see Alex go out the way he did, considering everything that's come out, I get it.

I suspect they will try to fill his 'slot' with another character, but regardless of the allegations, Cas Anvar really owned that role. Such a shame. That being said, I got over Thomas Jane's exit, so I'm sure I'll get over this.

Season 5 will probably go down as my second favorite season (right behind the debut)—it was tight, well paced, and incredibly compelling from start to finish. The best part? It felt like it was merely building up to something even greater!

[ariich]

Nerdist wrote a pretty good analysis of how they handled Anvar's exit/Alex's death, I agree with basically all of it: https://nerdist.com/article/the-expanse-alex-kamal-cas-anvar-exit/

[ProfessorPeart]

Finally got around to watching Season 5. Did 8 yesterday and the last 2 today. I know, way behind.

The flashy orange things are what Holden showed to Fred in his office. He made mention that he believed them to be the entities that created the proto-molicule and they seem to be waking up with every misstep the humans are making. My take is they woke up and essentially wiped that MCRN ship from existence. They will most likely be the baddies in the final season. Not to mention, towards the very end of the credits you saw their ship start to light up with that proto-molicule glow.

[faizoff]

Final season (for now at least) premiers on Amazon on December 10.

It will apparently only have six episodes. I'm really hoping they're able to wrap storylines with that few number of episodes.

They released a teaser today which I haven't watched and won't until the season is done.

[gmillerdrake]

Hopefully those are full hour 6 episodes.

[SoundscapeMN]

I just finished Cobra Kai, and with a lack of Network shows my wife and I watch now, I may find the time/motivation to resume watching this show again (and maybe Sense8 if it's still available online).

[jingle.boy]

I've had this show sitting in my list for eons, but just haven't had the time to prioritize it.  Gotta change that.  I'm so tired of new shows getting cancelled after 1 "season"* - especially when they end on a cliffhanger.  Knowing there are 6 seasons to this gives a reason to get around to it.  Question... mrs.jingle isn't much of a sci-fi fan; is this show more sci-fi, or more storyline/drama driven?

*and it also pisses me off that a "season" nowadays is 12-18 episodes.  I miss the days when it was 25.

[faizoff]

It's a good mixture of both, but the initial seasons is heavy on the storyline and drama because. There are several characters and places so it takes a bit to get familiar with all characters and their locations and how they connect. It does have a nice dose of sci-fi that is relatively grounded. 1st season is slow but has a great payoff, and then later seasons take off really well.

[ariich]

Um, yeah it's definitely both. But the world-building does mean that it takes a bit of time to really settle into the characters and their dynamics.

[ProfessorPeart]

Launched Prime Video on my Roku to find something to watch and it says I have The Expanse to watch. It was right. Watching first episode of S06 now.

[faizoff]

Just got done with it and it was a good setup, sad there are only 5 more episodes left. Probably why we only got one episode tonight and not a 3 episode drop as has happened last couple of times.

I'd also check the bonus content on the Amazon X-ray layout. It has an extra scene of sorts labelled episode 1 (of what I don't know) which gives additional context to some of the episode setting.

All in all great start, five more to wind down the series.


Opening scene was pretty cool. Had a little of Jurassic Park 2 vibes.

[jammindude]

Like I said in the “shows you are now watching“ thread, I’m kind of trying to steer clear of this thread at the moment because when season five came out it had been so long since season four that we were actually lost for the first couple of episodes. Now that season six is out, we don’t wanna be lost again because it seems like forever since we watched season five. So we are just starting over completely from the beginning of season one. We are eight episodes in and it’s a really good refresher course. I don’t want to even start season six until I’ve binge watched the first five again. I just missed way too much.

I’m probably having about 3-4 “oooohhh yeeaaaahh, that’s right! I forgot about that!” moments per episode. But it’s still fun because I can never remember exactly what happens until it actually does happen.