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The Expanse Season 5 |OT| Last Man Standing
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I'd say Peaches is the new Alex and Bull is somewhat expendable.
I believe so. Unless they go:
Peaches: Amos, did I ever tell you I went to flight school with Julie? Yeah I was always the better pilot.
I dunno, they had a scene right after Alex's death with Bull drinking from a cup with his name on it. That seems pretty direct that Bull is replacing Alex.
I would say Bull using Alex's cup is a good indicator as for what is to come.
She did want to pilot the Razorback for a race in one of the flashbacks to the Mao party where Julie stormed off. So she could certainly do it.
I like Bull but having another white guy as the core crew is ehhhh. Though I guess if you add both Bull and Peaches it's a bit better.
Bobbi could slot in to - have Bull and Peaches both train her. She has some Martian flight training as a Marine (she did do an admirable job with the Razorback in S2/S3ish), so any Mars related stuff could still tie her in instead of Alex, but could toss in her reluctantly refining her piloting skills all season with Bull and Peaches. Does mean a 6 person crew, at least for a bit, but that could work out. Leaves open Bull heading back to Tycho after a bit for whatever reason.
Having a slightly larger crew would allow for members to leave the ship for various reasons at stretches without having to backfill the crew with new characters.
Alex was noteworthy as he was a long term Martian military pilot. So he was familiar with the tech, layout, capabilities, and had a lot of years of experience.
Bobbi has some of the Martian tech experience, but is a Marine with basic flight training not a pure pilot.
Bull seems to be able to pilot well (and was clearly getting hinted as the replacement) and will certainly spend some time on the ship, but it seems like he'd be wanted back on Tycho.
Peaches is probably a fantastic pilot given the flashback, but has never piloted military ships.
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Babylon's Ashes and then Persepolis Rising and Tiamat's Wrath to be caught up with the book story. Leviathan Falls is due in Q3/Q4 of this year and will end the main story arc. There will be an additional novella released after that and that'll be the end of The Expanse universe.
Really good episode and season finale. Everything around Naomi was executed wonderfully, though I do wish Philip had been brought up between her and Holden instead of the drawn out curtain calls for Alex.
Don't get me wrong, the character was wonderful despite the actor behind him and deserves the farewells. But it just felt like a strange pivot from this being primarily Naomi and Amos' season to then dropping a key aspect of that to likely make time to address the reshot material of Alex's exit.
Part of me does wish they had just found an exit that could give time for a recast down the line, especially with the implications of Laconia's reveal, rather than the sudden exit that clearly wasn't the original design. That all said, it's a credit to the cast and crew that it was executed as well as it was. Looking forward to the rest of the Roci fam dynamic with Bull, especially Amos.
The Drummer stuff was great until the very end. While it was sad that the family fell apart, it was hard to take Oksana seriously at calling Camina out when she [Oksana] had spent half the season lying and working against Camina with someone who clearly was there to hurt them. On top of siding with the one partner who immediately went full zealot and was emotionally and mentally abusing the rest of the family (especially Michio).
I'll also echo that the lack of Holden was worth it for that scene with Amos and Clarissa. Can't wait to see the crew dynamic with her as well..
I'm curious as to what they are doing next season with Laconia confirmed to be in play still despite the final season announcement somewhat running counter to the previous setups with Cortezar, on top of still dealing with Inaros and the entities that just ate/broke down/ghosted the ship. That is a lot of material without even considering all the character development and other elements gluing that all together between.
Don't get me wrong, the character was wonderful despite the actor behind him and deserves the farewells. But it just felt like a strange pivot from this being primarily Naomi and Amos' season to then dropping a key aspect of that to likely make time to address the reshot material of Alex's exit.
Part of me does wish they had just found an exit that could give time for a recast down the line, especially with the implications of Laconia's reveal, rather than the sudden exit that clearly wasn't the original design. That all said, it's a credit to the cast and crew that it was executed as well as it was. Looking forward to the rest of the Roci fam dynamic with Bull, especially Amos.
The Drummer stuff was great until the very end. While it was sad that the family fell apart, it was hard to take Oksana seriously at calling Camina out when she [Oksana] had spent half the season lying and working against Camina with someone who clearly was there to hurt them. On top of siding with the one partner who immediately went full zealot and was emotionally and mentally abusing the rest of the family (especially Michio).
I'll also echo that the lack of Holden was worth it for that scene with Amos and Clarissa. Can't wait to see the crew dynamic with her as well..
I'm curious as to what they are doing next season with Laconia confirmed to be in play still despite the final season announcement somewhat running counter to the previous setups with Cortezar, on top of still dealing with Inaros and the entities that just ate/broke down/ghosted the ship. That is a lot of material without even considering all the character development and other elements gluing that all together between.
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There was a scene in episode 2 mentioning discrepancies in the number of ships going through the rings
Lol I didn't even notice Alex was dead. I didn't saw the blood and thought he just spoke moments before, so he was just seeing some alarm on the screens and was just speechless.
I was very satisfied with the season, I was almost afraid they would skip the ending but glad to see that sequence in books realized in live action. Question, what that always the plan with Alex or did they pull a "All the Money in the World"? Because the Anvar stories broke out in June, I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that they reshot a few scenes, and they had more time than Ridley Scott did in All the Money in the World.
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Filming had already been completed when the allegations first came to light so this was a reshoot and adjust for season 6 situation.
So far she is kind of the smartest person on the show with Avasarala.
I think it was a very well executed "poochie died on his way to his home planet". Looks like someone just got promoted from recurring character to series regular.
Monica's been so good, much smarter than when we first saw her making that documentary. I thought her intelligence was a great counter to Holden's impulsiveness. And having more women on the Roci makes it a more balance crew going into next season.
This is actually one of the nice things about the removal of Alex from the series - even as book readers we no longer can be certain about things like who'll crew the Roci next season. For probably the first time in the show, we're really only guessing. Informed guesses, but still guesses for once.
As others have said, Babylon's Ashes, but I would probably suggest reading at least Nemesis Games beforehand. That will get you acclimated to the book version of some characters and events that are different in the TV show (especially Drummer). That'll mean discovering the differences as contrasts to things you've already seen on the TV show, rather than having them appear seemingly out of nowhere.
The scene with the close up of Naomi's face in space was exquisitely done, and maybe my favourite scene in the entire series.
It's also going to be interesting to see what Bull's dynamic will be with the rest of the crew. To call him abrasive would be an understatement lol.
It's also going to be interesting to see what Bull's dynamic will be with the rest of the crew. To call him abrasive would be an understatement lol.
The sound design matched the excellent cinematography. The scene was especially good when watched with headphones on.
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Yeah, I'm intrigued to see just how much divergence from Babylon's Ashes there'll be in season 6.
Wes Chatham did say to join him on the next aftershow last week, so I think maybe there's just been a slight delay with recording this week's episode.
Maybe they're running the episode past Amazon's legal team first...
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It bothers me how close Holden got to Bull's face when they were discussing how Marcos killed millions and Fred.
What a great finale. Marco Inaros is still such a compelling villain, he's 100% emotion yet still has the balls to tell his son that him not expressing emotion is him growing up. I love the hypocrisy.
I would have preferred Alex just get written off between seasons rather than editing him out and doing patch work to other scenes. The tone of his death, which should have been a huge deal, was all over the place. Fred had much more fanfare in comparison. Oh well, fuck 'em.
Shout-outs to Dominique Tipper as well, edge of my seat whenever something was happening to Naomi.
I'm also much more warm on Monica this season, I didn't like her at all in season 3 but she's grown on me. I hope her and Bobbie become crewmates, as well as Drummer and the remainder of her crew. Honestly just put all the main characters in one place and have them converse with each other for a few episodes.
I would have preferred Alex just get written off between seasons rather than editing him out and doing patch work to other scenes. The tone of his death, which should have been a huge deal, was all over the place. Fred had much more fanfare in comparison. Oh well, fuck 'em.
Shout-outs to Dominique Tipper as well, edge of my seat whenever something was happening to Naomi.
I'm also much more warm on Monica this season, I didn't like her at all in season 3 but she's grown on me. I hope her and Bobbie become crewmates, as well as Drummer and the remainder of her crew. Honestly just put all the main characters in one place and have them converse with each other for a few episodes.
Binged through the entire season the last few days, I prefer to watch shows in one go now than week to week. Even coming in a bit apprehensive I was pretty disappointed, every season in the past has "expanded" the universe of The Expanse while this season dramatically shrunk it down. I've always thought Holden and Naomi's characters and actors were the weakest, but it was great in past seasons since they served as the anchors for the interesting side characters, but this season spent way...way...way... too much time with Naomi. 3 or 4 episodes of torture porn with her was too much for me, I honestly almost just stopped watching entirely. Alex's "my planet needs me" goodbye was hilariously bad, I can understand they made the best of an awful situation so I don't have a problem, it just was funny when it suddenly happened.
I've always been super enthusiastic about the show but after the last 2 seasons I'd only really recommend seasons 1-3 and maybe even stop after that. I have zero desire to ever rewatch 4 & 5, but I'll watch the Miller Noir show all day every day.
I've always been super enthusiastic about the show but after the last 2 seasons I'd only really recommend seasons 1-3 and maybe even stop after that. I have zero desire to ever rewatch 4 & 5, but I'll watch the Miller Noir show all day every day.
I think that'd be an easy retcon and logical given the constant competition between the two (unless that's something that's already in the books).
Just finished earlier today a 2 months long trip through 5 seasons of The Expanse.
What a darn amazing show. I really hope we can have season 6 later this year... Though I know Covid probably makes this a big challenge.
Yup. Shame the following scene was crammed in there but that shot was exceptional.
I still can't believe how much of a nothing Fred Johnson's death was in regards to its impact on the Belt. Again, maybe this is all setup for next season but when the majority of the season consisted of people sitting around and doing nothing that's not much of an excuse to me to not dive into these politics. Dude just died and it seemed nobody cared except Amos and Bull and then that one scene with Drummer.
I prefer this way tbh. While the death count should definitely have been in the billions I got the impression that earth already was kind of spent and while stuff like production still would happen a lot on earth it's heavily established in space and even a catastrophe like that shouldn't wipe out all its power.
Also it's definitely a faction that viewers are supposed to identify with and Avasarala is a popular character portrayed by an amazing actress. Putting earth aside would lose the show a lot as a result imo.
What a great season. I hoped to see more ship combat and I got it.
The ending scene makes me want to read the books between now and next season. How different are they compared to the show?
The ending scene makes me want to read the books between now and next season. How different are they compared to the show?
I just want to say that this show has such an amazing cast of women, but Camina Drummer is my favorite. Didn't realize her actress was First Nations as well. Hard to quantify why. Just seems like a very well rounded character instead of a stereotype, and she's got a lot of agency.
Avasarala and Bobbi are also top tier, of course.
Edit: and Naomi!
Avasarala and Bobbi are also top tier, of course.
Edit: and Naomi!
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I was not at all ready for how emotional this season would be.
Feel like I've been taken through the wringer along with Drummer and Naomi and Amos and others. Sci-fi TV/Movies don't usually reach these specific, personal and relationship heights, and I've loved every bit of it.
Bring on Season 6.
Feel like I've been taken through the wringer along with Drummer and Naomi and Amos and others. Sci-fi TV/Movies don't usually reach these specific, personal and relationship heights, and I've loved every bit of it.
Bring on Season 6.
The politics of the Belt in general have been somewhat sidelined. The focus on Inaros and the Free Navy has probably given a lot of people perceptions about the way Belters are feeling about lots of things (Fred's death included) that season 6 will need to clear up.
The differences are mostly confined to a few characters. Drummer and Ashford are quite different - the TV show versions of them are amalgamations of several book characters (and in both cases this was exactly the correct choice for TV). Avasarala has a very different arc in the books - in the show they knew she would be a major character so they cast her early and got her involved in the story before that happened in the books. Herself and Bobbie also have TV-only plot parts that are mostly there to give them something to do on TV when the books aren't using them (especially true for season 4).
There's some weird little quirks (the TV show consistently tends to use numbers that are smaller than the books, for things like populations, and it's not really clear why but also not very important) but most of the rest of the differences are the ones you'd expect from any book adaptation to a visual medium - the books describe things in more detail, the TV show naturally prefers to try to convey as much of that kind of information as possible visually. The TV show also makes some changes due to the realities of casting (Belters on the show are much closer to the rest of humanity than the Belters in the book, for example).
Aside from those things, they are a close adaptation. Holden, Naomi, Amos and Alex are all extremely close to their book counterparts in terms of character and story arcs (Alex's story will of course be totally divergent from here). The key events from the books all happen in the TV show and they happen in manners that are generally very similar. Someone who only reads the books could have a lengthy discussion about the Expanse with someone who only watches the TV show, and it might take a long time before either of them realised.
Yep. Was especially obvious this season I think. I don't have any problems with any of the acting in general but I think that this season if I had to rate the actors the top ten would contain at least seven women, and maybe more. Even in smaller roles - like Nancy Gao doesn't have a whole lot of screen time this season, but is a well-realised character, and Karal is such an awful person that a skilful performance was needed to make that plausible within a few scenes.
Overall they definitely stuck the landing with that finale, even if Alex got Poochie'd pretty hard. Really curious how much they end up deciding to do of Laconia, as I wasn't sure it'd make it into the show at all, but I'm pumped for more!
I will agree with others that I did find it to be too slow paced at times, and Alex, Holden, and Bobbie had very little to do this season, but they completely nailed Amos's storyline and that was the one I was most looking forward to. But I really do think that lowering the scale of Marco's attack took a lot of the tension out of the season's events.
I will agree with others that I did find it to be too slow paced at times, and Alex, Holden, and Bobbie had very little to do this season, but they completely nailed Amos's storyline and that was the one I was most looking forward to. But I really do think that lowering the scale of Marco's attack took a lot of the tension out of the season's events.
Not only is José Zúñiga Honduran-American, Bull's name is Carlos de Baca, he is not white.
I know nothing about the books (and don't want to know), but Bull always seemed to be somewhat sketchy and I half-expected him to betray the crew at some point this season.
Watching the first episode I totally thought he would eventually betray Fred Johnson
Amos and Avasarala had easily the best and most enjoyable storylines this season. I dock points from Naomi's storyline because the bit where she's trapped in the Chetzemoka didn't really need to go on for three goddamn episodes. There's only so much crying and messing around with cables or whatever I could take before that shit got old. By episodes 9 and 10, every time we cut away to Naomi I just sort of groaned.
Incredible season and incredible finale. Expanse is GOAT'd.
Alex's demise was lol worthy though.
Alex's demise was lol worthy though.
Great finale, and they did well with the cards they got dealt regarding Alex.
Chrisjen/Shohreh is still the acting great in this show, despite her sometimes struggling with the flowery political English language. No actor can cry or curse as well as her in this show, leagues above the rest.
Chrisjen/Shohreh is still the acting great in this show, despite her sometimes struggling with the flowery political English language. No actor can cry or curse as well as her in this show, leagues above the rest.