TL;DR – The power of relationships is on view here and why you need them before things start falling apart

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this series.

The Expanse Review –

As we race towards the end of this season and possibly the end of The Expanse there is this tight feeling in my chest. Each week is a joy to watch, but each week brings it one closer to the end.

So to set the scene, as the Rocinante made its way back to Ceres, it unknowingly came into range of Marco (Keon Alexander). It was a three-to-one battle, an easy win, which made things even worse when Bobbie (Frankie Adams) discovers a pattern and exploits it, crippling the Pella. On Laconica, Cara (Emma Ho) was finally understanding the Strange Dogs and what they can do, it is a moment of joy, but when she got home, she walked into tragedy as her brother Xan (Ian Ho) was killed. But Cara, knows what the Strange Dogs can do, which is when Admiral Duarte (Dylan Taylor) arrives at the funeral. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

If there is one word that could sum up this episode it would be ‘heart’ because this is the episode where every character wearing their heart on their sleeves. We see that most clearly in the two speeches that book end the non-Laconia narrative. First Sanjrani (Joanne Vannicola) on Ceres and then Drummer (Cara Gee) out in The Belt. You feel every word land, full of anger, full of righteousness, and full of power. We also see this in the story of Monica Stuart (Anna Hopkins). Throughout this season she is taking the role that James (Steven Strait) did in the books by creating stories of normal people to show everyone that they are not different from each other. Few characters in the show can stand up to the full force of Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and prevail, and Monica can because she always focuses on truth.

This is also the episode where we see the consequences of actions come to bear. For Marco, his world has started to fray around the edges as his pride and ego outweighed good strategy. He is so focused on his own self-righteousness that he does not see that he is pushing the people away that he desperately needs, especially Filip (Jasai Chase-Owens). Conversely, James disarming the torpedo also comes back to bite him as Amos (Wes Chatham) and Naomi (Dominique Tipper) rightly call him on his actions. Of course, the big difference is that James was thinking of others when he acted, Marco was thinking of himself. Also, James actually talked to people before irreparable damage was done.   

Another strength of the show, is how even support characters get their moments to shine and character arcs. This season and this episode we see that clearly with Michio (Vanessa Smythe) and Josep (Samer Salem). There has been growing tension within the family since the divorce at the end of Season 5. Throughout this season that frustration has been building and building, but here in that moment all of that fell away as Michio stood up and did the hard thing. If you didn’t care, the “I love you and I am so sorry” would not have hit as hard as it did, but goodness did it hit hard. Also Drummer’s speech would not have had the weight that it had, if that relationship was not as strong as it was. Oh and a good reminder, never mess with Drummer “live shamed and die empty”.     

In the end, do we recommend Redoubt. Absolutely. This is science fiction at its best, each and every week. I just don’t know what I will do with there only being two more episodes left.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen The Expanse yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Expanse
Directed by – Anya Adams
Written by – Dan Nowak
Created by – Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
Based on – The Expanse by James S. A. Corey (Ty Franck & Daniel Abraham)
Production/Distribution Companies – Alcon Entertainment & Amazon Studios
Starring – Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Frankie Adams, Cara Gee, Nadine Nicole, Keon Alexander, Jasai Chase-Owens & Shohreh Aghdashloo with Kathleen Robertson, Anna Hopkins, Joanne Vannicola, Ted Dykstra, Stuart Hughes, Krista Bridges, Vanessa Smythe, Samer Salem, Emma Ho, Ian Ho, Carlos Gonzalez-Vio, Conrad Coates, Joe Perry & Dylan Taylor.