January 13: The Expanse 5x04

[kinetic_elaboration]

Finally returned to The Expanse. This was a pretty good episode. It kept my attention through nearly all of it, and I appreciate how it intertwined all of the stories despite how vastly unconnected everything is physically. That’s always been one of my biggest gripes with this show, that it’s so big (expansive, one might say) that it struggles, imo, to keep a coherence. Why are all these characters in the same show? And other similar questions.

This episode seemed to be organized almost like a series of vignettes. For the most part, it didn’t move around between story lines but stayed with one for a while, then another, then another, which I think is a better way of structuring an installment. I also liked how there was an overarching plot, which was the attack of stealth tech rocks or whatever, which was the center of some strands of the episode but more on the edges of others, but still lent a coherence to the whole and reminded me how it is all one universe, one story. I like that sort of thing in general, too: character seeing a major event from one part of the story play out on TV screens in their part, or getting some other background hint of it while they primarily concern themselves with something else.

 

I liked Amos’s story a lot. The concept of the prison of the future, both dissimilar and similar to the prisons of now, was probably way too interesting to me. But I like my word building. I was definitely super intrigued by the ‘worst’ prisoners being the ones with body modifications. That’s up my alley in terms of sci fi brainstorming and I’d like to learn more. I won’t but I’d like to. It was interesting to see Clarissa again although I had literally zero memory of her having mods and she seemed a lot worse off than when she appeared on screen talking to Amos earlier in the season so that was sort of confusing. Hopefully this is something that will be explained more later and not something I’m already supposed to understand.

I also enjoyed Chrisjen because when do I not. I was literally just thinking I’d like to see her and Gao join forces in some way and then as soon as Gao’s plane was hit I figured I’d probably cursed her with that very thought. Pretty predictable in retrospect though! Obviously the real leader must rise to the fore.

I thought the Mars story was good. I always enjoy Bobbie, my other reliable stalwart, but looking back on the ep, I don’t know that much really happened here. Feels like a bit of a holding pattern for that part of the story. Holden’s plotline was meh as usual. I think I understand it the least so I remember it the least and then it becomes a whole disinterest cycle. I was sorry that Fred was killed. He’s been underutilized since his return. And that spider robot thing was so cool. I could watch a whole episode of it roaming around and carrying stuff.

The Naomi and Marco story line… Hmmm. I have to say I found that part of the episode anticlimactic. I find Marco kind of anticlimactic. I was thinking during his final speech that this is a really reasonable and actually rather satisfying way to tie together the various story lines of the last several seasons: the subjugation of the Belt from all the way in S1, the Protomolecule that Marco has now stolen, the Ring gate and the new worlds. It makes sense that a terrorist would come out of the subjugated society in this time of great change/new territorial advancement and use the Big Bad McGuffin to threaten the larger powers to take him seriously. Kind of satisfying in a structural way. But it lacks emotional resonance to me personally.

I guess I just don’t find Marco interesting. I don’t find him charismatic. There’s nothing surprising about him. And he and Naomi have no particular chemistry. I was trying to figure out why their meeting in this ep did nothing for me and I think it’s because I honestly can’t imagine them ever being a couple. There’s no remaining spark, not even lust, or love-hate, or anything. Marco is just villainous, but that’s boring. So I think, in general with this story line, I see the vision, but it doesn’t feel like anything to me.

Still, overall, I enjoyed the ep and I’m interested to see the midpoint of the season in ep 5.