2023/02/17

Like with season 4, this is my 2^nd watch of season 5 (as well as the upcoming 6^th season). So I knew a bit about the first viewings but if I am honest, I tend to be very forgetful, which can be a curse and a blessing but with rewatching TV shows it definitely can be a blessing. Finishing up the 5^th season confirms for me that the 4^th season is my least favorite season, even though is still a strong season but for me it has one drawback, it is mostly set on the planet. Season 5 is for me one of the best seasons up till now, I really thoroughly enjoyed the 5^th season. Still I think I still prefer the last part of season two and the first half of season 3. But season 5 really comes close.

Where Marco Inaros was mentioned and only rarely seen in the first 4 seasons, in season 5 he is one of the main cast in my opinion, like also his & Naomi’s son Filip. These two characters but mainly Marco Inaros, to me, add some more layers to the already multi-layered series. Marco Inaros is an interesting character but not a character, we as a viewer, can root for. He is a manipulative, egotistical character who thrives on the power he has and he does not want to share his power, also not with his son Filip. Still, it is magnificent TV! On some level perhaps you can understand his reasoning, forever the Belters have been seen as secondary humans, always in service of Mars or Earth. But he no longer wants peace, he wants want to do to the Earthers and Martians what they have been doing forever to the Belters. Use them, manipulate them, give them demeanial jobs. He even says at one time: We Belters even dream small! I find it a very annoying but hugely interesting character. He even manipulates his own son if it serves his purpose.

This season our heroes are never together, even at the end there is one missing. Amos is on Earth, looking up his caretaker, Lydia, from when he was a young boy, who taught him to survive. But she has passed away a short time before. He also want to visit Peaches, aka Clarissa Mao in prison. James Holden is on station Tycho where the Roci gets an overhaul. Naomi, also on Tycho, wants to find her son Filip, she needs to do this alone. She needs to tell him her side of the story. Alex has gone back to Mars, he wants to see his wife and kid. Bobbie and Chrisjen Avasaralas are working together because something is wrong on Mars, Bobbie has been investigating this since her dealings with this criminal group she was a part of. Holden and Johnson butt heads over the protomolecule Johnson has hidden somewhere.

On Tycho, Johnson may well be in command but it soon becomes clear that there are Belters who work for Inaros, do his bidding. Johnson is nothing more than an Earther to them. Inaros is thinking multiple steps ahead, in bed with the Martians, whom he probably promised a sample of the protomolecule he was planning to steal from Johnson. Inaros is also throwing asteroids, first to a spaceship, killing innocent scientists. But he has bigger plans, we see him planning a next attack with asteroids against Earth. Drummer Is now captain of a few Belter ships, they are not aligned to Marco Inaros at this point. She still mourns the loss of Ashford who died by Inaros’ hands. She is proud of him how he went down singing bravely.

The Episodes:

This season is so consistent, there is not one mediocre episode among them, it all top notch! I would rate the first episode to a 7.5/10 but the other 9 episodes between an 8/10 and 10/10. It is just a rollercoaster ride, where in earlier seasons the lead characters experienced things as a group, this season they each have experiences apart from another. The character Naomi is the one who’s had a very hard season, she definitely draws the shortest stick. First being imprisoned by her ex, Inaros, her son who does not seem to have any respect for his mother, of course heavily influenced by his father. He even slaps her around once or twice. Her escape from that ship is heroic, but it almost kills her in the process. The other one who I want to highlight is Amos, who really has an adventure, with Peaches, on Earth. His struggle to get back into space has been a trying one. In season 3 we already seen lots of death on Earth as a Martian missile hits our planet but this season the death toll is much, much higher on Earth. Of course there is only one man who instigated this: Marco Inaros. As I said, this season is almost flawless in my humble opinion.

What are the best episodes? Well, the season finale “Nemesis Games” is the best episode this season, everything comes together there, characters coming back together again but also a huge loss. This season there have been more well-known characters who died. My second favorite one is the 5^th episode “Down and Out” where an integral character is mourned after he died by the hands of a Belter. Naomi is being treated as a prisoner on Marco Inaros’ ship. Inaros attacks both Mars as well as Earth. So the first episode was a good episode but not as good as the rest if the season, probably because it (first episode) is a set-up episode for the 5^th season, but the other 9 are just phenomenal! 

Final Word:

To be honest, I am not even sure people actually read my blogs but if there are any, with reading this blog you definitely notice a different kind of writing. Especially with my earlier Expanse blogs I wrote with too much detail, because my notes are to detailed. So my blogs ran way too long and not spoiler free. I tried to change that today with this blog. I think when someone reads this, he or she can become curious about the season and not given too many spoilers. As I said, if there are people who read these blog, please let me know in the comments what you think of the change I tried to bring about. One more season to go with The Expanse, then it’s over. Season 5 is definitely one of my favorite seasons! It was a great ride, one of my all-time favorite TV shows which I plan to rewatch many times over!

Screencaps taken from: Kiss Them Goodbye