Spoilers The Expanse Season 6

I'm glad they didn't try to rush the Laconia story. There are three whole-ass books about that which could make for another show, or some movies at least. I'd prefer a show.

But what a lovely finale for a wonderful show. I'm glad I stuck with it because I thought the first season was really slow, but once it got going it quickly developed into one of my favorite shows ever. I really hope they do make a spinoff about Laconia. This is such a rich world and I'd love to see more of it.

 

Wow, the finale was amazing! I rarely give episodes a 10. My sense is that a good series will only have a few 10s. That's what makes those episodes extraordinary. I wholeheartedly give this a 10!

All the characters had important roles to play. The interactions between them contributed to the story. And they all got great sendoffs. The plot resolution was excellent.

In fact, they did what I wasn't sure was possible. While setting up threads for future storylines that weren't resolved, they concluded the series in a very satisfying way. While I certainly hope there is some sort of follow-up series, I won't feel it's incomplete if there isn't one. That's quite an accomplishment right there.

Dang, I'm going to miss this show!

All the main characters are alive. They're certainly in good position for a follow-up series. I suppose they can renegotiate contracts and keep anyone who is willing to return for reasonable amount. Kind of a cost controlling measure, I guess. It'll be a new series so there won't be the expectation of a fully returning cast.

 

The held most of the cards so we're in a position of power. England controlled an area and population way bigger than itself and so did Rome. The USA uses it's position of power to push, prod, bully and invade many nations which are individually smaller than the US but are still independent countries why have to bow to the position of power

 

Belters are still savages though. They space people.

 

The Belters only saw Inaros the myth but everyday Filip had to deal with Marco the man

 

The Expanse finale has an awesome easter egg full of sci-fi references (winteriscoming.net)

Very good indeed - I'm going to miss this show.

 

We covered that here. I think we got them all.

 

I'm not sure I would even call it an easter egg when it was so obviously staring in our faces. Like, it was pretty clear what they were doing as I was watching it and saw D. Idaho on the team.

It's funny, while the show has stayed my favorite sci-fi show on TV, it has felt like the spark was gone for the last two seasons. I was pinning this on myself - specifically, it was after season 4 that I got myself the books and tore through them, so season 5 was the first one where I knew where the show was going, and I started wondering if this is a case where it's actually better NOT to read the book first (I thoroughly enjoyed all the books, both those I'd seen turned into seasons of the show and those that had not) - but it's really interesting to see other people seem to feel the same way.

 

It's a subtle thing, but I like that the show continuously demonstrates that in a room that includes Holden (master tactician), Bobby (a Martian recon marine), Clarissa (who can and has torn people apart with her bare hands), Amos (who is Amos), the most deadly person in said room is always Naomi...and she still doesn't need to carry a gun.

 

Okay, final word on the assault team Easter eggs and the last three names, from showrunner Naren Shankar:

 

Oh I understand both the ramification of economic and military influence. But how does the Belt have the cards? That's absolutely not shown.

The largest concentration of Belters is just trying to get enough food and water. The primary fleet of Martian given and kit bashed ships of the Free Navy would have been destroyed, and if not they certainly don't have reason to go with Drummer.

Drummer's side of the Belt was seriously damaged, and the remains of Marco's fleet (at least his prong of the three) follows him to the ring gate where they are destroyed.

That really leaves Medina Station as the primary remaining mobile (though it hasn't been mobile for a while now) outpost. And it couldn't even stop the Roci by itself, a small martian fighter. How is it going to stand up to even one heavy cruiser from Earth or Mars.

And the Belters general work force is gong to be seriously hurt both in body count (as they are the only force on both sides of the war), and all the resources Marco stole from the colonies to fatten up the Free Navy. Much of that would be now gone. SO its not like they are going to have this fast large untapped labor force. Hell even with half of Earth dead, there are still more Earthers who need jobs, then the entirety of the Belt.

 

That's kind of the point; the belters aren't holding many cards at the negotiating table, which is why Holden and Drummer conspired to trick Earth and Mars to giving them some.

The reality is, yeah, what's left of the Free Navy can't stand up to even the broken and battered UN & Martian fleets. If they so chose, they could go back the the old days and grind the belters under their boots. But the cost to everyone would be ruinous. Earth and Mars needs the expertise of the belt and the resources of the colonies if they have any hope of surviving, let alone rebuilding, and if they double down on their oppression of the ever more desperate Belters, the whole system will turn into one giant prison camp and it'll be a pyrrhic war of attraction that could last for CENTURIES. By the end of it there probably won't be a civilization left worth talking about. Nobody wins in that scenario.

Remember that the fundamental cause of all of this is the rings. With access to over a thousand systems worth of resources, suddenly Sol System's outer planets are a lot less valuable. Which means a hundred million people suddenly don't have any means to support themselves because all the work has gone to the colonies. That leads to mass migration to the colony worlds for those that are able to adapt; a slow death for those that are not, and the utter annihilation of Belters as a culture.
The fear of that future where the belt is left to wither and starve and gasp is what drove people to Marco's banner in the first place, and with him gone, the problem itself still remains.

So to move forwards, they need to be given a future of their own. The UN and Mars were only willing to give them a one third share in their future. It might have worked--at least from their perspective--for a while, but it would have ended them all up right back where they started. One generation, two generations from now it'd all boil back up to the surface again. What Holden and Drummer did was make the Belt an intrinsic and vital part of human civilization, not just subjects of it. They will finally be able to build their own stations, free of UN or Martian oversight, or corporate control.

 

When Holden resigned and turned the Union over to Drummer I smiled and said out loud "Fucking Holden".

 

I mean you can't say they didn't let everyone know it was coming; turning down a promotion is like the second thing we saw him do in the very first episode.

 

Ya that's true. I am probably adding in or misremembering things from the books

 

Avasarala looked a little proud at the end. James Fucking Holden finally learned to play the game

 

So is Holden in the books after the time jump or is it new characters?

 

Yes ... and there are new characters also. I'm halfway through the audiobook for the 7th novel. (Much easier than reading the novels for me)

 

Yep. Pretty much the entire main cast returns (including Alex, who is still alive in the novels). Also, Elvi, Drummer and other background or supporting characters. Plus some new ones. It's 30 years later, so there have been some changes and a few pretty significant offscreen developments insofar as birth, death, family, etc.

But the main focus remains on Holden et al aboard the Roci.

 

I don't understand why no one has ever pointed this out. "Do you know that Marcos almost carried out a genocide / biocide yes? Can we say we are even now?"