The Expanse Season 3

[Mr Awe]

I thought this was an excellent episode. True, some of it was set up. The characters learned the rules of this bubble they're in. It got the pieces into place. As I mentioned upthread, the authors bent over backwards to get a generation ship into the bubble through a convoluted process--so I assume that'll become important down the road. But, I found the entire process of exploring and surviving in the bubble to be interesting and entertaining by itself.

We also learned about Melba and more about the conflict between Julie and Mao. Naomi is on her way back to the Roci. The Roci saboteur was unmasked and dispatched. I like how the three Roci guys have grown together despite have different perspectives, approaches, and sometimes looking insane! And, Anna's experiences on the other ship were interesting. We saw how different people responded to the ring differently--ranging from miracle to suggesting that God was not with them in space. For some, it was just a way to make more hazard pay. It feels like a real place.

Not every episode is going to have a huge reveal. They lose their punch if you do that. But, I don't think revealing what the bubble inside the ring is like is trivial matter either. I'm sensitive to purely filler episodes that just mark time in a series. This episode is not like that.

 

[bigdaddy]

My point was more, this is really a show to binge then watch weekly.

 

[Marc]

Not sue.

did I just watch The Expanse or 2001?

 

[David cgc]

Not sue.

did I just watch The Expanse or 2001?

I got a bit of a "Dark Forest" vibe off of that ending, myself. Though, I guess, that also ties into 2001 (at least, the books. That "weeding" line didn't make it into either of the movies).

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Not sue.

did I just watch The Expanse or 2001?

TMP, though Miller isn't as pretty as Persis Khambatta.

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[Aragorn]

Book readers, does Clarissa turn into an actual character? Because right now on the show she's extremely one-dimensional and boring.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Dandelion Sky, such a cool title for the episode. And very fitting, with the mind-trip at the end.

Book readers, does Clarissa turn into an actual character? Because right now on the show she's extremely one-dimensional and boring.

I can neither confirm nor deny. But...

Spoiler

...in the book, yes. But they could go a different way with the character in the show, so who knows. The book also has a benefit of having her be a "point of view" character, so there is more insight into her personality.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Book readers, does Clarissa turn into an actual character? Because right now on the show she's extremely one-dimensional and boring.

One might argue that's because she's a single-minded zealot at present.

 

[Marc]

One might argue that's because she's a single-minded zealot at present.

you'd have to be if you're pissed off a Holden cos he stopped a solar system wide war that your daddy had a major role in starting.

 

[Christopher]

you'd have to be if you're pissed off a Holden cos he stopped a solar system wide war that your daddy had a major role in starting.

Anyone can rewrite the facts to suit their preferred narrative. Mao probably spun some fake story in his defense and Clarissa believed it. Or maybe she agrees with Errinwright that the war was just and necessary.

 

[Mr Awe]

While there was some talk that the previous episode was filler (I didn't think so), I think this episode was a bit padded out. A lot of the was just letting the pieces fall into place--quite literally with Holden!

Anna's service wasn't that convincing too me. In general, I haven't been impressed with the actress but the memorial service was notably not convincing.

Not really much happened--which is surprising for The Expanse. Holden's head trip was sort of interesting but you couldn't make much out of it. Seemed to be a history of the ancient civilization or maybe just the ending of it.

Looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the final two episodes for the season!

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I'm already confused what Mao's role was in all of it, and if I wasn't watching Holden the entire time I would've been confused over his. Scratch that, I'm sometimes confused about it.

The fact that Clarissa would also be confused comes at no surprise.

Does the world even know Holden stopped the war? The tape of Errinwright came from two independent sources, it's unclear if the sources have been made public, and if Clarissa isn't going after Holden for some of his earlier interactions with her father (were there?). Jules-Pierre has been a persona non-grata for quite some time now.

When Clarissa's acquaintance recalled Mao's family being dragged, arrested and questioned to the pastor, wasn't she talking about things from years ago?

 

[The Wormhole]

This show really has a habit of making things darker than they were in the novels. In this case, the character of the young UN officer, who in the novels is a relatively minor character, basically just someone Anna has frequent conversations throughout, and who helps her organize services that other religious crewmembers can attend. Yet here, he's so scared of the Ring he turns suicidal, leaving Anna feeling guilty for not being as perceptive to his troubles when he sought her out.

Although the Belter storyline is very different than it was in the novels, I'm starting to predict where the storyline between Drummer and her XO is going, and man I don't think I like it.

Holden's head trip was sort of interesting but you couldn't make much out of it. Seemed to be a history of the ancient civilization or maybe just the ending of it.

Holden's vision is foreshadowing something from the novels.

Does the world even know Holden stopped the war?

I doubt Avasarala would leave his contributions out, considering the role he played in saving her life.

if Clarissa isn't going after Holden for some of his earlier interactions with her father (were there?).

No, Holden and Jules-Pierre Mao first met on Io.

When Clarissa's acquaintance recalled Mao's family being dragged, arrested and questioned to the pastor, wasn't she talking about things from years ago?

In the novel it would have been a year earlier, but in the show it's only been a matter of months.

 

[Mr Awe]

This show really has a habit of making things darker than they were in the novels. In this case, the character of the young UN officer, who in the novels is a relatively minor character, basically just someone Anna has frequent conversations throughout, and who helps her organize services that other religious crewmembers can attend. Yet here, he's so scared of the Ring he turns suicidal, leaving Anna feeling guilty for not being as perceptive to his troubles when he sought her out.

Shoot, they made the guy look so cagey and mysterious that I thought he was going to be a religious saboteur or something.

I think they figured they needed to add some spice to this episode. It was a bit flat and uneventful as it was. This might have been an attempt to add drama and something personal for Anna to do. I thought that entire subplot was ineffective. Why would someone afraid of dying by going through the ring commit suicide after they successfully transited? Doesn't make sense! And, as I described up thread, whoever plays Anna wasn't particularly convincing as a Minister in my eyes at least. But, it padded out the episode by a fair amount.

 

[The Wormhole]

Why would someone afraid of dying by going through the ring commit suicide after they successfully transited? Doesn't make sense!

Yeah, it's another one of those things where they seem to want to do something different from how it was done in the novels, but they don't quite know how, so they make it make less sense, because that's different.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

So it's Clarissa now? Does that mean Melba's toast?



I couldn't resist, sorry....

 

[Christopher]

I'm wondering if Clarissa will explain it all.

 

[Marc]

Although the Belter storyline is very different than it was in the novels, I'm starting to predict where the storyline between Drummer and her XO is going, and man I don't think I like it.

Some-one is gonna wind up with a hole in them or breathing vacuum?

Given the Drummer is an amalgamation of the characters I guess there's nothing in the book to really indicate where it's gonna go from that direction.

 

[David cgc]

Looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the final two episodes for the season!

Even better, final three. I was surprised when I checked, this really felt like it was setting up a wall-to-wall two-hour finale.

In the novel it would have been a year earlier, but in the show it's only been a matter of months.

Probably nearly a year on TV as well, at this point. Season 1 through 3.0 seemed to take place more-or-less continuously, but episodes might've still covered days or weeks with travel times, plus the six-month time jump earlier this season between 3.0 and 3.5. And Avasarala came down hard on Mao and his family, when, late season 1?

 

[Forbin]

So they're in zero-G and clomping around with their magnetic boots (even though their body language screams gravity), and they made a point of saying they're all in zero-G. Which just makes me watch their behavior closer. While is zero-G, one person leaned casually against a wall, and two people sat down on seats. The director really needs to watch out for stuff like that. yeah, yeah, i know there are practical limits on portraying zero-G here on earth, but ferchrissake, don't have people plop down into a chair!