Spoilers The Expanse Season 6

[wayoung]

So, something I've been wondering since the latest season came out: Does anybody know why they spend an entire season setting Bull up to be Alex's replacement as the Rocinante pilot, only for him to just not be in the new season, and Holden piloting the ship? Just didn't have the budget for another reg character for an already shortened season? Just seemed a waste.

 

[1987SpaceGuy]

Would have liked to see more of the Bull character, in whatever function too.

Anyway, the actor who plays Alex Kamal was written/edited out retroactively after filming of season 5 had concluded.

On reddit there were a couple of leaked promo photos from the season 5 finale where Alex Kamal is at the "bar reception" with the Roci-crew.
The reposted images on the show's website or press kit however had him edited out (the empty chair). It's notable also that edits after the fact were made when Avasarala goes to talk with Bobbie (Shohreh's lip movement doesn't match her voice).
Weirdly when asked, the producers came out afterwards, that they were always considering "raising the stakes" or something along those lines.

As for why Bull is pretty much MIA in season 6:
1) Covid-restrictions (limited amount of people allowed in a scene, on set + travel restrictions and all)
That's why there is a lot less background actors in most scenes too.
2) actors availability probably played a role too
3) limited budget could have played a role too

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

So, something I've been wondering since the latest season came out: Does anybody know why they spend an entire season setting Bull up to be Alex's replacement as the Rocinante pilot, only for him to just not be in the new season, and Holden piloting the ship? Just didn't have the budget for another reg character for an already shortened season? Just seemed a waste.

I would have assumed that they just wanted to make it easier to concentrate on the "real" crew. Also it gives them a more valid reason to bring in Bobbi.

 

[Reverend]

So, something I've been wondering since the latest season came out: Does anybody know why they spend an entire season setting Bull up to be Alex's replacement as the Rocinante pilot, only for him to just not be in the new season, and Holden piloting the ship? Just didn't have the budget for another reg character for an already shortened season? Just seemed a waste.

Because Alex was off on another plot thread and they needed someone to fly the Roci and/or make sure Holden isn't just talking to himself in all his scenes.

IIRC in the books: Bull was a main character in 'Abaddon's Gate' (third officer on the Behemoth I think), a role that basically got shifted to Drummer on the show for obvious reasons. In 'Nemesis Games' I think it was Fred and a bunch of his people that were crewing the Roci with Holden while everyone else was away. Since the show killed Fred off a book early, then they slotted Bull in to replace him.

I guess they could have inserted Bull into Alex's role for the final season, and while I haven't seen anyone say what their actual reasoning way, I can take an educated guess and presume that with having only 6 episodes in the final season, and keeping in mind they already have the "Peaches being accepted into the crew" thread, adding in ANOTHER new crew member that only one of them knew and the others would have to adjust to would have been both redundant and cumbersome.

It also let the crew feel the loss of Alex a little more by not having his role filled to begin with.

 

[David cgc]

Weirdly when asked, the producers came out afterwards, that they were always considering "raising the stakes" or something along those lines.

Reading between the lines, my impression was that they very much did not want to discuss the details of what their investigation confirmed Cas Anvar had been doing over his career, so simply saying "We fired him because he's a sleazy son of a bitch and now everybody knows about it and we don't want that connected with our show" wasn't an option, so they talked around it, including mentioning stuff like, "You know, at one point while we were brainstorming ideas for things to do in the show, we'd discussed the possibility of killing off a core cast-member early as a dramatic move, and if that was even possible with the way the overall story of the books progressed" so it seemed like a purely creative decision and not that they'd cast a skeeze who'd been sexually harassing coworkers and teenage fans for years and they needed to clean up that mess.

 

[The Wormhole]

Does anybody know why they spend an entire season setting Bull up to be Alex's replacement as the Rocinante pilot,

They didn't really spend the entire season setting Bull up to be Alex's replacement, rather the ending sequence brought on as a result of Alex being written out in post-production hinted that Bull could become Alex's replacement. Obviously, once production of season 6 got going, they decided to go in a different direction.

Weirdly when asked, the producers came out afterwards, that they were always considering "raising the stakes" or something along those lines.

You see this sort of double-talk all the time when actors leave over controversial reasons. Like on The Walking Dead when they killed a character in the second season who was long-lasting in the comics, the official word from the producers was they wanted to send a message that the show would deviate from the comics in significant and drastic ways. It later came out that the actor requested to leave out of loyalty to another producer who had been fired from the show between the first and second seasons.

 

[gblews]

Just watched the season 6 final, The whole season has been great, but I thought Marco’s demise was anti climactic. But the negotiation scene at the end totally made up for lack of payoff on the Marco storyline.

I could totally relate to Drummer’s reaction to Avasarala’s unconscious bias . Avasarala took for granted the “trustworthiness” of she and the Inners while completely ignoring Drummer and the Belter’s trustworthiness. That made Holden’s ploy that much more satisfying for me. I applauded his boldness.

i don’t see how anyone could compare BSG and The Ezpanse. The shows are just too different. BSG was fueled by character, while Expanse is fueled by plot and story with character largely pushed to the side. Both shows are incredible in their own way., and I love both. But what made ne love BSG was it’s characters, and although I grew ro live the main Expanse characters,especially Bobbie and Drummer, were The Expanse’s storylines.

I thought this was the last season for Expanse. I am stoked that we will be getting at least one more season.

Question; did Bobbie go off to the brothel with Amos? She didn’t react to the question he posed, but that scene had to mean something.

The show has an abundance of strong female characters. Been using this as a hook to get my daughter to watch. So far, she hasn’t budged, but I keep trying.

 

[1987SpaceGuy]

I thought this was the last season for Expanse. I am stoked that we will be getting at least one more season.

Question; did Bobbie go off to the brothel with Amos? She didn’t react to the question he posed, but that scene had to mean something.

Sorry to break it to you, but Season 6 that you just watched is the last live action of the Expanse (at least for now).

The only new Expanse content announced is the telltale video game which will feature Drummer (including her Cara Gee returning to voice her) and is set prior to the TV/Streaming series.

The whole Bobbie / Amos with you or WITH you thing was left ambiguous on purpose.
I for one think she joined Amos for some fun whether with him or WITH him

 

[Reverend]

Question; did Bobbie go off to the brothel with Amos? She didn’t react to the question he posed, but that scene had to mean something.

The whole Bobbie / Amos with you or WITH you thing was left ambiguous on purpose.
I for one think she joined Amos for some fun whether with him or WITH him

Just as a general note: it's probably worth remembering that for Amos, there's no connection between sex and affection. To him it's just a fun thing to do; there's no emotional dimension to it for him. So when he said "whatever", he really means it. To him he may as well have asked if she wanted a drink, or to go play a hand of cards.

Remember there was a whole plotline in season 4 where he ended up killing someone he was sleeping with because she made the mistake of thinking that because he liked her, that he had feelings for her and thus, would back down. That is not how an Amos do.

He even told Alex not to get in a fight with him, because: "then who will fly the ship?"
That wasn't him being funny or showing bravado (Amos doesn't do bravado) he literally meant it. If Alex pushed him, he'd have killed him without a second thought, which to Amos would be a pain on the arse because then they'd be down a pilot.

 

[gblews]

Just as a general note: it's probably worth remembering that for Amos, there's no connection between sex and affection. To him it's just a fun thing to do; there's no emotional dimension to it for him. So when he said "whatever", he really means it. To him he may as well have asked if she wanted a drink, or to go play a hand of cards.

Remember there was a whole plotline in season 4 where he ended up killing someone he was sleeping with because she made the mistake of thinking that because he liked her, that he had feelings for her and thus, would back down. That is not how an Amos do.

He even told Alex not to get in a fight with him, because: "then who will fly the ship?"
That wasn't him being funny or showing bravado (Amos doesn't do bravado) he literally meant it. If Alex pushed him, he'd have killed him without a second thought, which to Amos would be a pain on the arse because then they'd be down a pilot.

Right, but no one was speculating about whether or not they were doing to fall in love and run off together, I was only wondering about whether or not they hooked up and if that scene might be a setup for a future hookup, regardless of the many possible results of that hypothetical liaison.

Sorry to hear that the show is done. But it did end on a real high note.

 

[Reverend]

Right, but no one was speculating about whether or not they were doing to fall in love and run off together, I was only wondering about whether or not they hooked up and if that scene might be a setup for a future hookup, regardless of the many possible results of that hypothetical liaison.

I know, I was just contextualising the offer being made because I've seen before that a lot of people don't really get what Amos is about. Whatever Bobby did or didn't decide, to him he may as well as asked if she fancied a game of squash. There was nothing behind it.

 

[ashleytinger]

I've been binging the show on and off again for the last month and am just heading back into the last season. I've been reading the books ever so slowly. I'm almost done with book four. This show didn't get the love it deserved. So, so good.

 

[wayoung]

Spoiler: Tiamets Wrath Spoilers

Figured short of starting a new thread this was the place to post. I'm on the last 30 pages of the book, in the middle of the big battle. This is by far the best novel in the series yet but holy shit they did Amos dirty! Not even a POV chapter?! I'm ok with him dying randomly, accomplishing nothing, stuff like that happens, not everyone should get Bobby or Clarissa style saving the galaxy deaths, but he seemed like an afterthought in this book....

I thought for sure during Teresa's confrontation with Holden that Holden was going to tell her that Amos was the lie, Timothy was who he really was, and she's one of a handful people in the universe who he told who he really was, and that was gonna be what had Teresa turn, but didn't even get that

I know "he" is going to come back again as ZombieAmos, protoMiller style, but still. He was given the short shrift here.

 

[Xerxes82]

Spoiler: Tiamets Wrath Spoilers

Figured short of starting a new thread this was the place to post. I'm on the last 30 pages of the book, in the middle of the big battle. This is by far the best novel in the series yet but holy shit they did Amos dirty! Not even a POV chapter?! I'm ok with him dying randomly, accomplishing nothing, stuff like that happens, not everyone should get Bobby or Clarissa style saving the galaxy deaths, but he seemed like an afterthought in this book....

I thought for sure during Teresa's confrontation with Holden that Holden was going to tell her that Amos was the lie, Timothy was who he really was, and she's one of a handful people in the universe who he told who he really was, and that was gonna be what had Teresa turn, but didn't even get that

I know "he" is going to come back again as ZombieAmos, protoMiller style, but still. He was given the short shrift here.

He really wasn't. Everything you're claiming was deliberate, because of what you already know happens later.

Also, as someone who has finished the series, trust me when I say he most certainly does not get short shrift.

 

[wayoung]

Right, but no one was speculating about whether or not they were doing to fall in love and run off together, I was only wondering about whether or not they hooked up and if that scene might be a setup for a future hookup, regardless of the many possible results of that hypothetical liaison.

Sorry to hear that the show is done. But it did end on a real high note.

The show is "done" but it's because of rights issues. When Alcon negotiated permission to continue the show on Amazon SyFy set the contract they were only able to make until season 6, so the show always had to "end" there.

However, SyFy loses its rights to the series in another 2 years, and then Alcon has full rights so they have said they want to continue the series (technically it would be a spin off) when that happens.

There is a gap of decades in the books at this point in the story so plot wise it won't hurt anything, just comes down to market research, actor availability (or recasting considering the time difference) and $$$.

 

[wayoung]

He really wasn't. Everything you're claiming was deliberate, because of what you already know happens later.

Also, as someone who has finished the series, trust me when I say he most certainly does not get short shrift.

Spoiler: Tiamets Wrath

Are you saying Amos suicides so he could be rebuilt? I guess that would explain why he, of all people, never suspected Teresa had a tracker in her (she's Duartes daughter, of course she has a tracker!) but seems a weird way to set it up

 

[The Wormhole]

Also, as someone who has finished the series, trust me when I say he most certainly does not get short shrift.

I'll second that.

 

[wayoung]

Ok, finished it. Does he get POV again?

Definitely my fav so far in the series. I was gonna take a break and read something else since I've done 3 of these in a row but now I just need to finiah the series.

 

[The Wormhole]

Ok, finished it. Does he get POV again?

I'm not sure how much we can really get into without getting into spoilers, but Amos does have a very significant role to play in the end of the series.

 

[wayoung]

I'm 200 pages into wakes now and Jesus every chapter ends with something else insane happening