‘The Expanse’: Season Three Review
Image Source: The Expanse Lives
This season of The Expanse has an odd history behind it. If you followed and watched the show from its inception, you know it started on SyFy. As was often the case with hit shows on SyFy, they would start them off, and then cancel. Perhaps things have changed, maybe they haven’t, but it seems that when it came to The Expanse, they miscalculated. It was wildly popular, so much so that when SyFy canceled it after season three, there was a concerted fan effort to #SaveTheExpanse.
It worked. It was picked up, and perhaps it was lucky that one of those fans happened to be Jeff Bezos. When the show was canceled, he swooped in and picked it up for distribution on Prime Video. The show would go on.
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That’s important context because when you watch season three the direction of the season makes sense. The last moments of the season have a sort of finality to them, but the writers and directors were clever, and perhaps hopeful in that the last shot of the season is something happening to Holden. It was enough to say “we could end it here” but also say “we’ve got more to this to tell.”
Season three is easily one of the best seasons in the show, and perhaps television. The unique adaptation structure continues, and finishes, with season three. Every season from that point on would be based on one book. The first half of the season pertains to Holden and the group’s dogged pursuit of the Jules-Pierre Mao’s Protomolecule hybrids that the powers in the system have obsessed over to the point that they are now in open war. Back on Earth, with Avasarala having joined with Holden after escaping Errenwright’s assassination attempt, Reverend Doctor Anna Volovodov (Elizabeth Mitchell), an old “friend” of the Secretary General’s and a talented linguist, is brought in to help him control his public image during the war. She gives Holden a run for his money as the strongest moral character in the show.
The crew of the Roci decide to go to Io.
Image Source: The Wertzone
As a result of destroying all the Protomolecule within the system outside of the sample the OPA has and the Venus Eros impact site, the object being made on Venus launches and travels through the system to come to rest just outside the orbit of Uranus. It then forms itself into a ring and through the actions of a love-lorn Belter, it activates, opening access to a place outside normal space time. In the remaining episodes of the season, humanity continues its habit of stumbling blindly through things, and in the face of power beyond their comprehension, their act-first-think-later approach to things almost leads to their extinction. If not for the efforts of Holden and cooler heads throughout the fleets, they manage to think first then act and change humanity’s destiny forever. The midpoint of the season also introduces one of the best characters in the entire show, ex-pirate-turned-OPA-commander Klaes Ashford, played by David Strathairn.
Everyone stepped up their game this season to deliver the best all-around performances of the series. One of the most interesting to watch was Prax’s arc completion. In the second half of season two, when we met him, he was a sort of ignorant good dad who just wanted to find his daughter. Now that it’s dawned on him that his daughter is being used as a lab rat by sociopathic scientists and mega corporate scum bags, we see him start to lose his innocence, and the effect that has on Amos is potent. Amos knows bad people and good people from his youth in Baltimore. It’s why he sticks with Naomi and Holden. They’re his moral compass and help center him; a sort of correction against his traumatic youth. You can see the reaction on Amos’ face at each level of descent that Prax takes. He knows what’s happening, and Amos becomes the hero when he saves Prax from taking the final measure that would have destroyed the man Prax was forever. It’s an incredibly powerful, and satisfying moment.
Klaes Ashford and Naomi Nagata
Image Source: Fandom
There are a lot of those in this season which is why it deserves the score it’s receiving. The credit is a testament to the directing and cinematography of the season using faces to convey the impact of these stories. Another example is Dr. Volovodov’s arc in the season. She has hope for everyone, thinking everyone can change for the better, and there’s a great contrast between her first half story and the second half story. By the end of the first half, we see her hope that she can redeem the Secretary General dashed with a revelation from Errinwright and the SG himself. After that disappointment, we find her on the fleet heading out to the ring, and she becomes entwined in Clarrisa Mao’s (Nadine Nicole) quest to avenge her father’s downfall. Anna’s efforts to hold Clarissa accountable prove fruitful and perhaps redeem her own worldview after the Secretary General.
One of the strongest things about this show is its world-building and consistency of it. Despite the hiccup in distributors, the writers clearly had a direction in mind. It helps that the book’s authors were involved. As each season progresses it’s more and more evident that the OPA and the Belt are being portrayed as the protagonist of the series. That may become clouded in the later seasons, but there are efforts from within the ranks to offset the effect of the propaganda of the Inners and the reinforcement of individual violent actions. From the efforts of Frank Johnson to Cara Gee’s Camina Drummer, the OPA serve sort of like a canvas for world-building as we watch them come into the sovereignty they have so desired. Using the Nauvoo and converting it into the Behemoth, they couple that with their propensity for living in deep space and life living within the confines of ships to push for their right to maintain humanity’s frontier. It underlines the show’s impressive storytelling and reinforces the stellar praise it deserves.
Amos and Anna confront Clarissa over what she’s done.
Image Source: SyFy
Science fiction often gets a bad rap. Lasers and spaceships and aliens. The setting and technology are often seen as the focus over the characters. Sometimes, though, one shines through and captures our attention. It’s a shame SyFy passed up on the show, but the fanbase came through, and good thing, too. Because season three is excellent, and there’s even more to come.
Rating: 10/10
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