Tuesday, December 5, 2017

The Expanse S1 E6: Rock Bottom

"You're in love with Julie Mao."

The Expanse, Season One, Episode 6, Rock Bottom, is heavy on character interactions and introducing a variety of players in the series to one another.





It's not a particularly memorable affair in the overall scheme or expanse of things from the series but does propel the Leviathan Wakes story forward.

This entry draws heavily from Chapters 18 through 21 in the novel proper.

It does a considerably effective job of further defining the lines and the hierarchy between Belters attempting to eek out a living in space mining precious asteroids to feed their Belter families, the privileged Martians (Earthers who emigrated to Mars), the Earthers and the body politic that is the UN (still going).



The sixth installment alternates between Holden and his crew in their negotiations with Fred Johnson and his request of Holden to pick up a sole survivor of the Scopuli and Miller's investigation into the disappearance of Julie Mao.

The story here truly highlights the dynamic of James Holden, Naomi, Amos and Alex in their infancy as the crew of the Rocinante. Bonds are forming but so still is trust in one another.



It's interesting to see how far this wayward band of heroes would come after seeing the second season and that season's sterling interpretation of the second half of Leviathan Wakes as well as the first portion of that aforementioned book's sequel Caliban's War.

Highlights in the otherwise quiet episode of this series first season include Amos painting Rocinante on the hull of the MCRN vessel. Also, Holden's crew holds strong and after regrouping are tasked with a mission in the retrofitted Rocinante. Fred Johnson commissions them with finding Lionel Polanski.



Meanwhile, Miller moves closer to finding Julie Mao, but also stumbles upon something big. Phoebe Station and a bio weapon revealed upon a data chip recovered by Miller are revealed. The discovery leads to Miller's unexpected firing from Star Helix Security. This thing is big and its tentacles long in a major conspiracy yet to be revealed. Miller has uncovered a leviathan waking indeed.



Rock Bottom, like much of The Expanse series so far, is far less about subtext and much more firmly rooted in its narrative strength and foundation in literature to weave and deliver a compelling, epic story in the making. Humanity is at the root of it all and ultimately as it steps into space the largest potential victim of its own creation. Ultimately humanity and our humanity is at the root of the tale.

Cylons were created by man according to Ronald D. Moore and so too is the protomolecule. Cylons had a plan and so too does this thing called a protomolecule. This can't end well.

Writer: Jason Ning.

Director Rob Lieberman (Fire In The Sky, The X-Files).

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