After a whole season of the key elements being apart, many of the threads come back together this week in the fifth season finale of The Expanse, ‘Nemesis Games’. *Warning! Spoilers Ahead!*
It’s been an interesting season of individual stories, with some magnificent performances along the way. Now that the season has come to a close though, we can see that season five was essentially a preparation for season six, rather than an end in itself. The fact it was still delivering as high a quality as we’re used to, and consistently being engaging is a testament to the writing. All this, while not moving forward the overarching plot as much as we assumed is impressive. That sounds partly like a criticism, but it isn’t meant to be. It is just looking back, there wasn’t as much of an overall journey here than it seemed at the time, with a more detailed approach on specific stories.
Significantly, the disparate threads have now come together and the crew of the Rocinante are reunited once more, albeit with some slight changes and some additions. In the long run these will make the drama much stronger, but it’s possible that some viewers may have a problem with them, especially those who have read the books.
The key moment in ‘Nemesis Games’ they will point to happens in the most emotionally fraught section of the show, as Naomi (Dominique Tipper) finally gets to escape the Chetzemoka with a little help from Alex (Cas Anvar) and Bobbie (Frankie Adams). This has been building over the past few episodes, with Naomi becoming more desperate and dehydrated as the hours tick away. As it has now become apparent that the Chetzemoka is a trap, Holden (Steven Strait) decides to divert towards the Free Navy ships that have suddenly appeared, leaving rescuing Naomi in the hands of the Screaming Firehawk.
Through a bit of impromptu thruster firing, a bold jump into space, and some belter hand signals, Naomi manages to warn Alex of the danger the Chetzemoka poses. The Screaming Firehawk still has to perform some risky manoeuvres to save her though and it’s those that prove too much for Alex. While Naomi is saved by Bobbie, in a sequence that is shot both cleverly and emotionally with the camera locked in a faceplate POV, Alex succumbs to a stroke.
While we have been expecting some form of departure for Alex following Cas Anvar’s split with the show, this is surprising for a couple of reasons. The first is that in the books he doesn’t die at this point, continuing in the story, and the second is that it was thought that all of the season had been shot, and whatever they did to cover Anvar’s exit would appear at the start of next season. That it was possible to wrap this all up this season in ‘Nemesis Games’ though was probably for the best, as it means that it doesn’t hang over into next year.
As predicted too, they included a nod to the fact that the likely replacement on the Rocinante would be Bull (José Zúñiga), as he is specifically seen drinking from a mug marked ‘Kamal’ just after. He is the most suitable candidate, and as long as they keep a Martian presence on the Rocinante after this with Bobbie, the dynamic should still be ok. In fact, looking at who is on the ship at the end of ‘Nemesis Games’ shows that we may have the strongest group of characters for a while.
With the return of Amos (Wes Chatham), who manages to hoodwink Holden, Clarissa (Nadine Nicole) joins them, and Monica (Anna Hopkins) continues to impress as she has done all season. Her role could increase in fact, as she proves to be much more than she is given credit for once again, and they don’t have anyone else like her aboard.
Another fantastic character, Drummer (Cara Gee), could also come more to the fore next season, as here she has to navigate some difficult and emotional waters, making a clear moral choice for the future. Her decision to betray Marco (Keon Alexander) and do the right thing has consequences, some of which she was prepared for, but the loss of Oksana (Sandrine Holt) and Bertold (Stephen Tracey – Anne with an E) may be the one she finds hardest to deal with. With her family now fractured it will be interesting to see what her next move is, but hopefully she becomes much more of a key player next season.
How the story will play out though is an intriguing thought, as it looks less likely to be focused primarily on Marco and more on the rise of the Martian rebels. To a degree, Marco has sort of disappeared into the background a little this year, and the big splash at the end of the episode is actually what happens with Admiral Sauveterre (Tim DeKay) and Lt. Babbage (Lara Jean Chorostecki) on the Barkeith.
As everything sort of resets and the crew of the Rocinante relax with newly re-instated Secretary-General Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo), news filters through of an ongoing attack at the Sol Ring. The Earth-Martian coalition guarding the ring has been wiped out by the Free Navy and Martian Rebels, who have been bought off with the protomolecule sample. Dedicated to making a more ‘pure’ Martian society, these Rebels have set up on Ilus and are planning who knows what on the other side of the Laconia Ring. Whatever it is it can’t be good, although as the episode ends, something strange does happen with the Barkeith as it transits the ring, which raises quite a few questions.
As usual, The Expanse has delivered an excellent episode and a surprising twist which will lead to a final season we may not have been expecting. ‘Nemesis Games’ was an effective finale, with all the key elements being dealt with well, although in hindsight we may think that Alex’s death was quite abrupt. In the circumstances though, this is quite understandable and it was handled as well as it could have been. The only problem now is that we have the long wait to see how this unfolds in season six.
