The Expanse continues its excellent third season, with episode 4: Reload. (BEWARE! This review contains SPOILERS!)
With a lot of chess pieces having been moved around in the previous episodes, we now start to see some people really showing their hand and beginning to make their move. On Earth, Secretary General Gillis (Jonathan Whittaker) makes the speech that he has brought Anna (Elizabeth Mitchell) on board to help write, but she discovers to her horror that it isn’t everything that she expected. It seems Errinwright (Shawn Doyle) has influenced Gillis, and it is clear to those that know the players, that it is effectively Errinwright speaking through Gillis. Now he has his war, the weaselly Errinwright is flexing his political muscles more and more, working from behind the scenes, which is a frighteningly believable scenario.
THE EXPANSE — “Reload” Episode 304 — Pictured: (l-r) Shawn Doyle as Secretary Errinwright, Elizabeth Mitchell as Anna Volovodov — (Photo by: Rafy/Syfy)
Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo) is similarly trying to make some moves, but is initially stymied by Holden (Steven Strait), as he is concerned that the message she wants to send out will betray their position to both Mars and the UN. Having seen Gillis’ speech being broadcast though, she recognises Anna and sees a way forward that may be a safer route to getting the truth out. This nicely ties together the two stories, and means that Anna will become a bigger figure as the plot progresses. This is no bad thing, as Elizabeth Mitchell has been great so far, and just in this episode portrays frustrated and betrayed idealist perfectly, with layered emotional depth, as well as strength.
THE EXPANSE — “Reload” Episode 304 — Pictured: (l-r) Shawn Doyle as Secretary Errinwright, Elizabeth Mitchell as Anna Volovodov — (Photo by: Rafy/Syfy)
On the Rocinante, the plot essentially has them just resupplying the ship for most of the episode, but as is always the way, even this potentially simple task goes awry. The writers have brought a number of moral and emotional discussions into the scenes, as the Rocinante crew go scavaging in a battle debris field; that alone sparks a moral discussion about robbing the dead. This gets even more complicated when they rescue three MCRN survivors from the Kittur Chennamma.
After being given aid, the survivors eventually figure out who the crew of the Rocinante is, so have to be kept secured. Despite Alex (Cas Anvar) trying to talk to them and make a connection as a fellow Martian, the trio of survivors decide they’re going to take the ship. This obviously fails, but allows there to be some great discussion around the issues of duty, and who the true enemy is. This also brings Draper (Frankie Adams) closer to the crew, and later we see there being a connection continuing to be made between her and Alex; this both seems believable and a good development, especially for the characterisation of Alex, whose history and persona it would be interesting to explore.
THE EXPANSE — “Reload” Episode 304 — Pictured: (l-r) Martin Roach as Admiral Souther, Cas Anvar as Alex Kamal — (Photo by: Rafy/Syfy)
There is also some release of tension between Holden and Naomi (Dominique Tipper), but it is clear that it isn’t just Holden that has trust issues with her, as Amos (Wes Chatham) also can’t forgive her. Dominique Tipper plays this with a quiet sadness, which is very effective, while also still keeping Naomi as a dependable member of the crew.
Alongside all the political stories, the experimentation with the protomolecule continues, as Dr Strickland (Ted Atherton) has kept some of his research from Mao (François Chau). In the last episode, Mao had backed away from the experiments, especially with the children, and was willing to abandon it all, as his conscience drove him. This episode though, there is a nice twist at the end, and Mao’s brief moral correction goes out the window, which is worked well, and rings true to the character.
How the protomolecule storyline is going to play out is intriguing and at the moment feels almost like a much smaller, secondary part of The Expanse. With all the political intrigue it has taken a backseat, while obviously still being the driving force behind some agendas. To have such a fascinating aspect as a smaller part of the current story shows how much depth there is in the show, and teases a rich vein yet to come.
Similarly, there is a relatively brief section of this episode where Drummer (Cara Gee) is salvaging the Nauvoo for Fred Johnson (Chad L. Coleman), and we have no idea how that will come into play in the future.
This was another great episode, and continues the consistently brilliant form The Expanse has shown through the three seasons so far.
