Things We Saw Today: What We Know About The Expanse Season 5
With the sad news that I am ignoring about The Expanse’s renewal for a final season, let’s focus on the positives: we have a brand new season headed our way this December! Here’s what we know thus far.
OK so a lot is happening in this trailer, including our new, beautiful “bad guy,” or perhaps I should say “primary antagonist,” Keon Alexander’s Marco Inaros. One of the things I love about The Expanse is that no one ever really remains a straight-up “villain” for long, so I’m also eager to see what they do with this plotline. And indeed, while Inaros may be operating in opposition to some of our characters’ desires and doing some bad things, he’s also a much-needed resistance hero for the Belters. Here’s the trailer’s official teaser line: “The future of The Belt has begun as Marco Inaros wages Armageddon against the Inners for a lifetime of oppression and injustice.”
Other things I love about this season: We finally are going to learn more about Amos’s life in Baltimore! Also, more Camina Drummer!!!! All of the Drummer.
How many episodes are there?
Season 5 will have 10 episodes.
Will the whole season drop at once?
No. Amazon Studios seems to want to build on the success of releasing shows on a weekly basis to build buzz, as has worked with their own The Boys or The Mandalorian on Disney+. It can feel old-fashioned in these streaming times, but it enables the show to be more of a topic of conversation every week and to have more coverage. New episodes drop every Wednesday morning from December 16th until the season finale February 3rd. If you want to binge it all at once, you’ll have to wait for February.
Which James S.A. Corey books will season 5 be drawing from?
Showrunner Naren Shankar told EW, “You know how it’s worked over the years. It’s like certain story lines get pulled forward, other stuff gets pushed back sometimes. Character elements get combined into other stuff. There’s definitely some elements of book 6 [Babylon’s Ashes] in this season, I would say, but it’s largely drawn from book 5 [Nemesis Games].”
What’s the official synopsis?
Season 5 of the series picks up as multitudes of humans leave the solar system in search of new homes and vast fortunes on the earth-like worlds beyond the alien Ring, and a heavy price for centuries of exploitation of the Belt finally comes due and a reckoning is at hand. For the crew of the Rocinante and the leaders of the Inner Planets and the Belt, the past and present converge, bringing forth personal challenges that have wide-reaching repercussions throughout the Solar System.
Amos (Wes Chatham) returns to Earth to confront his past and the legacy of the life he fought to leave behind. Naomi (Dominique Tipper) reaches out to her estranged son in a desperate bid to save him from his father’s toxic influence. Bobbie (Frankie Adams) and Alex (Cas Anvar) confront the collapse of Mars as they chase a shadowy cabal with ties to terrorists and criminals. Holden (Steven Strait) wrestles with the consequences of his own past with the Protomolecule, the aliens who built it, and the mystery of what killed them. Drummer (Cara Gee), with a new crew, fights to escape who and what she used to be. And Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), refusing to be relegated to the sidelines, fights to prevent a terrorist attack unrivaled in history.
Okay, but what’s the main thrust of season 5?
Shankar said that everything really boils down to reconnecting past, present, and future. “The theme really is about the sins of the past. To one extent or another, that’s every single story line … That’s really what the season is about. It is connecting all of the things that we have done in our lives to the moment of the present that we are in. It’s like everything comes to a head all at the same time.” Per Inverse, at NYCC, Shankar called it “the most epic and the most personal season we have ever done, simultaneously.” Dominique Tipper compared it to Marvel’s Infinity War in terms of so many plot elements culminating.
Who’s joining the cast as series’ regulars?
Nadine Nicole, who plays Clarissa “Clare” Mao, Julie’s sister and daughter of Jean-Pierre. And those Inaros fellows: Keon Alexander as Marco and Jasai Chase Owens as Marcos and Naomi’s son Filip. We’ll likely also see more of newly-elected UN Secretary-General Nancy Gao, played by Lily Gao.
What’s the state of Holden and Naomi’s relationship?
Shankar: “We’re starting Holden and Naomi from, I think, a very warm and supportive place at the beginning of season 5.”
Nice! What about Naomi and her son, Filip?
Maybe not so nice. Shankar told EW, “the reunion that she is hoping for is probably not the one that she’s going to get,” and that Filip “doesn’t bake her a cake.”
Why should we be super revved-up for season 5?
Well, Wes Chatham (Amos) called the season “hands down the best thing we’ve ever done” upon wrap, per Cinemablend. On Instagram, Chatham added, “It blew me away!!! What a beautiful journey this show in on. I’m so thankful to all the fans for all the love and energy you give us.. S5 is for you.”
Hear that, everyone? Season 5 is for us. And while we, like Chatham, hoped we’d get to season 9 to tell the stories of all of the Expanse books or ran to season 42 just because, at least we can take heart that we’ll definitely be getting a season six. In the meantime, it sounds like season 5 is going to be truly epic, and I can’t wait.
Will you be watching The Expanse come December 16th? What are you most excited about seeing?
(image: Amazon Studios)
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