#the protomillercule

[i-just-like-commenting]

End of The Expanse 4.8

Me: Okay, ProtoMillercule is back, that’s good.

PMC: *SCREEAAAAAMMMM*

Me: Okay, that’s not good.

[roccinante]

i told myself that i wouldn’t fall behind on this season of the expanse, but i’m now like 5 episodes behind :| 

i love the show to death, but i feel like some of the magic was lost when miller died.

i’m hoping some of that magic will come back when the protomillercule makes his appearance. the show just doesn’t feel the same without thomas jane tbh

[i-just-like-commenting]

The Expanse rewatch, 3.7-3.13

Yeah this is my favorite arc of the show.

The introduction with the rockhopper is such a fun, creative way of showing the six months that pass between the arcs, as well as of course setting up for his disastrous decision to crash the Ring at the end of the episode. I also don’t think we give Clinton Shorter enough credit for making this show great; his soundtrack, including the in-universe music, makes so many of these scenes work.

Speaking of six months, Naomi goes back to having a Belter accent after her time on the Behemoth, and she code-switches in later episodes. Belter communication in general is interesting, particularly watching the difference between Drummer and Ashford, the latter of whom uses the typical gestural language of the Belt, while the former often keeps her hands clasped behind her back. Drummer isn’t a communicative person; she’s reserved and it shows in her body-language as well as her speech. That’s part of why her breakdown after her accident near the end is so powerful.

 Speaking of her accident: “Then we spin the drum.” I remember the first time watching this through being so sure that Drummer was going to die because of the gravity problem, that when Ashford reminded everyone they could do spin g, I cried. Almost cried this time, too.

For someone who’s so bad at choosing good actions, Amos is awfully good at spotting good people. Anna is another character I think I’m going to miss this season (to my knowledge Elizabeth Mitchell isn’t coming back?).

One last note, I dragged Holden a bit for his arc in season 2 because he deserved it, but he continued to be great throughout this season. Steven Strait did an excellent job depicting his slow mental breakdown as the protomolecule attempts to communicate with him (and Thomas Jane returning as ProtoMillercule was wonderful), as well as his own panic and fear that he could wind up responsible for the deaths of thousands if not billions. Drummer may not get what Naomi sees in him, but after this season I do.

Okay, I have my free trial month of Prime all set to go, and I’m going to start watching season 4. Hopefully I’ll get through it over the weekend and I can take off all the many, many tags I have blocked now...

[i-just-like-commenting]

Some thoughts on “The Expanse” trailer:

Well, I am excited.

Amos returning to Earth to explore his past? Yes please.

Drummer on a mission to face off against Inaros? Yes please.

Fred Johnson coming back? Yes please (and can we get Jared Harris to return sometime soon? I know he probably costs a lot more now post-Chernobyl but I miss Anderson Dawes).

The fate of the Earth hanging in the balance? ...I actually got spoiled about where this is headed, unfortunately, but I’m still eager to see it.

I did note that Alex was super downplayed in this trailer, which I’m guessing is because of how awful his actor has been, and you don’t promote the guy you’re probably going to be replacing before next season (Sendhil Ramamurthy? he’s from Texas...).

Overall, though, it didn’t reveal a lot of details, just the general thrust of things on the political side. What the protomolecule is going to be up to now that protoMillercule is gone was not at all clear, and I’m looking forward to that.

[i-just-like-commenting]

Expanse season 4 thoughts, episodes 1-6

First of all, I am currently stuck watching this on my laptop, which takes me back to how I first saw seasons 2 and 3. Maybe I’ll have time on my free Prime trial to rewatch it once I fix/replace my Blu-Ray player, but right now I just want to get ahead of the spoiler feed.

Ilus/New Terra is great, they managed to make it look properly alien within the realms of their budget,

In general the budget is really good and it looks nice, but the Roci’s landing on Ilus looked sooooo fake. I guess once the effects get excellent you notice more when they’re mediocre.

The scenes on Mars remind me of a lot of the shots of Ceres from the first season, just showing how ordinary people live in this extraterrestrial society. Also, I refuse to believe that Bobbie is just doing this for money, she has to have some plan going on, right?

My theory right now is that the machine may actually be somehow terraforming the planet, but it clearly doesn’t care if this results in the deaths of the hundreds still living on the planet. I wish Holden hadn’t trusted ProtoMillercule so much, though I understand why he did (and Naomi is right, he takes way too much responsibility on himself for situations that are frequently outside of his control).

Watching Naomi Nagata fail to respond to the drugs was really hard. It also made her conversation with Drummer from early in the season hurt even more in retrospect, as I really believe that Drummer’s distaste for the colonies had as much to do with watching people’s systems fail from the gravity as it did with cultural pride.

Chrisjen Avasarala is coming off a lot more unlikable this season. Maybe it was better for her to stay the power behind the throne, she doesn’t seem to be reacting well to the stress of being completely in charge, all the media attention, public appearances, etc.

Amos’ relationship with his fuck-buddy has turned out strange in that she is actually sort of his buddy. I think she’s smitten with him, but all indications are he sees her more as...well, someone to help. Like Amos is stepping up to be her moral compass, the way others have been for him. That’s growth, and I think it’s believable.

Alex so far hasn’t had much of a plot this season other than having his aborted attempts at flirting with Lucia, I hope that changes as the orbital situation requires some piloting.

Lastly, Murtry and Marco Inaros are both pashangwala who can go eat felota.