The Expanse: What To Expect From The End Of Season 2 (Spoiler Alert)
THE EXPANSE — “Static” Episode 203 — Pictured: Frankie Adams as Bobbie Draper — (Photo by: Rafy/Syfy)
The Expanse has been hailed as one of the best science fiction television shows in recent memory and as the end of the second season looms, with the penultimate episode on the air this evening, we want to take a look at what’s been going on lately and what we can expect from Mars, the Belters, the UN and the crew of the Rocinante.
The last few episodes have been driven by the attack on Ganymede and the fallout from the incident, with the UN and Mars at each other’s throats whilst Bobbie Draper, formerly Sergeant Draper, is caught in the middle. We met Dr Prax Meng on Ganymede, who, along with Holden and the crew of the Rocinante, is searching for his missing daughter and becomes increasingly concerned for her safety after they find experiments relating to the protomolecule in a formerly abandoned part of Ganymede Station.
After seeing the trailers for the second season, I had expected Martian Marine, Bobbie Draper, to have had more of an impact in the season but she had, up until now, been just a grumpy soldier intent on fighting UN soldiers. The attack on Ganymede changed everything for Bobbie as she saw her comrades killed and was subsequently ordered by her superiors to lie to the UN to cover up something she didn’t understand. She saw the protomolecule in action for the first time. Avasalara tries to talk to her and get some truth out of Bobbie, which is a big moment for her as Draper had been trained to hate Earthers since she was a child.
The development of several characters like Bobbie in the series will be something more carefully planned in The Expanse than on Game of Thrones. “George is not as involved with Game of Thrones as we are with the Expanse,” Abraham said. Franck added, “With all respect to George, that show caught up to him. There you had writers who had to make up where the story was going to go. That ripples forward and backward in the show. We don’t have that problem.”
The crew of the Rocinante put together a daring plan to get to Ganymede and investigate the attack and destroy the protomolecule experiments. They find Prax, who has connections with someone working for Protogen, the company that is in up to its neck with the protomolecule experimentation. Alex waits alone on board the Rocinante, while the others head down on a transport ship.
“When the gang goes off on an away mission, he’s back there holding the fort. So he’s restless, anxious. He wants to contribute, but he has a very core job, which is to be the cavalry. When he’s alone, he kind of cuts loose a little bit. His personality comes out a bit more. He loves having that quiet and alone time on the ship.” – Cas Anvar (Alex)
The Rocinante gives Alex a purpose in life. Previously, he’d worked in the Martian Navy but he’d only been allowed to fly transport vessels and the Rocinante is a ship ready for a fight. He feels attached to the ship and develops a profound attachment to the ship and its ragtag crew of Amos, Holden and Naomi. Alex hears that the Martian Navy has placed a no fly zone around Ganymede so he heads down solo to rescue his comrades.
Naomi has been feeling a lot of pressure in recent episodes, seeing that both Amos and Holden are becoming increasingly desperate and increasingly willing to resort to tougher measures to get results. She sees her lover, Holden, who opposed violence in previous episodes, allow Amos to use violent methods to get information they need. She fears that they are all on a downward spiral and starts to lose sight of the mission goals.
Tonight’s episode, “Here, There Be Dragons” is the penultimate episode in the second season and will see many storylines come together. We expect to see Prax’s daughter found with the scientist who stole her. That scientist is working with Protogen and is expected to reveal a lot of information about the protomolecule. Bobbie Draper should learn about what really happened on Ganymede and who is really working for whom. She now has a new role as an advisor to UN politician Chrisjen Avasalara, and may well find traitors in her own ranks. The UN survey team that had been exploring the Eros crash site on Venus should finally get some answers from the peculiar readings, and all should work towards culminating with the discovery and revelation on Protogen’s research on protomolecule technology.
If you read the books, you should probably know exactly what to expect as the show has stuck to the books fairly strictly. We have a pair of episodes left which should bring the storylines together and leave it on a cliffhanger to ensure we all tune in for season 3. It’s going to be epic.
