The Expanse 5x10 Reaction

This episode won the Hugo award 2022: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form 1) The Expanse: Nemesis Games, written by Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, and Naren Shankar; directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Studios)

Agreed. Would have been beautiful, if heartbreaking, if they could have written/filmed around Alex quietly stroking out. Those smiles were uncomfortably pure and Avasarala's "all of us together" speech was in poor taste. She no doubt would have focused on a Martian veteran sacrificing his life for a Belter, and the lost glances would have hit hard. We really deserved that win though. S5 hit hard.

Super minor point but never loose sight of the fact that even with constant thrust it takes XX days going from point to point. just like how Naomi had months(?) to work on her self physically at the begining of S4 before reaching Ilus, so by the time they reached Luna they and Amos had really sat with Alex's fate for a while. (but ya I get what you're saying about those scenes)

Does suck for the character, as Alex is a great character in the books, and continues to be after this point.

My girls are basketball fans? I knew there was a reason I love them 😁

As far as your comments about the characters not showing much grief after Alex's death, particularly in the scene on Luna: keep in mind that, while the show doesn't specify travel times between scenes, it would have taken weeks, if not months, for the Roci to have made it there, It was obviously enough time for Naomi to have healed. So it's assumed they had time to deal with their grief (unlike us, the viewers). And, yes, S6 is going to be "crammed," but I think you're still going to like it a lot. Don't forget those bonus film shorts called "One Ship" under the X-Ray content of S6,E1-E5. I'm anxious to see your reactions to those, too.

Are you proud of us or upset that we didn't spoil Alex's departure from the show? It does kind of ruin this particular episode as you mentioned in your review.

I think they tried to add some blood coming out of Alex's nose during the freeze frame, but it's hard to see. I could barely tell when I first saw it. That said, they did do pretty well with what they had. I would've preferred a recast, but this is at least better than killing or removing the character off-screen and having some throwaway line at the beginning of season 6 to explain it. This at least pays tribute to the character even if the actor was awful. Alex Kamal was a complicated man who abandoned his terrestrial family but was instrumental in keeping his space family together through all the ups and downs. Unfortunately it comes right after maybe the most beautiful moment in the season (IMO) where Bobbie saves Naomi. In the book it's written from Naomi's point of view, and you read her thoughts as she's fading out while determined for her last act in life to be warning her friends to stay away from danger. The show adapted it beautifully, including the muffled sound as Bobbie calmly talks her through the process. Naomi's had a hell of a season. Found her son. Reunited with her son. Kidnapped by her son and held captive by her ex. Knocks out her old friend to save the Roci from exploding from a modified version of her old code. Makes some progress in repairing her relationship with her son but ultimately fails. Jumps through space from one ship to another without a suit and unassisted by thrusters. Finds tools on an unfamiliar ship that's been completely stripped down and rigged to blow. Modifies the distress call while dealing with a limited air supply so everyone knows something is weird. Manually rigs a thruster to make the ship spiral so nobody tries to dock. Then throws herself out the airlock again so she can die warning everyone that the ship is a bomb. All before losing a family member. Truly a beacon of resilience.

I think the way they handled Alex's death was perfect. With all that happened with Cas Anvar, all of us who followed the show in real time, knew that his death was the most probable way of giving his character an exit. And I for one was completely satisfied with how they brought it about. No fuss, no dramatic build up, just a man stroking out. For all the fantastical things that happens on the show, and the sometimes, impenetrable, plot armour that our main crew comes dressed in, it served as a reminder of how based in reality the universe of the Expanse actually is. How something can just cease to exist in the blink of an eye. Without warning. Much like life.

Alex stroked out.

If no one’s already told you: season 6 has five extra scenes on Amazon X-Ray (one for episodes 1-5). They each tell a small vignette about a character and I think they’re all excellent, but they’re also incredibly easy to miss! I’d watch them after the credits of each episode.

As a Texan named Alex with dreams of flying a spaceship, this one hurt a lot

I actually really love the way Naomi's message serves as a graceful a send-off for Alex.

Just one little point, Cortázar and the rogue Martians don't go to Ilus. Marco said the name: "Laconia is yours". It's also in the display from Cortázar's video.

Just one thing to correct: Cortazar is not on Ilus. He's on the new planet called Laconia that the Martian were going to when they were "atomized" like you said.

Now you have seen this episode (I have yet to watch this!!) I am putting in a link to Space Dock's analysis of the space battle between the Roci and Marco's forces because the action happens so fast it is really hard to tell what is happening. Space Dock breaks it down scene by scene and makes it even more breathtaking! Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1AEHK8oQeA

Wait - Serbia is at war with Turkey?? 😲

So yeah, lots to unpack here to say the least. I'm glad you guys looked it up before going into the review, because not everyone does that. But yeah, like everyone has also mentioned, obviously the decision was made to kill of Alex after they investigated Cas Anvar's actions. And between killing him off, recasting, or writing him out, I think they made the right decision. I say that, because from a narrative standpoint, I actually really like Alex's death and what it means for the story. The theme of this season was 'Survival', and I think the fact that someone didn't make it, really gives weight to that theme. Similarly, in a sequence/ episode where Holden, Naomi and Alex were all willing to risk their lives to save their family, I think its very appropriate that one of them do in fact not make it. I remember you guys mentioning a few episodes ago that you didn't think The Expanse would kill of a Roci-crew member. I think that was a very common belief amongst the fanbase at large too. They were sort of a security blanket. Sure they might kill of people like Ashford, Cotyar and Fred, but they would never kill *the main characters*. But The Expanse *does* have genuine stakes for everybody, and I think Alex's death here really brings home the fact that this is a War story end of the day. It sobers the audience a bit, into remembering that what these characters are always doing, even just flying, is genuinely risky. Stroking out on a High-G burn is something the show has kept in its back pocket since the first season. They mention how risky it is very often. Even though they had limited options in how to kill off Alex, the suddenness and randomness of his death, I think was very intentional and meant to feel realistic in a war setting. It was a feature, not a bug of the reshoots. The writers actually used that same type of death/ scenario in the books for a different character (who died another way already in the show). I think it's fair to say that the execution wasn't perfect, but under the circumstances I think it was flat out incredible that they pulled it off as well as they did. The show had a very difficult job of saying goodbye to a beloved character, while not giving the actor additional face-time. And while I'm not sure how much (if any) of Naomi's recorded message was re-recorded during the reshoots, I think that was the perfect send-off and true goodbye that they could have given to the character.

I wonder if reactors would prefer that they have an idea that there is some.. awkwardness in the editing of this episode before watching it. Not the spoiler of Alex's death, or even the behind the scenes story, but just some foreknowledge that the episode required a last minute change. I'm editing videos for an Expanse reactor. She's months away from even getting to this season, but I'm considering giving her a vague warning when she's about to watch this episode. I'm guessing someone in her YouTube comments will do it anyway

Nah Serbia won so all good :) . Kinda got worried there for a second after almost wasting 20+ point lead . Yea Alex in the books didn't die here . Actually another character died from stroke in the books . I think in the post they decided to go down this route and show danger from high G burn maneuvers .

I think the creators did a damn good job of making Alex's death still make sense story-wise since it was all done in post after the season was finished. We've heard all series long how sustained high G burns can cause you to stroke out. Well, it finally happened. It could have happened to any of our crew by now with how many high G burns they've done

Yeah it really sucks about Cas Anvar, Alex's actor. The makers of the show had to do this, it was the right thing to do. But it sucks to see a great character to have to go out like this. Good on the 30 women who spoke up though.

i did not know the actor was fired and just googled and fuck... at this point i shouldn't be surprised of how many actors turn out to be fucking pieces of shit it's kinda late and i have a headache so i'll probably watch this tomorrow while having breakfast.

yea... creepy ass Cas Anvar ruined what would've been a great season finale.