The Expanse Season 1 Episode 6 (Early Access) Review and Reaction!

Something else, the story Dawes tells of his sister is reminiscent of the stories you'd hear in the pioneering days or middle ages (or some current poverty stricken areas today).... or even reflected in nature, where injured animals get left by the pack who needs to keep moving to stay alive. While its shocking to us in our modern lives, it very much is a natural reality before all of our successes with modern agriculture and technology. While they have technology in the expanse, the Belt is very much a group of impoverished 2nd class citizens controlled by foreign governments, looked down upon, and provided only with the bare minimums to survive. They don't have access to resources on their own. If you upset that balance, its easy to see that it would be possible that life and death decisions are necessary for the herd to survive.

I think the comparison to Palestinian children and Israeli soldiers is an excellent one. Yes, I believe one of the reasons this show feels more realistic (besides the work that the creators have put into making the science and technology appear realistic rather than ideal or magical) is that both people as individuals and governments/social groups act in ways we'd expect them to, should humans simply be transported a few years into the future. Humanity hasn't become more benevolent or trusting, generally. People still try to take advantage of one another. Being on the opposite "side" to others can lead you to dehumanize them. Childhood events can radicalize you. It's all very real and relatable. I like the idea of Alex coming to love the ship! That moment of seeming jubilation when he yells "I'm doing it" while escaping the Donnager was the beginning of his love affair haha. No, but honestly, it makes sense in that piloting that ship successfully surely gives him a sense of pride and belonging. Though it is sad to think that he feels more drawn to that than to his own family - I suppose that also is realistic for a lot of people. Thank you for the information regarding the timelines! That also suggests that Miller has been investigating Julie's disappearance and digging into her past for considerably longer than it might appear (which helps to make it more believable that he's fallen in love with her, or at least his idea of her).

Diago becomes kind of a fun character, he makes for good comic relief from time to time. The rock throwing at the martian ship is very much like Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers and getting a huge amount of machine gun fire in return. And.... just like Israel uses those incidents to escalate their posture, the same happens with Mars. Its interesting, there is a lot in this show that can actually be compared to current and recent history, whether it was intentional or not. A crew of choice is a good way to describe it. It wasn't just Naomi. Alex was very much liking flying the ship... when you speak of romance and love, Alex is pretty much in love with his ship and doesn't want to leave it - much more so than he seems to be with his family even though he always puts their picture on the console. Something i should point out... the show is very good at condensing timelines. They don't have any mythical faster than light travel, so travel times actually do take a few days to get from place to place, so at this point the crew has spent a lot more time together than they make it appear. There is a discussion on Stack Exchange that I like to quote, someone did the math. If you accelerate at 1G, do a flip and burn at half way, and decelerate at 1G, it would take: 3 hours 20 minutes to get from Earth to Moon . (vs apollo missions that were 3+ days of coasting) 1 day 21 hours to get from Earth to Mars (most of our probes take 6-9 months) So much more efficient and faster than todays space travel (where engines run for a few minutes and you coast the rest of the way), but its still not instant travel. Most of the times to save fuel, I believe a lot of ships in the expanse travel at 1/3rd G.... they don't really depict it, I know the books mention it.... since acceleration gets squared, its not 3x slower, it becomes weeks vs days.

Gonna check ASAP, thanks Molly

Thank you Molly for the in depth breakdown of the episode - looking forward to the full reactions 😁 As for the notes - do what ever makes you comfortable.. I didn't notice too much of a difference from the past episode breakdowns. If you feel it takes away from your concentration then I'd personally want you to enjoy (not that you wouldn't) this amazing show to the fullest.