The Expanse Season 5 Premiere Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This is a mostly spoiler-free review of the Season 5 premiere of The Expanse, which includes the first three episodes: "Exodus," "Churn," and "Mother." New episodes of The Expanse will air every Friday until the Season 5 finale on February 3, 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] After five seasons on the air, The Expanse has become a well-oiled machine, with its uncanny ability to consistently produce engaging stories and memorable characters thanks to showrunner Naren Shankar's successful adaption of James S.A. Corey's (Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank) sprawling novels. But don't confuse consistency with complacency on the part of Shankar and his team, because the Season 5 premiere (Amazon is releasing the first 3 episodes on December 16) is one of the series' most ambitious undertakings in terms of its narrative scope, as it begins to raise the stakes for many of our favorite characters. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=da92aa35-d4a2-4a8a-91d6-6a773bc4c664"] The first really unique and unexpected aspect about Season 5 (unless you've already read "Nemesis Games"), is that every crew member of the Rocinante is on their own individual journey in different parts of the solar system. This storytelling approach allows for some impactful character building since we get to learn more about Amos, Holden, Naomi, Alex, and Bobbie outside of their usual confines inside the Roci. One of my favorite threads throughout the premiere is Amos' (Wes Chatham) trip to his hometown of Baltimore. After spending so much time on Illus' desolate surface in Season 4, it's a welcome change of scenery to see a futuristic sprawling city come to life. While Chatham has always played Amos as a shoot first, ask questions later tough-nosed kind of guy, the actor does some impressive work here to imbue his character with a bit of vulnerability. Don't worry, there doesn't seem to be any indication that Amos is going to suddenly turn into a big softy, but it is nice to know what his character is thinking from time to time. Watch an exclusive clip from The Expanse Season 5 premiere below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/15/the-expanse-season-5-exclusive-official-amos-clip"] In a particularly poignant scene involving Chatham's Amos and veteran actor Frankie Faison's Charles -- as the two reminisce about old times in Baltimore -- Amos quotes a friend from his childhood: "float to the top or sink to the bottom, everything else in the middle is the churn." It's a concise statement packed with a lot of meaning that told me more about why Amos is such a capable survivor, even if he struggles in expressing what's going on under the surface. Off planet, Naomi (Dominique Tipper) continues her search for her estranged son, Filip (Jasai Chase Owens), in the hopes of rescuing him from his unstable father, Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander). There's still a lot to learn about Naomi's journey that's not revealed in the Season 5 premiere, but the time we do spend with her is enjoyable, especially when she's visiting a local Belter bar asking for information concerning Filip. Tipper is excellent at changing her character's demeanor when she's in full "Belter mode," which consists of a thicker accent and a more formidable posture whenever she's conversing with old comrades. There's also an air of suspense in her story since it's difficult to discern which of her former Belter acquaintances is trustworthy, or about to betray her. On the villain front, Marco is spoken of more than he's actually seen. This deliberate approach to not overuse him in the first three episodes is effective in building an aura of mystery around his character. However, when Marco is present, Alexander gives a commanding performance with some charged speeches about Belter independence and how the Inners are taking advantage of everyone. Even if you're not an expert on The Expanse's political sphere, it's easy to see why so many people would follow Marco due to Alexander's gravitas on screen. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-expanse-season-5-gallery&captions=true"] Of all the sprawling storylines throughout the premiere, Holden's (Steven Strait) is perhaps the least interesting. While Strait continues to embody the weary space traveler effectively, his Sherlock Holmes arc, as he looks for information about the protomolecule, isn't very attention-grabbing. Where most of his shipmates' adventures are exposing interesting new aspects about their characters, we don't really see anything new from Holden at this stage in the story. Without going into too much detail, it does appear that the writers are building up to something with his plotline that could have major consequences down the road, but... time will tell. With the recent announcement that The Expanse will end after its sixth season, and knowing that there are still four books after "Nemesis Games" to adapt, I was concerned that Season 5 would feel rushed as the writers race towards to finish line. Thankfully, at least in this first batch of episodes, the pacing is excellent, with no signs of hastiness to worry about.

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