Ahem: THAR BE SPOILERS HERE!!!!!!
Also, this will probably make little sense to people who haven't been following the show. Tough nookies; and all the more reason to go watch it yerselves!
Normally, I’d just tell people to watch it if they like REAL hard SF, but because I’ve seen too many tepid reviews (like this one), I’m compelled to write about it at some length.
A little background
The Expanse tells a story of humanity a few centuries from now. The Moon (“Luna”, to distinguish it from all the other moons that figure into the story) is heavily populated. Mars and the Asteroid Belt are (more or less) sovereign entities. There are colonies and outposts on Jovian moons. And, as usual, humans are largely concerned with beating each other to death with clubs, albeit in sophisticated ways and with very sophisticated clubs. This notwithstanding, a tense peace exists throughout the Solar System.But then, the protomolecule is discovered. It’s a semi-organic, extremely complex, and clearly alien entity that appears to have some kind of intent. It changes whatever it touches. Humans infected with it tend to die painfully, but some people with specific mutations are able to incorporate the protomolecule - or, rather, the protomolecule incorporates them. Attempts to communicate with these hybrids suggest the protomolecule would be fine with actually talking to us, but human DNA just seems to primitive to interface with it well.
And then, because of the protomolecule’s existence, all hell breaks lose, bringing humanity predictably to the brink of war at a massive Ring constructed by the protomolecule, and within which another alien object, the Station, is able to distort some of the laws of physics to suit its purposes.
However, all is not lost. A few individuals, who through both good luck and bad end up in the right places at the right times, are able to narrowly avoid several catastrophes and turn things around - albeit at significant personal expense. And though this may sound rather prosaic, the writing and story are so well thought out and lucid that it all makes wonderful sense.
IMHO
I think the point of the entire series so far is embodied in what Anna Volovodov tells Amos just before all hell breaks loose:"On every side of this are people who have no reason to hate each other. Everyone here thinks they're doing the right thing. Everyone there thinks they're doing the right thing. If we get out of this, we have to find a way to understand each other, to explain why we made the choices that we did. It is the only way. It is the only way that we can let go of the hate. Hate is a burden. You don't have to carry it with you."It's a point driven home by James Holden, who desperately trying to avoid a Solar System-wide apocalypse, tells those intent on attempting to destroy the Station:
"I know you're trying to save lives. I am too. But we're on the brink right now because we keep reacting to things we don't understand. We're scared. We're hurt. And we're reaching for violence because we can't figure out what to do. But just this once, can't we try something else?"Can't we try something else? Indeed.
I'm not sure I agree with Volovodov about hate driving the war; I think the problem is fear, not hate. But it works either way.
If you consider the personalities of those who save the day, I think you'll find they're the ones without hate; they're angry, and hurt, and damaged, and confused, and frustrated - but they're not hateful.
At first, I thought Volovodov was trying to convince Amos to abandon his hate, and that she misread him completely. But now I think she was talking about everyone else, telling him what he'd have to do as one of the un-hateful ones, to deal with the hatred in others.
It may seem simplistic, but it really isn't - it's truthful, and rather elegant. People like Ashford and Melba and Errinwright are fundamentally hateful of "The Other", they accept as axiomatic that The Other is malevolent and must treated as such. They’re masters at visiting the sins of the father on the sons. And it's only when they set aside their hate that they can see what's really going on. That is, I think, what best captures and explains Melba's brave act, without which it would have all been for naught. Driven by unexplained hate, she ultimately realizes what’s at stake.
Some people have expressed disappointment at the lack of exposition of Melba’s hatred, but I think perhaps it was intentional; it’s a great way to show how fundamentally meaningless hate really is.
Indeed, it's precisely that hate (or, in my interpretation, fear) that drives people like Ashford quite plainly and predictably - something that others, like Zack Handlen who wrote the review I link to above, missed completely. What Handlen sees as a "drastic shift" in Ashford's character is just the undirected rage of someone realizing they're stuck in what could well be an Extinction Level Event. He’s also a shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of guy, so it’s not really surprising he sees everything as a weapon.
The show also avoided the usual trope of killing of a lead character, one of those requirements for karmic balance or some such bullshit that seems to afflict far too many movies and TV shows these days. It just makes sense that the main characters all survive. I was most concerned about Drummer’s fate, but it absolutely figures that her best friend and super-engineer Naomi would find a way to squash the comprehensively detestable Diogo like the bug he was. I also loved how Drummer brought the booze and fancy glasses to make peace with Ashford - because after all they are both Belters! And I loved how Melba might, with Volovodov's help, find a way to properly redeem and forgive herself.
If I had to pick one nit myself, one that I've not seen picked yet, it would be the too-fortuitous and too-well-timed guidance that Miller gives Holden about shutting down all the ships' reactors. I think it would have been better if the clues to this had been planted by Miller along the way, and that all that was needed at the crucial moment was the tiniest nudge to make Holden realize he'd known the answer all along. I can just see the moment of levity in the chaos as Holden, realizing he'd already been given the answer, gives Miller some serious side-eye - like, “Couldn’t you just say it in plain English?” - and Miller just shrugging it off with a wry grin.
To Sum Up
Is the show perfect? No, of course not. Look hard enough and you'll find lots of things to complain about.Was the finale rushed? A little, though not as much I think as the mid-season transition between novels, with the whole Venusian Protomolecular Space Jellyfish thing.
Should they have compressed two of the source novels into one series? No.
Did they have a choice? Given Syfy's outdated business model, I doubt it.
Does that ruin the show? Fuck, no!
This is exactly the kind of television we need these days, well contructed, with compelling characters, reasonable plots, wonderful writing, and a healthy does of realistic hope.
I'm so grateful The Expanse was saved for a 4th season by Jeff Bezos. Considering what a shithole the real world has turned into the last few years, shows like this are a very necessary breath of fresh air.
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