The Expanse: Season 1 Finale Review

The Holden & Miller team-up we’ve been waiting for and a whole lot more.

Kicking off the two-hour season finale is a look at Julie Mao’s journey from the Scopuli, to the Anubis and eventually to her demise at Eros station. It’s great to finally see events from her perspective and it does a really good job of filling in some of the holes in the story that we’ve had from the start of the season.

It was actually difficult watching Mao, a character who is quite clearly strong, full of life and fighting for a cause she believes in, be absolutely crushed step-by-step as she becomes the unwitting vessel for the protomolecule. We shared the experience of discovering Julie through Miller and even though she wasn’t on screen for most of the season her development was so well done that I felt like I knew her well enough to know that she would continue fighting until the very last moment.

Her first encounter with the protomolecule on the Anubis gave us a chilling peak of what it was eventually going to develop into by the end of the episode. Actually seeing it feed on one of the crew was chilling to watch, even if it was just a glance. I have no idea how the protomolecule was described in the books but it’s a beautiful looking creature design when it’s fully grown and glowing.

Julie’s fight with the virus once she arrives at Anubis was upsetting. First of all that vomit she had was unnaturally nasty. For something so beautiful it causes the body to expel something horrible. Once the protomolecule takes hold of her body we see her life slipping away. It was upsetting to hear her last words as she thought back to her racing ship, the Razorback, which she clearly adored.

The flashback to Julie’s experience wasn’t that long at all. It really didn’t need to be, the writers throughout the course of the season have done such an exceptional job of developing a character that wasn’t even there that we really did know her well enough to feel for her death.

When the story finally picks up where it left off last week events begin to move at a brisk pace as the fallout from the shootout and another nefarious plan from an unknown group take hold. The heart of everything that takes place from this moment on is the relationship Miller develops with Holden and the rest of the group. It wasn’t a surprise that Miller, who has been working alone the entire season, would have an especially rough time getting along with Holden’s crew. What I appreciated though was that even though they’re journey and reasons for being on Eros were different they managed to develop an understanding fairly quickly. The story didn’t fall into the trap and give us animosity for animosities sake between Holden and Miller, there was a period when both parties had to settle down from their experience and understand that working together is what was going to keep them alive.

Seeing Mao, his quest for the entire season, dead and in such a horrific state left Miller unhinged. Whatever voice in his head that was keeping him together clearly dissipated as his focus became blind revenge – and it was a whole lot of fun to watch. First, it was a great idea to quickly separate Holden and Miller from the rest of the group. They have completely different personality types but they compliment each other so well. It was especially necessary considering just how unhinged Miller had become to keep him in line; who better than Holden to do that.

While the group is trying to figure out their next move we’re introduced to a few new characters who have a special interest in Julie Mao and the protomolecule. This is when the episode drops its first big bomb as it’s revealed that the man behind the larger conspiracy is Julie Mao’s father, Jules-Pierre Mao. That’s a big reveal and while he appears to be upset seeing his daughter dead, he doesn’t seem that upset. It seems like an unfortunate coincidence that still led to the best case scenario for Jules Mao who can now see the next stage of his plan take place.

The entire scenario is all-sorts of freakish. Take a remote space station at the back end of nowhere that no one cares about and turn it into a giant petri dish for a horrific experiment on men, women and children.

Back on Earth, Chrisjen makes a few interesting discoveries regarding the recently deceased former Martian Ambassador, Frank DeGraaf. His suicide was unsettling for his husband who puts much of the blame for it on Chrisjen. I know Chrisjen is legitimately upset about Frank’s death, but I wasn’t surprised to see her take advantage of an unfortunate situation to gather intel on the stealth ships. She’s certainly not without compassion but since the start of the season she has made her priorities clear and it’s obvious that she wants to know the truth behind what happened with the Scopuli and Donnager by any means necessary. She’s a lot of fun to watch despite the fact that she’s a billion miles away from the action.

Holden and Miller, thinking they were doing the right thing, gain access to one of the radiation shelters that the mystery group has been shoving people into before injecting them with a bit of the protomolecule. Yeah, that was a bad move as it turns out that the radiation shelter is literally a microwave and both Holden and Miller get cooked. I don’t think irradiating Holden and Miller was something that was necessary to the episode but it does add an extra bit of urgency to their quest to get back to the Ronci and off of Eros.

Being caught in the middle of a science experiment, in danger of being captured by some mystery bad guys and irradiated in a giant microwave acts as one hell of a bonding experience for Holden and Miller who both go through quite a lot over the course of the second hour. As I mentioned earlier, the two character do gel well together.

Miller was notably affected by the radiation a lot more than Holden was, constantly coughing up blood, and it seemed like he was generally having trouble staying on his feet. I really liked how Holden had to constantly keep guiding him around in certain situations as Miller just seemed like he was completely losing it. Conversely, during big action moments Miller had Holden’s back during action moments, saving his skin on a couple of occasions.

Also noteworthy is the quips that Miller was throwing around at times. I am really appreciating how this show can throw in a bit of good comedy during some heated situation. Alex has had some funny lines and Miller’s ability to tell a couple of jokes when all the odds are stacked against them is something that will probably go under-appreciated but it definitely goes along way from both a character development and entertainment standpoint.

Naomi and the rest of the group had a difficult time finding their way back to the Ronci. These scenes were nowhere near as entertaining as what was going on with Holden and Miller but they did improve some important moments. Naomi’s understanding of some of the OPA’s more nuanced protocol was definitely a signal to the group that the martians weren’t making up the fact that she was part of that group at some point. They don’t seem to bothered though as her knowledge could save their life.

The trip through the tunnels wasn’t that eventful unfortunately. They had a man and a child tag along with them to create some extra drama but it never amounts to anything beyond forcing Naomi into a situation that she cannot control. Actually, the entire scenario in the tunnels seems like a test for Naomi as a leader, and while she’s not fond of the role, she proves herself in the task despite Semi constantly doubting her at every turn.

Speaking of Semi, I kind of liked that guy last week but he turns out to be a coward here. Pulling a gun on Naomi while Amos is in the same room is a bad idea though. The bond between Naomi and Amos is something I hope they expand upon in the second season because I don’t quite understand it. Amos seems to rely on Naomi as his moral compass, which is a neat idea, but I would love to know why that is. We’ve heard bits about Amos’ past and it sounds like he’s had it rough so maybe Naomi fills a void that exists. It’s an interesting dynamic.

Much like the shootout last week, the game room scene had a great tension to it. Miller had been coughing up a storm going into the scene so watching him try desperately to stay quiet when someone walked into the room and started playing the game was really fun to watch. A lot like the shootout there was a good use of closeups, color and reactions shots in the build up to the action when Miller attacked. There was even a bit of humor thrown into the mix with the guy winning big at the machine. It’s a great sequence and I am loving how well the action is put together on this show.

Fred Johnson’s brief scene has him preparing a public announcement revealing his evidence that he did not have anything to do with the stealth ship attack on the Scopuli or the Donnager. He makes his feelings known that he believes someone is trying to create a situation for their own gain but he knows and has the evidence to back up the fact that the CPA simply isn’t even equipped to develop the type of drives being used on the stealth ships and he points to Earth as the only place they could have been built.

Back on Earth, Chrisjen discovers that the stealth ships have been of Earth origin all along but Errinwright claims that they all ended up in Fred Johnson’s possession. So despite Johnson’s announcement they are still going forward with their plan to pin the blame on him. Chrisjen puts the pieces together at this point that DeGraaf was actually murdered for what he had uncovered regarding the stealth ships and she’s left with little choice but to play along, for now. It’s an interesting development but it’s all mostly buildup for the second season. It’s great to finally know the origin of the stealth ships though.

The second big bomb of this episode has to do with Jules Mao who shows up during Chrisjen’s conversation with Errinwright, pointing towards what appears to be Earth’s involvement in the events taking place on Eros.

Holden’s encounter with Kenzo was a really strong moment. I think the Holden of maybe a couple of episodes ago would have saved Kenzo’s life. After this episode however, I think Holden is angry, frustrated and tired. The drugs he was taking to keep him alive probably didn’t help things much either. It definitely was a dynamic shift for a character who is always trying to do the right thing.

Miller had a similar moment with that Belter who tried to kill Havelock. It’s much more within Miller’s character, especially this episode, to show no mercy. So it really wasn’t all that surprising to see him shoot the guy in the head. It was actually quite satisfying to see Miller tie up that loose end.

Holden and Naomi shared a moment back on the ship. I’m not sure if we’re supposed to expect anything more between the two but their friendship has definitely grown over the past few weeks. Any distrust that may have been there seems to be gone. I really love how this crew has grown together over the course of the series, even the ship itself has become a character on its own. I am a big fan of the Ronci so it was great to see it shed the excess gas tanks and fly out of Eros station. From a CG perspective that looked great for television.

So the final scene reveals what seems to be another evolutionary state for the protomolecule. Dresden mentioned earlier in the episode that the protomolecule would learn or educate itself. I guess the more it absorbs, the smarter it gets. By the conclusion of this episode it’s able to mimic human form. It appears to be an intelligent life-form or at least some sort of life that is able to mimic intelligence. It’s a fantastic creature and appears to be completely absorbing all of Eros station. It’s one hell of a cliffhanger.