The Expanse - Television Season 2 Review

I have to admit that I've been taking my time with watching this show, but it's not because I dislike it. My real reason why is that I'm having such a good time that I get anxious about running out of episodes. Does anyone else experience this with shows they like? It took me years before I would finally watch the final season of Miami Vice because I didn't want it to end. I even still recall a similar situation where I dreamt I had accidentally skipped an episode of Sopranos after finishing the series. While I wouldn't say Expanse is on par with either of those shows (for me personally anyway), it's still been pretty damn good. Like the previous season, I watched this on Amazon Video.

*

General Information 
Season two of Expanse first premiered on 1 February 2017. It is based off of a good chunk of Leviathan Wakes, as well as Caliban's War, which were both written by James S.A. Corey. I haven't read Caliban's War yet, so I'm not sure how much of this season is covered in the book. If season one is any indicator, I would expect season two also remains relatively true to its source material. Season two suffered a dip in viewership, however it appears to have had the largest critical acclaim in the series as of 3 November 2020. Season 2 has a Metascore of 77 with a 92 User Score on Metacritic, which is a bit higher than what I noted in my review for the previous season.

The Story

Season 2 opens pretty dire as the crew of the Rocinante barely survived their escape from Eros, while the relationship between Earth and Mars has grown even more tenuous. An immediate dynamic Holden must deal with is the addition of Miller to his crew. If viewers thought he was hard to get along with on Ceres Station, they haven't seen anything yet! Meanwhile, Chrisjen Avasarala (still played by the enchanting Shohreh Aghdashloo) is still investigating Jules-Pierre Mao's ties to the Protomolecule. Lastly, we also get introduced to two new main characters, Martian marine, Bobbie Draper (played by Frankie Adams), and botanist, Praxidike "Prax" Meng (played by Terry Chen).

**

Where's Avasarala going to go this season?

Like a lot of network television of the time period, season 2 has a mid-season finale, which essentially breaks it into two smaller seasons. This is an important note to make as a lot happens during these separate points. I found the first half of the season to be the most enjoyable, however this season is arguably better than the first and more cohesive too.

There's an overarching theme on loyalty in this season that looks at several different perspectives as the show goes on. The most obvious example is how Bobbie Draper views her role in the Martian military, but we also see this with Miller's and Naomi's opinions of the Belt. Miller (still played wonderfully by Tom Jane) continues to be the most interesting character in this season, however I continue to have some issues with his obsession with Julie Mao. I never felt this fascination was fully earned, however this season addresses it a bit more.

One element that doesn't quite land is Holden's shift from paragon of virtue to Ahab-esque hunter of the Protomolecule. I'm definitely glad to see James Holden (played by Steven Strait) develop more as a character, but something always seems a little off with this change in behavior. The character development of the rest of the Rocinante is handled far better, but on much more of a micro-level.

Special Effects/Atmosphere
When it comes to space battles, zero-gravity movement, and interior shots of rusty space stations, this show continues to impress with its wonderful set-design and special effects. We are treated to a wonderful scene of Alex Kamal (played by Cas Anvar) floating around lazily with a ton of empty soda cans that had me generally curious in how the showrunners simulate zero-gravity. The music remains minimalistic, but I enjoy what little I actually hear.

One thing I can't let go, unfortunately, is the horrendous appearance of a certain figure that crosses paths with Bobbie Draper near the beginning of the second-half of the season. I can't explain exactly what this person/thing/machine without spoiling a good chunk of the season, but it looks like it was made from the same CGI-tools used to construct the dragon Liu Kang turns into in Mortal Kombat: Annhilation. Viewers will know exactly what I'm talking about when they see this and I'm a little baffled as to how they could screw this one up so much after all the excellent work done everywhere else in the show. I'm hopeful that either this monstrosity won't appear in future seasons, or that the special effects department gets a bigger budget.

The Acting
Although Tom Jane continues really make this show incredible, the acting for the Rocinante crew definitely improved. Dominique Tipper (plays Naomi Nagata) shines the brightest as her character must struggle with deciding over whether she should be loyal to the Belt or to Holden. Wes Chatham (plays Amos Burton) has a bit of a stutter-step at first as he came off a little stilted, but I think he really finds his place in the show by the end of this season. Cas Anvar does a decent job too although he's typically stuck aboard the Rocinante while the rest of the crew engage the plot. Lastly, I can tell Steven Strait is putting some hard work into playing Holden, but I lay the blame of my disliking of Holden on James S.A. Corey.

***

I must admit that I love the ongoing joke of how much Holden loves his coffee

Of the more peripheral performers, Jared Harris and Chad Coleman remain awesome in every scene that they're in. I would shower more praise on Shohreh Aghdashloo if I could, but that may not be possible anymore. Overall, I think Frankie Adams does an okay job, but she lacks an intensity that her character clearly calls for. I'm hoping she'll do better in season three. Lastly, I want to point out that Terry Chen is easily the best of the newcomers in this season. His character has a decent amount of depth, and Chen's acting really helps that show.

The Best of the Best: Miller's return to Eros was epic.

The Worst of the Worst: The CGI creature/person/thing that crosses paths with Bobbie Draper.

Would I Recommend?

****

Onward to season 3!

If season one was all about laying the foundation, then season two uses that same foundation to craft some wonderful stories that keep the viewer engaged from beginning to end. I really liked season one, but season two is possibly even better. If you watched season one, you need to watch season two.

-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• The CGI abomination I mention in my review is obviously the Protomolecule Hybrid (if you somehow didn't realize that already). I would say we need to kill that thing with fire, but the Rocinante crew already took care of that for us.
  
• Speaking of that, I'm genuinely curious what the creature would've done with that warhead after successfully grabbing it...
• When I was readying myself to start this series, I was dreading the episode where Bobbie Draper tries to find the ocean, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered it being.
• I do find it strange that Draper was able to simply walk out of the Martian embassy and wander New York City, but then had tons of guards to deal with when she attempted to defect to the U.N.
• I'm so upset that Miller died. The second half of this season is still good, but not having Tom Jane makes me worry about how this show will do in its third season.
• There's something very spooky going down in that crater on Venus.
• Bobbie Draper is Iron Man.
• I know we're supposed to be all upset about Naomi giving Fred Johnson the Protomolecule, but let's be honest, people: Fred is probably the sanest and most rational person in this entire show. I'd much rather he had a crazy biological weapon than Mars or Earth.
• Really, the only actual concern is Anderson Dawes. If Dawes steals this from Fred too, then we're all doomed.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

*Best Buy. (n.d.). The Expanse season two cover image. Retrieved from: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/the-expanse-season-two-4-discs-dvd/5837810.p?skuId=5837810.

**Rajewski. (2017). Avasarala gif. Reddit. Retrieved from: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/comments/61k8ne/shohreh_aghdashloo_gives_me_life/. 

***Syfy. (n.d.). Holden coffee gif. Giphy. Retrieved from: https://giphy.com/gifs/syfy-holden-the-expanse-xT77XPEW73VtjoxCzm. 

****imaliberalsnowflake. (n.d.). Bobbie Draper meme image. Imgur. Retrieved from: https://imgur.com/gallery/wjSTQ2W.