The Expanse Review: Gaugamela (Season 5 Episode 4)

We could have used a warning to buckle-up!

The Expanse Season 5 Episode 4, “Gaugamela,” delivers enough force to knock a person out. 

It is a superb episode that uses the emotional weight of the dominoes stacked on The Expanse Season 5 Episodes 1-3 to deliver absolutely explosive content when “Gaugamela” pushes the pieces over. 

The only thing missing is Camina Drummer and her family, but we can be sure that witnessing her reaction to Marco Inaros’s warfare will make the pain of Drummer’s absence worth it. 

Speaking of, let’s get right to Inaros, shall we. 

He is a radical who has attacked Mars and Earth, killing millions. 

He also makes some excellent points. 

On Season 3 and the first few episodes of Season 4 we don’t quite understand the leader’s persuasive power. That changes on “Gaugamela.”

The Inners have abused their power over and over with the Belters paying the hefty price. Marco’s speech doesn’t just highlight the lengthy history of oppression. He also make a forward facing, hopeful claim to prosperity for his people. 

It is such a smart move for him to use this speech to highlight the active rights Belters have, rather than singularly demonize Earthers and Martians. 

He even notes that the Inners have their own rights and will be safe within their own atmospheres. 

Namoi’s ex is scarily smart. 

We have seen other leaders, including Fred Johnson (RIP) and Ashford, take their power and wield it like a weapon. Marcos understands that power can also be used as a Siren, luring listeners into submission.

Smart.

Ideologically, it is not like Naomi, Drummer and Marco are far apart. That is what is so chilling about Marco’s rise to supremacy: he sounds like he is doing the righteous thing.

It is smart of the show to craft Filip as a mysterious person whose loyalties are not totally apparent. When he says to his mother, “You were wrong to leave us,” it is an accusation of abandonment. 

But I dare say, it is something else too. It could be that Filip sees how his father’s violent approach isn’t the only way. If Naomi had been there, had stayed and fought to be a balancing voice, maybe things wouldn’t be like this. 

Filip is trapped, too. Loving his father is in some ways, his only option. 

That’s not to say that Filip isn’t a gung-ho participant in his father’s plans. He is. But, it is also clear that he wants his mother there. There is something missing.

That is a thread available for Naomi to pull on. It is thrilling to anticipate how she will find a way to a closer relationship with her son, when war, protomolecule, and Marcos himself are riding with her.

Side note: Filip is brilliantly cast. He sincerely looks like a blend of his parents. He also strikes a resemblance to Michael Trevino, who plays Kyle on Roswell, New Mexico. Anyone else see it?

Back to it. Naomi is now faced with being in the awful position of having a front row seat to the greatest manifestation of Marco’s radicalism while also having a seat beside her son. It is far from hopeless, but it sure is hard.

The episode as a whole deals with how to find freedom while trapped by the past. 

Alex and Bobbie kick off the episode discussing how to move on from the loss of Mars as they knew it. 

ALEX: So, we’re building a coffin. For our dying planet. 

Wise as hell Bobbie guides Alex through his disillusionment in an effective attempt to make sure he isn’t trapped by his grief. 

BOBBIE: No matter how traumatic the loss, you only have so much emotional stamina. Even grief can get used up.

The pair will undoubtedly be part of the big action soon, but the story time moment is appreciated.

Indeed, the acknowledgement of how the worlds they knew before are gone is a really nice set up for the rest of the episode the it hits the fan. 

When Amos visits Clarissa, who is literally trapped in an underground cell, she parrots back to him the words he gave her on Season 4 about how to find freedom. 

Forget meditation, “breath in, breathe out, eat, shit, sleep,” is all the mantra we need. 

Amos is such a gripping character that even his check-in at the UN prison’s front desk has me enraptured. 

The power of Amos has everything to do with Wes Chatham, who is bringing it so hard this season the entire show is lifted a notch. His delivery of lines is as pitch perfect as his physicality.

Now that he’s trapped underground with Clarissa and the super-scary prisoners, Amos is going to have even more of a chance to shine as an ever-developing character.

Please, please, let him have a lasting love interest. He deserves it. 

The shocking moments on the episode can’t be overlooked. 

Fred Johnson is murdered by a traitorous Belter! I am so hurt and we only just met!

Avasarala manages to save millions of people because she pays attention to staff who make her those good macaroons, not just heads of state. 

Truly, the way Avasarala gets access is a reflection of her deep understanding of politics. 

But, she is too late to save the planet from the third asteroid and Avasarala witnesses the demise of her rival. 

We are left with the open question of, who is in charge now?!

Everything has changed after the events of “Gaugamela.” Our characters are in for it as they choose how to react, how to move forward. 

As Clarissa smartly tells Amos, “Not every stain comes out.” It remains to be seen what spills from this time of Belter take-over will leave a permanent stain. 

Stray Asteroids

• The nuclear blasts on Earth are sickening. A bit too close to home, but I like it.
• Fred Johnson kept protomolecule is his darn quarters!! What were you thinking Fred?! (We miss you already, though)
• Monica isn’t ever going to be my favorite, but let’s face it, Holden needs a partner. Lone Wolf he is not.
• Bobbie kept a sweet rat in her hair and it nuzzled her cheek. I could not love this Martian more. 
• Unforgivable, Sakai. 
• How is the gang going to get back together when they are at separate ends of the solar system? I miss the Roci something fierce. 
• While Fred Johnson’s death is so sad, the scenes of his shooting and transport to gravity are really stunning.
• It is very, very hard not to be able to stream the season all at once. Is it next week yet?

What did you think of this episode of The Expanse? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Expanse airs Wednesdays on Amazon Prime.

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