from Kbear! on March 23, 2017
Survivors
Ganymede before the attack, Dr. Praxideke Meng (Terry Chen) is looking at his daughter Mei (Leah Jung) wearing her backpack that has holograms on it, she is looking at Jupiter. Debris starts falling and Meng wakes up on a refugee freighter. He calls out for Mei, but only hears Doris (Grace Lynn Kung), a friend from Ganymede. Mei was at her doctor’s appointment on Sector 4, the falling mirror wiped out section 4. She is afraid Mei is dead.
Conditions on the ship are bad. Doris is going back to Mars; she invites Meng to go with her. An announcement from the Captain that the Inners will board ships leaving for Earth and Mars, the inner planets. Meng decides at the last minute to go with her. Stopped by a crewmember who tells him only the Inners can go. (Meng must be a Belter, but he doesn’t act or talk like the ones we have met, he is educated and from Ganymede, so maybe conditions on Ganymede were better for Belters.) He tells Doris they can meet up later. As he looks out a window at Doris, a door opens and all the Inners float out an airlock. The crew member tells him they are only looking out for Belters. (Does the Trump family own this ship in the future?) Meng goes further into shock. When he arrives in Tycho he tries to report the crime, but he doesn’t know the name of the ship or who did the crime. With so much going on due to this refugee crisis, the crime will go unpunished. I will get back to Meng later.
The Rocinante returns with a proud and defiant Diogo (Andrew Rotilio). Staz (Alden Adair) listens to Diogo tell everyone about Cortazar (Carlos Gonzalez-Vio). Drummer (Cara Lee) reports that Dawes (Jared Harris) left in another ship with Cortazar. Diogo piloted Dawes’ ship as a diversion. Holden (Steven Strait) is upset with Drummer for the stations lax security. Fred (Chad L. Coleman) gets a transmission from Dawes. He found out about Fred’s secret and they will have to part ways. He knows Fred was keeping the Protomolecule to protect the Belt, but he was keeping it a secret from everyone because he thinks he knows what is best for the Belt, just like an Earther. Dawes plans to share the Protomolecule with the Belt.
Deception
Naomi (Dominique Tipper) is mad at Holden for not telling her Cortazar found a new Protomolecule. She gets back on the ship to check on the hidden missile that has a sample of the Protomolecule. Naomi has neglected to tell Holden she didn’t fire into the sun. She still tells Holden she is mad at him for not telling her.
Amos (Wes Chatham) is walking through the station looking like he has been on a bender or two. Alex (Cas Anvar) spots him and asks him for some help with some repairs for the refugees. Amos says no. One of the men on Fred’s bridge is sharing the message Dawes sent to Fred with Staz and other OPA members.
Women on the case
Naomi and Drummer are going to try to triangulate where Cortazar found the other Protomolecule. Naomi asks what they are going to do about Diogo. Drummer is behind whatever Fred decides to do with Diogo; she feels that Fred will do what is best for the Belt. She tells a surprised Naomi she used to work for Dawes. They found Fred in a bar in Ceres, drunk and looking to die, feeling guilty for the massacre on Anderson Station. Dawes gave Fred a new purpose. They find the location where Cortazar found the Protomolecule; it isn’t Naomi’s missile, but Ganymede. When Holden finds out about Ganymede, he is ready to go there and shut the new Protomolecule operation down. Fred doesn’t see the point in going; Mars has the planet blockaded. While they are talking, the man who met with Staz is communicating with him.
Searching for the truth
Holden knows that Cortazar worked for Protogen. He and Naomi go through the records to find the Protogen employees with scientific backgrounds who worked in Ganymede. They narrow it down to a Dr. Strickland (Ted Atherton). He was Mei’s pediatrician. The Ganymede refugees gather around a board that has pictures of lost family members. Holden and Naomi are looking for Meng. He sees them and thinks they may be part of the crew that tossed the Inners out the airlock. They catch him before he can get away. He is surprised when they ask him about Dr. Strickland. Meng doesn’t know anything, he just knows him as a pediatrician. They are able to look at some film and see that Strickland took Mei out of the clinic an hour before the battle started. Therefore, it looks like Mei is alive and Strickland knew about the attack in advance.
Staz and his men take over the bridge. He is there for the missiles. Staz asks Fred for the code to launch the missiles at Earth. He hopes firing the missiles will start a war, and he is willing for Tycho to be destroyed. Fred refuses to give him the code; he shoots one of Fred’s men. Fred still refuses so he tries to get the code from Drummer. When she refuses, he shoots her.
What happened to you?
On the Rocinante, Amos is doing a system search to find Lydia Maalouf, the woman who took care of him after his mom died. Alex is still pissed Amos isn’t helping with the refugees. He chews Amos out for being selfish. Amos snidely asks him why Alex doesn’t help his own family. They tussle and Amos goes nuts, Alex sees the crazy in Amos’ eyes. He sincerely asks Amos, “what happened to you?’ They hear beeping, Naomi was monitoring the hangars the missiles are stored in and they are ready to launch. Alex calls Holden.
Staz’s man on Fred’s bridge still can’t unlock the launch code. Amos goes outside the station and cuts off the oxygen to the bridge. Everyone passes out. Holden and some security people show up. A wounded Drummer shoots Staz and the traitor in the head. Do not mess with Drummer.
Amos takes Meng to a room on the ship. Amos states some of their rules for him, Meng complains about his treatment, Amos tells him he isn’t a guest; he is a guide. Amos does approve that he is there to find his daughter.
Things are changing
Holden and Naomi share a quiet moment to discuss what is going on. Holden admits he went to kill Cortazar. Naomi is glad he didn’t, that isn’t who Jim Holden is. Holden asks her to keep reminding him who he is. They tell each other they love each other and Holden asks that they do not keep any more secrets from each other. Naomi remains silent. Alex calls Holden; they need Fred’s personal authorization to leave the dock. Alex looks at a picture of his family. Holden goes to Fred’s office. Fred feels like all the repairs they have done on the ship, not including the fuel and feeding the Rocinante crew, the ship might as well be his. Holden says that he and his crew saving Fred’s life should make them even. Fred tells him if he goes to Ganymede, finds Protomolecule, and not bring it back to him, they shouldn’t bother to come back. The free ride is over. Holden asks what makes Fred think he’ll still be in charge when they come back. Holden tells him that things are changing. Fred lets the Rocinante leave Tycho.
***
Chrisjen and Bobbie weren’t in the episode. I think we will get plenty of them on the next episode. Even without them, it was a full episode. We are introduced to Meng, a biologist from Ganymede. After Ganymede is attacked he becomes a refugee. This storyline touches on an issue we are dealing with now. People aren’t treating these refugees any better than we are. At least there is a chance Meng’s daughter is alive, giving him a reason to continue. He is going back to Ganymede with the crew of the Rocinante, good luck to him, he’ll need it.
Naomi is still lying to Holden. I can see why she might want to hang on to it, but the hypocrisy of her getting mad at Holden for not telling her about Cortazar finding more Protomolecule is annoying. I can’t wait until her lies catch up to her. I don’t care for her self-righteous attitude. Amos is still shaken about the incident with the refugee mother and son. I’m looking forward to getting more of Amos’ background. There wasn’t that much action, but we got a closer look at the political machinations of the OPA. They play for keeps. Losing is not an option. Staz can testify to that.
Grade: B+
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