The Expanse | Season 3 | Episode : “Abaddon’s Gate“
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[Read time: 5-7 min
“I still don’t understand what you see in him.” Camina Drummer – The Expanse
James Holden (Steven Strait) is in his cell holding a conversation with Miller (Thomas Jane). Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper) and Camina Drummer (Cara Gee) are watching him on a video screen. They [and the audience] can’t see Miller. It looks like Holden is arguing with himself. Drummer: “I still don’t understand what you see in him.” Clarissa Mao (Nadine Nicole) is in her cell overhearing the conversation. Holden and Miller go over the ignition of the nuclear device and the station’s response. After he finishes his conversation with Miller, he tells Naomi and Drummer, “I know how to fix this.”
Captain Lucas (Yanna McIntosh) orders Bobbie Draper (Frankie Draper) and her team to prepare to work security. Bobbie asks her if there is anything, they need to know before they get started. Captain Lucas won’t tell her about Klaes Ashford’s (David Strathairn) plan, she just tells her to get ready.
Drummer contacts Ashford and tells him that Holden says he knows how to get them out of this. Ashford: “What is Holden telling you to do?” Drummer: “He believes he can convince the station that we are not a threat.” Ashford asks Drummer if they are in the brig. She tells him they are but she can tell something is wrong. Ashford: “We should talk in person.” Drummer: “I agree. I’ll be right there.” After they get off the feed, Ashford turns to his flunky Diogo (Andrew Rotilio), “Bring them to me. Don’t let anyone stop you.” Drummer asks the Belter guard Egan (Obssa Ahmed) for his gun. She tells Naomi, “Ashford’s coming for us.” Drummer offers to make it look like they overpowered Egan and escaped but he tells Drummer he is with them. He looks at Holden and says, “Him Belter also.” Drummer rolls her eyes in disbelief. Holden contacts Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar) and Amos Burton (Wes Chatham) and tells them his plan. They have to contact Monica Stuart (Anna Hopkins) so that they can broadcast to the flotilla for all the ships to power down so the station won’t see them as a threat. Alex tells him it’s going to be hard to convince the flotilla to turn off the lights, Holden tells them to find away. Holden, Naomi, and Drummer are heading to the Behemoth’s reactor room to power the ship down. They wish each other good luck. Amos looks across sickbay and sees Anna Volovodov (Elizabeth Mitchell) with a patient. He walks over and tells her they need her. She tells him what she is doing is important. Amos: “Unless we can convince a whole lot of people to do something they’re not going to want to do, everybody’s going to die.” Anna leaves with them.
A crewmember on the bridge electrocutes himself trying to channel more power to the laser. Ashford asks Grigori (Brock Johnson) do they need more qualified people working on it. Grigori: “Is it really about getting signal out?” Ashford: “No. That station killed a lot of us, and they are trying to kill more. It’s time we fight back.” Grigori: “We get more people.”
“You should have led with that.” Monica Stuart – The Expanse
Monica is broadcasting about the power from the grid being diverted to the laser; no one is saying why. Amos interrupts Monica to tell her they need her help. Alex tells her they need technical help to patch into the transmitter array; he asks where Cohen is. She angrily tells them that Cohen was cut in half on the Xuesen, and she blames them for it. Amos says he isn’t sorry about that, and while he and Monica bicker, Anna cuts them off, “The station is going to destroy us. All of us. Holden knows how to stop it. You want answers. We have them. And they will save lives. We need you to get the word out.” Monica [to Amos]: “You should have led with that.”
Drummer, Naomi, Holden, and Egan are on the elevator heading to the reactor. Holden apologizes to Naomi for driving her away. She assures him that he didn’t; she promises him she’s not leaving again. Holden: “Together until the end?” Naomi nods in agreement and they hold hands. When they reach the reactor, Naomi, Holden and Drummer float down to the control room and send the reactor crew out of the control room.
“Hate is a burden. You don’t have to carry it with you.” Anna Volovodov – The Expanse
Alex, Amos, Anna, and Monica make it to the transmitter array to set up for their broadcast. While Alex helps Monica set up, Anna and Amos talk. She thinks about the family she left behind, and not being able to explain why she’s here, especially if she dies. Amos: “Everyone leaves unfinished business. That’s what dying is.” When she asks about any of his regrets, he tells her he regrets he didn’t get to kill Ashford, even though they’ve never met. Anna tells him that everyone in this conflict thinks they are doing the right thing. If they all survive this, they will have to talk to each other. She counsels Amos, “Hate is a burden. You don’t have to carry it with you.” Moved by what Anna said Amos promises her, “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
While Naomi is busy with the reactor controls, Holden and Drummer talk. Holden: “Thank you for believing me.” Drummer: “I’m not here for you. Naomi believes you’re right. She would die for you. I’m here to make sure she doesn’t.” Clarissa walks on the bridge with the rest of the work crew. Grigori tells Ashford that he can’t get in touch with the crew in the reactor control room. Ashford immediately figures out its Drummer, Holden, and Naomi. He sends orders to Diogo to get them. Naomi notices power being diverted to the laser, Drummer wonders if they are trying to send another message outside the Ring. Holden gets a quick flash to his vision. Holden: “They’re trying to destroy the Ring.” Drummer: “Will it work ke?” Holden: “It won’t matter. The laser shot is a direct attack; it will prove we are a threat. And the station will kill everyone and everything on both sides of the Ring.” Drummer contacts Ashford and tells him she knows what he’s doing. Holden: “You don’t have to do this; there is a way to save us all.” Ashford: “That is not the point. Even if the station doesn’t kill all of us now, others will come through the Ring. That is our nature. We won’t be able to resist. Even if we all survive, we are leaving an unexploded bomb. Someone will set it off.” Naomi: “If Holden is right, you’ll be the one setting it off.” Ashford believes it is their job to make things better for future generations and he calls for Drummer’s Belter pride and asks if she isn’t willing to die for this. She tells Ashford she is willing to die for something, but it’s for Holden’s plan. The crew on the bridge stares at Ashford and he orders everyone back to work.
After Monica introduces Anna as the person who helped bring down Errinwright and stop the war, Anna speaks. She tells the flotilla that the station sees their ships as bombs after Kolvoord exploded the nuclear device on a skiff. To keep the station from wiping them out, they’ll have to turn off their power. When Grigori hears this, he asks Ashford if it’s true, he wants to try what Anna suggests. Ashford shoots him and asks if anyone else wants to question his orders. Captain Lucas walks up to him, but instead of confronting him, she offers her Marines to shut down Anna’s broadcast. She calls Bobbie and tells her and her squadron to suit up. When they get to the armory, they find that their Martian power armor is missing. [Guess who has it.] Bobbie tells them they won’t need them and tells her squad to grab some weapons and move out.
Diogo and his men come running up to the reactor control room wearing the Marine power armor. He makes it inside the control room; Holden, Drummer and Naomi barely escape. Bobbie and her Marines enter the transmitter array and start firing upon the broadcasters. Alex and Amos return fire. Bobbie: “This is Gunnery Sgt. Roberta Draper Martian Marine Corp. I am ordering you to cease your broadcast, put down your weapons and come out with your hands raised.” Alex: “Bobbie?” Bobbie: “Alex?” Alex: “Jesus!”
“Do you think a truly good act at the end of your life can make up for the terrible things you’ve done?” Clarissa Mao – The Expanse
Clarissa nearly electrocutes herself; she tells Ashford that the chemical restraint makes her fuzzy. He asks if she was the one in the brig for trying to kill Holden. She admits she was. Clarissa: “Do you think a truly good act at the end of your life can make up for the terrible things you’ve done?” Ashford: “I would like to believe that is true.” He takes off her restraint so that she can get back to work.
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Alex tells Bobbie he is putting down his weapon and coming out to talk. Amos is against this, he tells Alex if she tries to stop them, he’ll put her down. The Marines are upset with Bobbie for talking to Alex. Anna is still broadcasting in the background. Bobbie tells Alex to stop, what they are doing will cause a panic. He tells her they won’t stop. Bobbie: “I was with him in that thing. It did something to him. I’m not sure it’s the Holden you know that came back.” Alex: “He’s running around putting his life on the line trying to save everyone. That’s the Holden I know.” Private Trepp (Hamed Dar) jumps Alex and Private Oshi (Sabryn Rock) jumps Bobbie. Bobbie knocks her out but not before Oshi shoots her. Trepp has Alex on the floor and is ready to shoot him but Amos shoots him dead before he can shoot Alex. Bobbie is back on their side and warns them to hurry because more troops will come.
Naomi, Holden and Drummer are going up a shaft in their spacesuits. Diogo and his men are in hot pursuit. Drummer and Holden stop to drop some grenades on their pursuers. It takes out two of the Belters but it doesn’t get Diogo. Drummer plans to stay behind with the grenades and take out Diogo and most likely herself in the process. Drummer: “I’m sorry I tried to kill you.” Holden: “There’s no need.” Drummer: “Tell Naomi I said that.” Holden: “I will.” A few flights above them Naomi asks, “What’s going on? Drummer!” Drummer bravely waits for Diogo; he arrives looking like a smug jackass. Before she can set off the grenades, Naomi drops an elevator on him. Naomi: “Drummer! Drummer! Please tell me I didn’t hit you too.” Drummer: “Now I know why you don’t need to carry a gun.” She tells Naomi she is alright and for her and Holden to go on without her.
Anna: “I feel like we’re trapped in a haunted house, and I’m asking you to turn out the lights.” Her broadcast has the different crews rioting. Kolvoord (Chris Owens) tells Commander Kumus (Sean Baek) that he thinks this is his fault. [Ya think Sherlock.] Even if Ashford is right, the Thomas Prince turning off their reactor won’t cause any harm. The Thomas Prince and other ships in the flotilla go dark. Ashford has the buffer back up and the laser is charging, he’s ready to fire. More troops show up to stop Anna’s broadcast but she keeps talking. The laser fires but it misses the station. The station powers up to destroy everyone.
“But just this once, can’t we just try something else?” James Holden – The Expanse
Holden and Naomi make it outside the bridge. Other ships in the flotilla go dark. Holden puts down his gun and starts speaking to Ashford. Holden: “I know you’re trying to save lives. I am too! We’re on the brink right now because we keep reacting to things we don’t understand. We’re scared, and 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 just try something else?” Ashford orders his men to shoot Holden and Naomi. Without the chemical restraint on, Clarissa accesses her strength and attacks Ashford and his men. They shoot her but she is able to short-circuit the buffer [or grid] and causes the reactor on the Behemoth to go out. The rest of the ships in the flotilla go dark. Holden gets another vision. Everyone looks out and watches wormholes pop up everywhere. Holden: “I guess it worked.”
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Soon the ships in the flotilla leave the Ring. Over a montage, Drummer visits Ashford with a bottle of whiskey, Anna visits Clarissa in sickbay, Amos and Naomi work on repairs aboard the Roci, Bobbie joins Alex and sits in the co-pilot chair, and Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) looks concerned over a map with the wormholes, Holden speaks. Holden: “You haven’t been straight with me Miller. There’s something you’re not telling me. After all the pain and death, you just flip a switch and we’re free to go? Just like that? Nice try. I think the gates are what you planned from the beginning. Are we, humanity, now a part of that plan? I don’t think you did that out of the goodness of your heart. It was never about helping us. We know all of our divisions, all of our hatreds. They didn’t just magically disappear the moment you set us free. You’ve given us a new frontier, 1300 habitable systems on the other side of those gates outside those rings. We’ll go. You know we can’t resist. It’s going to be another blood-soaked gold rush. Am I scared? Yeah, you’re goddamned right I’m scared. And I think you know why. I saw that the civilization that built the rings is gone, wiped out. What could have killed them?” We see Miller and he says, “That’s what I’d like to know. I’m gonna need a ride.”
Behind the scene video.
KBear Review
[Read time: 1-3 minutes]
Holden holds a conversation with Miller but we get to see how crazy it looks through the eyes of Naomi and Drummer. Miller tells Holden how to advert the disaster that Ashford is setting in motion. Holden, along with Naomi and Drummer will turn off the power aboard the Behemoth from the reactor control room. Amos and Alex will get Monica to broadcast to the rest of the flotilla ships to go dark. They enlist Anna for their mission. Ashford is busy trying to get the laser ready to destroy the station. He needs qualified people to help with the grid. Clarissa is enlisted in the work gang. Bobbie and her squadron are sent to stop the broadcast while Diego and his team using ‘borrowed’ Martian power armor try to stop Holden. Bobbie once again turns on the Martian military when she sees what they are doing is wrong. She is forced into it when her squadron turns on her when they suspect she is sympathetic to her old Roci mates. Bobbie has grown beyond her old loyalties and it appears she will be a member of the Roci crew in the future. Drummer shows that while she is a loyal Belter, she can see beyond that when it comes to the safety of humanity. Even though her body is broken, her spirit isn’t and she is able to stand up to Ashford. It doesn’t hurt having Naomi drop an elevator on Diego. What a smug little bastard. Holden and Naomi are closer than ever now as they realize how much they truly love each other. When they work together, they are an unbeatable team. Ashford can attest to that. Anna shows her mettle again by convincing the flotilla to go dark while under gunfire. Anna is a shining example of someone who has faith. We can use more Anna(s) and less of what the religious right is offering us now. Crazy ass Clarissa finally redeems herself by saving Holden and Naomi’s lives and turning off the power on the Behemoth. She shows that anyone can change. By stopping Ashford’s plans, not only is the flotilla saved, but wormholes open up that can take humanity to 1300 habitable systems. We’ll find out next season if this is a good thing.
What a great episode, it had everything you could ask for in a season finale. It not only closed this season’s storylines in a satisfying fashion, but it opened up an intriguing new storylines for next season. The first three seasons were about us trying to get along in our solar system, now we’ll see how we get along in a new frontier. Holden thinks it’ll be bloody, and I can’t disagree with him. As good as the first two seasons were, Season 3 was an upgrade. I think they did a better job of juggling the different locations and storylines together. What was happening on Earth, or the Rocinante, or the Belt were all interesting. It also didn’t hurt that the characters we grew to love in the first two seasons got to meet and mingle together. I hope they are able to do that next season. It’s great to know we have a next season after Syfy cancelled the show. Thanks Amazon, I’m glad I got Amazon prime all those years ago. And to think I was just trying get free two-day delivery.
Now for some music.
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