S03.E01: Fight or Flight

[Clanstarling]

4 hours ago, Ziggy said:

On 4/15/2018 at 12:10 PM, Eulipian 5k said:

Nice idea.  I would also have liked a Luke & Leia, long lost sister twist; Amos needs family. (I know, they're from two different planets, etc,...)

Love the Star Wars reference!

Amusingly, when I saw the first film, I was shipping Luke and Leia (yes, I'm that old). Though to be fair to myself, Leia did kiss Luke.

This is just the opposite. Not that I'm actually shipping, but it does seem like a reasonable match.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Clanstarling

[jhlipton]

21 hours ago, Emily Thrace said:

I wouldn't call him a sociopath but there does seem to be some kind of anti social personality disorder there.

I know someone who is a diagnosed sociopath.  She is very high-functioning, enough that those who meet her don't know, and she is far from dangerous, but I see a lot of Amos in her.

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Chrisjen is very scary, and has an amazing wardrobe. Its a trip to see her going to loving grandma to torturing people from one scene to the next. I would like to know more about Earth. Is it somewhat normal to have kids who have a dozen parents?  In some parts, like where Holden is from, yes.  In other parts, like UN hadquarters, it doesn't seem so.

I love the space crew, Call them "The Roci" (they named their ship after Don Quixote's horse) they're my favorite part. I figured the medic wouldn't make it, as he wasn't around this season, but I was pretty shocked to see him die so suddenly. I like seeing them bond, and it makes me hope they work things out during this season. Amos and Naomi have a really sweet bond, and I want to know more about their history. The hot guy and his love of coffee is super relatable.  You can read about Amos' early life in a novella called The Churn.

The stuff with the Belter detective is probably my least favorite part. I like seeing the Belters and their culture and how hard they have it, but the mystery itself is kind of lame. But maybe it gets better? Or it goes away, as no one from his subplot was around this episode. I do like his hat collection though.  The mystery is important, and you saw a bit of it in the first episode's "Previously".

Even if I didnt know it was coming, I can already smell an evil plot by some evil corporation. With all the factions freaking out trying to figure out who blew up that ship the ship crew were on originally, it seems pretty clear that something else is going on. I smell Evil Corp a mile away.  I don't think it's too spoily to say that the is one of the eeeeeevilest corporations that ever eeeeeeviled!

Edited April 17, 2018 by jhlipton

[WildPlum]

Finally got home and watched the episode - wow! So glad this is back with great pace and lines! There were a couple things I didn't remember until this episode jogged my memory (I had planned to rewatch Season 2 but never got around to it), but all the plot points are setting up nicely. Hard not to call the ship the Penis Contorta, which is oh so different from Pinus Contorta.

It was very Holden-esque to decide to go after where he thinks Prax's daughter is, although, realistically what else is there to do? Go back to Tycho, have the ship taken away from them and end up as the lowest of the low dock workers? Nah, there are protomolecule windmills they could be tilting at!  I thought they were going to name the ship Sancho or Dapple though. I can see Alex going along with the windmill tilting, but I am surprised Amos was the first one to go for it.

[Clanstarling]

8 hours ago, WildPlum said:

Finally got home and watched the episode - wow! So glad this is back with great pace and lines! There were a couple things I didn't remember until this episode jogged my memory (I had planned to rewatch Season 2 but never got around to it), but all the plot points are setting up nicely. Hard not to call the ship the Penis Contorta, which is oh so different from Pinus Contorta.

It was very Holden-esque to decide to go after where he thinks Prax's daughter is, although, realistically what else is there to do? Go back to Tycho, have the ship taken away from them and end up as the lowest of the low dock workers? Nah, there are protomolecule windmills they could be tilting at!  I thought they were going to name the ship Sancho or Dapple though. I can see Alex going along with the windmill tilting, but I am surprised Amos was the first one to go for it.

<song> Do You Like Penis Contorta? Getting Lost in the Void?</song> Next line, anyone?

[marinw]

28 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Penis Contorta

That's not a double entendre at all! *Pulls mind out of gutter*

Edited April 17, 2018 by marinw

[Ziggy]

15 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Amusingly, when I saw the first film, I was shipping Luke and Leia (yes, I'm that old). Though to be fair to myself, Leia did kiss Luke.

This is just the opposite. Not that I'm actually shipping, but it does seem like a reasonable match.

I saw The Empire Strikes Back when it first came out in theaters.  I was 8.  I don't really remember that showing, but I soon grew to love the trilogy!

[btp]

On 4/15/2018 at 7:17 AM, anamika said:

I had a few issues with Bobby's walk on the Guanshiyin, with her mag-locks holding onto the ship by her finger-tips. A bit too much - at that g, she would have not been able to do all that.

I dunno, you do realize that "that" G is, at most, 1 G, and maybe less, yes? The Guanshiyin is luxury pleasure craft, remember, not designed for battle or racing. Moreover, in the Expanse-verse, we are told (this may be a detail that's only in the books, but still...) that the "normal" acceleration used by passenger vessels is actually less than 1 G, so as to make the trip comfortable for Martians and Belters. So Bobbie's traversal of the "length" of the ship was sort of akin to scaling a building or a rock wall on Earth, albeit with mechanical assistance. Given all that, I thought it was portrayed realistically enough.

The one thing that did seem a bit unlikely to me was the whole regular batteries / auxiliary power thing. I would think that a designer of Martian Power Armor in the 23rd/24th century would have had the foresight to ensure that auxiliary power came up before complete failure of the main batteries, or at least it should cut over pretty much instantaneously, rather than several seconds later. Because, I mean, power armor with no power is more than an oxymoron, it's kind of, you know, dangerous. But the result was a pretty thrilling scene, so I choose to let it go, and figure out some sort of fanwank to explain it instead. I just haven't come up with said fanwank as yet.

Edited April 17, 2018 by btp

[btp]

On 4/16/2018 at 6:49 PM, Clanstarling said:

Amusingly, when I saw the first film, I was shipping Luke and Leia (yes, I'm that old).

 

I don't think the above betrays your age as much as:

15 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

<song> Do You Like Penis Contorta? Getting Lost in the Void?</song> Next line, anyone?

:) But, since I am also very old, I will contribute a second line, to wit:

<song>Do you speak much lang belta? Or does it make you annoyed?</song>

Okay, I'm no Rupert Holmes. But then, who is?

Edited April 18, 2018 by btp

[Emily Thrace]

On 4/16/2018 at 10:44 PM, jhlipton said:

I know someone who is a diagnosed sociopath.  She is very high-functioning, enough that those who meet her don't know, and she is far from dangerous, but I see a lot of Amos in her.

Yeah  I've known at least one and other possibles who I never spent enough time with to be sure. I would wouldn't say Amos is a true sociopath He seems more like Anti-Social personality disorder to me. There is a fair amount of overlap in the two in terms of affect and behavior but the cause is different.  He follows Naomi and Holden and functions as part of group, sociopaths don't play well with others. They can pretend but they tend to work toward their own goals and manipulate others.  He also empathized with Mei even high functioning sociopaths struggle with empathy. Choosing selflessly to go to Io when their is no direct gain for Amos isn't something a sociopath would do.

[jhlipton]

19 minutes ago, Emily Thrace said:

He also empathized with Mei even high functioning sociopaths struggle with empathy. Choosing selflessly to go to Io when their is no direct gain for Amos isn't something a sociopath would do.

True. 

[Holmbo]

On 2018-04-14 at 10:55 AM, Danny Franks said:

Loved seeing Drummer again,  being badass and (ill-advisedly) working out in a ridiculously showy fashion. But she's pissed too, at both Dawes and Fred. A lot of short tempers in this one, and I'm sure that's going to build over the course of the season. What's really cool is, she's just about the only Belter (other than Miller) who fervently does not want war, doesn't want revenge against the Inners.

That's a good point. I've had trouble connecting with the Belters because they just all seem so short sighted. But maybe if Drummer is at the center of their plotting going forward I'll have someone to root for among them.

[Holmbo]

On 2018-04-13 at 6:58 PM, snowwhyte said:

I wasn't too concerned about the coffee machine but i was a bit worried about all that water that was flying out. Considering all the effort that goes into collecting water out in the belt that seems very wasteful.

I keep thinking the same thing about the torpedoes and ships in earlier episodes :D
Everytime there's a bunch of torpedoes flying around I'm like: That's a lot of time and resources you're blowing up.

Edited April 20, 2018 by Holmbo

[Danny Franks]

On 19/04/2018 at 7:28 PM, Holmbo said:

That's a good point. I've had trouble connecting with the Belters because they just all seem so short sighted. But maybe if Drummer is at the center of their plotting going forward I'll have someone to root for among them.

I hope she will be. They need moderate voices, especially when the closest they have to that is Fred Johnson. And the more Drummer we get, the better.

[WatchrTina]

On 4/16/2018 at 11:55 PM, WildPlum said:

It was very Holden-esque to decide to go after where he thinks Prax's daughter is, although, realistically what else is there to do? Go back to Tycho, have the ship taken away from them and end up as the lowest of the low dock workers? Nah, there are protomolecule windmills they could be tilting at!  I thought they were going to name the ship Sancho or Dapple though. I can see Alex going along with the windmill tilting, but I am surprised Amos was the first one to go for it.

I can't decide if Amos going along with the suggestion to go to Io and try to rescue Prax's daughter is an indication of:

• his anger at Naomi for lying to him,
• his fear that if they go to Tycho Naomi will leave and he'll never see her again, or
• his sympathy for a child in jeopardy -- one that has been torn from her family.

I think that last one resonates with him in ways that we, the viewers, still do not fully understand. There was a plot thread in an earlier episode about him looking (online) for the woman who raised him that I don't recall ever being resolved.  There was another hint of him brooding over something related to children while on Tycho.  He wouldn't go with Alex when Alex want them to do more volunteer work with the refugees and if I recall correctly that happened after that kid yelled at him, accusing him of trying to hurt his mother.  Something about kids sets Amos off.  I look forward to finding out more about that.

I just re-watched this episode and I want to call out some great quotes:

Bobbie:  "Seventeen minutes to impact if this perfume bottle maintains current thrust."

 

Bobbie:  "Should I just pick her up?"

Chrisjen "You just try."

 

Chrisjen:  "Don't forget your anitbiotics." (Translation:  I care about you. Please don't die.)

Cotyar:  "I won't." (Translation:  I know. I'll do my best.)

 

Cotyar:  "Good job Marine."

Bobbie:  "Same to you spy."

 

Bobbie:  "Hitch your tits and pucker up; it's time to peel the paint."

 

Now can someone explain what Cotyar meant when he said they were going to "teakettle outta here" on the drop ship?  The only thing I can think of is the expression describing someone as falling "ass over teakettle" (and I have no idea of the origin of that expression or why I know it.)  I guess that's what he meant -- that they would just fall out of the cruiser on the drop ship. If so, that was a great, colorful, but seriously obscure turn of phrase.  Boy, I hope we don't go too long without seeing Cotyar again because he is a keeper.

[btp]

"Teakettle" is explained in the books as navy slang for flying using only maneuvering thrusters; i.e., no Epstein drive. It's called teakettle because the thrusters use super-heated water (steam) as reaction mass, sort of like what comes out of the spout of a tea kettle.

They don't explain it on the show, probably in keeping with their general practice of avoiding awkward exposition. You're expected to figure it out, take a good guess, or just ignore it. Or, you know, have someone who read the books explain it to you. :)

[Holmbo]

I rewatched the episode yesterday and it gave me new appreciation for the Alex message scene. At first view I felt like he was selfish to say what he did. But upon review I realized he talked just as much to himself as to them.

[Captanne]

I've come over to The Expanse from Jared Harris' performance as Francis Crozier in "The Terror" -- I've binged this show and overall am very pleased.  It gets better as it goes along.  

My only issue is that I feel absolutely no NO no chemistry between the actors who play Holden and Naomi.  It's too bad because their characters are fascinating.  I actually find Holden much more complex and interesting than Naomi.  But, for a romantic partnership, they are as sexy as two planks of wood.  Jeez.  That awkward farewell when Holden was pinioned to the bulkhead and the blue monster was getting jettisoned -- let's just say I realized I had some dishes to do in the middle of their dialogue, hit pause, got up, did the dishes, and came back.  No great loss there.

 

And, more Anderson Dawes, please.

[ahisma]

I'm binging the series on Amazon. Just popping in to say that when I saw that Bobbie and Chrisjen were on the Razorback I burst into tears. I'm still not over what happened to Julie....