S03.E03: Assured Destruction

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Earth strategizes a costly ploy to gain advantage in the war against Mars. Anna struggles to convince Sorrento-Gillis to do the right thing. Avasarala and Bobbie seek refuge aboard the Rocinante.

[johntfs]

Ahead of this getting closed and re-opened:  For those about to Rocinante, I salute you!

[marinw]

t’s a bit late to develop a guilty conscious now, Mao. But the actor paying Mao really sold it. It was as if as if he was seeing Julie when he looked at Mei. There’s the airlock, Strickland.

[johntfs]

I loved Holden's casual "play surveillance footage of incursion" and dropping the info-nuke on Bobbie and Chrisjen.  Yeah, the Roci's been dealing with this proto-shit for a while now...

[nekilarose]

Errinwright, you little bitch.

 

That shot of Amos zipping up Chrisjen's boot was something I didn't know I needed. More of them interacting please. Was so happy to see that Cotyar survived, and I get that the other dude was freaking out and spiraling, but damn dude. I was pleasantly surprised that Avasarala's reputation is so established that even in her absence, her being a defector is not even a thought in people's minds.

Alex, man....better luck next wife?

The fact that Jules-Pierre now feels guilty/sad about the trials is a little bit too late. You only feel that way cause when you look at Mei, you see Julie. If your daughter hadn't died, I bet your smug ass wouldn't even break stride. Spare me your stroke of compassion now.

Did it look to anyone else that Errinwright was trying to suppress a smile? I repeat, Errinwright you little bitch.

[tennisgurl]

"How do you know what its like to walk in pumps?"

"I didnt always work in space"

Not many people have make Chrisjen momentarily speechless. The only way to make that better was some member of the crew being like "yeah, you'll get used to that". Already love Bobbi and Chrisjen on the Roci, lots of interesting dynamics there, and call backs to previous events. I love that this show always remembers whats happened in the past, and how that influences characters and their relationships. 

Yeah, your several mass murders too late to be feeling all guilt there, Jules-Pierre. There were kids in the other experiments too, after all. If cute little Mei didnt remind you of Julie, no way would you be getting cold feet now. Poor little kids. 

Errinwright really is a smug little shit, isnt he? He was practically giggling half the episode. God I want the smug wiped off his face. 

Not only do Martians in Alex's neck of the woods have Texan accents, they also love their sad cowboy music! I guess I cant blame Alex's wife for being pissed, but still, poor guy. The scene with him and Naomi was really sweet. I do hope the crew can patch things up soon. Its a tough situation, because I get why Naomi did what she did, but I can also understand why the crew is pissed, and why Chrisjen thinks it was a stupid move. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by tennisgurl

[rozen]

Naomi's decision kind of destroys the fragile diplomatic balance that Chrisjen's been trying to build her entire career. But that balance was built on the Belters being the runts of the litter, and at the complete mercy of Earth or Mars's area of influence.  They can preach all day about OPA's questionable methods, but Belters aren't the ones stringing people up to torture them with gravity, or blowing up stations full of starving strikers just to make a political point. History is of full of nations building themselves off the backs of others and then snubbing their noses at the underdog's dirty and underhanded guerrilla tactics to try to assert themselves. No one gave a shit about a Belter planet full of protomolecule horrors until it was hurtling towards Earth. Belters *need* the biggest shield because they have the fewest resources and allies, Naomi gave them that.

Bobbie was so low-key offended that this crew of non-Marine punks were able to take down a hybrid when she and her entire squad were wiped out. Hopefully she treats Roci crew with a little more respect from now on. I love that only former UN-officer Holden knew how to dress her down when she was 2s from starting a rumble with the entire crew.

Alex is such a daddy-bear, trying to keep his new family together. I'm not even mad at the wife's reaction, he 100% earned that shit. Redemption doesn't come on your own time, man.

Why did Evil Admiral Henchmen #3 decide to use the Agatha to go to Io instead of bringing in his own warship? He straight up knows the actual captain isn't buying any of this bullshit, and that entire crew is 100% loyal to him. Driving them straight into your evil base seems like a bad idea.

Hmm, Mao is growing a conscience? Death imminent. Strickland is the Errinwright of team protomolecule. He looked ready to strangle Mao then and there for suggesting they stop infecting children with an alien homicidal organic matter.

Edited April 26, 2018 by rozen

[WatchrTina]

17 hours ago, johntfs said:

I loved Holden's casual "play surveillance footage of incursion" and dropping the info-nuke on Bobbie and Chrisjen.

And I loved Bobbie's incredulous reaction to the news that they fought one of those creatures and WON.

 

This episode was rough. There was barely a laugh in it (thank you Amos for the line about why you know how to walk in pumps.)  But as for the rest . . . damn.  That was some cold-blooded shit going on.  Cotyar kicked it off by executing poor, freaking-out Theo.  His face showed clear regret but it was still a stone-cold decision.  Then we move on to medical experiments on children and the nuking of 2 million people in South America.  Damn.

I will admit be being somewhat confused at this point.  In earlier seasons I thought Mao was the puppet-master with no conscience and Errinwright was his flunky.  I thought Mao was experimenting with the proto-molecule out of hubris and greed.  But now I can't figure out WHAT is motivating him.  Is he just an arms dealer who was planning to sell his proto-soldiers to both sides (Mars and Earth)?  If so why?  He's already one of the richest people in the system.  Would greed really motivate someone that rich to commit treason?  And if it would -- is it in character for him to have had second thoughts in this episode?  The death of his own daughter didn't motivate him to slow down in prior seasons so why would empathy toward someone else's daughter have any impact on him?

I also can't figure out what Errinwright's motivations are.  Is he doing all that he's done so that he can eventually be the president of the UN?  He certainly seems to be planning on exploiting the nuke that landed in South America to make the current president look bad -- which makes me suspect that he, somehow, caused the glitch that delayed the fifth launch.  He visited Anna specifically to tell her that the delay in launching the strike (which he could safely assume Anna argued against) caused the strike to fail -- effectively blaming her for the death of 2 million humans.  That is so eeeeeeevil.  But why is he doing it?  Just to be president?  I find that hard to believe.  Is he secretly a double-agent for Mars?  I find THAT even harder to believe.

I also find it hard to believe that Errinwright's talk with the president was sufficient to convince him to launch the nukes.  The argument was so lame: "We're facing a threat from outside our solar system so we humans need to band together to face that threat and the best way to bring that about is for you to end the war by accelerating it. "  WTF? This is the "peace through superior fire-power" argument that you hear from military hawks and their arms dealer buddies but come ON. It's seems ridiculous that that argument would sway the president in this instance.

So . . . I have to say this was not a great episode.  If I can't understand WHY anyone is doing what they are doing, it's a problem for me.  Small mysteries are okay.  I'm fine with not really knowing what makes Amos tick (though that bit about the shoes is intriguing).  But Chrisjen now seems to think that Errinwright is working for Mars.  If so, would he really have pushed the president to destroy five of their super stealth satellites?  Won't Mars be mad about that?  Or do we think Mars deliberately sacrificed those in order to start the war.  I find THAT hard to believe, especially since they had no way of being sure that any of the nukes from the 5th station would reach the ground.  We saw planetary defense take out all but one.  The one that got through was sheer bad luck.  I think.  I don't know.  Like I said, I'm confused.

Edited April 26, 2018 by WatchrTina

[snowwhyte]

The extent of my hatred for Errinwright nearly causes me physical pain. There's a lot of bad people on this show but his combination of evil and smug really makes him the worst.

[steelyis]

7 hours ago, nekilarose said:

Errinwright, you little bitch.

 

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Errinwright really is a smug little shit, isnt he? He was practically giggling half the episode. God I want the smug wiped off his face. 

 

32 minutes ago, snowwhyte said:

The extent of my hatred for Errinwright nearly causes me physical pain. There's a lot of bad people on this show but his combination of evil and smug really makes him the worst.

 

Every time Errinwright was on screen I wanted someone to punch him in the throat.

Edited April 26, 2018 by steelyis

[snowwhyte]

What are the chances that Earth claim Mars made the first strike and make no mention of their attack?

[WatchrTina]

I get the sense that there was some bad editing going on in this show.  Are lines cut for the SyFy airing in the same way they dub "freaking" over "fucking" when Chrisjen is cussing?  I asked because there were two lines that made no sense to me and I got the feeling the line immediately preceding them was cut from the version that aired on SyFy.

The first was when Bobbie says "I'll inform Mars to ready the white flag."  

The second was when Christjen says to Bobbie "Cry me a river . . . "

I watched the episode twice and those lines were jarring and made no sense to me both time.

 

In an unrelated comment . . . what do you think Amos meant when he said "I died"?  Is it possible that Amos got shot in the head in Baltimore and when he was resuscitated his personality had changed -- giving him the "lack of affect" (which is a psychological term) that we see now?  Is that why he was so interested in learning about the procedure that  surgically removed that doctor's empathy -- because he thinks something similar happened to him by accident?  This is all pure speculation of course (and I'm not looking for spoiler responses from readers).  I'm just responding to the hints in the show.

[shrewd.buddha]

Another solid episode.
Though I was a bit disheartened to see that Chrisjen (and Naomi and others) are basically planetary versions of nationalists. 'Earth first', 'Belters first', etc. This is not a dystopian future, but it almost feels like one. 

I suppose the plot needed the strikes on five Martian bombing platforms to go in 1..2..3..4..5 order - - but why not have all five strikes happening simultaneously? And double up on the ships firing on the platforms? Just a nitpick. The political strategizing and scheming can get frustrating at times, but I know it's big part of the show. 

[snowwhyte]

I was assuming that Amos faked his own death rather than actually dying. It's possible he was being more literal. Considering we're on season three and have only had snippets of the crews back stories we might have to wait a while to get any more information on Amos.

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, nekilarose said:

Did it look to anyone else that Errinwright was trying to suppress a smile? I repeat, Errinwright you little bitch.

Yes, it looked that way to me, though to be fair, he did seem to be completely shocked at the attack.

Did anyone else think about the DNA specific poison when he came in to have a drink with the President? I kept waiting for Errinwright to offer him a drink.

9 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

I will admit be being somewhat confused at this point.  In earlier seasons I thought Mao was the puppet-master with no conscience and Errinwright was his flunky.  I thought Mao was experimenting with the proto-molecule out of hubris and greed.  But now I can't figure out WHAT is motivating him.  Is he just an arms dealer who was planning to sell his proto-soldiers to both sides (Mars and Earth)?  If so why?  He's already one of the richest people in the system.  Would greed really motivate someone that rich to commit treason?  And if it would -- is it in character for him to have had second thoughts in this episode?  The death of his own daughter didn't motivate him to slow down in prior seasons so why would empathy toward someone else's daughter have any impact on him?

I also can't figure out what Errinwright's motivations are.  Is he doing all that he's done so that he can eventually be the president of the UN?  He certainly seems to be planning on exploiting the nuke that landed in South America to make the current president look bad -- which makes me suspect that he, somehow, caused the glitch that delayed the fifth launch.  He visited Anna specifically to tell her that the delay in launching the strike (which he could safely assume Anna argued against) caused the strike to fail -- effectively blaming her for the death of 2 million humans.  That is so eeeeeeevil.  But why is he doing it?  Just to be president?  I find that hard to believe.  Is he secretly a double-agent for Mars?  I find THAT even harder to believe.

Mao was, I think, initially motivated by greed and was intent on selling to both parties - like arms dealers do in the present.  And yes, greed is one motivation to commit treason. I think Errinwright has him in a bind somehow, but I've forgotten the details.

As for Errinwright - I think it's a lust for power. This is also a powerful motivator.

Both greed and lust for power have been powerful motivators throughout history, the present, and I imagine in the future. No reason to believe human beings will change.

As much as I hate Errinwright, I have to say I think this is the best acted and written example of manipulation techniques I've ever seen. (since I don't watch shows like House of Cards) It occurred to me that he could have planned the malfunction of the fifth missile. The explanation of what happened puts the blame firmly in the President's waffling hands, and may keep him from questioning Erringwright in the future.

I loved this episode so much I was disappointed it was over.

[MissLucas]

This felt a bit meh to me - can't quite explain why. I suppose it's a mixture of different things but I think the main reason were some of the deviations from the books (some of that felt OOC). And before I sound like one of these crazies who reject every little change in an adaptation: some of the things I liked were also deviations from the books. 

I also got distracted by the soldier (Manusco) on the Agatha King who looked so familiar but I just couldn't place him. That's Morgan Kelly aka Alvis for those of us who watch Killjoys. Don't kill him off show!

As for Amos and his knowledge about wearing pumps: the show has already touched upon that but I'm sure we'll get more of his backstory one day - why else drop all those little clues. And that was definitely one of the better scenes of this episode.

Two plots not touched upon this episode were what's going on on Venus (just briefly mentioned) and how Drummer's salvage mission is going. I hope that changes next week. 

[UNOSEZ]

Ooh Naomi vs Chrisjen....  I love it... I'm sure there will be grudging respect eventually... But ima need holden to get up outta his funk sooner than later

[Danny Franks]

I liked that brief moment of happiness, as Bobbie took in the fact she was on a Martian ship again... and then the instant anger when she saw the defaced flag.  And laughing at Avasarala's expense over the mag boots. Frankie Adams has really grown a lot as an actress, in this series. And of course Bobbie is immediately abrasive and argumentative with the Roci crew. They 'stole' the Tachi, they were involved in the destruction of the Donnager, they have seemingly been involved somehow in every event that has conspired to ruin Gunnery Sergeant Draper's life and career.

And I really like this new mindset for Holden, where he's decided that he's done all he could, and it's just not his fight any more. Humans will be humans... and they'll try to kill one another. Proved immediately by the brinkmanship going on between the UN and Mars, which was almost exactly like the Cold War brinkmanship. 'We should launch nukes now, before they do.' 'Why would they?' 'Because they think we're going to.' Ah. 

Of course, Holden declaring he's nobody's saviour ensures he's going to do something absurdly, dangerously heroic to save everyone.

With Errinwright, it's frightening to see how much influence one person can have, if they speak the right words into the right ears, to push their destructive agenda. And not at all analogous to the real world.... right? And we see exactly what happens when hawkish, reckless politicians think they can launch 'decisive' strikes. It looks like Nguyen is his boy, which is also just great.

And more real-world analogues with the major powers thinking they have the right to super-weapons, but the Belt doesn't. The sort of superior, heavy-handed arrogance, the casual exploitation of weaker or subordinate nations and groups, and then the affront when they realise those exploited people are actually really fucking pissed off about it.

I believe this is the first time we've seen an Earth capital ship. Clearly different, inside and out, from the Donnager. Older technology, it seems. Kept in service more by necessity than choice. Good to see Admiral Souther again. And to see that Kotyar made it, even though he killed that poor electrician.

It's interesting to see Mao apparently being troubled, just a touch, by the experiments being done on children. Perhaps just because he actually conversed with Mei, or perhaps she reminds him of Julie in some way. But he's not getting any kind of redemption arc, at this stage. But there were too many scenes of the kids for me.

What did Alex expect, really? There's no way his wife would want to hear from him, after he apparently walked out on her and their son, because he was just too in love with being a pilot. He's a deadbeat dad. But he's a good crewmate. It was nice to see him extend a hand of forgiveness to Naomi, who's still getting the cold shoulder from everyone else.

[Andrew Wiggin]

3 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

I get the sense that there was some bad editing going on in this show.  Are lines cut for the SyFy airing in the same way they dub "freaking" over "fucking" when Chrisjen is cussing?  I asked because there were two lines that made no sense to me and I got the feeling the line immediately preceding them was cut from the version that aired on SyFy.

The first was when Bobbie says "I'll inform Mars to ready the white flag."  

The second was when Christjen says to Bobbie "Cry me a river . . . "

I watched the episode twice and those lines were jarring and made no sense to me both time.

 

In an unrelated comment . . . what do you think Amos meant when he said "I died"?  Is it possible that Amos got shot in the head in Baltimore and when he was resuscitated his personality had changed -- giving him the "lack of affect" (which is a psychological term) that we see now?  Is that why he was so interested in learning about the procedure that  surgically removed that doctor's empathy -- because he thinks something similar happened to him by accident?  This is all pure speculation of course (and I'm not looking for spoiler responses from readers).  I'm just responding to the hints in the show.

For the First i dont think there is anything cut, its only Bobbies sarcastic comment about Chrisjen saying its not that hard to walk with the magboots .Its in Contect of the Respect/Power Chrisjen inposses and  now she is a Spacer ;)

For the second there could be something cut but i dont think so.

I think they used the phrase instead of a WTF from Chrisjen that would be that she normaly would say ^^

I think he meant he faked his Death .

And they gave us a blink of his Backstory with his Comment about walking in Pumps ^^

[WatchrTina]

51 minutes ago, Andrew Wiggin said:

And they gave us a blink of his Backstory with his Comment about walking in Pumps

This is pure speculation but I think Amos was born and raised in a brothel. It would explain a lot.  

[Winged Nike]

Quote

This is pure speculation but I think Amos was born and raised in a brothel. It would explain a lot.  

I may not be remembering this completely accurately, but I think he confirmed this in season 1. 

When they first made it to Tycho station, he and Alex were in a brothel and one of the men working there approached Amos.  Amos asked how he was treated and then warned him about another patron who was hiding a knife that was eyeing the man. Alex asked him about it and I think Amos said then that he had grown up in a place like this and you have to look out for each other.

[tennisgurl]

6 hours ago, Winged Nike said:

I may not be remembering this completely accurately, but I think he confirmed this in season 1. 

 

Yeah, I just watched season 1 last week, and thats all accurate! I assumed that Amos was born and raised in a brothel, and probably worked in one at some point. It explains a lot about his personality, I think. I kind of love that, while he doesn't really go into detail about his past, he doesn't really mind talking about it. If anyone asked, he would probably tell them his whole life story, and not think anything of it. A part of me would love to hear more...and a part of me doesn't want to know because there is probably some really messed up stuff in his backstory. 

What I really think is interesting about Amos is that you can tell that he wants to be a good person, and he really tries to be a good person, but its really hard for him, as his mind just doesn't look at things the way other people do, and he knows that. Really, its very tragic. He is very much aware of the fact that he isnt "right in the head", but cant really do anything about it, beyond trying to find people to help tell him what the right or wrong thing to do is, and go about his life. He could have pretty easily used his ease with killing to be a thug for hire, but thats not something he wants to be. I mean, he`s done some messed up stuff, but he tries damn it! And thats better than what a lot of people do. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by tennisgurl

[thuganomics85]

Not completely surprised that the union between Team Roci and Chrisjen/Bobbie got off to a bit of a rocky start, with Bobbie not happy with all the changes they did to her chip, and Chrisjen and Naomi's clearly different views about Belters having the protomolecule.  But now they all realize that they want to same thing (get to Io), so an unholy alliance has formed!  Looking forward to more interactions going forward.  Really loved the Amos/Chrisjen boot scene (complete with Bobbie laughing in the background.)

Love me some Alex, but he should have known that his ex's response would be less than exuberant, since he pretty much admitted that his love for space won out over his love for family.  His moment with Naomi was nice though.  Hey may suck as a father and husband, but he's a hell of a crew mate (and Cas Anvar really is one of the unsung heroes on this show.)

Holy shit, Mao is actually showing something resembling a consciousness!  He's even asking Strickland to stop experimenting on children!  I suspect that it is too little, too late though.

Cool seeing Souther and Nguyen again.  Glad that Cotyar is still in one piece, even if he's now a prisoner.  Oh, and snapped poor Theo's neck.

Sadavir is slimiest motherfucker in the galaxy, but Shawn Doyle is perfection in the role.  But I do hope Anna ends up being his surprising undoing.

Kind of a slower episode compared to the past two, but I suspect that a lot that has been shown or mentioned will factor in later on.

[Haleth]

Wouldn't you know that even on a space ship Avasarala would have a fabulous outfit?

Sorry, Jules, it's a bit too late to have second thoughts about using the protomolecule on kids.  You don't get a do-over.

[Clanstarling]

I don't think Alex expected a positive response to his message, especially since he was honest about his priorities in love, but even so, rejection can still hurt. He did love her, just not as much as space.

The dynamics of the current crew are going to be really interesting. Everyone, except possibly Prax, are very opinionated and strong people and - from what I can tell - all have legitimate points of view. I leave out Amos, because he's hard to define. I'm looking forward to more of it.

[WildPlum]

I think the title of this episode bodes badly for Earth next episode. Yes, the UN Sec Gen was asking if "assured destruction" of the Martian ships was guaranteed, but it's called "mutually assured destruction" for a reason. I doubt that will be the only attack.

Also, the UN doesn't seem to notice they have a warship entirely unaccounted for.

Cotyar is one of my favorites, particularly in his interactions with Avasarala, hope they get reunited at some point - but that seems unlikely.  Of course, he is now on a ship headed to Io, same as Avasarala, so maybe.

A lot of this episode felt "fillerish" - moving the pieces about on the chessboard to set something else up. Bad thing to say about an episode with 2 million is casualties, but I've never felt Earth's storyline to be compelling.

Who knows, maybe contact with Naomi will change Avasarala's opinion of the Belters - maybe if Avasarala lived somewhere that was always getting the short end of the stick she'd have a better grasp of the problem. Avasarala seems to think that the OPA is the problem, but we've seen in early Season 1 how Earth conducts itself on the Belt worlds/stations, the Belters (often brutal, often thuggish, often squabbling internally when that energy needs to be directed out) are right to be ticked off and rebel.

[Tachi Rocinante]

As much as I like Elizabeth Mitchell, I'm just not feeling Anna.  Her performance is very flat and any emotion seems forced.

[Neurochick]

Alex's wife, not a ride or die chick; I guess they must take different vows on Mars, leave out "till death do us part."

Why can't anybody else see that Errinwright is a fucking snake?  I guess they don't teach "20th and 21 century politics" or watch "Housewives."  I knew that dude was shady as soon as I saw him.

I love this show because science fiction too often is about Earth vs. alien cultures and alien species.  What I keep telling myself when I watch this show is that everybody is a human being; all the same species.  But, if some of us went to Mars, some stayed on Earth, some went to the Belt, you would have exactly what exists in this show. I wonder what Earth is really like, Bobbie saw some of it outside the UN building and it looked like a shit load of people were living in the street, which isn't the Star Trek type image of Earth.  That's why I love this show.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Neurochick

[jhlipton]

4 hours ago, Neurochick said:

I wonder what Earth is really like, Bobbie saw some of it outside the UN building and it looked like a shit load of people were living in the street, which isn't the Star Trek type image of Earth.  That's why I love this show.

Many of the cities have collapsed, Baltimore in particular, and there are two groups of people: those who live on a "basic income", enough for barely enough food and not enough shelter. and those living outside, who tend to have it even worse.  Definitely not the "post-scarcity" world of Star Trek.  (Holden's parents -- and there a bunch of them -- live on a farm, and are doing OK as I recall.)

[Holmbo]

This show is so imaginative about a lot of the future that it makes the UN war room seem a bit flat to me. I think I would like it better if the leadership was made up of a few representatives from different parts of the world. Perhaps there would still be one person who was highest in charge, the commander in chief, but there should be more people there to have a say. Imagine how much more emotional the nuclear hit would have been if one of the leaders was a representative from Brazil. I suppose the show would be to complex if we had to go into subgroups of Earth rather than just the Earth-Mars-Belt division. But it would help Earth feel more real, not just like the US writ large.

I loved all the crew interaction. Prax and Amos's scene especially, but it was too short! We're three seasons in show, why are you still giving us teasers about peoples pasts! I want more.

On 2018-04-26 at 5:59 AM, WatchrTina said:

I will admit be being somewhat confused at this point.  In earlier seasons I thought Mao was the puppet-master with no conscience and Errinwright was his flunky.  I thought Mao was experimenting with the proto-molecule out of hubris and greed.  But now I can't figure out WHAT is motivating him.  Is he just an arms dealer who was planning to sell his proto-soldiers to both sides (Mars and Earth)?  If so why?  He's already one of the richest people in the system.  Would greed really motivate someone that rich to commit treason?  And if it would -- is it in character for him to have had second thoughts in this episode?  The death of his own daughter didn't motivate him to slow down in prior seasons so why would empathy toward someone else's daughter have any impact on him?

I also can't figure out what Errinwright's motivations are.  Is he doing all that he's done so that he can eventually be the president of the UN?  He certainly seems to be planning on exploiting the nuke that landed in South America to make the current president look bad -- which makes me suspect that he, somehow, caused the glitch that delayed the fifth launch.  He visited Anna specifically to tell her that the delay in launching the strike (which he could safely assume Anna argued against) caused the strike to fail -- effectively blaming her for the death of 2 million humans.  That is so eeeeeeevil.  But why is he doing it?  Just to be president?  I find that hard to believe.  Is he secretly a double-agent for Mars?  I find THAT even harder to believe.

I'm also somewhat confused about both Mao's and Errinwright's motivations. My take on it is that Mao's motivation is to learn as much as possible about the protomolecule in order to prepare earth for future extraterestial contact that they now know is out there. At first he seemed excited about the future prospect about the molecule but in this season he just seemed kinda scared about it and looking for a way to control it.

With Errinwright I'm less sure. I do think he's earth first. Maybe he has no other agenda than to just exercise as much power and influence as he can in every given moment. I do think he believes the aggressive tactic is the best move to ensure earths survival.

[MissLucas]

17 hours ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

As much as I like Elizabeth Mitchell, I'm just not feeling Anna.  Her performance is very flat and any emotion seems forced.

I hope that's an acting choice. She's clearly not feeling comfortable, does not want to be where she is yet feels she has to stay and try her best to stop/minimize the impending carnage. So she needs to control herself and that takes its toll.

Edited April 28, 2018 by MissLucas

[mirrorrim]

On 4/27/2018 at 4:55 PM, Tachi Rocinante said:

As much as I like Elizabeth Mitchell, I'm just not feeling Anna.  Her performance is very flat and any emotion seems forced.

The two other shows I've seen her in she acts exactly the same. She's a bland actress.

[SmithW6079]

On 4/26/2018 at 9:07 AM, WatchrTina said:

In an unrelated comment . . . what do you think Amos meant when he said "I died"?  Is it possible that Amos got shot in the head in Baltimore and when he was resuscitated his personality had changed -- giving him the "lack of affect" (which is a psychological term) that we see now?  Is that why he was so interested in learning about the procedure that  surgically removed that doctor's empathy -- because he thinks something similar happened to him by accident?  This is all pure speculation of course (and I'm not looking for spoiler responses from readers).  I'm just responding to the hints in the show.

I got that sense in the first season, when he was asking about the empathy surgeries.

On 4/26/2018 at 9:19 AM, snowwhyte said:

I was assuming that Amos faked his own death rather than actually dying. It's possible he was being more literal. 

I think he meant that he faked his own death. 

On a completely shallow note, may I pay my compliments to the costume designer for putting Wes Chatham in those tight t-shirts where the sleeves don't even make it over his massive shoulders and arms?

[plurie]

Errinwright is the Littlefinger (GAME OF THRONES) of the future. I don't think he's loyal to Earth so much as he's trying create chaos (a situation which he can then exploit).

[johntfs]

1 hour ago, plurie said:

Errinwright is the Littlefinger (GAME OF THRONES) of the future. I don't think he's loyal to Earth so much as he's trying create chaos (a situation which he can then exploit).

I think it's more "anything that's good for me is good for Earth."

[jhlipton]

On 4/29/2018 at 12:08 PM, SmithW6079 said:

I got that sense in the first season, when he was asking about the empathy surgeries.

I think he meant that he faked his own death.

From The Churn:
 

Spoiler

Amos (then known as "Timmy") was working as "muscle" for an underworld kingpin when Earth signed a new security agreement with a private police force.  To show "they mean business", they did a sweep of all "unregistered" citizens of Baltimore.  As a result of that sweep, Timmy was told to kill a man who had been a lifelong friend.  But his moral compass at the time helped him realize that was wrong, so he killed the kingpin instead.  The friend was an expert in creating new identities -- and thus was Timmy "killed" and Amos "born".

Timmy's death wasn't faked by him but by his friend.