The Expanse Season 6 Episode 5 review: Drummer and Avasarala forge an alliance as course is set for explosive finale

3.5/5

Story: Inaros’ ace turn out to be railguns at the Ring station near Medina that take out the entire fleet of Martian war ships that were in pursuit of the Pella. Avasarala does not want to act in haste and strike back immediately; she is on the lookout for an ally, preferably from the Belt, and eventually finds one in Camina Drummer.

Review: It is unbelievable that we are only one episode away from the series finale of The Expanse – nine books were condensed into six seasons, with the last one getting only six episodes to tie up loose ends. Several story arcs from the books have been left out or abandoned along the way, as economics decided the future of the series – it’s just too expensive to make a show of this nature. Fans were overjoyed when Jeff Bezos picked up the show for renewal on Amazon, after Syfy cancelled it after an initial three-season run. He’s given it three more seasons, but it doesn’t feel even remotely enough.

Season 5 and 6 have been building up to the great showdown between the Inners, Martians and the big baddie – Marco Inaros and his breakaway Belter Faction, the Free Navy. But with only one episode to go and only one half-a**ed attempt at getting even with Inaros, so far, fans of the show have definitely not been getting their due and it is unlikely they will get when the show winds up next week. Sigh!

The star of the episode, no doubt, was Camina Drummer. Avasarala wants them to join forces, but Drummer does not want to be at the beck and call of the Inners – she and the rest of the Belters are, after all, products of years of oppression. It is up to Naomi then to convince Drummer that this alliance, however uneasy, may be the only option to them all to rid themselves of Inaros and the threat he poses.

It is still unclear where the show is leading with the Laconia arc, except that the strange dog like creatures on the planet can bring dead people back to life. I have to admit that I watched the show without ever reading the books, which, incidentally are a part of the home library? Well, the good thing is that the show’s abrupt ending will, in all likelihood, get me to play catch up and fill all the blanks. One only wishes the makers had the leeway to bring the show to a more fitting end, with due justice to all of the nine books.

Verdict: Yes, there is a sense of anticipation for the sixth and final episode, now that Drummer and Avasarala, two of the most kickass women on the show, are working together to hunt Inaros. But there is this strange foreboding that it will be rushed to curtail it in a 45-minute episode and leave fans disappointed.