‘The Expanse’ season 5 episode 9 review: ‘Winnipesaukee’

Amos and his Baltimore associates look for a spacecraft while everyone wants to save Naomi.

January 27, 2021

Previously on The Expanse, everyone finds themselves in some sort of predicament. Naomi utilizes her ingenuity and engineering skills to not only survive but to try to warn her friends about the trap Marco has set for them. Avasarala attempts to be the calm one as the new Secretary General becomes hawkish towards the Free Navy and Belters in general. Meanwhile, Drummer begins to have second thoughts about allying with Marco and Amos turns to an old colleague to fly off Earth.

[Slight Spoilers Ahead!]

Amos and Clarissa head up north to Winnipesaukee along with Erich and his crew to obtain a ship left behind in an affluent community. Their arrival doesn’t go unnoticed as the various estate staff and private security investigate their activities. It becomes a race to locate and repair a spacecraft before drawing too much unwanted attention.

On Luna, Avasarala’s frustration with Secretary General Paster grows when he continues to plot military strikes against Belter civilians. Finally, she morally objects and resigns from her post which leads to an unexpected outcome.

Elsewhere in space, Naomi is still surviving and devising resourceful ways to escape and to alert her friends about the situation. Her altered message has its intended results with both Holden and Alex and Bobbie picking up on it and contemplating the reasons for the change. Drummer also catches the message and wrestles with following orders or mounting her own rescue attempt. However, the latter would most certainly bring down Marco’s wrath upon them and endanger her crew.

the expanse 5.9.2 — Photo: Amazon Prime Video

“Winnipesaukee” ratchets up the tension in all the various storylines and serves as an excellent lead in to next week’s season finale of The Expanse.

It has been a joy to explore Amos’ character more with his return to Baltimore. The episode has the juxtaposition of Erich and Clarissa to represent his different sides. The former is a nod to his past self with a difficult upbringing and a realist perspective. The latter’s ideals are consistent with the man he has become with a more optimistic view on life. Both are important in the new post asteroid landscape to recognize dangers and people’s worth. Then that firefight as they escape is predictable but so intense you don’t know who’s going to make it out alive.

The politics of The Expanse draws many parallels to the present. It shows how easily it is to be caught up in warmongering with a person whose background is transportation becoming so aggressive after one taste. That also leads to the arguments on how to deal with terrorists. The loss of her husband has caused Avarasala to have a different outlook, which helps her regain the title of Secretary General placing a more trusted and steady hand in command.

We already know how brilliant Naomi is but these past two episodes have also exhibited her resolve and mental fortitude to not give up and find different ways to help her situation. She learns that Alex and Bobbie are close by and we’re left wondering at the end what other trick does she has up her sleeve as she heads into the hull one more time.

But who’s to say Alex and Bobbie will save her? Drummer also knows about Naomi’s situation. Camina has fallen a peg or two from a faction leader in the Sohiro territory to Marco’s underling. She’s even the trust from her second in command. She’s conflicted by her love for Naomi and love for her crew. But Karal has pretty much taken over so maybe she has nothing to lose. I’m hoping for a showdown between the two next week with Drummer finally taking that smug, arrogant look off of Karal’s face.

The penultimate season five episode is tension filled and builds the excitement for the season finale.

New episodes of The Expanse are released Wednesdays on Amazon Prime Video.