The Expanse 3x13 Reaction | Abaddon's Gate

[@CBDuRietz]

The end of season three when the portals opened left me with a dizzying feeling that the first three seasons was just a prologue of something much bigger to come.

[@cinedelasestrellas]

I so hope they eventually make more seasons because books 7 thru 9 are great. Of the later books, I think I like Tiamat’s Wrath (book 8) the best.

[@CodyTaylor115]

@@cinedelasestrellas agreed

[@Cydonius1]

@@cinedelasestrellas book 9 ended on a cliffhanger too, kinda, without spoiling anything they could make an incredible show based on that ending that would be an entire different type of show than the Expanse but with one main character we all know and love =)

[@pushqrdx]

@@Cydonius1 One main character i know & love is Amos xD

[@wagnarokkr]

I remember the night this episode first aired, one of the authors of the books literally tweeted "well, we're out of the prologue" at the end

[@SonicBoyster]

My favorite exchange on the entire show is that Melba/Ashford conversation. "Do you think a truly good act at the end of your life can make up for the terrible things that you've done?" "I would like to believe that is true. Yeah." It's such a great moment of vulnerability shared between two "antagonists" who are dealing with very difficult decisions in front of them, desperately hoping that they're making the "right" decisions to protect as many people as they can. The expanse writes antagonists that aren't always two dimensional villains and it makes them so much more fun to watch.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

I would argue that Melba is very much still 2 dimensional but it was nice to see that moment from her. Ashford's arc and overall story has been SO satisfying. I ADORE HIM

[@SonicBoyster]

@@funnylilgalreacts Fair, although I might suggest that this was the moment that made her three dimensional. Not that it wasn’t a little rushed or anything…

[@malcolmrowe9003]

@@SonicBoyster you get the earlier moment when she's imprisoned and overhears Holden talking, and I think she realises then that he's not the self-righteous enemy of her family that she's previously imagined him to be. I feel that you can see in her eyes that she's questioning her previous assumptions.

[@bthsr7113]

Yeah, it's a bitrushed, but there is a lot that needs to happen in about half as many episodes as they maybe would have liked.

[@charlie53echo]

There is no safer place in the universe than being on Amos' short list. Happy to see Bobby become part of the crew at the end. Xander, the hat made me laugh out loud. #JusticeForXander

[@KevinLyda]

Holden finally figured out Drummer loves Naomi too. It's not about you dude, it's about her. Melba saved everyone, yes. But she used something she learned from Ren all the way at the beginning of the season. So in a way Ren saved everyone.

[@AnniePelletier1]

It's sad for Drummer. To Know that the person she loves doesn't feel the same way about you must hurt but she puts aside her feelings and does what she believes it's true to her (and belters) And Clarisa is such a complicated character to get and love but it's interesting to watch

[@jusker25]

I don’t get the whole drummer golden part

[@professorhelmling6059]

One of my favorite lines is just “Alex?” Frankie’s delivery is absolutely priceless. We won the casting lottery.

[@ferchrissakes]

9:30 you know, next season is all about Monica, Cohen and Melba. They start a law practice on Mars, but at night they fight pirates. Monica discovers a vaccine for polio, and everyone’s too nice to tell her it already exists. Cohen becomes a volleyball olympian. Melba becomes a vet, caring for the horses that aren’t on Mars. Interestingly, none of them have a law degree or fight pirates.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

Sold! But like, Amos makes appearances right?

[@ImAlsoMerobiba]

@@funnylilgalreacts Yes but Amos now wears a hat like Miller. 😂

[@ferchrissakes]

@@funnylilgalreacts He might… or maybe it’s his evil twin? Who has amnesia? Dun dun DUN! This stuff writes itself.

[@ferchrissakes]

Actually, what would an evil twin Amos even be? A well-adjusted if slightly out of shape manager of a mid-size kitchen equipment store or something

[@ferchrissakes]

@@ImAlsoMerobiba wow, yeah, that’s better (as in worse) than what I came up with. Yeesh.

[@erezodier252]

I think the purpose of Diogo's arc is to show how oppression can turn someone to extremism. He watched his uncle die, and hundred of thousands of his people get killed on Eros. Coupled with Dawes' manipulation in S2, this set him on that path.

[@XeonAlpha]

Season 4 is when Amazon took over from Sci-Fi and you’ll notice that both the effects and f-ks budge got a significant increase. If you thought Avasarala had a salty sailor mouth before, just wait until the show stopped having to worry about broadcast language censors. 😂

[@funnylilgalreacts]

I definitely notice the F bomb increase 😂

[@XeonAlpha]

@@funnylilgalreacts it actually tracks far closer to her in the book. I just started the second one and I was like 😳😳😳 I’m also totally reading every line of her in the book with Shohreh Aghdashloo’s voice.

[@ferchrissakes]

@@XeonAlpha Many things should be read in her voice. Just in general. Heck, if I should start hearing a voice in my head and it’s hers, I think the psychiatrist would just fist bump me out of respect

[@XeonAlpha]

@@ferchrissakes 💯 Nothing better than the “Snake in a Sari” saying “Sometimes… I f-king hate being right…”

[@davebcf1231]

There was no budget increase at all. Amazon was just distributor. They never had anything to do with production. Ty Franck said they simply got better at what they were doing as the seasons went on so they were able to stretch the budget further.

[@Yesquire0]

Three seasons necessary to set up this final episode, all that great acting, great writing, great production, great storytelling, just to get to that amazingly satisfying moment when that elevator clobbers that annoying Diogo in the head.

[@ryanmaier1964]

Xander coming in clutch withe the detective Miller hat 🤠🤣🤣

[@AngeloBarovierSD]

HAHA! Xander is the best. I love that he made intentionally hokey, too.

[@FreemanicParacusia]

It reaches out it reaches out it reaches out

[@artdogg50]

As soon as she said it, I knew he was going to do something funny. 😂

[@miller-joel]

Never piss off the editor.

[@paratus04]

What I loved about the end of this arc is Ashford and Holden (& even Melba!) are both trying to do what’s right with the information they have. No one is evil. Just doing whatever they can because the stakes are so high. It’s also why I like Drummer bringing a bottle to share with Ashford at the end. She knows what he did and understands.

[@uhorne]

I fully agree. You can understand their perspectives and why they would act the way they do, based on the knowledge they have

[@crystalfire5564]

Amos with Prax and Amos with Anna are my favourite parts of this season.

[@maxcross5454]

I like how everything statrs to make a lot more sence on the second watch. * "It reaches out, 113 times a second it reaches out, but nothing answers, so it builds the investigator, and investigator looks but it doesn't find so it kills the investigator over and over. And then it builds the investigator again and again. Until it finds a door that wasn't there before"... * "It wasn't sent to kill us, It was just trying to build a road"... "And now that it's finished building the Ring, it's trying to report in"... "Everyone it could talk to is gone"...

[@minkalampinen9519]

*Shivers*

[@LeeCarlson]

Shutting down the reactors disabled the station's security measures and allowed The Investigator to override the security protocols and establish a new routine that recognizes human activity within the Ring-space as non-threatening. And the next book is titled "Cibola Burn."

[@aartsst3227]

Amos is not a people person - unless you’re one of HIS people…. Then he will either protect you, or follow you - to the end. One of my favorite scenes in this season ( & the entire show) is the whole Anna & Amos scene on the Behemmeth. Anna: “On every side of this are people who have no reason to hate each other…. If we make it out of this, we have to find a way to understand each other - to explain WHY we made the choices we did, it is the only way we can let go of the hate - Hate is a burden, you don’t have to carry it with you” Amos: I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. … & Zander returning fire with “The Hat” 🤣 pure 🔥

[@Yesquire0]

The famous quotation attributed to Edmund Burke is an abomination. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Most of the evil in the history of mankind happens because of men, confident they are doing good, go to war against men who are equally confident they are doing good. The evil is going to war in the first place. The winner ends up beatifying himself once in control, and demonizing the loser as having been supremely evil and in need of extermination.

[@robertpower8374]

Still my favourite season of TV ever. I can't even process how crazy it would have been if that final scene with Miller was the final scene of the show. The attention to detail in the writing never fails to impress. Melba shutting down the Behemoth thanks to the training from mentor is a great way to highlight the shift from destructive to constructive thinking. Season 4 is a bit of a change of pace now that we are done with this phase of the protomolecule arc. Just enjoy the slow build again.

[@mattdrahos2662]

Absolutely agree. So many great moments, with eye popping battle scenes, jump scares, questions answered by even more great questions. While each season is great, season 3 is the best.

[@StopReadingMyNameOrElse]

Yeah this was a definite "conclusion" after so much solid buildup. I can totally see why people think the next seasons pacing is jarring after how big season 3 became.

[@cluster_f1575]

I grew up on Star Wars & Star Trek but The Expanse has overtaken both as my favorite sci-fi show.

[@Specter177]

You were wondering what to call Proto-Miller, in the books he's called The Investigator.

[@joely6699]

Man I wish I could watch this show for the first time again.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

I'm always thinking in the back of my mind "this is the only time I'll ever see this for the first time"

[@wnightshade]

This is why I love this series! I get to watch Angela watch it for the first time, which is the next best thing.

[@cliveklg7739]

@@funnylilgalreacts one way to get a bit of that back is watching others watch it for the first time. You can catch some of that same excitement again off them.

[@sparrowlt]

Last time i had the same reaction was with Babylon 5..thats why i love the Expanse so much

[@s.g.3898]

Thats the joy of Reaction videos. We get to relive it vicariously through new eyes

[@sparrowlt]

And its at this point by end of season 3 when the series finally explains its name

[@ianfowler9505]

Oh my, Xander having me laugh out loud twice in under 4 mins. Outstanding editor snark.

[@Cydonius1]

""Buncha blade boys humping shank."" Belter talk about a gang on Ceres that only a Belter would think of, convincing Drummer that Holden was indeed telling the truth about seeing Miller.

[@cliffward2400]

Drummer leading the belters through the ring, reminding them of their "sharpness" was awesome. What a leader!

[@charlie53echo]

Your emotional intro was touching. We appreciate you too. And now...watching with you. More comments after, probably.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

41:56 I appreciate you

[@charlie53echo]

@@funnylilgalreacts saw that, and almost fell over. You're the best. ❤️

[@timothybowers1947]

Putting aside the instant classic scene of "I am that guy" and Prax being the most personified version of good that you could possibly have in any world, one of my favorite moments in season three is when Ashford tells Diogo, "I’ve drunk real Earth whiskey out of a UN Admiral’s mug, and then scuttled her ship. I flew dark past a Martian battle group, and they never even knew I was there. And I’ve seen friends breathe the vacuum and watched my only child burn. So, when I tell you to tread carefully, you would do well to stop talking." It's that subtle kind of bragging about his exploits that make you think, oh here he goes just showing how great he is and then immediately hearing and picturing his friends suffocating in space and losing his only child just stops you in your tracks. It's like instant depth to the character and David's acting in that part just blew me away. Of course, the later pairing with Drummer as they spared with each other during the season just made me appreciate both of the characters and David and Cara's talents in their roles.

[@adamcummings20]

Elizabeth Mitchell in lost and Juliet's relationship with Sawyer reminded me so much of her in this show and Anna's relationship with Amos

[@blackpaw29]

Regards turning the reactors off making a difference - When they arrived, the nucleus/station was on high security alert, then they exploded a fusion bomb right next to it. That triggered the destroy everything both sides of the gate protocol. And part of that was all the reactors are basically fusion bombs as well. Turning them off removed the threat and presumably lowered the security threat and I guess allowed Miller to permanently disable it and open the gates.

[@kirkdarling4120]

My take is that Miller has no control over what the Sphere is doing. It's got its own programming to follow. Miller can only reason with it.

[@k5sss]

That’s not Miller; that’s the Investigator, and its only goal is to figure out what happened to the Creators. But to do that, it needs Holden to get all the gates open and carry it around to gather clues.

[@nimz8521]

My favorite bits were; 1. Anna explaining how people need to be able to talk to each other to explain their actions and how deeply that affected Amos. 2. Holden's "try something else" speech.

[@scottdorfler2551]

Can't believe I never realized that there was no one to shut down the reactor on the Rosi! Guess they shut it down when they left the ship. Why waste deuterium? Anyway, nice catch!

[@LeeCarlson]

As was explained when they first came through the Ring, The Investigator is a "non-local quantum hologram" that manifests in the microtubules of Holden's brain, however, it can ONLY manifest in Holden's brain because of the amazing amount of processing power that is required.

[@Kempeth]

For me the switch in Melba was in two parts. First the talk with Anna snapped her out of her rage. Here's someone desperately trying to find some good in her after all she's done but rationalizing away all the reasons Melba probably told herself with the final straw to grasp at being "do you have a brain tumor?" / "please give me anything so I can believe you're no just pointlessly evil/cruel". Then she had to observe Holden and realized that he wasn't the narcissist in the story. That he was just a guy who had the misfortune of being tossed into the path of this shitstorm over and over again, yet was still committed to fixing this no matter the personal cost. I

[@wtimmins]

Re: Emotion: There are shows you fall in love with. And that's not a metaphor; we feel deeply for them, passionately. Emotionally. We're with you.

[@obelisk21]

The way the books were structured, they were basically three trilogies consisting of three books each. The first trilogy was the story of the protomolecule and its purpose... I will refrain from giving my views on the themes for books 4-6 and 7-9 for spoiler reasons but they do follow the same patterns.

[@wirlwend]

Let's pray for the last trilogy!

[@heteroclitus]

I think the authors have stated the series is actually 3 duologies and one trilogy. 1-2 is protomolecule shenanigans, 3-4 is the Rings, then 5-6 and 7-9... well, you know or you don't. The way the books aren't evenly divided into seasons can reinforce the tri-trilogy idea.

[@obelisk21]

@@heteroclitus Yeah I could definitely see that structure as well.

[@W0NK042]

"Amos is not what you would call a people person." - Unless you want those people fcuked up, or dead, in which case: He is that guy.

[@troywilliams2777]

HAHAHA... the hat, funnylilMiller has me laughing. But on a more serious note, thanks for your wonderful reactions. It is how I get my Expanse fix these days.

[@shauntrek]

This is where the show starts to deviate from the books the most. Drummer is actually an amalgamation of a few different characters from the books, but the two primary ones die in this final confrontation with Ashford's forces (who is way more straight up "evil" in the books), with one of them specifically dying the way Drummer takes the mech suit down the elevator shaft. Huge relief that Drummer survived!

[@starsnmoon5936]

I laughed a bit too loud at 3:29 , thanks Xavier lol that was needed 😂

[@edwardsummey8843]

I have not read the books, but from what I gather about shutting down the reactors is that it lowered the threat level to the station enough that Miller was able to “flip a switch” to get the station to accept them, turn off the speed limit, and open the gates.

[@MongooseTales]

Been loving your reactions Angela. Keep up the great work! As for the moment when Holden passed through the ring... I think the show makers did a great job of making it clear that he saw or at least sensed SOMETHING. And that's all any watcher needs to know until the plot has had a chance to further evolve.

[@Koringul]

The longest and (imo) best exposition of any series ever. 3 seasons worth to get us here. But what did Holden see as they transitioned through the ring? ;)

[@dff1286]

Xander, sir I salute you. that was some high level shade, giving her the miller hat, of all hats.

[@Metro498]

The Ring Builders fate is the most interesting thing about this series. Learning the mission of the protomolecule is to build connections between habitable worlds cross the milky way galaxy is truly fascinating. I’m obsess with the history behind ring network, how it works, how it was created and what destroyed their civilization.

[@CodyTaylor115]

I'm hoping you have read the books

[@Mankepanke]

Yeah, the last trilogy is partly about answering most of those questions.

[@wxgrad]

ROFL...for the "Behemoth" pronunciation comment... It always put a mental smile on my face... part of your charm. Love the channel.

[@Linerunner99]

LMAO Xander... you absolute genius and madman with that Miller hat. lololol

[@CodyTaylor115]

The amount of awe and wonder this ending filled me with was so immense that truly cemented this show in my forever awesome list. Just imagining what it would be like to have 1300 systems to explore each with a world or more that is habitable for humanity would just... It sparks that part of humanity in me that wants to run off and explore the unknown and to set foot where no human has before. Its some quality writing

[@AngeloBarovierSD]

"Another blood-soaked gold rush" made me nod when I first heard it! (It also gave me the vibe of a space-sim MMO.)

[@sparrowlt]

And on the other hand as Ashford said the ring space allready has an unexploded bomb that anyone could activate accidentally or not and destroy the solar system..so who knows what more could be in those systems.. that will be directly adressed in next seasons with consecuences.

[@repadron]

1 - There are many memorable moments in the series, but for me there's non one more memorable than: "You're not that guy...I am that guy" 2- As for Diogp I'm just gonna paraphrase Peter Clemenza to Sunny Corleone in "The Godfather": "Who Diogo?...You're not gonna see him no more"

[@scelonferdi]

Fun fact: Bobby isn't in the Abbadon's Gate Book. There it's a competely different set of martian recon marines. I guess that makes it more realistic than the same set of people running into each other time and time agains, but it makes everything more different from a character perspective ofc.

[@arishunt9125]

All of Diogo's internal organs have the consistency of jello now.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

Little Splat

[@adriancooper78]

Nice!!!! Still more to come!! Humanity had to come together. Just wait till you see what happens!!

[@rnbnatl]

Some might suggest that Amos fixing his protective focus on Anna is also him putting Naomi behind him. She's no longer the world around which he orbits, but now maybe it's Anna? Some may say that.

[@barran62]

😂😂😂 Xander put Miller’s Hat on you!

[@dylanmonaghan3342]

Gosh, I love how you wear your heart on your sleeve 💚 never change Angela! Also I lost it at 3:30 😂😂😂

[@uhorne]

Even after the show ends, the fandom still exists with the Ty and that guy podcast and such. Also a little fun fact. I don't know if it's been mentioned before. The guy that plays Diogo worked close together with a linguist and dialect coach to develop the belter language for the show

[@ablasttv]

Welcome to the real EXPANSE :)

[@wtimmins]

Holden and Naomi are so fun together... because DAMN those are attractive people.

[@spacemanspiff3052]

My favorite thing about season three, the thing that had me floored, is the payoff of all the gates to thousands of habitable worlds. In all of Sci-Fi, in all of theatrical history, I can’t remember a better payoff than gates directly to habitable worlds. And the cherry on top, what makes “The Expanse” such good storytelling, is the recognition that as good a payoff as the gates are, they also open up an infinite opportunity for conflict among and within the factions and other elements of humanity. Wow! 🤯 Melba, Melba, Melba . . . what to do about Melba?

[@LeeCarlson]

My favorite moments (there were two) are "He's my best friend in the whole world."

[@tadcooper9733]

You getting emotional at the beginning of the video was so very sweet.

[@nrXic]

I had a friend recommend The Expanse after the 3rd episode of the first season but I slept on it for years and then decided to binge it all on Prime when it had 3 seasons. So I binged all seasons and when I finished S3 I was like, "there's no way this show is done. NO WAY." and then I hopped online and read everything about the cancellation under SyFy (understandable considering the finances and rights) and about the fan efforts to revive the show, and Amazon picking it up. Luckily and by pure chance, I only had to wait a week after I finished S3 to watch the debut of S4, but my friends went through a lot waiting for it, not even knowing if there would even be an S4. There are some good fan trailers with the #SaveTheExpanse hashtags and are worth checking out before watching S4 because they compile all the great parts from the first 3 seasons. There are some creative fans out there! One even remixed the main theme and it was used in one of the fan trailers, and it's gloriously fully orchestrated.

[@TheJerbol]

27:00 that's a veeeery good point about the Roci's engine, never thought of that

[@chriseggert8207]

Nah, Diogo is a pancake. Even if the suit survived the force of the elevator hitting it at speed, the inside probably looks like the inside of the Y Que. I think my favorite part of Season 3 is the end of Immolation. Such an amazing run of episodes to get there, and we're conditioned from entertainment to expect the worst. Mae is going to be infected, the happy ending will fall apart, etc. But that doesn't happen, lots of people get happy endings. And then this big alien jellyfish crawls out of Venus and starts flying away. Such a good run of music in that end sequence too. I love the latter half of the season also, it felt like an absolute adrenaline ride when we thought the show was going to be cancelled and then finding out it was saved, and then finishing off the season with something that they thought 'could' be a series finale, but opened the door for everything to come after. Season 4 got released all at once on Amazon, rather than weekly like the previous seasons. I *may* have watched it all on the release day. Can't wait.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

😂

[@scottwatrous]

See I think Diogo could survive that. If there's ever an excuse in this series to give someone plot armor, I'd say putting them in Goliath Armor is it. They already showed a willingness to bend the physics for how much deceleration screws people up by having Ashford and Drummer survive being down in that farm tractor repair bay when the slow-zone turned to 11. They should have been crushed to dust. Honestly, most people on those ships would have realistically had about as much of a "Face, meet Wall" introduction as Diogo had when he met Comrade Elevator. And half of them survived. Anna basically took two Ibuprofens and a Pedialyte and was back on duty.

[@AngeloBarovierSD]

@@scottwatrous I respectfully disagree about the death count, given the human body's resilience to (non-water ballooning) impacts when limp. It's really a dice roll between a person dying from hitting their head in a slight tumble to surviving being in a police car that gets crumpled by a freight train. If the impact isn't at pancake or water balloon speed, you cannot predict who lives and who dies. In the show, they're also traveling at steady cruise speed, not high velocity acceleration (like a certain rock hopper) as a prior speed limit was already in effect.

[@nottopcat5956]

@@scottwatrous in the book Ana was asleep in her crash couch and you do see her leaving her room in her first scene after the deceleration

[@ginganinjav5220]

@@scottwatrous I also think I read somewhere that this slow-down wasn't fully instantaneous--more like over a period of 5 seconds. Yet your point still stands. Just hoping this might give you some food for thought

[@thomashiggins9320]

Okay, the hat thing was hy-larious. 😀 And, now you know what this TV series is really about, and it's the hardest story to write, in space science-fiction. Usually, either space sci-fi is set in a near-future Solar System, where humanity has begun to spread to the rest of the planets, here, or alternatively, they're set in a distant future (or a galaxy far, far away...) where civilization is already interstellar. In some of those Earth may even be a distant legend or myth (Dune...) or not known, at all. However, very few authors try to tell the story where humanity suddenly gains the ability to access the stars (through wormwhole gates, or faster-than-light drives, or whatever), and *everything changes* . That's because the authors have to spend a lot of time and effort creating the setting as it exists before that discovery, and then all that work gets shattered when the technology changes the setting, fundamentally, and the authors have to think through the tremendously complex consequences of that transition. I mean, that story is *hard* to tell. So, the fact that this is a wormhole that leads to a bubble in space-time, which allows access to other points in the local region of the Milky Way Galaxy without having to cross the distance between them, certain things have to be true -- and those explain some of what we saw, all the way back to Season 1. Firstly, because the station at the center of the bubble exists outside of normal space-time, the Proto-Molecule ring-builder system must communicate with it to get rings established ("The Work"). Ergo, the Proto-Molecule must be able to perceive and communicate beyond normal space-time, right? As such, the Proto-Molecule doesn't necessarily always *perceive* time as linear, the way humans do. Secondly, we've seen the Proto-Molecule absorbs and assimilates any biological organism with which it comes into contact. When it contacts beings with intelligent minds, it assimilates those minds, also. We've also seen it try to communicate as needed, to achieve its goals. That means it uses the assimilated minds -- *and what's in them* -- as assets for communication. So, when we saw the Proto-Molecule's little blue bird image flying around, and attracting the attention of humans, it matched the image of the little bird that Miller saw outside the window. That's because the Proto-Molecule used *that exact image* , which evoked strong emotion in Miller's memory, as a tool to communicate. And it did so, even though it *hadn't yet* assimilated Miller's mind, because it doesn't perceive space-time as linear. And *that* means, when it came time to absorb Miller, it was required to do so, because it had already started to use assets from Miller's mind. So, when "Seed-Crystal Julie" said, "You belong with me," she wasn't just being romantic (although the actors played the scene that way, and it worked, because Seed-Crystal Julie already knew Miller more intimately than any lover ever could). Instead, the Proto-Molecule, speaking through the Julie-Image, was simply stating a fact. Miller *did belong* as part of the gestalt consciousness, because the ring-builder system needed access to his cognitive assets, so it could use them to communicate both in the "past" and in the "future," to complete, "The Work." So, the reason Enzo saw a little blue bird that looked exactly like the one Miller saw outside the window, was because the Proto-Molecule's image used Miller's emotionally-evocative memory of *that particular bird at that particular moment* to build the lure, because it already had those assets available -- even though it hadn't assimilated Miller "yet." It's the same reason The Investigator has the hat, even though Holden never saw Miller wearing the thing. The image of The Investigator is constructed from Miller's self-image, and for most of his adult life MIller always saw himself as wearing that trilby. Until his self-image collapsed and he left the hat on Ceres, it was part of Miller's definition of "self." So, back at the introduction of the first episode, you said you didn't know what this series would include. So, yeah, you were right -- it *does* including "time-travel," but only kinda-sorta. 😎 Now, the next part of story begins -- and you now truly understand why this series is called, "The Expanse." It's about much, much more than what we've seen, so far. It's about humanity's *expansion* from the limits of our own Solar System, into larger galaxy, beyond. 😊 "Technology changes *everything* ." That's my favorite part of this season -- the writing pulls in the plot threads and Chekhov's Guns it's been tossing around since Season 1, and uses them to deliver one hell of a climax to the first part of this story. It's absolutely brilliant.

[@doug3691]

Interesting that Ashford decides to use the anti-Holden extremist as a needed tech; then suggests to her that redemption is possible. (He just doesn't trust Holden.) And Melba, previously consumed by massive self-importance and self-pity, finds a higher and genuine purpose, and thus a path to redemption by helping Holden, and everyone. (Long road ahead, though.) No caricatures in this; all are human beings. Also, Xander's Diogo note is a total LOL moment.

[@AngeloBarovierSD]

I do admit that I watch your intros in high speed BUT I never skip them. Part of the fun of watching reactors is hearing where their minds are before the episode starts. That way there's a better frame of reference for when their minds are blown by the events. Or, in rare cases, when they are proven right. Not that you need anyone's permission, least of all mine but if ten minutes is short for you, do as you please, I say! The show is designed to MAKE you think. So, hearing you think is part of the fun. Also, here's a dirty secret: There are writers I know (and maybe directors) who watch reaction videos like they're free focus group studies. It's a good way to learn (or be reminded of) what works for viewers vs what doesn't. Some writers give off this vibe of exercising their genius in solitude or isolation, creating magic in their dungeons through sheer creative force alone. It's the conceit of the brilliant novelist (or Alan Moore) but, in truth, most TV writers loooove audience feedback.

[@snarflcat6187]

Anna’s the one you protect.

[@pushqrdx]

You'll definitely feel a freaking void after finishing this show, i am not even fanboying but this is literally my best all time tv show. I Keep going back either rewatching it or enjoying people's reactions to it

[@cyberdelia333]

Huge Expanse fan here happily making my way through your reactions & enjoying them very much (love seeing someone else as invested in the characters as I was/am). Never commented yet...but I had to now, because...THE HAT! 🤣That was epic, Xander! 😂

[@Luzarioth]

And now you know... why it is called "The Expanse", welcome to Chapter 1 xD

[@cinedelasestrellas]

I really love how emotionally invested you have become with this series. By the time I got through season 2, I decided that this was the best Sci-Fi show I had ever seen. By the end of season 3, I decided that this was the best TV show that I had ever seen. I’m kind of a slow reader so I don’t read a lot of novels, but I just had to follow along with the books and after season 6, I just couldn’t wait to see what happens so I read the rest of them back to back. P.s. I don’t know if Diogo survived the elevator or not but you won’t see him again; his character pretty much served his purpose in the show. He had a much smaller role in the books - in the books, he’s just one of the belters that helps capture Cortazar on Thoth and that’s the last you see of him. The Behemoth elevator shaft scene is different in the books. Show Drummer is a combination of a few books characters (one named “Bull,” one named “Michio Pa,” and one named “Drummer”) in the books elevator shaft scene, the elevator is stopped in the middle of the shaft and two goons (neither of which are Diogo) are trying to break through the stopped elevator to get to Holden. One of the Drummer characters stays behind and actually does set off the grenades to help Holden get away, so that Drummer character dies but the others are still alive. In the show, there’s only one Drummer so they can’t have her die in this episode, so they came up with the clever idea of having Diogo hit by the elevator.

[@Nebulorum]

My favorite part of the second half of the 3rd season (or the third book) is Ashford reaching out to everyone and opening the Behemoth. From this point on it's a small group of people trying to save all of humanity. They do bad things and at the end are split, but they still want the same things. Ashford's perspective makes a lot of sense, considering the other one come from Holden that is talking to dead people. But in the end the ants move away ... Great season. Kudos to Cara Gee (a first nation descendant) that plays an awesome Bossman.

[@blackpaw29]

One of the things I like about Anna, she has a strong and well thought out ethical code, but she is also pragmatic and acknowledges the need to fight to defend and takes responsibility for that. I think without that, she would be unbearable.

[@wtimmins]

She's a passionate religious person who isn't played as a stupid caricature and avoids all the stupid shorthand bs character tropes that people often throw in. That's very refreshing.

[@Jonathan-ug9yu]

Anderson Dawes has come down with a case of being a very highly in demand actor 🙃

[@noone1704]

Omg you can't hit me with the emotions straight off the bat. Thank you for watching this show you're amazing!

[@catindigo9907]

Donkey balls. First off, well played Xander, well played. Great job, your "short" intros and outros are the main reason I watch your reactions. I'm going to go binge watch season 4 again. Or maybe all of your previous reactions, and then all the seasons.

[@Attelocin217]

I got into the show on a whim after seeing many praise it as 'a true heir to what classic Trek left behind'. I had my doubts, but I'm always willing to give something new a fair shake. There's been a lot of ups and downs for me as a viewer, and I don't agree with a lot of the opinions I see, but I love this show. I think S3 is where it really picks up for me, where it really takes off and becomes something mind-blowingly special. The actors, the writing, the set pieces, all of it is really coming together. I'll be looking forward to your journey into S4 and beyond, and continuing my own. I think Bobbie is one of my favorite characters. Amos really grew on me. Holden is a dork. Naomi is a real one, and one of the prettiest human beings I've ever seen. What an exciting show.

[@scottdorfler2551]

And no, Diego didn't survive an elevator to the face, even with Martian Goliath Armor!!! I always thought they should have brought him back.

[@wagnarokkr]

I really think this is one of the best season finales I've ever seen, of any show. Though the finale of season 5 is up there - really looking forward to seeing your reaction to that when you get there

[@s.g.3898]

@27:50 lol, Holden is shirtless a lot more in the movie 10,000BC. Oh, and someone needs to send you a hat in the mail lmao. Well done Xander, well done Drummers legs are basically just like the leg-part of the mech-suit Melba wore when she went to the Roci. Seemed a fairly commonplace item in this show rather than a scratch built thing

[@DrieStone]

It's frustrating that you don't have someone to look at you the way that Holden looks at Naomi. I love the emotion in your reactions. You deserve that, and have no doubt that there's someone out there that can make you feel that way.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

Thanks Jon 🖤

[@silafuyang8675]

Drummer is in love with Naomi.

[@alto1MO]

I recently found your channel and binge watched all of your previous Expanse reaction videos over the last several days. Feels great to be caught up and watching the current one.

[@Jonathan-ug9yu]

A couple of thoughts. Drummer is in the lift with Holden and Naomi when they have that super romantic moment and hears the whole thing 😭 I like how the show name of the Expanse over and over develops new meaning. First, it's the Expanse of space itself, now we get the expansion of access to that space

[@SunlessNick]

I said a while back that there were three scenes I was really looking forward to you seeing - the opening of the other gates was the second of them. I love how simple the protomolecule's motive seems to be: wanting to know what happened to its creators. But it's so powerful compared to us that it bends the whole of civilisation round that line. I'm with you on that moment between Melba and Ashford. And I love how Anna and Amos get each other, despite being such seeming opposites.

[@StarkRG]

One of the consequenses of condensing book three into the latter two thirds of season 3 is that we missed out on Clarissa's voyage back on the Roci. Ana convinced Holden that Clarissa deserved a fair trial and that, if she was to journey back on any other ship, she'd probably be killed in retribution for the people she murdered. During the several months it took to return to Earth they had to do some repairs on the Roci and Clarissa helped with Amos acting as her guard and supervisor. _This_ is why you will have seen that they have a friendly relationship at the beginning of season 4. Show Ashford is a fantastic character with depth and reasons for his actions. He's wrong, but only because he didn't believe the unbelievable (either that Holden was in contact with the station or that he was still Holden and not some station-controlled thing). Book Ashford, well, is just a villain (I hope that's not a spoiler). The books make it clearer, but the reason shutting down the reactors helped is that, while the station was on full alert, proto-Miller had limited access. Once the reactors were turned off, though, the station reduced its alert status and allowed proto-Miller greater access, enough to turn the station's security off entirely (or maybe just told it that these ships weren't a threat, I forget which). It also allowed him access to the controls to open all the other rings and to turn off the slowing effect (which was actually part of the security protocol).

[@arnoldlayne252]

3 seasons to show what the expanse actually is. Well played :)

[@TonyLeadholm]

OMG, Xander! 🤣🤣 🎩🧢🤠 DYING!!!!🤣🤣

[@Mach1Greeble]

Best thing about Season 3 is Amos's beard. It's not even close.

[@artboymoy]

Great reaction Angela and your editor's having too much fun again. Love it all. Welcome to the Expanse! Love that you hate Monica and Clarissa taking part in saving the solar system and the people in the Ring space. I think Clarissa was thinking more on her actions since talking with Anna. Hearing Holden talk more she knows he was just trying to do the right thing and at the end hearing him talk again, really solidified what she was gonna do. It's great that what Ren taught her about those breakers or whatever they were totally saved them all and seeing Anna and Clarissa at the end is beginning her atonement. Season 4 is when Amazon brought the show back and IMO does have a very different feeling. Looking forward to seeing what you think of it. IMO this show does what the newer Star Trek shows could have been trying.

[@emilywinters105]

I was sad when this series came to an end, which for me was season 3's finale as I thought that was going to be the end of it. I was so happy that Amazon picked it up to do season 4-5, was sad when that ended but I'm happy to relive it with your reaction :)

[@michaelgonzalez6295]

This was the real hang up of Ashford which I had to keep my mouth shut about. He lost discipline and objectivity. First, in a normal chain of command, yes XO takes over mission until the captain can return to duty or return to base if possible. He did not do this but his motivation was not power or siding with Anderson Dawes, it was his desire for redemption for not saving his child. Second as a OLD former pirate of action, it is hard to learn new tricks - simply do nothing and let things be.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

Well, him not saying "acting captain" irked me, as well as still threatening to space someone for messing up and then killing Gregori for arguing they needed to shut down the reactor. He's still that pirate in there.

[@michaelgonzalez6295]

@@funnylilgalreactsExactly. I am close to 60yo now. I feel the pull of wanting to adapt to new things and be a "modern" person. But I also feel the need to sticking to what works and impart that wisdom to my adult children who I still see as MY young children, getting frustrated when they don't do as i would. The hardest part of being a parent later on in life is respecting their autonomy.

[@pali1d]

@@funnylilgalreacts In all fairness regarding shooting Gregori, in many militaries even today inciting mutiny is a death penalty worthy offense, and that's exactly what Gregori was doing in that moment - he was encouraging people to disregarding the orders of the acting captain. In the middle of a crisis situation, the commanding officer killing a mutineer would have a good chance of being considered justified by a review board. That isn't to say that Ashford handled things ideally by any stretch - he could have done far more to explain himself to Gregori before that moment, and I have no doubt that their history together factored into how Ashford responded to Gregori's disobedience. But I think the above does matter a lot for why people continued to go along with Ashford (particularly the Martian CO), and why Drummer approaches him with understanding at the end ("let's drink together") rather than with condemnation.

[@rodentnolastname6612]

You're safe to read books 1-3 now. Nothing held back in the adaption is carried over.

[@carykneller1159]

OMG ahahahhahaha Xander won this battle in the war at 2:42 P.S. You have a great coffee mug !

[@elkapro6534]

One thing I found pretty hard to believe, is that everyone just believed Holden and shut down their reactors. Holden was doing what the artifact/Protomolecule was telling him to do. The very same artifact that was about to wipe out humanity, was asking humanity to do nothing via it's "fancy handterminal". It's like crew of a bomber plane telling people in the target city to not use their anti-air defences, while preparing to drop the bombs. Hand on your heart, would you believe Holden and do as he says? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't, not at that point.

[@swhaw]

As someone who has chronic back issues and has had surgery on their back the character and scene I relate to the most is Drummer and when they go into 0g in the elevator. I felt that sigh harder than anything and was perfectly done, it maybe something small but I think it shows how good of an actor Cara Gee is. The compression of gravity when I stand and sit is where most of my pain comes from so when I get in a pool or somewhere where the gravity is dampened by buoyancy and I can relax without being compressed lol.

[@jaiverdeorta1295]

And now it really hits.... Why the series is called The Expanse... Such a great season!!! Loved your reactions

[@r4pids]

"Give me a reason to like Melba Expanse"... She is the Joffery of this show ;)

[@benjamindoyle3741]

The hardest thing for most, is to look past one self, to find the greater good. We all are Selfish self centered, all the self prefix's. We all are self. and thats the only way we see things. Those that can see beyond self are the give NO Fuks of us. They tend to seem crazy but if You can look outside self You will see there crazy has legs. Speed, Intensity, and Violence of Action!!

[@trancepilot5962]

As I might have mentioned prior, Thank you for taking the time with these reactions and sharing your smiles, tears, anger and everything else. Mondays and Thursdays are the two days I look forward to for your reactions ( I do watch others but these are my favorites). You have become that 'Virtual buddy' that I can count on for sharing these types of shows with.. Keep them coming...

[@VaughnKing]

great great great reactions so far! Now that we have gotten through the first 3 seasons, the only thing left to say is... THIS IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS!!!!!!

[@detrix42]

This was how the Sci-fi Channel was going to leave this show at. I am so glad that Amazon picked it up and went another 3 seasons. I love this show.

[@minkalampinen9519]

Welcome to the Expanse! 😂 The moment when all those rings opened is - to me - the greatest scene in the history of scifi, actually beating Sheridan's legendary "Get The Hell out of our galazy!" quote from Babylon 5, never imagined this could happen. But God, I'm glad it did!