The Expanse 5x10 REACTION!! "Nemesis Games"

Eric Rick Calvin and Aaron react to and discuss season 5 episode 10 of The Expanse - Nemesis Games - #TheExpanse
Raw Rider Patrons can watch the Full Length Reaction HERE: blindwavellc.com/the-expanse-...
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[@BlindWave]

Raw Rider Patrons can watch the Full Length Reaction HERE: blindwavellc.com/the-expanse-5x10-full/

[@corsa180]

Eric's instincts about Alex's death were spot on. I think they did well, considering the circumstances.

[@TheReal1zzy]

Are you the fusion between Eric and Aaron?

[@randomthorn9286]

I disagree. I understand why they made that choice but killing off a character like that goes against everything the show stands for, especially with how the crew is meant to be a close-knit family and everyone just moves on like it is nothing

[@albert2006xp]

Well would have been to not fire Cas. Decent would have been to recast. Bad would have been to give him a good death or something. What they did was an insult.

[@xTrinity007]

The reason Alex's death seems weird is because the actor playing him had several accusations come to light and the Expanse team decided it was better to kill him off and did so in post production. Alex is still alive in the books though.

[@Blackd0nuts]

Exactly, and I thought the exact same thing as Eric when I watched it. It's really obvious that this has been a "post-production" death. And it really doesn't do Alex justice at all. I couldn't care less about the actor and his actions (in the sense that if it gets him fired, fine). But Alex is a well loved character and it feels like they "punish" the character AND the audience who loves him for the actions of the actor. It feels insulting. I'm actually surprise Rick, Calvin and Aaron were so fine with how this death was presented and didn't agree with Eric on the obvious edited last frame of Alex's body.

[@Ryuu44]

@@Blackd0nuts They do have a death like that in the books as well. It's not a main character but Fred doesn't get shot. He was flying somewhere and just puff - strokes out and dies. It is a threat of high G maneuvering. It sucks that a main character gets an anticlimactic death but with the reasoning behind it I think they did the best job possible and it does add something to the threat every time they juice up.

[@aajiv1748]

@@Blackd0nuts We got the news about the Anvar scandal just as season 5 had wrapped, there was an investigation that led to Cas Anvar's dismissal from the show's cast. Never saw anything official from Alcon but sure was definite news from the press. It sure was an edit removal but better than opening season 6 with the character dying off-screen and in this no possibility of a re-casting replacement.... I think they did the best they could. Seems like I heard that there was some re-shoots for episode 10 to take care of the continuity , all worked out slightly awkward but not that intrusive.

[@scottwatrous]

@@aajiv1748 I think knowing season 6 was going to be the last for a while at least, it would have been fine to basically have him get 'sent home to Mars on life support' in order for him to 'heal' for the duration of season 6. Then if the show ever comes back a re-cast would have at least been possible.

[@sparrowlt]

@@aajiv1748 personally i would just recast.. they did a far horribly recast with Arjun and it wasnt the end of the world.. just do someone a bit similar to Cas and thats it.. we all know what happent dead or not...

[@krbkrbkrbkrbkrb]

There was no protomolecule on the Barkeith when it was destroyed at the end. Cortazar's message said that the sample had already arrived on Laconia and he was using it to reactivate the structures there.

[@TheSirUno]

Yep. Considering the distances involved, that torpedo was likely launched months before the attack on the gate and Cortizar's message.

[@whhunt4349]

15:56 ITS LEGITIMATE SALVAGE, ERIC!

Well sort of

[@Variecs]

Gosh, i remember when i had to pitch voting Expanse in for like 4 straight replacement votes. And now you're all caught up. What a journey!

[@BhlackBishop]

✊

[@Swooshbml91]

I'm imagining Eric yelling "VINDICATIONNN" Captain Holt style when they eventually read the news about Alex's death 😂

[@albert2006xp]

The fact they're trying to do mental gymnastic and not seeing what Eric's seeing is mind blowing. Literally first thing I did after the episode was google is alex dead in the books, then found out the reason and I was fuming.

[@VLaks1]

Narratively, I actually really like Alex's death. In a sequence where Holden, Naomi and Alex were all willing to risk their lives to save their new family, I think its very appropriate that one of them do in fact not make it. It really brings home that this is a War story, and what they're doing has a lot of stakes involved. Obviously Eric is right, the decision was made because of Cas Anvar's actions and after the investigation they had to re-edit/ film some moments from this episode. And while the execution may not have been perfect (although it was very good considering the circumstances), I do think what we got narratively improved the moment overall. I also think Naomi's message works really well as a true goodbye to Alex, and I don't think that scene would have worked as well if everyone had made it out unscathed. It would have been too artificial.

[@wtimmins]

Much nicer than him just vanishing 'to do family stuff' or went to a farm upstate or...

[@zammmerjammer]

@@wtimmins Poochie died on the way back to his home planet.

[@TheSirUno]

Well said.

[@BhlackBishop]

Would have to disagree on the execution part. If it was good then we wouldnt notice something off and it wouldnt feel "weird". I for one hated it, thats not how you treat a beloved characters death but like you said it wasnt planned.

[@VLaks1]

@@BhlackBishop The thing is even from this reaction video here, we can see that not everyone thought it was weird. Eric caught it, but the other three all thought it flowed just fine in context. When I first saw it, about half the room (the people who didn't know the Cas Anvar situation), similarly did not find anything off about it. The "weirdest" thing about the death is just that it's unceremonial, not the execution. But that's a type of character death the writers really liked and kept in their back pocket. In the books another important character died in the same way (not a spoiler, had a different death scene in the show already). It's meant to have that unceremonious and raw feeling of death, and not a meta-treatment of a beloved character.

[@Plutodeli]

Fun fact: the reason why the helmet was taken off during the fight with Drummer and Karal, that is because the Belters never had the luxury of the technology to depressurize the hull. This show just delivers, it just does.

[@2KOOLURATOOLGaming]

Oh I never knew that.

[@Jabberwocky415]

I still don’t understand. What does depressurizing the hull have to do with it?

[@The_Shaft]

Alex was originally in all of the final shots, but he was removed afterward. Not sure if they re-filmed or took him out in post, but it wasn’t the original plan.

[@robertwinslade3104]

It looks to me like he was removed in post for the party scene, but everything else was last minute re-shoots

[@JoaoPedroDamaso]

There are some pictures of him on set for that party, he was removed on post

[@robertcartier5088]

He was indeed removewd from the party scene... One tell-tale indication of this is when Avesarala is making a speech and using the crew of the Roci to exemplify "how we win"... she mentions each of their origins and includes "Martian" yet Alex is nowhere to be seen. He was actually sitting right there on the sofa but was digitally removed.

[@sierra1513]

@@robertcartier5088 Bobbie is a Martian so it still makes sense

[@douglas2938]

Knowing beforehand that Cas was out, I went in expecting something like "and then Alex went to live in a farm upstate since he was too late and his family had moved on", so what we actually got was klicks better, and it tied in really well narratively, finally seeing the danger of travelling at such speeds. Naomi's message gets me every time.

[@TheOriginalHairyDave]

Don't forget, Naomi didn't jump to the Chetzemoka to survive, she did it to disable the trap to try to save her new family. Even jumping out was part of that - it was the only way she could get the message out before the "brave idiot" got too close.

[@albert2006xp]

She could have triggered the bombs long before Alex/Bobbie got in range? They all had "don't try to disarm" warnings. She's a coward and literally the cause for half the bad shit that goes down in the show. The fact it ended up causing Alex's death too was just the cherry on top of her terrible existence. The protomolecule that got away and got Laconia going is the one she let slip for her precious Belters. She had a child very young with the worst person in the solar system who ends up causing millions to die. She does not take responsibility for any of it and does not blow up that ship which should have rightfully been her end. Paying for all her mistakes.

[@MrSmokinDragon]

@@albert2006xp Hope you got all your bile out there, would be sad i you choked on it...

[@dsdy1205]

@@albert2006xp Did you just blame Naomi for Marco Inaros' war crimes?

[@albert2006xp]

@@dsdy1205 No? I blame her for being with him as long as she was in the first place. Blame her for her "muh belters" racist, uncooperative attitude. Sending protomolecule to Fred without consulting the crew. Risking Alex and Bobbie's lives instead of detonating the ship. I'm about to start book 4 and book Naomi so far isn't anywhere near as insufferable as show Naomi. Curious how Nemesis Games will handle her.

[@DarthQueefious]

Eric's bad ear gave him heightened perception

[@axlm.808]

They didn't steal the Roci, it was a legitimate salvage (sort of)

[@k9commander]

The ship was given to them by a Martian officer.

[@omarholder9036]

@@k9commander that died right after so not much help that is

[@travisspazz1624]

The Naomi voicemail scene is so perfectly played while also used for a goodbye to Alex.

[@LeeCarlson]

What we are seeing from Laconia's surface is an orbital fabrication plant. The protomolecule was not on the Barkeith, as the missile carrying the protomolecule just had to reach the ring and be picked up by another ship on the way through.

[@axlm.808]

If you watch Naomi's rescue scene with earphones, the sound of her voice (and Bobbie's one too) comes only from the left speaker

[@TheArrowedKnee]

Eric is correct about Alex' death. His actor had some very serious allegations about sexual misconduct come up, after the season was already filmed. So after an investigation was done about the allegations, and the producers decided to drop him from the show.

[@ducktape160]

The stroke was so severe it even made the blinking LED's stop blinking

[@Triskaan]

Yeah, they really should have rewatched the entire exchange aboard the Barkeith at the end, they missed a lot in it. :)

[@-6ix559]

Yeah I felt that Alex’s death was strange. Then I found out about what happened and the weirdness of his death made sense.

[@Kennia1998]

44:07 NOOO, it was Naomi to save drummer

[@grumpletybooeg3338]

Like others have said, Alex's death wasn't planned, Cas Anvar, etc etc. I personally felt that...while it was a weird way for a main character to go, it actually made a lot of sense. They'd hyped up the dangers and the possibility of stroking out, mostly in relation to Avasarala iirc, so making it happen to someone else was an interesting twist. Alex's path in this season kinda showed that he had nothing left in the universe EXCEPT for the crew, and so it makes sense he died to save one of em

[@mella4376]

Exactly, even the books made sure to finally pay off the "stroke from high G" Chekhov's gun that had been waved around for a while, and given that Fred was given a different death here before they decided to kill Alex too, this is actually an elegant solution to fill in that payoff

[@rainingpizza6586]

It's been a few weeks since they reacted. I'm guessing they have probably heard the news by now. Really unfortunate. I was always in favor of a recast, but I see why they played it the way they did.

[@grumpletybooeg3338]

@@rainingpizza6586 I forgot they do the Patreon thing, thanks for the reminder. If it were earlier in the show I'd be inclined to agree. But second to last season...

[@nugking2021]

Each ring world basically has its own function and I think the Martians took the protomolucle to a specific ship yard world to make a fleet a meaty future proto ships, the world from season 4 was basically a lithium mining world

[@Kennia1998]

i never thought i'd be paying to see someone's reaction to a series. but man the expanse is something else to me, I CANT WAIT for your reaction to season 6, it's been an amazing year blindwave thank you for making it amazing and fun

[@thedrudgetick]

Just for Information, that same kind of death happened to a different major character in the book. No spoiler.

[@MAORISMURF20]

Great reaction team! We've finally made it! Can't wait for season 6

[@TheSirUno]

Dying by a stroke is anti-climatic, period. The characters often spoke about the dangers of "stroking-out" so this should come as no real surprise to anyone. Sad it had to happen to a beloved character like Alex, but he always knew the risks. The actor made his bed...now he has to sleep in it. F--k him. Alex's last line was "That was one helluva ride." We all saw this coming well before the season began, but it was still shocking regardless. But hey...that's a stroke. Sudden, shocking, and quiet.

[@mustafaabdeltawwab9280]

@Darkstar 1) Your statement would have had the tiniest bits of validity if not more than 30 different people have already accused Cas Anvar of sexual misconduct (I think it might be more than 40 but I am not 100% sure about this); and 2) please educate yourself about a sensitive issue such as this before commenting about it.

[@kaldurobuin]

@Darkstar He was investigated by Alcorn Entertainment and the investigation concluded with the company no longer wanting to be associated with him. That should tell you something.

[@TheSirUno]

@Darkstar The irony of that last sentence is killing me. Well done. Have a wonderful day. 😘

[@LordTelperion]

@@mustafaabdeltawwab9280 Are you sure? Where is the evidence? We don't have much to go on.

[@LordTelperion]

@@kaldurobuin And you believe everything corporations tell you?

[@wanderingsurvivor]

Alex was actually digitally removed from the victory party at the end. He was originally filmed sitting on the couch next to Amos. His death was completely unplanned. Other commenters have outlined the reasoning for his dismissal.

[@sandejoshua01]

Bittersweet to finally catch up. How would y'all rank the seasons so far? For me it's 3, 2, 5, 1, 4. All good, but 2 & 3 especially are elite god tier television.

[@robertwinslade3104]

Pretty much my exact ranking too

[@thefungusamongus3958]

3 5 2 1 4 for me

[@Kennia1998]

3, 5, 2, 4, 1

[@garethking5322]

I'd agree, maybe swapping 4 and 1, and both are still like my favourite seasons of anything, without even counting the other three!

[@alexanderpauli2835]

You are right about the weirdness! It was a necessary thing to do, after every shot was taken. Look for accusations against Cas Anvar and you will find the sad reason for it all.

[@phath0m135]

The accusations haven't been proven in court though and to be completely honest... when dealing with an actor, you have to be more pragmatic than you would with other forms of employment. What Cas provides to the show is his likeness in the character of Alex. This likeness and character is completely separate from the person Cas Anvar. Whilst disciplinary action is totally warranted with the accusations that have been levied against him, keeping him on the show until the character of Alex is no longer needed whilst separating him from expanse related events (Conferences, ect) would have been a better course of action. Unfortuantely though, I imagine the show runners would have been harassed by a bunch of self-styled "activists" if they went this route.

[@mizgracie872]

@@phath0m135 Alcon Entertainment hired an independent firm to investigate the multiple allegations. After they received the results, they deemed it necessary to terminate Cas Anvar.

[@phath0m135]

@@mizgracie872 Well yes... That's what happened. That doesn't mean we can't disagree on it. I believe an objective argument can be made that the primary reason that course of action was taken was because of social pressures.

[@Lightningrod75]

@@phath0m135 Yeah, you totally left out all of his co-workers that might not be comfortable working with him anymore.

[@bigyetter]

@@phath0m135 is it possible the show runners were disgusted by what he did and didn't want him on the show anymore?

[@mikehirst4143]

When the Martian ship passes through the ring and the 'red stuff' cuts it to pieces, you can see the engine flicker and turn off. To me, that implies the ship was destroyed while passing through the ring.

[@LeeCarlson]

Remember that all Holden needed was for the Roci to get into CQB with the Free Navy ships, he just didn't have the missiles or PDC ammunition to withstand a missile barrage, which Drummer corrected by focusing the Free Navy ships on her missiles while the Roci closed.

[@tonyramos1031]

Good on Eric for spotting the death by editing, I wish they would have recasted or edit in more foreshadowing, like close ups of warning monitors or extra lines from Bobbie

[@doctor8342]

It took me until a couple weeks ago (I watched this when it first came out) that Bull was Uncle Eli from Agents of SHIELD....

[@jamesholland5761]

Great reaction! Thank you for reacting to our beloved show!

[@Braiam]

I'm sad they didn't include the reaction to Marco speech about knife and darkness.

[@iarba]

Drummer being hella pregnant the whole season is still funny considering the acting

[@stephenpodeschi6052]

I was a little surprised none of the gang had heard about Cas Anvar being axed . But it does show how good the reactor audience is for not spoiling them...lol

[@franciscooctavius5957]

So happy you guys got here. The visual and sound choices for Naomi’s rescue from Bobbie are beyond good. Literally draws the viewer into the shot. And I’m with you Eric on Alex’s death. I knew when this season was live what to expect for the character and while completely accurate scientifically, it was nothing more than the writing teams reaction to a real world situation placed into the shows story. And it was done really poorly. At least the writers allowed the character to die for a member of his crew family. But I agree- watching this when it first came out- Alex’s death completely takes you out of the show and the viewer is left saying “what??” Amos tactics for bringing Peaches on board are simply genius level good. S5 was a bit slower than 3 or even 4, but my God was it done so well. The backstories of Amos and Naomi were extremely well executed. Super excited for s6. BWs reaction reviews and this show have been a great ride

[@ducktape160]

the not reading the message was a real story about Naren Shankar finding a message from his wife when she got cancer. She is ok now be he used the story

[@emwungarand]

That torpedo made it to Laconia months ago. Think about how long it took Naomi to heal and the Roci to get back to Luna from out in the deep.

[@cmtaylor531]

I think they worked Alex death in well since I agree with Eric it was obvious post editing death.

[@W0NK042]

A DAY EARLY!!! Thank You Santa. Welcome to the best space battle ever seen on tv.

[@ddanielsandberg]

99.999999999% of all deaths ever have been utterly unremarkable.

[@ChaosLORDish]

Admiral Duarte and Laconia are on the horizon!!

[@Homeskiller22]

Alex's death was the one thing that took me out of the episode. I don't know if I would have reacted differently not knowing what was happening behind the scenes tho. The only thing I was thinking was: Oh, so that's how they're solving this. Ok that sucks. I was even more mad at the actor when I saw the pictures of the bar scene with Alex in it. It could have been so much better. For what it's worth, on a rewatch, I thought they handled his death OKish for what they were given. Blows tho. Otherwise 10/10 finale for me. Can't wait for their live reactions to Season 6. I'm so hyped!

[@rafaelsantosx]

Alex Kamal's death will always have an (*)asterisk / foot note in The Expanse show.

[@katemoon1594]

I know the reason for it... but 100% with Eric on Alex's death. Lol. It felt SO weird to me. Out of place. I was spoiled and was waiting for it for ever so I almost thought I was getting psyched out. But I really expected something less anti-climactic. I really love Alex as a character. And normally they would have done more for a chatacter of that level on a show. But obviously... complications. It kinda took me out of the moment tho. Lol. Such an epic season besides that. ❤

[@PayThePiperr]

Oh you guys cut the best part. Marco speech!

[@LightShadowOnyx]

It sucks we lost alex I am conflicted on how to write off the character because of what happen with his actor on one hand I hate that the go to solution to writing a character off a show is by killing them but alex's death was a well written one dying to reunite his second family. This series been so good and can't wait to see the final season. I really hope the people who is doing the expanse does the mass effect tv show that be a dream come true

[@Disrupt_01]

Does anybody know if the crew have spoken about Cas Anvars firing since? Either on the podcast or another video because they finished catching up last month and I’d be surprised if they haven’t found out yet. And also good job Eric on calling out the somewhat odd execution of his death.

[@sverebom7069]

Not them I'm aware of, but they immediately sided with the accusers.

[@brilobox2]

@@sverebom7069 the production company wouldn’t have fired him and done last minute reshoots to the detriment of the production if they didn’t have to, and they didn’t have to. Media chatter about the issue was minimal, and they could have just as easily said nothing or that the investigation cleared him and almost nothing would have happened. Unless of course the crew and/or cast weren’t willing to work with him and/or were planning to let everyone else know details about what was going on.

[@garethking5322]

They discuss it a bit on the 6x1 episode, basically saying they weren't aware of the situation so didn't mention it in this episode, and explore it slightly further.

[@BloodKills]

Despite me hating that they killed Alex since he's a big player in books 7, 8 and 9, I LOVED the fact that his last words were "That was one hell of a ride.", which shows the character respect despite the awful decision to kill him off.

[@babyshan211]

Trust your instincts Eric because you are right. I felt the same way when I first watched the episode. I knew about the accusations against Cas but I didn't know he was fired at the time because I deliberately stayed away from spoilers while watching the season. So after seeing that scene I looked it up and found out why it happened like that.

[@sallyshipwreck4315]

I wonder what it was like for the rest of the cast after Cas was cut out. Some of the mourning had to be real.

[@olentie]

Who's gonna tell them...

[@jizy06]

I wish they had googled it, it helped to understand why

[@olentie]

@@jizy06 Yeah, I'm kind of glad they didn't know going in because I think there was genuine shock, but as they were discussing it, I wish they had a little context.

[@EChacon]

Interesting you moved the Expanse reactions to today over Sunday but most importantly releasing Two Episodes a day when literally fir the most part you rarely release 2 Episode reactions pero day/week unless if it's a Season premiere if a specific show (e.g WandaVision, Hawkeye, The Boys).

[@carrela1000]

It's because they're caught up with the show so now they're moving to doing the expanse as a live show

[@ItsShaz1]

Ayyy

[@KevinLyda]

In the books a character does die stroking out after a battle where they won (either in book five or six). So there is a death like that in the books, just not Alex.

[@randomthorn9286]

I agree with Erick 100%, I think the death was horribly done (just my opinion. I have been catching up with this show and to be with a character for 5 seasons, one that never had a proper arc or big story moment that he totally deserved, to just die like that and move on so abruptly felt garbage. This is a character that I totally could have shed tears for but I never felt sad over his death this episode cause of the abruptness and lack of empathy his crewmates shared. I'm serious about the crew part, for as much as this show talks about the crew being all their family they sure got over it quickly. A main character death should be the focus of the episode, not a side note. Expanse had been good at not making obvious writing blunders that this for me really came out of nowhere. I could talk about this more but I feel like there would be no point. (Though I have to say with Rick saying the point is you grieve later, that doesn't work if the characters are over it in the very same episode. Sure there sad but they move on way too quickly for the family focus) Also the whole season Alex never got to speak to any of his crew face to face, to die like that just feels unfair and at the very least should have be foreshadowed

[@randomthorn9286]

I now know why so I think some of my comment can be disregarded but still kind of ruins the story. Also I find the discussion hard to listen to when they are trying to defend such an awful way to kill off a character (Thanks for catching this stuff Erick)

[@nugking2021]

I wish they’d Google Cas Anvar, Eric is absolutely right, they killed him off with editing and literally paused it on a frame of him about to talk

[@kaldurobuin]

They were informed after this by their editor.

[@nugking2021]

@@kaldurobuin was that mentioned on the ep 1 of season 6 reaction? I haven’t watched that one yet

[@kaldurobuin]

@@nugking2021 I found it out from discord but yes, they also talk about it in the 601 reaction.

[@At0micWaffle]

I was so mad when Alex died, not knowing anything about the actor in real life. I feel like they could have at least let him film a better intentional death scene.

[@leviathan1238]

Heyyguys let’s goooo

[@putinscat1208]

In the Razorback, do they just use the toilet in their pants?

[@txxredtache]

Nobody in the comments is talking (so far) about how Cas Anvar was a problem on set. He was sacked for his behaviour. I don’t like that Alex was removed from the show, but the blame for that rests with Anvar.

[@MoviesAndTvShowsAreSubjective]

they should have recasted him imo

[@snarflcat6187]

..."beam that blew up the shuttle?" What beam? The shuttle hit a "shield" or energy field that surrounded the planet and melted over a period of seconds. Didn't instantly blow up like when hit by a beam. Looked more like a falling satellite burning up in the atmosphere.

[@Reedstilt]

Canonically, it was hit by a beam projected by one or more of Ilus' moons. The activation of that weapon triggered a malfunction which caused the moon to start melting down.

[@IanM92]

Aaron 100% knew about Alex death ahead of time.

[@Watsisface]

The worst thing about Alex's death is that it takes away from the beautiful scene that happened right before it.

[@natashasullivan4559]

What frustrating to me about Cas is that I still can't find any articles about a resolution. Like, "yes these accusations are true he did it" Nothing's come out since the accusations. And we all know at this point just accusations aren't nessesarily.. true.. Like, I just wish we knew one way or the other.

[@nugking2021]

Unfortunately alex had to go because the actor had some sexual harassment allegations against him, so they literally just paused a frame on his face and cgi’d some blood blobs around his face, they also edited the frames of the party and group hug at the end to cut him out, sad but we got bull now atleast

[@nerd660]

Just found out the story behind Alex's death reading the comments here and it makes sense. I loved Alex and never liked how he was just killed off. Definitely one of my least favorite things about the whole show.

[@jpat2493]

It sucks. But there are consequences for his actions. I would have rather they recast the character.

[@nerd660]

@@jpat2493 I guess it was a last minute rewrite due to the circumstances. But like Eric said, if they had to kill him off, I feel they could've done it better.

[@sabkobds]

@@nerd660 They already done everything. He lived trough. There are production pictures of him on Luna, sitting on empty chair on Amos' side. In the show the chair is empty - probably digitally removed. They made some reshoots later - probably: Naomi and Holden talk and Amos coming back to Roci, because it would look different with Alex (with different talk). Also, Bull holding Alex cup. I suspect that Bull had stroke in original script, but they switched it to Alex because of circumstances. In the books this is death Fred had (book 6), because he survived pretty similar attack that he died in the show. In the books Alex is there till the end - so without Cas messing up, he would be there for sure. Alex was like mother figure for Roci crew. And I am really said that they haven't recast him. But I respect the decision. However, this was most they could have done without bringing him back to reshoot - And, for sure, they didn't want this.

[@albert2006xp]

@@jpat2493 Why do we show watchers have to pay the consequences? Cause some women seek out actors and are surprised they're assholes? That's like 95% of "accusations" every time.

[@jpat2493]

@@albert2006xp having seen sexual assault accusations in numerous instances and dealt with people who have had fake allegations, known investigaors who deal with allegations, and have had numerous friends raped, I am genuinely curious where your 95% is coming from.

[@qaziibrahim2922]

Cob4akai

[@Shawn_M]

Love your reactions but the battle scene cuts are Bad. It's that intentional?

[@MoviesAndTvShowsAreSubjective]

yes. to avoid copyright

[@emmanuelbaj3944]

Remember the cant.

[@krondarr8865]

I think they handled the Alex thing all wrong in the sense of the character. Sure if the allegations have been proven by an independent investigation then replace the actor but don't kill the character off. I can only assume they didn't want to spend the time looking for another actor so as not to delay production schedule. I mean I don't think it would have been impossible to find another actor to fill that role. The only hard part, in my opinion, would finding someone with the right chemistry with the others. Sure a very tough thing to cast but not impossible. People are a little more used to actor changes in shows these day due shows like GoT and Spartacus just to name a couple.

[@MoviesAndTvShowsAreSubjective]

yes imo they should have recasted

[@user-uo1qr6vn1q]

I don’t know how you watch 5 seasons of this show, see Alex’s death and the way it was done, and don’t immediately think that wasn’t originally planned to happen like that. After I got over the initial shock, my next thought was the actor - Cas Anvar - must’ve had a contract dispute, or was fired, or got a better gig… something. But to think that the way it was handled somehow made sense - like Rick suggested, is pretty crazy rationalizing and mental gymnastics, and not taking into account that this is a TV show, not real life. Eric is right, it just isn’t how the deaths of main characters are handled, unless other circumstances make it have to happen that way. Anyway, within a couple minutes I had Googled it and read about why he was fired.

[@thomashiggins9320]

Yeah, they had to do something, given the allegations against Cas Anvar. With only one season left, they didn't want to re-cast the character, so they decided to kill Alex off. It's a major departure from the books, but it's an understandable decision, since nobody wanted to work with Anvar, any longer. I've read through Book 6, but Laconia is hardly mentioned, there. So, I'm not sure what's happening with that ship(?), station(?).

[@3COI]

Laconia is in book 7. I'm not sure how, or if, they'll make it fit into season 6.

[@NozomuYume]

"They got erased!" -- before anybody gets erased. I think somebody's been getting spoilers. =o

[@olentie]

They should have recast Alex. I'm sorry his character is still important in the books. That being said, with what they had to work with, I actually think the way they did it was good, and actually calls back to the way a couple of other characters actually die in the books. Also, since 6 is the final season, I guess they can work out Alex's part in the story with other characters. Bull, I guess...

[@NozomuYume]

Couldn't have been worse than Arjun's recasting. On the other hand, I think they handled killing him off in the best way they could've. It at least worked in the narrative, even if it means breaking even more from the books. That said, they've already changed/merged characters from the book and it worked well (expanded Drummer, etc.) Although I still wish they'd had Jay Hernandez back for S4.

[@olentie]

@@NozomuYume I agree about Jay hernandez, but I think if they were going to use him, it would've been in s4, but they cut that whole arc.

[@tonycamas9747]

This production team has been so incredible with casting that I'm inclined to give them a mulligan on Arjun. I also think a part of the problem with S4 Arjun was in the writing; I honestly don't think I would have liked it much better if Brian George had said some of those words. S4 Arjun seemed like an entirely different person than S1/S2 Arjun -- stubborn, confrontational, angry -- and I don't think it was just the line readings that made him come off that way. The whole thing seemed like a rare but gigantic stumble in the trajectory of this show. But really, the thing is... as a rule, recasting rarely works well, especially for such a pivotal character as Alex. I invite everyone to name three recasts of TV characters they can think of that didn't suck. Hell, even ONE is hard to think of. Being of a certain age, I still think back to Darrin Stephens in the sitcom Bewitched, played by Dick York for (coincidentally) the first five seasons, replaced by Dick Sargent for the show's last three seasons. Everyone hated the new Darrin. Hated him. And the guy was a perfectly good actor, even looked a little bit like the other guy. But he wasn't, and it just felt wrong. There are more recent examples, too. And like I said, I can't think of one that really worked. I think basically if there's any way you can avoid recasting a part, you have to do it. So I think writing Alex's character off was the only real choice they had.

[@NozomuYume]

@@tonycamas9747 Well, going by the easter egg on Chrisjen's contact list, I'd say Gregor Clegane was a really good recast, albeit it took them two tries to get it right. (Ian Whyte kicks ass, but he was a shitty Mountain)

[@rafaelsantosx]

@@NozomuYume agreed. Why risk that for just more 6 episodes?

[@vanessaaves3271]

The actor had sexually aggressive behavior towards fans at comicon, so they had some reshoots and terminated his character. It was a shame he was such a jerk because his character was so beloved! And since I knew of the scandal, I knew he was going to die at some point. But I was really thrown off by it too.

[@jesstellstales2113]

The whole Alex thing... Man, I understand why he had to go but the show has been so much less fun for me ever since. He's such an integral part of the ensemble, it's such a bummer.

[@cookiejarvis3856]

My personal belief is that the Actor should be seperated from the character. I can seperate art from the artist, who gives a fuck what the actor did? The show was much more enjoyable because the character was enjoyable.

[@SeanATX]

The actor playing Alex got “Me Too’d”

[@MoviesAndTvShowsAreSubjective]

nah. he got the consequence of his action

[@SeanATX]

@@MoviesAndTvShowsAreSubjective I agree. He got punished for behavior that often went unreported or addressed prior to the Me Too movement.

[@colinafobe2152]

for me personally Alex and Naomi are by far the worst characters in this great show, but yeah his death sequence seems so poor

[@g8r50]

It really bothered me that the results of the investigation into the allegations brought to Anvar were never revealed. It sort of shows that they knew they couldn’t definitively say he did anything wrong. Yet, they axed him anyway. They killed off one of the best characters in the show because some people would have freaked out if they just came out and said: “Well, it doesn’t look like he did anything...” It’s brutal

[@carrela1000]

Results of investigations are never usually revealed to the public for lots of good reasons. If they are, it's completely up to the company and the people involved, not the consumers who have no involvement at all. Why would this be any different just because you liked the character in the show? This idea of someone not being axed for wrongdoings just because they're popular is what people have been fighting for for years. It's very entitled and selfish so rethink your priorities thank you

[@AmarthwenNarmacil]

I'm pretty sure they did it to protect the privacy of everyone involved (because contrary to what some believe, most women don't want a public spotlight for being sexually assaulted/harassed). Might also be a part of a no disclosure agreement.

[@honestclickbait8243]

they recast arjun, they could just recast alex and made an excuse that alex needs a face transplant.

[@Luzarioth]

Naomis story was mostly by far the weakest storyline... in the entire series. The exception are the last 2 episodes, but everything with Philip and Marko was... really weak

[@flyingardilla143]

Fred Johnson stroked-out in the books. They just shifted it to Alex for the show.

[@Sayujya09]

For me, the sudden death is not the issue, it actually works in the narrative. But the scene visually, especially since I knew the behind the scenes stuff, clearly looked edited and took me out of it.