It is time to begin my recap of the second, very expansive season of – well, The Expanse. And while we see many of the same guns as we did in season 1, we also get a few new ones – including some armored suits with guns!
Most importantly though, season 2 is the first time we actually get to see Mars, so it felt fitting to be working on this post the same night that we saw the landing of the new Mars rover, Perseverance. To mark the occasion, I just had to include this fantastic image that I found on Twitter!
Now, back to the show!
Mars is referenced throughout season 1, and we meet Martians and see Martian naval vessels in action – but we never get to see the planet. This is rectified in the very first shot of the cold open, showing us several major population centers on the surface, the two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and what presumably is a Martian naval vessel (potentially the Scirocco) swooping past.
And to reinforce the martial (!) image of Mars, we are brought right into the dust with the Martian Marine Corps, where we are introduced to everyone’s favorite Duster – Gunnery Sergeant Roberta Draper.
In what we learn is a training exercise, she commands the members of her four person fire team (which – awesomely – consists of two men and two women) through a scenario where they have to eliminate a number of concealed unmanned sentry guns. After one of her team members helpfully points out that “we’re pinned down” Bobby decides to lead from the front, running out ahead of her team to draw the fire of the sentry guns and allow her team to identify their locations. While she does, two of her team provide covering fire while the last member acts as spotter.
Meanwhile, Bobby demonstrates the stopping power of her Goliath MkIII power armor by absorbing multiple hits from the sentry guns. Presumably the motors in the powered armor helps absorb the kinetic energy, which otherwise looks like they could have knocked her off her feet.
Finally, Bobby’s advance lures the last of the sentry guns out into the open…
… allowing Bobby to activate the second integrated weapon in her power armor – so-called “RPGs”, (presumaby “rocket propelled grenades”) fired from a launcher on her back.
Once the RPGs reach the necessary height, they somehow adjust their position, and fire their rockets motors.
After the exercise is over, we get another look at Bobby’s armor, again showing the exposed ammunition feed for the gun.
After the Marines are told they are shipping out, to say their good byes and kiss their mommies, we get a good look at their armor, their drop ship and the terraforming towers we saw in the distance earlier.
As they gaze upon this wonderful vista (h/t Pres. Bartlet) we get an insight into the apparent egalitarian nature of the Martian military – it would seem Hillman comes from a pretty wealthy family, as they own “all” of the terraforming towers on Mars. Still, she serves as a private in the MMC.
On a side note, and as a nice proof of the consistency of the show – during Bobby’s brief criminal career in Season 4, we get a close-up of one of the terraforming towers on Mars – which indeed carries the Hillman name.
Before the scene ends, in what I assume is an attempt at showing what drives Bobby and the dream of Mars, we first see her picking up a handful of Martian soil, and after watching the dry sand blow out from between her fingers, she brings up a simulated view of the Mariner Valley in 100 years, when terraforming has transformed it into a green oasis, while muttering to herself “some day.”
Next, following the opening credits, we rejoin our heroes on the Roci, and after a bit of Holden PTSD in the MedBay, we get an awesome external shot of the Martian corvette/light frigate giving us a good impression of the relative size of the ship.
Of course, he soon discovers that they have the greatest weapon of all, right there on the ship!
The next real weapon we see is the Martian service pistol Alex carries as he checks out the hapless belters they rescued from Eros.
Afterwards, we see Miller saying farewell to his childhood friend – and for some reason they decide its ok to allow the pissed-off Belter to do so next to an open arms locker…!
And after some shit talk…
… we are back on Earth, where we see Avasarala admire her propaganda handiwork…
…before going outside to get on a very odd-looking VTOL-aircraft. As Avasarala exits, we see one of the many drones that seem to be everywhere on Earth.
As she leaves, she gets a warning over her comms – seconds later a drone flies straight into the aircraft, just barely visible in the left of the frame.
This is actually the first time we see a drone being used as a weapon in the show, and it looks like the drone itself is a weapon (or, at least, the OPA cannot be bothered firing the weapons, they just decide to use the drone as a loitering munition.)
Next we get to see the Martian Marines in their armory – and we get some new weapons!
The first ones are handguns – again apparently based on the WE X Airsoft, just like the regular Martian Service Pistol. As I have written in my profile of that weapon, these are likely dedicated training versions, based on the same base as the regular guns.
The long arms/rifles are also new – and hardly ever seen again. In real life these are heavily modified Beretta CX4 airsofts. I am wondering if they are also dedicated training weapons.
Then we get some more proof of Boddy’s bad-assery, as she arm wrestles the torso of her suit. If nothing else, it tells us that the motors in the suit are only intended as power augmentors, and not to deliver any super human force.
Then we have lots of politicking and scheeming, before there is a short confrontation between Amos and Miller – where again Amos shows that he frequently has no need of a weapon at all!
But now we are approaching the climax of the MCRN-arc of the episode – a potential showdown on Phoebe, where Mars knows the Donnager found something, but where Errinwright is desperate to ensure they do not figure out exactly what that was. It begins with a couple of set-up shots, showing us the potential battlefield and who the players are.
Then the Captain of the Scirocco (who for some reason is a Lieutenant?) tells Bobby and her team to suit up, and we get even more Bobby bad-assery – and some gun sightings.
It seems Martian drop ships carry a mix of Marines in power armor and light armor. Note how the Marine on the right in the photo above is carrying the armor we have seen on both the Donnager and the Rocinante, and a standard Martian Assault Rifle, not the lighter ones we saw in the armory scene earlier.
For more on the Scirocco class, I highly recommend this excellent video from Spacedock, made in cooperation with the creators of the show.
Next we make a short stop-over on Earth, for what must be the worst job interview ever.
Then we get a close-up of a Martian light torpedo, as it has its nuclear warhead replaced with an even greater weapon of mass destruction, giving us a better impression of the scale of a torpedo in the process.
This is followed by a pretty sweet parking job by Alex, as he hides the torpedo next to a small asteroid. Note the thrusters firing at the rear of the torpedo.
But then we are back to the Phoebe showdown, with new close-ups of the players. We begin with a gorgeous close-up of the UNN Nathan Hale, a Leonidas-class battleship (another great Spacedock-video about that here).
And then the Scirocco – which has interpreted its orders to deny the UN access to Phoebe in a pretty extreme way.
The Marines are loaded up and ready to go – and not too pleased with missiles taking over their mission. Note how the seated Marines only seem to be holding their rifles in their arms – I would have secured them slightly better!
But you cannot argue with results – the Martian missiles completely destroy Phoebe, sending the fragments drifting down into Saturn.
Afterwards, everyone draws a sigh of relief – everyone except Bobby. Her discussion with the Lieutenant is telling, and probably prescient – it is clearly meant to build her up as a “good Martian”, a true believer in the dream of Mars, putting the subsequent events of the season into contrast. She is gung-ho, and like her fellow Marines cannot wait to have it out with Earth. As she says, maybe they cannot have the dream of Mars until after they have had their war. Pretty dark stuff…!
So that’s it for episode 1 of season 2. An intense, rollercoaster ride, which helps create a much broader and richer solar system for The Expanse – one of the reasons why this is my favorite season of them all. Much more to come!
The Weapons of The Expanse 