TV Recap & Review: ‘The Expanse’ Season 5, Episode 9 – “Winnipesaukee”

January 27, 2021

the expanse season 5 recap — Courtesy of Amazon Studios

The Expanse has covered a lot of ground in season five, including family, loss, and despair. In “Winnipesaukee,” the overriding theme is about survival, knowing when to cut your losses and push on. It sounds simple in theory but as we watch this week, in the world of The Expanse, it’s much more complicated.

The UN Council struggles with how to deal with Marco (Keon Alexander), split and dangerously divided when it needs to be on the same page. As usual, Avasarala ( Shohreh Aghdashloo), who is never afraid to voice her opinion on any topic, makes her voice heard here, and very loudly. Things quickly go south but to the UN Council’s credit, they move quickly to restore order, in a way that is both shocking and yet not very surprising.

On Earth, Amos (Wes Chatham), Clarissa/Peaches (Nadine Nicole), and company arrive at the property housing the shuttle, but getting off the planet is going to be more tricky than they anticipated. A complicated mess of technical issues and the always unpredictable human element threaten to turn a good idea into a disaster. As always, Amos speaks the truth that no one wants to hear, and Clarissa as well, making an already tense situation even worse.

Naomi (Dominique Tipper) continues to struggle both mentally and physically, trying desperately to find a way to either communicate, find out what’s going on, or try and get people to just stay away from the gigantic bomb she is riding in. As it turns out, her situation has become a focal point for many, and for totally different reasons, as we watch different storylines begin to converge and, pardon the pun, prepare to explode.

Marco, Holden (Steven Strait), Drummer (Cara Gee)…all of them are viewing the ship Naomi is on in different ways. Holden is unsure what he will find but is taking the Rocinante towards it as fast as possible. Drummer, hearing that Naomi is dead from Karal (Olunike Adeliyi), is struggling to find the purpose in what she is doing with Marco, something that she only agreed to for the survival of her crew. New orders from Marco and revelations of a lie push Drummer to a place where she has to make a big decision, and soon. Meanwhile, Marco continues to play on the emotions of his son Filip (Jasai Chase Owens), trying to twist him to his will yet again.

“Winnipesaukee” is put together quite well, bringing so many plot arcs and storylines closer and closer together, with no real sense of how it’s all going to play out yet. One of the strengths of The Expanse is how the overall story continues to put so many characters in horrible situations, morally, ethically and in terms of just what needs to be done to survive, and then letting us watch how their collective choices affect everything around them.

With the season finale set for next week, “Winnipesaukee” supplies us with ample loose ends that need to be addressed. However, it remains to be seen if we will get the answers/conclusions to many questions, or be left waiting until season six to see them play out.