Babylon's Ashes

I didn't think they could do it, but this last episode of season 6 - the last episode of the series - wrapped up the story arc quite nicely, and set the stage for further action. Amazon studios has already said there won't be a season 7, but maybe another streaming platform will pick this up. It's an incredibly popular and well written series with production values towering above anything else out there, plus there's plenty of original source material left to do several more seasons. We can only hope.

Babylon's Ashes - great title by the way - is a more or less satisfying conclusion to a pretty good science fiction series. The Expanse deserves some credit as better at the actual science than most science fiction shows. They weren't perfect at depicting life in zero or low gravity but they did create believability, which is unusual for television depicting a future. My chief complaint about season six is Laconia; why introduce us to a new place and new characters only to leave us hanging, with unanswered questions? It seems to me that the only answer to that question is that the show's producers were hoping to lure the audience into "wanting more" and hopefully gain a spin-off series. This seems to me unlikely.

So, The Expanse was, at times, very very good indeed, and at times a little tedious. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys space opera, because this show was the best TV offering I've seen in the genre.

There should have been eight episodes and the sixth should have begun to draw it to a conclusion. Instead, there is one hour to wrap it all up. And it doesn't do it justice. I could mention a dozen obvious things that have been forgotten or were underdeveloped. This final offering was exciting, although there are times one can't figure who is firing at whom. We are inundated with Computer Graphics with tons of explosions. But the alliances needed to be made more corporeal. I'm not complaining, however, because this has been a joy to experience.

I think last episode will leave many people disappointed and for different reasons - those who don't know books will complain about lack of closure, book readers could find it rushed. This season had some of the best writing, dialogs and character interactions in entire series being way too short and compact at the same time. This episode highlights it even more. I wish there was more but I also think it is enough. Seasons 2 and 3 won't be matched and the same goes for books (with book 5 closely following). One of the best sci-fi shows ever made. I hope it gets recognition it deserves not only for scientific accuracy but also how smart and meaningful it is. It is important piece of entertainment because it is not just an entertainment.

All I can really say is that was honestly a satisfying ending for the show with just enough left that it leaves things open for the future. I think an important sentiment to keep in mind is one that Ty Franck has repeated often, we were lucky to get this far. The Expanse is a great title, an amazing IP, but the show will always be an adaptation of the books. And keeping that in mind, I am entirely satisfied with what we were given knowing the circumstances placed on the writers of the last season. Of course I'd like there to be more, but that was a great send-off. The episode itself felt rushed in some aspects but I enjoyed the ride with the context of the books. I hope there's more in the future, but if there isn't, I'm okay with where it left off as well.