Oyedeng

What made the Expanse such a strong show was the combination of the alien mystery, film noir and a steadily progressing storyline. After some great world building, there was simply too much happening to let boredom creep in.

But the recent season 5 is like watching paint dry, a mix of over the top space cgi and cheaper indoor or earth scenes. The family soap opera even seems to have taken a cue from Star Trek Discovery.

I understand this season is close to a part of the book, but it seems Amazon has chosen to dump the grandiose alien space exploration story arc to be able to wrap up after season 6. If they continue like this, they should have ended after season 4 in good faith, rather than make fans wish for cancellation.

I think the word filler is a bit harsh for the last 2 episodes but it does feel that the extra screen time given to Naomi's current story arc feel a bit stretched. The scenes are well acted and Dominique gets to display her not inconsiderable acting skills. But Expanse is at its best when it works at the Mega level and at its least best at the Macro. I am just hoping that Marco is not turning into a comic book villain after such a promising start.

Maudlin, fed up of Naomi and son, could have been resolved quicker, could be wrong but doubt it'll figure in the big picture other than Filip killing his dad Marco.

Mind it's still the best TV going and now the best sci-fi series ever, sorry TNG/DS9.

This episode just has to much filler. The drama between Naomi and Filip drags on way to long and is just full of cliche's . "I know what you are going through, you dont know me, blah blah...oh lets cry and hug" Its all just recycled mediocre drama thats already been gone over in previous episodes and it just goes on and on and on...

Lets be fair, this is not why we love The Expanse... I was so happy that the next scene arrived with Alex, Bobbie, Chrisjen and Holden and I was finally watching an episode of The Expanse again, to bad we were already 20 minutes into the episode and exactly nothing had happened yet.

I love this series and i get it, they are giving depth to characters. But this takes way too long. This was 50 minutes of chatting. I honestly got distracted with something else for the first time. It feels like one chapter from a book in 4 episodes. It's abuse from a father seen from different angles, but then repeated over and over.

The final 3 better bring something spectacular;)

Still, it is way better then the majority of series out there.