RSRG6= Ring Station Rail Gun, 6th being the final one to complete the axis coverage. The first surprise for any Incoming inner fleet, the bigger one was shown at the start of the episode when that drop pod was heading to Laconia. Something left over from a time ago in an ancient shipyard.
Marco gatekeeping what belters are *actually* belters to justify leaving Ceres... He steps back and has an excuse, steps back, someone else's fault. Step back, it was always the plan. Marco isn't a genius or strategist, he's a great reactionist with a good response or story for any outcome, none of which make him look bad. He isn't wrong about the inner planets' abuse of the belt, but he isn't the one who could actually lead the belt to prosperity. And he isn't bad for fighting the Inners, he's bad because he's an abusive and manipulative man who sees genocide as the correct option.
He actually is a great strategist. But he is also EXTREMELY arrogant. When he fails, he never considers it his own failure, but someone who fucked up their part of the plan. Still, the dude literally destroyed the power balance of the entire sol system, and literally bullied the most powerfull faction in the history of mankind to the death of their planet. He is an asshole, and yes, he isn't the one which would bring the belt a good a prosper future... He is a warlord, a good one but nothing more.
As Naomi said, he's got the gift of the gab. He's good at convincing people with words. But he's now put himself in a place where words will only get him so far. Its going to get increasingly difficult for him to justify the deaths of belters or his own direct failures. As soon as his allies realise he's all mouth, he's done for.
I'm kind of hoping Filip will decide to do an Ashford the next time he and Marco privately (or publicly) row about Belters who are and who aren't. Especially since Marco is losing patience that Filip will ever be sociopathic enough to sit on the Belter throne one day. I suspect there is an airlock malfunction in Filip's near future. It would be good for him to have something of lasting value to all concerned to broadcast when that happens.
In the book, the fight at the end of this was part of a prolonged chase. High-G burn. Fred Johnson was aboard the Roci, and he has a stroke and dies. Marco gets his ass kicked pretty much exactly as depicted (except the vid exchange with Holden was a wordless affair as they were under too hard a burn to speak, just showing him the feed of Filip to discourage attack). Marco then hears of Fred Johnson’s death and basically pulls a “Yeah, I **meant** to do that! Another grand victory for me!” which doesn’t sit well with Filip for obvious reasons.
*Another great episode! The cinematography really stood out, just look at the scene with Holden and Clarissa just simply stunning. Also loved the cameo's by Elizabeth Mitchell as doctor Anna Volovodov and Terry Chen as Prax last seen in all the way back in Season 3!*
Prax has a bigger role in book 6 but it certainly can be summed down to this.. however it seems out of nowhere how he came across the protomolecule inspired "magic" yiest that might solve the food shortage on earth and the Belt (specially Ceres). Sadly due to the requeriment by Amazon to shorten down to 6 eps they had to refreain both character down to cameos.. alltought at least its good ones as Prax still its the one who comes with the solution that saves millions
@@sparrowlt I don't think it came out of nowhere. It's been two and a half seasons since we last saw him and they kinda set it up with the killing of the one botanist on Ganymede by the Free Navy last episode. I figure they were working their asses off to increase food production. Even the Ceres admin said they could increase their yeild 20% in the first episode.
24:38 What happened to the little boy? Remember in EP. 2 while she was running home with the bird she'd poisoned, Cara narrowly avoided being run over by some Jeep driver who thought traffic laws were for other people to follow? (Ie, "Drive like your kids are playing on this street.") This episode, Cara ran off to feed the local wildlife to the local wildlife, and Xan & friends took a ball and went to play soccer. Likely somewhere near a road.
Based on the previews for the next episode, Philip is going to realize that Holden saved the Pella, probably for his Mother, while his own Father conversely asked him to kill his own Mother for his ego. Quite the difference between these two men. That's probably going to be a turning moment for him.
Ever since Marco took over leadership of the Belt, he's imagined himself as Alexander the Great. From the name of his ships (Pella being the capital of Macedonia and Granicus a battle Alexander the Great won) to the way he carries himself as a paragon of perfection it's clear he thinks of himself as the "Conqueror of the Known World". It was so rewarding he got taken down a peg by a better battlefield commander. Marcos might be smart at the grand strategy but a battlefield tactician he is not. I also got huge Captain Kirk vs. Khan vibes from Holden/Marco. Holden has become Marcos "white whale".
That very parallel is noted in the book that this season is based on. Marco: He is my White Whale, and I will hunt him to the end of time. Other Belter: Never finished that book did you? Also doubles the dark mirror similarity between Holden and Marco, both of them read a classic text (Don Quixote for Holden, Moby Dick for Marco) and failed to understand it.
I haven't read beyond the 1st 3 books. But that triangular-headed creature sure reminds me of the automaton that "Friendly Miller" inhabited just before his end. Sheer coincidence?
This we know from the show: All 1300 worlds connected by the gates used to belong to the gate builders. They were quite good at all kinds of engineering including bioengineering.
The kid at the beginning, Alexander "Xan" was run over and killed while playing football with his mates. You can see the driver that hit him inside the house in the scene, he looks shaken up really badly. Love you guys, can't wait for Ep 4. Laconia has been "populated" since the rings first opened. The survey teams got there first, then the rogue MCRN fleet came after. The protomolecule came as well. Barkeith was the last ship heading there, but yeah. In the trade-off, the following was dealt. MCRN rogues got the protomolecule sample, Dr Cortazar, and a promise from Marco that he would leave Laconia alone and not allow any traffic into that gate. Marco got MCRN ships and supplies, stealth tech for the rocks, 'whatever' that was that Laconia just gave them at the end there, and lastly, the Free Navy was given a promise that Laconia would stay on their side of the gate and leave Marco alone to rule the slow zone, and every other gate and system out there. Laconia told Marco they were going to mine the entrance to their system in case Marco decided to violate the agreement.
The Laconia scenes aren't in the future, everything happening there is contemporaneous with the other events back in our own solar system. You have to bear in mind that the renegade forces of the Martian Navy under Admiral Duarte had been secretly colonizing Laconia for at least a couple of years (at least as far back as the beginning of Season 4 in the series timeline).
@@deanadewall8400 Yes, some of the people on Laconia are Earthers (Cara's mom mentions "Earth birds") but the colony is fully controlled by Duarte and his breakaway navy.
@@GF_Baltar I think she sais 'Earth birds' because all birds (or animals and life in general) are originally from Earth in the solar system, even those living on Mars or in the Belt.
@@deanadewall8400 Yes I've read all the novels except for Tiamat's Wrath and Leviathan Falls, and also most of the novellas (I absolutely loved "The Churn").
Kudos to the team to keep exactly how they disabled the Pella .. one of those times when i readed that i tought "aww they wont ever do this in the show as its in the book that would be so cool " and then they did
in the book naomi really makes sure clarissa and bobbi feel like they belong. one of my favorite scenes is when naomi "recruits" bobbi and how much the crew needed her in the family.
Marco's gonna learn that breaking promises and making enemies of his own, underestimating them, is a bad, bad move. They'll join Drummer, and they'll unite with the Earthers and the Martians, and I think Filip is gonna turn on Marco when he realizes that Naomi was right about him. I doubt Filip will survive the finale, but we'll see.
He’s also going to learn that putting people he doesn’t trust in charge of the most vital part of any military operation (logistics) just because he sees it as less “glorious” than the tip of the spear will come back to bite you HARD.
Great reaction and analysis! This episode had just about everything! From character development between the inners and belters! The amazing fight sequence between Marco and the Rocinante! But what touched my heart was the recurring roles that popped up in this episode! And ofcourse Prax telling Amos "I miss you my friend " pretty much done me in! Can't wait for the next one!
The Laconia "Strange Dogs" events are happening at the same time as the rest of the story. Admiral Duarte and his renegade Martians have just barricaded the Laconia gate and have taken military control while working on the orbiting Protomolecule vehicle. The earlier conversation between the little girl's parents revealed that the military arrival was recent and was connected to work the the military had begun doing on the object in orbit. Marco specifically sabotaged the Ceres space port, which will hinder the ability of Ceres to receive supplies from Earth and Mars.
Havent read books 7 onwards yet so dont know if they explain more.. but interestingly enought the Laconia system was discovered in the show by one of the 4 ships that ran the blockade in episode 4X01 .. they were suposed to be Belter ships so one wonders what happent that those Belters instead of informing of the discovery they somehow handled it back to Mars rogue factions
@@kirkdarling4120 in 4X01 Avasarala says 4 ships ran the blockade into 4 systems.. one of them Illus was at that point the first and only to report back.. but one of the other gates was labeled as Laconia.. we dont find out anything further until S5 finale.. however as im reading now the family that we see is aparently earther scientist and there was several scientist arround and then Duarte came and took over.. so there might been a Belter settlement arround too and simply someone sold the info to Duarte and the MCRN rogues took over
I dunno. Seems like the Laconia arc is taking place earlier. Probably right after the S5 (thus 6 months before the events of S6). I believe the "RSR-G6" is made partly with Protomolecule tech. And assuming that, it makes sense considering the Laconia scene in episode 4.
Kat & Sonny, I hope you are also reacting to the bonus scenes as well. There's one for each episode, filed under X-RAY >> Bonus Scenes. Btw, the strange dogs do have fingers. They're attached to their lips.
Regards Marco's new toy. It's possible that the Barkeith got itself swallowed before it actually had a chance to activate the minefield. Marco's new toy may have been a robot probe testing the mines. If all goes well, the Free Navy could soon appear in orbit of Laconia, making unreasonable demands just because they can.
Marco is good at playing on emotions, especially with his son. Especially when he opened his arms for Filip to hug him. Marco looked like Doctor Doom wanting a hug, or any other villain. It was a bit off putting because it looked openly manipulative.
This might be nostalgia on my end. Funny coming from a relatively “new” UA-cam Channel of just a few years. But I miss the days when Kat & Sonny be bringing up Mass Effect anytime some cool alien tech passed in The Expanse. Lol. Particularly when the Rings popped up. Lol. 🤣😂 just funning around +Kay & Sonny! 😝
The events of "Strange Dogs" which we are seeing in the opening scenes of this season are happening concurrently with what is happening in Sol System, as the "dogs" appeared after Cortazar brought the protomolecule into planetary proximity (just like what happened on Illus). And the Martian break-away fleet is now settling on a planet that has had colonists there studying the planet and its biosphere.
I think Holden was talking about Dr Okoye, that someone who knows more about the abnormality of the ring gate. Remember her from New Terra? I did not until I watched your reaction. Can't wait for her to come back. Overall, the best episode so far. So many cameos from previous seasons characters, including the Captain of Hammurabi. The space battles in the Expanse are always the best. Ten out of ten.
You have to remember how impersonal the distance that high tech warfare creates between a target and an attacker can make killing. Phillip might not be able to shoot his mom in the face, but he might be able to press a button. He still views her as a traitor I think also, though he is more conflicted. This effect is common in air warfare, drone attacks, and even ground combat in some cases (tank on tank, artillery, supressing fire using automatic weapons, etc).
Marco's plan proves how smart he is, but it also proves how little he cares for actual rank-and-file belters. He's quite happy to sacrifice a million inhabitants of Ceres if it makes the inners look bad and drives more to his cause. But what is his cause if not to protect the lives of belters? He's just proven that he'll use his own civilians as pawns in a game of chess with his enemies, which proves he isn't as altruistic as he claims. He's a warmonger and he doesn't care who lives or dies, so long as he gets his war.
Marco's plan is only smart if you assume that the Belters elsewhere never think "If we help this guy, what's stopping him from stripping our station for parts and leaving us to die as soon as the Inners so much as look at us?"
@@Reedstilt True, he's only smart up to a point. He saw the immediate benefits of stripping Ceres and leaving it to the inners, but he hasn't really thought through the long-term possibilities. If a million belters end up dead despite the inners best efforts to provide food and air for them, then Marco will end up alienating his own people. In fact, he's not much of a forward-thinker and just good at coming up with effective solutions for the current problem. Its been effective so far, but any good chess player would wreck him in overall strategy.
This RSR G6 or whatever is called is maybe some kind of reverse engineered Protomolecule hybrid ship from laconia which has got some kind of self healing hull system
Kat/Sonny, so few people ever really understand what that Eye for An Eye legal principle really means... It also existed in Ancient Greece, called Lex Talionis, and the concept of it was IT LIMITED WHAT RESPONSE WAS ALLOWED, it did not give absolute permission to automatically do the same thing. If someone took an eye, the responders could DO NO MORE THAN take an eye in return. It was the upper limit, not a required principle.
Hey guys ! Relatively new to the channel but it's been a blast catching up on your reactions to The Expanse as a book-reader. Really great insights from you two ! And I must say, I love how Kat doesnt speak much but anytime she does it's damn to the point and clever ! Keep it up guys ! :)
The laconia scenes are current, maybe just a littlennitnin the past. Last episode the mother was complaining about the soldiers telling them what to do. So maybe happening around the end of last season.
Marco's plan here is effective if it works, but it's an unethical, immoral gamble that assumes the worst of his opponents. If they rise to the occasion, he reveals himself as the monster he is.
My fiance and I both have chronic health issues. We try to have a life that is full of fun and joy. But no matter who you are, we can't all be _"on"_ all the time. So, we totally understand. Hope you feel better soon. *[This is the third time I've tried to post this, for some reason it keeps getting deleted.]*
I don't think the rest of the belt will have the same view that Marco does about Ceres belters. And that will be one of the first stones of the avalanche of his downfall. There is a great Ty and That Guy after show interview with Keon. Ceres and Earth can use that data Prax sent. :) The Aggressor species in the ring gate transits, I suspect that ring travel shortcuts through and affects their dimension. No wonder they were mad and the Ring Builders.
I think his downfall will be that new XO. He seemed to like the fact that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind to him, but I think that will backfire when she realises he's a liability to belters. She seems cold enough to simply put a round in the back of his head if she thinks he's a problem.
Did anyone else see some sort of crossbeams across a ringgate in the opening sequence? I want to know if I was just seeing things. Maybe best to just watch it again than post a comment. :p
Each episode has an aditional section that is about 5 minutes that you can watch. Called one ship. You can get at it from then bonus content tab. You should react to these as well. They are pretty integral to the plot.
Hi guys! Have a happy new year! I wouldn't beat yourself up about the pronoun thing. Unless people want to start wearing signs or send out a briefing packet before you see or meet someone, it's going to happen. Plus they still look like a woman so... Going back to the Avasarala bonus scene, I thought she just threw her PADD down and dimmed the lights to just relax a bit. Then her granddaughter called and then she put on the happy face and then got the f back to work. Great to see the Martian admiral make a reappearance and our crews in a better place. These episodes do move at a fast clip but now we're halfway through the season. Did the plants always spin in the mess hall? Looks like they might have gotten an upgrade. Such a great battle. So awesome! Hope you feel better, Kat!
Hi! Isn't just so that EVERY episode in the 6th season is overloaded with content? Every bloody minute can be intense experience worth a whole episode of some other series? Forgive me for writing a wall of text - it has been a while since I've commented anything about this show. Marco. He is such a wonderful villain. Smart, resourceful, charismatic, with very well established background and so scarily similar to out, real life populist demagogues - except that he is extremely competent. The way he sacrificed Ceres is not only strategically brilliant, but also politically dangerous 'the Belters on Ceres are not REAL Belters' so deserve to suffer. Isn't that how various populist leaders in many our time countries are saying about 'TRUE patriots' (i.e. their supporters) branding any opposition as traitors? Also did you noticed that quite many ships in Marco's fleet have Macedonian or Alexandrian names - Pella the capital of Macedon, Granicus the first battle of Alexander's conquest of Persia etc. How intentional it is? No wonder that destroying Rocinante is so important to him he would risk so much right now to kill it - Holden the man who defeated him and of course Naomi the woman who left him and rejected him and who managed to stop him and could possibly turn his own son against him - so many reasons. Laconia. Of course the 'spartan' planet. I wonder what is the structure on the orbit. I thought is was just a massive battleship, but perhaps it is used as a shipyard. Protomolecule enhanced Martian techs could be extremely dangerous and I am certain they will be. Perhaps something on this planet is capable of 'fixing' living creatures and the 'dogs' know about it. Anna and Prax and the Martian admiral lady. I absolutely love that the series not only brings some interesting characters back, but that it does it in a way it makes sense. It is not the living nightmare which the Rise of Skywalker was - Anna appears the way Anna would, Prax is acting the way Prax would be and the Matian admiral simply stayed in service. No bulls*** nostalgia. Clarissa. I really enjoy how the redemption arc is working in the show. She is not Ashford who was opponent who was acting nobly, but was wrong and realised that, Clarissa was the villain responsible for a number of deaths, yet we are learning to forgive her because we have reasons and are getting more - not like in some lesser show just because we are told so. Violence in the show. I like how much old school Star Trek-ish show it is, considerably more Star Trek-ish than so called modern Star Trek is. Communication is the key, understanding can spare millions of lives, by talking to each other we can make a better future etc. But sometimes violence is the only option, the least worse solution and is taking its toll. BTW Have you noticed the tiny bit of Star Wars? The targeting system Philipp was using seems very similar. Take care!
Given the increasing frequecy of these medical disclaimers, I hate to be the one to bring this up, but I feel it's a disservice to you guys to just ignore it, or make friendly jokes about it. Have you considered looking in to Munchausen Syndrome being a possibility, or something like that?
@@KatSonny Oh jeez, had no idea. Well good news all around then. Congratulations and thank you for taking what I said so well. I was worried it may have come off as an overstep
Ngl, it was an overstep. Especially suggesting Münchausen........ In general, it's never nice to assume anything about other peoples' bodies or health, as we can never know what they're going through 😊 Thank you, we're very excited (besides the sickness and other adverse effects)
@@KatSonny Yeah, I realized it after I asked. It was genuine concern though, not looking to pry, or be an asshole on the internet. There's enough of that already
I feel somewhat personally attacked at 10:41 Hearing people in a tv-show chanting my name like they did a previous episode on Ceres, or having people reacting to the show curse my name is equally weird...
@@KatSonny you may not be trying Sonny, but you are about as close the pictures I saw as a kid of Mormon Jesus in all our chapels, that it's a bit eerie. LOL When I pull up S1E1 of your Expanse reactions I'm shook.. I forgot how cleancut and brighteyed you were in that first one! LOL It's been amazing to watch the progression of your hair, and then the beardliness too.
I am really not feeling the storyline at Laconia. It feels like a distraction at the moment from the real story. I think in the next 2 episodes we will see belters openly start to rebel against marco's rule and I feel that some ppl that marco trusts are going to betray him at the end. I have to say though that Holden had the chance to end the war right there and his decision to spare Marco could come back to bite him but ofc they were not going to let the big bad die half way through the season.
A golden opportunity to take out Marco and Holden throws it away all because his feelings got the better of him(again). You can be a better person by being smarter, not whatever Holden being all the time. Bobbie gonna be pissed with Holden when she finds out.
Killing Marco might risk making him a martyr. Having him run away with his tail between his legs after he lost a five-to-one missile advantage makes him look like a failure who isn't as clever as he thinks he is. Its a risky play, but Holden might ultimately be right in letting Marco run. As we saw from the aftermath, it already had Filip questioning Marco, publically in front of the crew. If that sentiment spreads, it could be far more useful in bringing Marco down than a quick death. But yeah, its one hell of a risk.
@@Helbore Yeah, but wouldn't Marco's reputation be hurt regardless after what happened at Ceres? He abandoned the Belters who lived there and took most of the resources from that station with him.
@@dwnkaomwn3953 he still has enough time to spin that to his advantage, which he's good at and The Belters wouldn't abandon him yet because those following him feel like he's made Belter civilization the top political power in the Solar System. It will take more mistakes for Marcos varnish to wear off. Holden probably did the right thing because it would have made him a martyr. Going forward he's going to be obsessed with trying to take out Holden and that will ultimately show The Belters who he really is. At that point it would be safe to kill him, imo.
Being a "better" person requires more than simply being smarter. Of course, I suppose that depends on one's definition of better. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, intelligence without ethics is just selfishness dressed up in nice clothes.
@@AngeloBarovierSD Doing what you need to do over what you want to do is my definition of being better. I don't see that as being selfish at all. Argumentively, I would say Holden was being selfish when he spared Marco's life, because the war will drag on even longer and more lives will be lost because of him deactivating that nuke that would've kill Marco. Holden said killing Marco would have made him a martyr and maybe there's some truth to that, but I believe the real reason Holden spared Marco was because Filip was on board that ship with him and he know how Naomi would feel if something were to happen to him.
Seems pretty obvious they're setting it up so that the little girl will try to get those creatures to heal her brother. She takes the body to them, or tries to bring one to the body. And certainly it isn't only select ships being destroyed by the flashy aliens. Because if _all_ of the ships that went through the gate went __ (or even if it was just all of the Martian ships), *Holden* wouldn't be the only one looking into this. Does *Filip* know his mom is alive? *Marco* knew that she made it to her booby-trapped ship, but does he know she was saved? I'm also guessing, there were only 2 views between the _Rocinante_ and the _Pella._ We saw *Holden's* view into the *Pella.* . .the view *Naomi* patched into. . .and 2nd view being the view the *Pella* had was the camera directly on *Holden.* Which means nobody on the _Pella_ had a view of *Naomi.* I imagine the latter wouldn't really matter, if they know she's alive. They probably assume she's on the _Rocinante._
This show is suffering from GoT syndrome. There is so much story potential here and they are scraping it. Even cut the season short. I guess Amazon cant afford it. What a world we live in....
Don’t agree with the GoT comparison at all. They are still following the books, and the actual creators are a part of the writing team. Them ending the series here has most likely nothing to do with whether or not Amazon can afford it. I do also believe (without having read them) that there’s a 30 year time jump after the events of book 6. So no matter what, they can’t just continue straight into the next part of the story. What potential is it they are wasting, according to you? Just curious, not saying your opinion isn’t valid.
@@KatSonny Well there is 3 more episodes in total for all these characters stories to conclude, and this part of the story to end in some kind of way. There are a lot more things up in the air besides that. Can't be done in 3 episodes. I have seen some scenes that didn't made the cut because there were only 6 episodes, and I read that Prax and Anna where to play a much bigger part but they scrapped that aswell because of...6 episodes. What's wrong with 10 episodes? They are bailing hard...or maybe not enough material in the books for 10 episodes?
I don't agree with the GOT comparison but I do think that Amazon has shown they have other priorities. I mean they have committed 1B$ to the LOTR show and unfortunately The Expanse is a cult show. It has a small but very loyal following but can't compare with the fanbases of the some other more generic shows.
The issue is when they bought the series from Syfy, they only could put 3 seasons on tape, one movie, and other nagging issues. Contracts are weird when you have this popular of a show. Add onto the original writers and the writers of the tv having to make things work with such an...expansive...series. Hope this clarifies things a bit.
Love all the little cameos including the MCRN captain of the Hamurabi
Marco Inaros ............. Good at being bad - Bad at being good
this might honestly be the best space battle sequence ever
Very good episode, glad you are watching the mini-episodes as well, looking forward to seeing what you thought of the one from episode 3 :)
RSRG6= Ring Station Rail Gun, 6th being the final one to complete the axis coverage.
The first surprise for any Incoming inner fleet, the bigger one was shown at the start of the episode when that drop pod was heading to Laconia. Something left over from a time ago in an ancient shipyard.
Marco gatekeeping what belters are *actually* belters to justify leaving Ceres... He steps back and has an excuse, steps back, someone else's fault. Step back, it was always the plan.
Marco isn't a genius or strategist, he's a great reactionist with a good response or story for any outcome, none of which make him look bad.
He isn't wrong about the inner planets' abuse of the belt, but he isn't the one who could actually lead the belt to prosperity.
And he isn't bad for fighting the Inners, he's bad because he's an abusive and manipulative man who sees genocide as the correct option.
He actually is a great strategist. But he is also EXTREMELY arrogant. When he fails, he never considers it his own failure, but someone who fucked up their part of the plan.
Still, the dude literally destroyed the power balance of the entire sol system, and literally bullied the most powerfull faction in the history of mankind to the death of their planet.
He is an asshole, and yes, he isn't the one which would bring the belt a good a prosper future... He is a warlord, a good one but nothing more.
As Naomi said, he's got the gift of the gab. He's good at convincing people with words. But he's now put himself in a place where words will only get him so far. Its going to get increasingly difficult for him to justify the deaths of belters or his own direct failures. As soon as his allies realise he's all mouth, he's done for.
I'm kind of hoping Filip will decide to do an Ashford the next time he and Marco privately (or publicly) row about Belters who are and who aren't. Especially since Marco is losing patience that Filip will ever be sociopathic enough to sit on the Belter throne one day. I suspect there is an airlock malfunction in Filip's near future. It would be good for him to have something of lasting value to all concerned to broadcast when that happens.
In the book, the fight at the end of this was part of a prolonged chase. High-G burn. Fred Johnson was aboard the Roci, and he has a stroke and dies.
Marco gets his ass kicked pretty much exactly as depicted (except the vid exchange with Holden was a wordless affair as they were under too hard a burn to speak, just showing him the feed of Filip to discourage attack). Marco then hears of Fred Johnson’s death and basically pulls a “Yeah, I **meant** to do that! Another grand victory for me!” which doesn’t sit well with Filip for obvious reasons.
Big facts.
I really adore you both! You have such great reactions. Loved all the cameos Captain Carino, Prax, and Anna.
The moment I saw anna is like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, knowing that she's ok made me big happy.
*Another great episode! The cinematography really stood out, just look at the scene with Holden and Clarissa just simply stunning. Also loved the cameo's by Elizabeth Mitchell as doctor Anna Volovodov and Terry Chen as Prax last seen in all the way back in Season 3!*
Prax has a bigger role in book 6 but it certainly can be summed down to this.. however it seems out of nowhere how he came across the protomolecule inspired "magic" yiest that might solve the food shortage on earth and the Belt (specially Ceres).
Sadly due to the requeriment by Amazon to shorten down to 6 eps they had to refreain both character down to cameos.. alltought at least its good ones as Prax still its the one who comes with the solution that saves millions
@@sparrowlt I don't think it came out of nowhere. It's been two and a half seasons since we last saw him and they kinda set it up with the killing of the one botanist on Ganymede by the Free Navy last episode. I figure they were working their asses off to increase food production. Even the Ceres admin said they could increase their yeild 20% in the first episode.
24:38 What happened to the little boy? Remember in EP. 2 while she was running home with the bird she'd poisoned, Cara narrowly avoided being run over by some Jeep driver who thought traffic laws were for other people to follow? (Ie, "Drive like your kids are playing on this street.") This episode, Cara ran off to feed the local wildlife to the local wildlife, and Xan & friends took a ball and went to play soccer. Likely somewhere near a road.
Based on the previews for the next episode, Philip is going to realize that Holden saved the Pella, probably for his Mother, while his own Father conversely asked him to kill his own Mother for his ego. Quite the difference between these two men. That's probably going to be a turning moment for him.
"Her." "Them." "Sorry, so sorry, my bad." good catch, good recovery, well done all around. Thanks you two.
The tendency is hard until we break it...day by day...
Ever since Marco took over leadership of the Belt, he's imagined himself as Alexander the Great. From the name of his ships (Pella being the capital of Macedonia and Granicus a battle Alexander the Great won) to the way he carries himself as a paragon of perfection it's clear he thinks of himself as the "Conqueror of the Known World". It was so rewarding he got taken down a peg by a better battlefield commander. Marcos might be smart at the grand strategy but a battlefield tactician he is not.
I also got huge Captain Kirk vs. Khan vibes from Holden/Marco. Holden has become Marcos "white whale".
I TOTALLY see the Holden/Marco, Kahn/Kirk parallel! I thought the same thing!
That very parallel is noted in the book that this season is based on.
Marco: He is my White Whale, and I will hunt him to the end of time.
Other Belter: Never finished that book did you?
Also doubles the dark mirror similarity between Holden and Marco, both of them read a classic text (Don Quixote for Holden, Moby Dick for Marco) and failed to understand it.
I haven't read beyond the 1st 3 books. But that triangular-headed creature sure reminds me of the automaton that "Friendly Miller" inhabited just before his end. Sheer coincidence?
This we know from the show: All 1300 worlds connected by the gates used to belong to the gate builders. They were quite good at all kinds of engineering including bioengineering.
No coincidence at all...
The Martian commander was the captain of the MCRN Hammurabi and told the martians to stand down over Io after the Aggy king fired on the UNN Hemenez
The kid at the beginning, Alexander "Xan" was run over and killed while playing football with his mates. You can see the driver that hit him inside the house in the scene, he looks shaken up really badly. Love you guys, can't wait for Ep 4.
Laconia has been "populated" since the rings first opened. The survey teams got there first, then the rogue MCRN fleet came after. The protomolecule came as well. Barkeith was the last ship heading there, but yeah.
In the trade-off, the following was dealt.
MCRN rogues got the protomolecule sample, Dr Cortazar, and a promise from Marco that he would leave Laconia alone and not allow any traffic into that gate.
Marco got MCRN ships and supplies, stealth tech for the rocks, 'whatever' that was that Laconia just gave them at the end there, and lastly, the Free Navy was given a promise that Laconia would stay on their side of the gate and leave Marco alone to rule the slow zone, and every other gate and system out there. Laconia told Marco they were going to mine the entrance to their system in case Marco decided to violate the agreement.
The Laconia scenes aren't in the future, everything happening there is contemporaneous with the other events back in our own solar system. You have to bear in mind that the renegade forces of the Martian Navy under Admiral Duarte had been secretly colonizing Laconia for at least a couple of years (at least as far back as the beginning of Season 4 in the series timeline).
Cara's parents are from Earth. They're part of the same groups of scientists like on Ilus, that came before any of the settlers.
@@deanadewall8400 Yes, some of the people on Laconia are Earthers (Cara's mom mentions "Earth birds") but the colony is fully controlled by Duarte and his breakaway navy.
@@GF_Baltar They are now. Have u read the books? Just curious.
@@GF_Baltar I think she sais 'Earth birds' because all birds (or animals and life in general) are originally from Earth in the solar system, even those living on Mars or in the Belt.
@@deanadewall8400 Yes I've read all the novels except for Tiamat's Wrath and Leviathan Falls, and also most of the novellas (I absolutely loved "The Churn").
Laconia was the ancient name of Sparta...The rouge Martians are creating a spartan society.
Kudos to the team to keep exactly how they disabled the Pella .. one of those times when i readed that i tought "aww they wont ever do this in the show as its in the book that would be so cool " and then they did
in the book naomi really makes sure clarissa and bobbi feel like they belong. one of my favorite scenes is when naomi "recruits" bobbi and how much the crew needed her in the family.
Filip is totally boarding the fvck you Marco train 😂 loved the reaction so much
It was subtle, but if you look closely it appears as though the bird's eyes turned black after it was healed by the strange dogs.
... and instead of a beak it now has the same type of mouth as the "strange dog," and its head has a similar color.
Marco's gonna learn that breaking promises and making enemies of his own, underestimating them, is a bad, bad move. They'll join Drummer, and they'll unite with the Earthers and the Martians, and I think Filip is gonna turn on Marco when he realizes that Naomi was right about him. I doubt Filip will survive the finale, but we'll see.
He’s also going to learn that putting people he doesn’t trust in charge of the most vital part of any military operation (logistics) just because he sees it as less “glorious” than the tip of the spear will come back to bite you HARD.
Great reaction and analysis!
This episode had just about everything! From character development between the inners and belters! The amazing fight sequence between Marco and the Rocinante!
But what touched my heart was the recurring roles that popped up in this episode! And ofcourse Prax telling Amos "I miss you my friend " pretty much done me in!
Can't wait for the next one!
The Laconia "Strange Dogs" events are happening at the same time as the rest of the story. Admiral Duarte and his renegade Martians have just barricaded the Laconia gate and have taken military control while working on the orbiting Protomolecule vehicle. The earlier conversation between the little girl's parents revealed that the military arrival was recent and was connected to work the the military had begun doing on the object in orbit.
Marco specifically sabotaged the Ceres space port, which will hinder the ability of Ceres to receive supplies from Earth and Mars.
Havent read books 7 onwards yet so dont know if they explain more.. but interestingly enought the Laconia system was discovered in the show by one of the 4 ships that ran the blockade in episode 4X01 .. they were suposed to be Belter ships so one wonders what happent that those Belters instead of informing of the discovery they somehow handled it back to Mars rogue factions
@@sparrowlt I was under the impression that the only one of those Belter groups that survived was the group that went to Ilus.
@@kirkdarling4120 in 4X01 Avasarala says 4 ships ran the blockade into 4 systems.. one of them Illus was at that point the first and only to report back.. but one of the other gates was labeled as Laconia.. we dont find out anything further until S5 finale.. however as im reading now the family that we see is aparently earther scientist and there was several scientist arround and then Duarte came and took over.. so there might been a Belter settlement arround too and simply someone sold the info to Duarte and the MCRN rogues took over
I dunno. Seems like the Laconia arc is taking place earlier. Probably right after the S5 (thus 6 months before the events of S6). I believe the "RSR-G6" is made partly with Protomolecule tech. And assuming that, it makes sense considering the Laconia scene in episode 4.
Kat & Sonny, I hope you are also reacting to the bonus scenes as well. There's one for each episode, filed under X-RAY >> Bonus Scenes.
Btw, the strange dogs do have fingers. They're attached to their lips.
Watch the intro, will you?
Ah. ...Never mind.
Regards Marco's new toy. It's possible that the Barkeith got itself swallowed before it actually had a chance to activate the minefield. Marco's new toy may have been a robot probe testing the mines. If all goes well, the Free Navy could soon appear in orbit of Laconia, making unreasonable demands just because they can.
Marco is good at playing on emotions, especially with his son. Especially when he opened his arms for Filip to hug him. Marco looked like Doctor Doom wanting a hug, or any other villain. It was a bit off putting because it looked openly manipulative.
Thought it'd take you longer to upload this. I'm so happy
This might be nostalgia on my end. Funny coming from a relatively “new” UA-cam Channel of just a few years. But I miss the days when Kat & Sonny be bringing up Mass Effect anytime some cool alien tech passed in The Expanse. Lol. Particularly when the Rings popped up. Lol. 🤣😂 just funning around +Kay & Sonny! 😝
Loved seeing them again but I think Anna and Prax filmed their parts on iPhones :)
The events of "Strange Dogs" which we are seeing in the opening scenes of this season are happening concurrently with what is happening in Sol System, as the "dogs" appeared after Cortazar brought the protomolecule into planetary proximity (just like what happened on Illus). And the Martian break-away fleet is now settling on a planet that has had colonists there studying the planet and its biosphere.
I think Holden was talking about Dr Okoye, that someone who knows more about the abnormality of the ring gate. Remember her from New Terra? I did not until I watched your reaction. Can't wait for her to come back.
Overall, the best episode so far. So many cameos from previous seasons characters, including the Captain of Hammurabi. The space battles in the Expanse are always the best.
Ten out of ten.
As Sonny noticed the return of (now?) Admiral Kirino, her return was the one tiny piece of "spoiler" that Ty mentioned on their regular podcast.
The concern is that on Laconia, the Strange dogs fixed the bird, will the girl now try to get them to fix her brother, and how will that turn out.
Yup....................
You have to remember how impersonal the distance that high tech warfare creates between a target and an attacker can make killing. Phillip might not be able to shoot his mom in the face, but he might be able to press a button. He still views her as a traitor I think also, though he is more conflicted. This effect is common in air warfare, drone attacks, and even ground combat in some cases (tank on tank, artillery, supressing fire using automatic weapons, etc).
that looked like a some hybrid ship using protomolecule technology from lacionia
Those "dogs" also seemed to fix the drone the girl was using.
Hey Sonny and Kat ^-x hope you two are well
Marco's plan proves how smart he is, but it also proves how little he cares for actual rank-and-file belters. He's quite happy to sacrifice a million inhabitants of Ceres if it makes the inners look bad and drives more to his cause. But what is his cause if not to protect the lives of belters? He's just proven that he'll use his own civilians as pawns in a game of chess with his enemies, which proves he isn't as altruistic as he claims. He's a warmonger and he doesn't care who lives or dies, so long as he gets his war.
Marco's plan is only smart if you assume that the Belters elsewhere never think "If we help this guy, what's stopping him from stripping our station for parts and leaving us to die as soon as the Inners so much as look at us?"
@@Reedstilt True, he's only smart up to a point. He saw the immediate benefits of stripping Ceres and leaving it to the inners, but he hasn't really thought through the long-term possibilities. If a million belters end up dead despite the inners best efforts to provide food and air for them, then Marco will end up alienating his own people.
In fact, he's not much of a forward-thinker and just good at coming up with effective solutions for the current problem. Its been effective so far, but any good chess player would wreck him in overall strategy.
This RSR G6 or whatever is called is maybe some kind of reverse engineered Protomolecule hybrid ship from laconia which has got some kind of self healing hull system
Kat/Sonny, so few people ever really understand what that Eye for An Eye legal principle really means... It also existed in Ancient Greece, called Lex Talionis, and the concept of it was IT LIMITED WHAT RESPONSE WAS ALLOWED, it did not give absolute permission to automatically do the same thing. If someone took an eye, the responders could DO NO MORE THAN take an eye in return. It was the upper limit, not a required principle.
I was about to mention the same thing. It's also part of the Law of Hammurabi.
Hey guys ! Relatively new to the channel but it's been a blast catching up on your reactions to The Expanse as a book-reader.
Really great insights from you two ! And I must say, I love how Kat doesnt speak much but anytime she does it's damn to the point and clever ! Keep it up guys ! :)
🥺❤️❤️
@@KatSonny Hope you didnt take it the wrong way, it was really meant as an appreciation. :)
Absolutely not, that's like the kindest thing we've probably seen all day/week.
Thank you so much, it's truly appreciated!
The bird looks... wrong.
It's fine! It's fine! I'm sure it'll be just fine. What could go wrong?
Yeah the other birds were bugged by it.
Just wait......
The laconia scenes are current, maybe just a littlennitnin the past. Last episode the mother was complaining about the soldiers telling them what to do. So maybe happening around the end of last season.
Did the same thing Sonny did when the Pella got disabled. Well, only one hand. Should have used both :D
F Marco.
wonder how many people are missing out on the extra ~5 mins each episode by not utilizing the x-ray feature to find the accompanying shorts.
Yeah they are great only found out about that recently. The one with Bobbie and Amos is great.
Good question.
At least, we're not
Yay!
Marco's plan here is effective if it works, but it's an unethical, immoral gamble that assumes the worst of his opponents. If they rise to the occasion, he reveals himself as the monster he is.
My fiance and I both have chronic health issues. We try to have a life that is full of fun and joy. But no matter who you are, we can't all be _"on"_ all the time. So, we totally understand. Hope you feel better soon.
*[This is the third time I've tried to post this, for some reason it keeps getting deleted.]*
I don't think the rest of the belt will have the same view that Marco does about Ceres belters. And that will be one of the first stones of the avalanche of his downfall. There is a great Ty and That Guy after show interview with Keon.
Ceres and Earth can use that data Prax sent. :)
The Aggressor species in the ring gate transits, I suspect that ring travel shortcuts through and affects their dimension. No wonder they were mad and the Ring Builders.
I think his downfall will be that new XO. He seemed to like the fact that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind to him, but I think that will backfire when she realises he's a liability to belters. She seems cold enough to simply put a round in the back of his head if she thinks he's a problem.
Holden being his white whale will probably be his downfall like it was for Khan when he tried to beat Captain Kirk.
Anybody else think Bobby and Amos are falling in love?
Did anyone else see some sort of crossbeams across a ringgate in the opening sequence? I want to know if I was just seeing things. Maybe best to just watch it again than post a comment. :p
👍❤️🐶
The "birds" have black eyes now
And little fuzzy heads. And fingers where their lips would be if they weren't supposed to have beaks.
Each episode has an aditional section that is about 5 minutes that you can watch. Called one ship. You can get at it from then bonus content tab. You should react to these as well. They are pretty integral to the plot.
They said at the beginning of the video that they'll talk about ep 3 clip at the start of the next ep. They discussed last weeks at the beginning too.
@@deanadewall8400 I missed out
Watch the intros, then you won't be missing out
@@KatSonny I am aware now...
Filip was supposed to fire more than 4 missiles per salvo, the Pella has 15 tubes, capable of 15 missiles per salvo
Hi guys! Have a happy new year! I wouldn't beat yourself up about the pronoun thing. Unless people want to start wearing signs or send out a briefing packet before you see or meet someone, it's going to happen. Plus they still look like a woman so...
Going back to the Avasarala bonus scene, I thought she just threw her PADD down and dimmed the lights to just relax a bit. Then her granddaughter called and then she put on the happy face and then got the f back to work.
Great to see the Martian admiral make a reappearance and our crews in a better place. These episodes do move at a fast clip but now we're halfway through the season. Did the plants always spin in the mess hall? Looks like they might have gotten an upgrade.
Such a great battle. So awesome! Hope you feel better, Kat!
Hi!
Isn't just so that EVERY episode in the 6th season is overloaded with content? Every bloody minute can be intense experience worth a whole episode of some other series?
Forgive me for writing a wall of text - it has been a while since I've commented anything about this show.
Marco. He is such a wonderful villain. Smart, resourceful, charismatic, with very well established background and so scarily similar to out, real life populist demagogues - except that he is extremely competent. The way he sacrificed Ceres is not only strategically brilliant, but also politically dangerous 'the Belters on Ceres are not REAL Belters' so deserve to suffer. Isn't that how various populist leaders in many our time countries are saying about 'TRUE patriots' (i.e. their supporters) branding any opposition as traitors?
Also did you noticed that quite many ships in Marco's fleet have Macedonian or Alexandrian names - Pella the capital of Macedon, Granicus the first battle of Alexander's conquest of Persia etc. How intentional it is?
No wonder that destroying Rocinante is so important to him he would risk so much right now to kill it - Holden the man who defeated him and of course Naomi the woman who left him and rejected him and who managed to stop him and could possibly turn his own son against him - so many reasons.
Laconia. Of course the 'spartan' planet. I wonder what is the structure on the orbit. I thought is was just a massive battleship, but perhaps it is used as a shipyard. Protomolecule enhanced Martian techs could be extremely dangerous and I am certain they will be.
Perhaps something on this planet is capable of 'fixing' living creatures and the 'dogs' know about it.
Anna and Prax and the Martian admiral lady. I absolutely love that the series not only brings some interesting characters back, but that it does it in a way it makes sense. It is not the living nightmare which the Rise of Skywalker was - Anna appears the way Anna would, Prax is acting the way Prax would be and the Matian admiral simply stayed in service. No bulls*** nostalgia.
Clarissa. I really enjoy how the redemption arc is working in the show. She is not Ashford who was opponent who was acting nobly, but was wrong and realised that, Clarissa was the villain responsible for a number of deaths, yet we are learning to forgive her because we have reasons and are getting more - not like in some lesser show just because we are told so.
Violence in the show. I like how much old school Star Trek-ish show it is, considerably more Star Trek-ish than so called modern Star Trek is.
Communication is the key, understanding can spare millions of lives, by talking to each other we can make a better future etc.
But sometimes violence is the only option, the least worse solution and is taking its toll.
BTW Have you noticed the tiny bit of Star Wars? The targeting system Philipp was using seems very similar.
Take care!
hej have you guys react to the mini episodes under the X-ray bonus content?
Watch the intro
Given the increasing frequecy of these medical disclaimers, I hate to be the one to bring this up, but I feel it's a disservice to you guys to just ignore it, or make friendly jokes about it. Have you considered looking in to Munchausen Syndrome being a possibility, or something like that?
I know you mean well, but it’s definitely not that. I am generally pretty frail, and on top of that, I’m very pregnant.
Kat
@@KatSonny Oh jeez, had no idea. Well good news all around then. Congratulations and thank you for taking what I said so well. I was worried it may have come off as an overstep
Ngl, it was an overstep. Especially suggesting Münchausen........
In general, it's never nice to assume anything about other peoples' bodies or health, as we can never know what they're going through 😊
Thank you, we're very excited (besides the sickness and other adverse effects)
@@KatSonny Yeah, I realized it after I asked. It was genuine concern though, not looking to pry, or be an asshole on the internet. There's enough of that already
I feel somewhat personally attacked at 10:41
Hearing people in a tv-show chanting my name like they did a previous episode on Ceres, or having people reacting to the show curse my name is equally weird...
Is Sonny trying out to be a Jesus lookalike? :-)
No 🙄
@@KatSonny you may not be trying Sonny, but you are about as close the pictures I saw as a kid of Mormon Jesus in all our chapels, that it's a bit eerie. LOL When I pull up S1E1 of your Expanse reactions I'm shook.. I forgot how cleancut and brighteyed you were in that first one! LOL It's been amazing to watch the progression of your hair, and then the beardliness too.
Nah Sonny has better hair 😉
I am really not feeling the storyline at Laconia. It feels like a distraction at the moment from the real story. I think in the next 2 episodes we will see belters openly start to rebel against marco's rule and I feel that some ppl that marco trusts are going to betray him at the end.
I have to say though that Holden had the chance to end the war right there and his decision to spare Marco could come back to bite him but ofc they were not going to let the big bad die half way through the season.
A golden opportunity to take out Marco and Holden throws it away all because his feelings got the better of him(again). You can be a better person by being smarter, not whatever Holden being all the time. Bobbie gonna be pissed with Holden when she finds out.
Killing Marco might risk making him a martyr. Having him run away with his tail between his legs after he lost a five-to-one missile advantage makes him look like a failure who isn't as clever as he thinks he is.
Its a risky play, but Holden might ultimately be right in letting Marco run. As we saw from the aftermath, it already had Filip questioning Marco, publically in front of the crew. If that sentiment spreads, it could be far more useful in bringing Marco down than a quick death.
But yeah, its one hell of a risk.
@@Helbore Yeah, but wouldn't Marco's reputation be hurt regardless after what happened at Ceres? He abandoned the Belters who lived there and took most of the resources from that station with him.
@@dwnkaomwn3953 he still has enough time to spin that to his advantage, which he's good at and The Belters wouldn't abandon him yet because those following him feel like he's made Belter civilization the top political power in the Solar System. It will take more mistakes for Marcos varnish to wear off. Holden probably did the right thing because it would have made him a martyr. Going forward he's going to be obsessed with trying to take out Holden and that will ultimately show The Belters who he really is. At that point it would be safe to kill him, imo.
Being a "better" person requires more than simply being smarter. Of course, I suppose that depends on one's definition of better.
Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, intelligence without ethics is just selfishness dressed up in nice clothes.
@@AngeloBarovierSD Doing what you need to do over what you want to do is my definition of being better. I don't see that as being selfish at all. Argumentively, I would say Holden was being selfish when he spared Marco's life, because the war will drag on even longer and more lives will be lost because of him deactivating that nuke that would've kill Marco. Holden said killing Marco would have made him a martyr and maybe there's some truth to that, but I believe the real reason Holden spared Marco was because Filip was on board that ship with him and he know how Naomi would feel if something were to happen to him.
Seems pretty obvious they're setting it up so that the little girl will try to get those creatures to heal her brother. She takes the body to them, or tries to bring one to the body.
And certainly it isn't only select ships being destroyed by the flashy aliens. Because if _all_ of the ships that went through the gate went __ (or even if it was just all of the Martian ships), *Holden* wouldn't be the only one looking into this.
Does *Filip* know his mom is alive? *Marco* knew that she made it to her booby-trapped ship, but does he know she was saved?
I'm also guessing, there were only 2 views between the _Rocinante_ and the _Pella._ We saw *Holden's* view into the *Pella.* . .the view *Naomi* patched into. . .and 2nd view being the view the *Pella* had was the camera directly on *Holden.* Which means nobody on the _Pella_ had a view of *Naomi.*
I imagine the latter wouldn't really matter, if they know she's alive. They probably assume she's on the _Rocinante._
Marco told Filip she's alive last season.
@@deanadewall8400 Gotcha! Thanks for taking the time to reply *Deana!* 🙋🏼♂️
I'm new here and I probably have no idea what I'm talking about but Kat seems so bored every time Sonny introduces a new reaction 🤣
"I'm new here and I probably have no idea what I'm talking about" True.
@@briani4959 not nice tho.
@@anouar3194 as opposed to the OP.
Oooh how I love these comments 🙄
This show is suffering from GoT syndrome. There is so much story potential here and they are scraping it. Even cut the season short. I guess Amazon cant afford it. What a world we live in....
Don’t agree with the GoT comparison at all. They are still following the books, and the actual creators are a part of the writing team. Them ending the series here has most likely nothing to do with whether or not Amazon can afford it. I do also believe (without having read them) that there’s a 30 year time jump after the events of book 6. So no matter what, they can’t just continue straight into the next part of the story. What potential is it they are wasting, according to you? Just curious, not saying your opinion isn’t valid.
@@KatSonny Well there is 3 more episodes in total for all these characters stories to conclude, and this part of the story to end in some kind of way. There are a lot more things up in the air besides that. Can't be done in 3 episodes. I have seen some scenes that didn't made the cut because there were only 6 episodes, and I read that Prax and Anna where to play a much bigger part but they scrapped that aswell because of...6 episodes. What's wrong with 10 episodes? They are bailing hard...or maybe not enough material in the books for 10 episodes?
I don't agree with the GOT comparison but I do think that Amazon has shown they have other priorities. I mean they have committed 1B$ to the LOTR show and unfortunately The Expanse is a cult show. It has a small but very loyal following but can't compare with the fanbases of the some other more generic shows.
The issue is when they bought the series from Syfy, they only could put 3 seasons on tape, one movie, and other nagging issues.
Contracts are weird when you have this popular of a show. Add onto the original writers and the writers of the tv having to make things work with such an...expansive...series.
Hope this clarifies things a bit.