3-06. "Immolation"
Written by Alan DiFiore
Directed by Jeff Woolnough
First aired 16 May 2018
SYNOPSIS
Holden and crew break into Mao's abandoned Helium-3 refinery in search of the children. In order to avoid capture by what they think are Martian Marines, Mao and Strickland use the children as hostages. Strickland releases the Katoa-hybrid to stall Holden and crew, and Bobbie lures it away. While Amos and Prax search for the children, Holden captures Mao. Strickland shoots a nurse as a distraction, but Amos and Prax corner him and rescue the children. Amos then shoots Strickland.
Alex and Naomi board the crippled Agatha King in an attempt to disable the hybrid pods, but find it slow-going. Cotyar sets the ship to self-destruct in order to prevent the spread of the Protomolecule, forcing Alex and Naomi to leave before finishing. Naomi convinces Holden and the rest to use the missiles Fred Johnson captured from Earth to destroy the hybrid pods. Injured by a fall, Bobbie finally defeats the Katoa-hybrid by blowing its head off with RPGs at point-blank range.
On Earth, Anna plays Errinwright's message for Sorrento-Gillis, who orders Errinwright's arrest.
The hybrid pods are destroyed by Fred Johnson's missiles. Alex tends to Bobbie's injuries; Holden delivers Mao to Avasarala; Prax tucks Mei into bed; Holden and Naomi reunite. A news feed then show an enormous Protomolecule structure emerging from the atmosphere of Venus.
ANALYSIS
"PDCs on auto track!"
We're only halfway through the season, and yet we have what seems for all the world like a season finale, packed to the gills with memorable, deeply moving scenes—Alan DiFiore really piles on the feels with this one. Cotyar helps defend a young Marine from a Protomolecule-infected crewman, but she still gets some "blue shit" on her. After Cotyar explains what it is, the Marine slumps, quietly hands him her gun, and says tearfully, "I don't even know what we're fighting for." Unfortunately, we know what Cotyar must do next.
Later comes Cotyar's farewell soliloquy, just before overloading the Agatha King's reactors... with Avasarala watching. "I always thought I'd have something clever to say at this moment... You know, something... pithy, even a little ironic, but... memorable..." The bittersweet irony is that, in expressing his inability to say something memorable, he does exactly that. Avasarala then gets hit with a barrage of emotional PDCs. As do we. (There goes Shohreh Aghdashloo and those eyes of hers.) With the destruction of the Agatha King comes a rush of conflicted reactions: the satisfaction of seeing Nguyen get what he deserves, especially after his ugly taunting of Alex and Naomi, is tempered by the sorrow at losing Cotyar, who has certainly earned our admiration.
Errinwright's parting takedown of Sorrento-Gillis is as darkly humorous as it is searing. "If he spoke to a janitor, he'd be passionately declaiming about a fucking mop!" "...and he's shitting himself because he's afraid the history books won't be flattering enough!" Shawn Doyle really delivers the goods in this scene. Injured, unable to move and faced with the hybrid, Bobbie demands through gritted teeth, "Come on, what are you waiting for?" which bores into your gut. Then, Prax introduces his daughter to Amos: "This is Amos. He's my best friend in the whole world." The astonished look on Amos' face is truly priceless, and who doesn't love Mei's faint little "Hi"? Finally, Amos presents a delicious dichotomy: yes, he shoots that slimeball Strickland without blinking, but he does it to save Prax from having to live with the guilt. "You're not that guy," Amos quietly tells Prax with remarkable compassion. The writers craft amazingly deep, complex characters to populate an amazingly deep, complex Universe.
Best Scene: The wordless montage showing various plot threads getting neatly tied up is stunningly moving. The look of admiration in Avasarala's eyes as Holden forces Mao to his knees before her is just magnificent (there goes Shohreh Aghdashloo and those eyes of hers), as is the joy on the faces of Prax and Mei as they embrace. Oh, and then there's that gorgeous, lush music cue as we see Holden and Naomi in bed... Anyone who makes it through the whole sequence without getting at least a little choked up has no heart. Of course, I just bawl.
Best Line: There are several, but my favorite is Avasarala trying to talk Bobbie out of giving chase to the hybrid, to no avail. Bobbie huffs, "Ma'am, for the first time in your life, just shut the fuck up!"
This is, without question, Season 3's finest hour, followed very closely by "Fight or Flight." They keep Season 2's "Home" and "The Monster and the Rocket" in good company.
SCORE: 
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Best of the Best