5-02. "Churn"
Written by Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck
Directed by Breck Eisner
First aired 15 December 2020
SYNOPSIS
Drummer stumbles upon the wreckage of Klaes Ashford's ship, and is nearly overcome with grief.
Owing to the death of his foster mother, Amos returns to Earth, and discovers her boyfriend in the process of moving out of their home. Amos confronts his old friend and crime boss Erich to make sure the boyfriend isn't evicted. Later, he asks Avasarala to help him see someone before he leaves Earth for good.
On Tycho Station, Holden receives a message from Monica about the Protomolecule research, but finds she's been abducted, and rescues her from a shipping container just before she suffocates.
On Mars, Bobbie reveals to Alex that she's been investigating Martian weapons trafficking with Avasarala's assistance, and that the trail leads to MCRN Admiral Emil Sauveterre. During Alex's attempt to approach the Admiral, he winds up on a date with Lieutenant Emily Babbage, Sauveterre's alluring assistant.
Avasarala begins piecing together a possible attack by Marco Inaros, but her concerns are ignored.
ANALYSIS
"No one really saves anyone; she taught me how to save myself."
Drummer's grief over finding Klaes Ashford's ship is most affecting; the sequence also reveals an interesting Belter "family unit." Beginning with a dreamy score, Amos' visit to Baltimore is fascinating. And Avasarala plays off UN Admiral Felix Delgado quite well, although they seem to begin solving the asteroid mystery a bit too quickly and easily; then again, we do need to move this story thread along as quickly as possible. While the episode is fine overall, it simply has nothing that really stands out, except that Baltimore has effectively eerie, surreal realism, if that oxymoron makes any sense.
Best Scene: Amos/Timmy's meeting with his old friend Erich has lots of moody atmosphere.
Best Line: An enemy ship captain refuses to stand down, and Drummer's crewman says they're not going to make it easy. Drummer: "Where would be the fun in that?"
SCORE: 