Epilogue 5: The Best of the Best
"You're not finished yet."
One may wonder why I hold the series in such high regard when I didn't give every episode five stars; indeed, "Critical Mass" got only one star, and a bunch of others received just two. The thing is, I've yet to see a program that's 100% satisfying throughout. Still, even the worst episodes of The Expanse are enjoyable in some way, and what counts is one's overall impression of the banana, not the number of dark spots on the skin. With roughly 30 five-star episodes, I thought it might be useful to highlight those that stand above all others. Drumroll, please...
- 2-05. "Home" — Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
- 2-12. "The Monster and the Rocket" — Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
- 3-01. "Fight or Flight" — Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby
- 3-06. "Immolation" — Alan DiFiore
- 5-08. "Hard Vacuum" — Dan Nowak
- 6-05. "Why We Fight" — Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck
I was looking for a pattern in who wrote the episodes that I felt were the best of the best, and it would seem there is. Consequently, I was beginning to suspect the novels' authors, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, might not have been quite as good at scriptwriting as penning books; they were responsible for some of the weaker episodes in the earlier seasons. This is not meant in any way to disparage them; after all, without them, we'd never have had this outstanding series. But then I had to withdraw that observation, because they penned some of the most potent episodes in Season 6, including the magnificent "Why We Fight," which has some of the best dialog of the season, if not the series.
Now, after all of that blather, I must add that it's not always the writing that makes for a truly great episode. Case in point: "Hard Vacuum" achieves its Best of the Best status almost exclusively by virtue of Dominique Tipper's brilliant performance as an injured Naomi fighting to prevent anyone from being killed attempting to rescue her. Unforgettable. All the same, one must also acknowledge writer Dan Nowak for his bold choice to create such long dialog-free scenes.
Incidentally, if you'd like to see how all of the episodes and seasons stack up together, have a look at the Master Scorecard.
And finally, it should be self-evident that this is all my opinion, and that there will naturally be those who disagree. The point of this website is to offer my insights on the series so as to encourage those who haven't seen it to perhaps give it a try, or to potentially illuminate different perspectives for those who have.
I sincerely hope you've found some value in my admittedly verbose tribute to my all-time favorite science fiction program. If you've made it this far, you either enjoyed my musings, or you're a masochist with nothing better to do.
Who is this grumpy guy responsible for all of this nonsense? This is my brain, and this website is my brain on The Expanse.