Season 6: Babylon's Ashes
"James, it's time for you to make history, again."
Considered by some to be the series' best season, it does indeed stand tall, thanks largely to some of the very finest writing of the series (although I confess to still having a nostalgic soft spot for Seasons 2 and 3). Its greatest shortcoming is a function of budget: Amazon Studios wanted to dial back costs, so they compressed 10-12 episodes down to 6. And then there's the grim sense of finality that hangs over the season; I actually dreaded watching "Babylon's Ashes" because it would mark the last time I could be with my "family." I felt as if I was Holden, and the final episode was Naomi's farewell message to me. I didn't want to say goodbye.
Make no mistake, it is a great season. The compressed timeline keeps everything humming along at a swift pace (perhaps the only benefit), and the episodes are consistently good. Except... color me dense, but I just couldn't figure out why they decided to include the planet Laconia sequences. Yes, they're part of the book, but they serve no purpose in the series' final season. Were they a bid to keep the show going? Were they already in production before the axe fell? Or was it simply a conscious decision from the get-go? Regardless, they create a false sense of hope, which is most frustrating. Of course, The Expanse has always been about how messy life is, and that there will always be loose ends. As Amos put it, "Everyone leaves unfinished business. That's what dying is."
Technically competent as they are, the Laconia sequences are unfortunately hobbled by lackluster writing and mediocre performances, particularly by the child actors, so the strengths and weaknesses of the sequences cancel one another out, thus providing a net zero contribution. I used to gripe that they consumed precious screen time already in short supply, denying us more time to spend with the characters we know and love. That said, the Webisodes kind of make up for this (if I ever get to see them, that is).
Regrettably, it appears we'll never have the pleasure of seeing the rest of the books on the screen. There was much discussion among the producers if it might happen, and for a while it sounded promising. But I imagine cost became the deciding factor, and now further stories will be released as a comic book series—also regrettable, IMO, as comics do absolutely nothing for me. At least we still have the novels to savor, now vividly visualized courtesy of an unforgettable television series we can watch time and again. Yam seng!
SEASON SCORE: 
Bonus Features: Five ~5-minute "Webisodes" were released online concurrently with the episodes. Owing to the fact that Prime Video and my PC do not play nice together (Prime Video actually crashes my machine), I've yet to see them. And considering the new full-series hard media release contains no bonus features for seasons 5 and 6 (grrr!), I may never get to see them...
Original book cover art by Daniel Dociu.