I am watching The Expanse again, this time with the wife.
I enjoy watching or reading series like this, where there is extensive world-building, twice (or more) because ever time I ingest it, I pick up more details.
The first go-through is for the plot. Once you know the plot, you can focus on other things like universe and character development.
The best advice I ever got for reading Dune or Atlas Shrugged is to read the abridged version the first time to understand the plot, then read the full version next and focus on the philosophy the book is really about.
Watching The Expanse a second time, not trying to figure out the mystery and politics, you really develop an appreciation of how incredible some of the characters are.
Honestly, James Holden is one of the most meh characters in the series.
Amos Burton is amazingly complex wonderfully acted. Every little nugget oh his backstory that gets reveled makes him more empathetic and understandable.
But it is three female characters that this post is about: Chrisjen Avasarala, Camina Drummer, and Roberta “Bobbie” Draper.
Like Holden, I find Naomi Nagata to be somewhat meh.
Avasarala, Drummer, and Draper are the three best female character of the show. I’d go so far as to say they are the three best female characters in all of sci-fi television, and top five in all of sci-fi movies and TV combines. They rank up there with Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor (The Terminator and T2 only).
GySgt Bobbie Draper is an ass-kicker. They don’t do to her what Hollywood does to all the other female ass-kickers, where they do some sexy dance fighting unrealistic ass kicking. She just plain ‘ol beats the shit out of people.
She’s more than just an ass-kicker. She was a dyed-in-the-wool true believer in the Martian cause. Watching her try to hold fast to her values and believes, and do the right thing, while everything around her changes, from learning that the Martians used her squad to test a protomolecule weapon to the collapse of Martian morale once the Martian/UN cold war comes to an end is a character study.
Avasarala is probably the smartest and most shrewd person in that universe, and probably the smartest female character ever on TV. She is an intellectual badass. She commands every room that she is in. But they also show her soft spots, like her relationship with her husband and grandchildren. Also, the scene where she is talking about her son with Holden’s mother, reveals so much about her and how much she holds back to maintain her poise as a UN leader.
The costuming they put Avasarala in is part of what makes her so great. She’s a handsome woman. Unlike everyone else in the UN, she doesn’t wear boring business attire. Her wardrobe is beautiful and feminine, with bold colors and big jewels. She stands out.
Drummer is by far my favorite though, as much as I love Avasarala. Drummer has most of Avasarala’s shrewdness and command presence but makes up for it with Burton’s willingness to shoot someone herself. Avasarala, you can tell, is used to ordering people to be killed but isn’t a trigger puller her self.
My favorite scene with Drummer early on is in the second season, where some OPA take over the Tycho Station bridge and one shoots Drummer for not handing over the missiles. When the bridge is rescued, Drummer takes Alex’s pistol and shoots the two OPA prisoners then walks to sickbay herself.
Drummer displays her leadership as Captain of the Behemoth. Her speech in Intransigence is awesome.
That’s another thing about Drummer. The Expanse isn’t afraid to shoot her or crush her spine with a rover. So many female characters are untouchable because Hollywood is afraid to beat up the sexy female action star. The Expanse doesn’t do that and it is far better for it.
Every single one of these characters is wonderfully written and wonderfully acted. They are powerful, each in their own way – brains, brawn, and the combination of the two – and abide by none of the shitty tropes that Hollywood dumps on female characters.
The Expanse needs to be required viewing for all film students.
Writers should stop trying to make “empowered female character” because they all turn out to be shit. The magic of Avasarala, Draper, and Drummer is that the writers are not trying to make them “empowered female characters,” they are just making awesome characters.
Not familiar with The Expanse. Netflix? or where?
Amazon Prime
JKB: Agreed, it is an awesome show. Your critique is spot on. One little thing I liked was the physics of spaceflight, given the ability to boost almost indefinitely, was portrayed correctly. Another thing was naming the ship “Rocinante” was a stroke of genius, as perhaps an homage to the band Rush, with their “Cygnus X-1” saga, as well as the overt reference to “Don Quixote”.
One of the things I missed first time around that I caught on the second watch was when Avasarala visits Holden’s mother, the book that is laying out on the stand is Don Quixote. Avasarala actually acknowledges it with “Cervantes, you don’t see print books much anymore” (paraphrased). So it’s clear that the name Rocinante was important to James from his childhood and that book. It was a tiny thing that speaks a lot when you catch it.
Frankie Adams is an amateur boxer and MMA fighter; and not just in the “glorified aerobics while wearing gloves” sense of amateur boxer, but as in trained under former world kickboxing champion Lolo Heimuli and has earned herself a bona fide 2-0 pro-am record.
Adams broke into acting at sixteen, when her one episode spot on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street turned into a recurring role after she won over the creative team and the fans. She’s said in more than one interview that if acting hadn’t worked out, she’d probably have turned pro as either a boxer or an MMA competitor.
But it’s the scene where she eats that first cucumber sandwich, man. That’s what made me switch from liking her to being absolutely in love with her… She’s got no dialogue, she’s not even in focus for most of it, just being in the background. But, my god, it’s amazing.
Avasarala, Drummer, and Draper are the three best female character of the show. I’d go so far as to say they are the three best female characters in all of sci-fi television, and top five in all of sci-fi movies and TV combines. They rank up there with Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor (The Terminator and T2 only).
Commander Susan Ivanova, Babylon 5 and Colonel Samantha Carter, Stargate SG-1 really ought to be on this list.
“I am death incarnate”
“No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There’s always boom tomorrow.”
God sent me.
I need to go back and watch Stargate SG-1. I haven’t watched that show since it was on SCI-Fridays on Showtime when I was in high school and college.
I will update as necessary.
What is scary and amazing about Amos is not that he can kill you but that he has no moral ambivalences.
This is perhaps the best scene to describe this:
https://youtu.be/zXvwq-cxGZw
I actually got bored with the expanse because of Holden and stopped watching near the end of the first season. I’ll eventually pick it back up, because other than him I like the show quite a bit.
Holden is easily the weakest part of the series; he gets better, but… Yeah, I basically watch the show despite Holden.
Love this post. I’m watching the series again, and am on book 6, listening to series on audiobook, and “Gunny” or Draper grew on me so much. I can’t wait for next season because she stays in the story and big surprises for her down the road.