The Expanse 3×09 Review: Intransigence

We journey farther into the Ring on this week’s episode of The Expanse. Tensions are high and people are turning on each other in “Intransigence.”

For starters, it turns out that Melba is actually Clarissa Mao, daughter of Jules-Pierre and sister of Julie, and so her actions are beginning to make a whole lot more sense. I don’t agree with any of them, but I can at least see where she’s coming from. She has some kind of hero worship for her father going, and she believes that Holden is responsible for her father’s current predicament – and not the fact that he was, you know, torturing children and trying to start a war – therefore, she intends to punish him. And if a bunch of innocent people die during that quest, oh, well. “Intransigence” hammers this point home; I mean, using the belongings of a man she killed to send a message to her father? That’s cold.

Meanwhile, on the Roci, the crew finally discovered that the random people brought aboard to film a documentary about them are not entirely on the level. (By the way, are they ever named?) Amos gently cajoles the guy into admitting what he did to sabotage the ship, but even his coaxing can’t motivate them to reveal how to fix it, so he decides to send them outside of the Roci and towards the MCRN ship that’s tailing them. He reasons that, since their communications are fried and no one is trying to kill those two, their best odds are to talk in person. However, given the look the woman gave Alex before leaving, I don’t think you can expect any help from them once – if – they make it to safety.

I am curious about who the guy was working for, but I think given the context, we can assume that he was approached by Melba/Clarissa. Perhaps the entire documentary is a farce.

However, all the communication issues that they’re having does seem to foreshadow Naomi ultimately deciding to leave the Nauvoo and rejoin the Roci. She’s upset that they fired on the Roci in last week’s episode, which is understandable, considering her relationship with them. And while I can see where Drummer was coming from with her decision, I also don’t fault Naomi one bit for realizing that she returned to the Belters for the wrong reasons. Now, I suspect that Ashford’s discussion with her was to get her to realize she wasn’t where she belonged so that she would leave and he could do…whatever it is he plans to do. I suspect something deeper is going on, I just don’t know what it is.

Speaking of, Drummer’s speech to the Belters was amazing. She almost made me want to join up.

The Roci is at the center of whatever is happening, as usual. I loved everything about them in “Intransigence”. From Holden’s reaction to Amos’s decision to “space” the documentary crew (“I wish you had run it by me first,” “Sorry, Cap,” “It’s all right”) to Holden and Alex’s interaction when Alex went to check up on him to Holden’s blank look when Miller started getting super technical and scientific (“So…crime scene?” “Crime scene”). It’s amazing how much I disliked Amos at the start of the show and he’s quickly turned into one of my favorite characters.

Now Holden is taking Miller’s advice and journeying towards the nucleus of the Ring. Has he told Alex and Amos his plans? I can’t imagine they’d agree to him putting himself in danger like that. Will Naomi reach them in time?

FYI, intransigent means “unwilling to compromise or change one’s views”. Most of our characters are stubborn as hell, and I think this episode was the perfect depiction of that.

What did you guys think of “Intransigence”?

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary