The Expanse 3×10 Review: Dandelion Sky

Each week The Expanse takes us to new heights, and every time I think ‘they can’t keep up this pace’ I’m proven wrong. “Dandelion Sky” was no exception, and it left us with yet another awesome cliffhanger.

The weakest part of “Dandelion Sky” was probably the debate between Ashford and Drummer about whether she should have let Naomi go. Is the Belter leadership going to fall apart, or are they just having a tiff? It’s honestly hard to tell, and perhaps future episodes will move that story along better…but for now, I feel like these arguments weren’t exactly screen time well spent.

On the other hand, Anna is far more intriguing now than she was at first. She is a religious leader, yet she has a near obsession with the Ring, and to be honest I’m loving it. The best part is that the Ring itself – and everything it encompasses – is not making her question her faith, although that’s certainly not the case with everyone. She learns this the hard way when she brushes off a lieutenant who tries to talk to her about what’s going on, only to find that he soon ‘accidentally discharges’ his gun and dies. I hope this situation doesn’t change her overall view of the Ring, but I have my doubts – she was certainly very shaken up by what happened (and to be honest, I can’t imagine that she doesn’t understand that he committed suicide because he was questioning his own beliefs and existence).

And then we have Clarissa and Tilly. Would Tilly have approached Clarissa prior to befriending Anna and being under her influence? I suppose it’s possible, but I still have my doubts. As for Clarissa herself, well, Tilly was pretty clear about the fact that she understood why her former acquaintance would want to hide behind a pseudonym and attempt to get away from everything, but Clarissa has clearly gone off the deep end, considering her immediate response is to pop her implants and attack.

But there might still be a chance for Tilly, thanks to everything that happened with Holden on what I’m going to call the ‘Ring Base’. (“That thing in the middle” is just too much, after all). Needless to say, pretty much everyone thinks Holden is off his rocker, even Bobbie, who tried her best to stop him from making a fool out of himself. Of course, he wasn’t really making a fool out of himself – he was simply following “Miller” in hopes of, I guess, fixing things. Because that’s what Holden does – try to fix things – and while it never goes very well at first, it always seems to work out in the end. Maybe not for the best, but you know, things happen and he is at the center of them and more often than not it would be worse if he wasn’t. I guess.

I have to admit, as a book reader the Ring Base isn’t exactly how I pictured it. It’s beautiful – in a weird and creepy way – but everything looks very ‘close’, and I especially thought that the showdown between Holden and the Martian Marines would be in a far more open area. Otherwise, I feel like from everything we’ve learned since they figured out the Ring’s speed cap made it pretty obvious that the Marines shooting guns and throwing grenades wasn’t going to go well for, well, anyone. And it didn’t. The Marine who threw the grenade is no more (for lack of a better way to put it), and throwing that grenade caused whatever controls the Ring and everything inside it to bring everything to a screeching halt. Literally.

Thankfully, The Expanse doesn’t ignore physics, but because of that, several fates hang in the balance. The lives of everyone on (in?) the Base are in question, of course, but on top of that, the fates of anyone not strapped in (which was, well, almost everyone) when the incidence occurred are also in question. Who lives, who dies, who tells their story, indeed…

What did you think about “Dandelion Sky”? Do you think there will in fact be a body count, and if so, who will be among it? For instance, will Tilly survive to tell everyone about Clarissa? Let us know in the comments!

Author: Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.

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