The Expanse Season 5 premiere recap: A Roci crew separated

Here’s what happened on The Expanse Season 5 premiere

The wait is finally over. The Expanse Season 5 premiere is here, and we’re breaking down the events.

One thing we learned in the run-up is that this show is personal. The Roci team is separated by personal matters. Naomi is searching for her son, Amos is heading back to Baltimore, and Alex has some matters to attend to on Mars. In a way, it feels odd. At the same time, it’s so exciting to break down more layers to these characters in a show that never stops giving.

The Expanse Season 5 premiere quickly sets up the individual storylines for the Roci crew. At the same time, it gets us ready for an intense season to come.

An attack on a research mission

While Naomi is searching for her son Felip, we get to see what he has been up to. He and a small group infiltrate a research ship. This ship has noted a meteor, and Felip wants data about it.

Why? That’s not 100% clear just yet.

What is clear is that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get it. He isn’t going to risk his life for those working for him.

When one of the team gets his foot caught on the research ship getting out, Felip refuses to go back or even let another team member go back to help him. Instead, Felip says he will tell his father about the work the team member did and then just watches as the ship explodes.

Naomi thinks she is going to be able to save him from Marco, but that doesn’t look likely judging by his actions here.

Naomi searches for Felip, Holden wants the truth

At the end of The Expanse Season 4, Naomi asked for help finding her son. She finds out where he is in The Expanse Season 5 premiere.

It doesn’t look like she knows exactly what Felip is getting himself into just yet. All she knows is that Marco is dangerous, and she needs to make sure she Felip isn’t affected by him.

At the end of the premiere, she leaves Holden behind telling him that she needs to find Felip alone. Holden clearly isn’t happy with that decision, but he lets her go anyway. I love how supportive he can be from afar. He’s certainly grown a lot since the start of the series.

Holden has his own things to deal with, anyway. Monica pays him a visit to ask him about protomolecule. Holden plays dumb, but Monica knows that she knows something more. Not all of it was destroyed. More importantly, Monica knows that Holden will want to get to the bottom of what happened to it.

Sure enough, Holden pays Colonel Johnson a visit. He doesn’t get the answers he’s looking for, though, but he does mention his theories about the rings. By passing through them, they’re making something very angry. There’s going to be more to come from this storyline, clearly.

Amos and Alex have personal problems back home

While all this goes on, Amos and Alex are on two different planets. Sort of.

Alex has made it back to Mars, where he pays his ex and son a visit. Well, his son is on a field trip, so Alex isn’t getting what he came for. What did he come for? To be let off from the guilt he feels for walking away? For feeling like he’s a savior?

It’s not clear. Alex doesn’t have any answers, but it’s clear he’s not wanted. Even Bobbie wants nothing to do with him.

That’s not all that surprising when Alex leaves the bar and looks around at the shops. They’re all closed. Mars is going downhill. People are out of work and struggling. It’s no wonder everyone wants off the planet.

Meanwhile, Amos is on the way to Earth. At the end of the fourth season, a connection between his life in Baltimore and him was made. It looks like he needs to put a few things right.

While on the ship to Earth, he runs into a spot of trouble for refusing to pay for extra insurance, which is pretty much a scam on tourists and those who pretty much can’t afford to pay extra. Those scamming others pay him a visit in the showers, where he manages to knock each and every one of them out.

They’re all left alive though, as he points out to two cops at customs. The cops don’t want him for what happened in the showers, though. They’re taking him to see Avasarala, who won’t let him through customs until he tells her why she’s there.

She doesn’t have time to get an answer. There’s someone to see her about a problem—linking us back to the start of the episode.

And so, we end The Expanse Season 5 premiere. It’s clear this season is going to be personal. It’s also going to be epic.

What did you think of The Expanse Season 5 premiere? What do you hope to see for each of the characters throughout the season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Expanse Season 5, Episodes 1 to 3 are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.