The Expanse Season 5 finale: How has Cas Anvar’s Alex left the series?

We knew Alex Kamal would need to come out of The Expanse Season 5 somehow in the finale. Would he walk away or would he be killed off? That was always the big question.

For those who don’t know, while The Expanse Season 5 was filming, allegations against Cas Anvar’s sexual harrassment and misconduct game out. That prompted an investigation, which led to him being fired from the series. It was extremely serious, and you can read more about it from Comic Book Resources.

Despite the actor’s firing, a TV show can’t just do a character dirty. There needs to be some sort of reason to write someone out, especially when it comes to a character who has been there from the beginning of the series. But the show had wrapped Season 5 filming when the final decisions were made.

All we knew was that Anvar wouldn’t return for the sixth season. So, would Alex be killed off in some way or would he just disappear on Mars? The fifth season seemed to be setting up both storylines. After all, it was possible to have Alex head back to Mars to try to make things right with his ex and son rather than rejoin the Roci crew.

The Expanse opted to kill off Alex

In the end, it looks like it was possible for the show to add something in. After saving Naomi thanks to her jumping out of the ship and Bobbie getting oxygen to her, we cut back to Alex still on the Razorback. Blood floated around him as he muttered something about a good burn.

He wasn’t responding to Bobbie’s calls to him because he’d died suddenly.

We knew hard burns were bad. The show has routinely told us this, with stroke being one of the things that would kill people after hard burns.

That’s exactly what happened. Alex suffered a stroke that immediately killed him. He didn’t suffer, but it did feel a little anticlimactic after everyone. While Alex gets military honors, he didn’t go out like most OG characters would. He didn’t have the big sacrifice moment, and maybe that’s a good thing. After all, Anvar isn’t leaving on good terms.

The writers did what they could with what they had. Alex’s death is more for Naomi’s development now. She lives with the knowledge that Alex died saving her. And sure, the entire Roci crew would do the same for each other, but you never want to be the one that needed saving.

However, the next burn Alex did would have likely killed him. And it’s not like this was just one hard burn in the entire season. He and Bobbie had to push themselves through a lot to escape missiles and get to Naomi. It wasn’t Naomi’s fault.

Alex leaves The Expanse a good man, even if the actor doesn’t.

What did you think of Alex’s death on The Expanse Season 5 finale? What do you expect to see on The Expanse Season 6? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Expanse is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.