Thread by @will_wagner

I'm still in a #TheExpanse mood, so I'm going to continue #SomeThingsINoticed with season 2, episode 2, "Doors & Corners".

https://twitter.com/will_wagner/status/1029903437838856192

I don't usually talk about the recaps at the beginning of episodes, but this one merits some attention because it includes clips from a scene that appears to have been cut from the previous episode and never actually shown. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

This is particularly weird because it introduces a new important character, Cotyar Ghazi, a freelance intelligence operative Avasarala hires after the assassination attempt in the last episode. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

We learn in this cut scene that Cotyar knows Avasarala, and doesn't like her a whole lot, but seems to feel he owes her something. He knew her late son, Charanpal. She wants him to work for her, off the books, against Errinwright. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Most of this scene can be seen here on SyFy's YouTube channel.



#TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

In the episode proper, we see Souther and Nguyen again butting heads about how to respond to the MCRN's destruction of Phoebe. Nguyen points out that they have no real reliable information about what happened there, just the MCRN's word. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although Nguyen is clearly trying to escalate things, he's making a fair point; with Phoebe destroyed they'll never know for sure what happened and even if they had the intel Holden and Miller have, they couldn't really trust it. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Avasarala suggests a military strike on a small Martian moon — though she gets Errinwright to actually say it. A smart move since if the idea gets shot down it's on him. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Souther refuses to be a party to this since it's a clear escalation. He's the most principled person in the room, willing to throw away his career to avoid being the one to lead the UN into what he sees as a pointless war. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although Errinwright previously implied Souther doesn't have much real experience, the show seems to be trying to tell us through costuming that Nguyen has even less. Note the difference in the medals and badges on their uniforms. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

As the Rocinante returns to Tycho, we can see the Nauvoo continuing to take shape outside, with only one big section left to be put in place. Just sitting there like the biggest Chekov's Gun ever built. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Upon docking with Tycho, the station's spin imparts some angular momentum to the Rocinante and "gravity" returns. Although Miller grew up in spin gravity and knows all the tricks, he's not used to gravity coming and going at the drop of a hat. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Fred is initially angry with them for their lack of communication, but when he hears they were actually on Eros, he shuts up. At least some news of what happened there has spread throughout the Belt. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Miller quickly goes for what he thinks might be Fred's weakness: the idea that he's not a soldier anymore, just a mouthpiece for terrorists.

Fred's less than impressed with him. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The fact that Julie called for help from the OPA and died without even getting a response from them has gotten to Miller somewhat. He's even more disillusioned with the OPA's "cause" now than he was on Ceres. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Miller is also really ticked off at the fact that Belters are being essentially used as lab rats. He's used to the Inners walking all over them and stealing their resources, but this is a new level of awful. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The signal being sent from Eros has been traced to a supposedly abandoned station in the Belt. The fact that it has a spinning section suggests it's not just an automated communications repeater — someone's living there. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The Belters rescued from Eros care little for Alex's generosity. They're angry and want to fight back, not just survive. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

A nice little touch in this scene of Alex and Amos walking down the street is that Amos has his phone telling him the star ratings of all the bars, and he goes into the one with the lowest rating. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Amos making a good point about the nature of vengeance. It seems likely he has some past experience with this. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Since leaving the Canterbury in the very first episode, our heroes here have basically been continuously reacting to what the universe throws at them. They don't have a clear sense of purpose. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

But it's clear that something *big* is going on and the world is changing. The "Churn" that Amos mentioned. And Alex doesn't want to be them to be the kind of people who keep their heads down and just try to survive. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Amos gets bored with this pretty quick though. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

I'm glad that this show at least occasionally talks about the logistics of running a spaceship. Having to worry about where to get more ammo for your stolen warship's PDCs is not something you see a lot of on, say, Star Trek. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Naomi calling out Holden on his need to solve every problem and blame himself if he can't. Part of his Don Quixote thing. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Holden still feels like it's all his fault because he logged that distress call on the Cant. Naomi points out while they might have started this whole journey because of him, they're continuing it because they want to. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Naomi finally opens up JUST a bit about her past with the OPA. But only a bit. And there's clearly more she's not saying here. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

But this latest experience Changed Everything™. She feels like this work they're doing now for Fred Johnson is different — more righteous. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The smile on Naomi's face as Holden tells her about how Amos kinda threatened to throw him out into space (back in S01E02, when they were outside fixing the Knight's communications). #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although Miller said Amos was like Naomi's kid, she sees him more as a little brother, since it's not one-way — he looks out for her too. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Holden also alludes to S01E07, where he put a gun to Amos's head when Amos was about to gun down an MCRN boarding party. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Interesting that although Fred is recruiting people for a combat operation, part of what he's offering as compensation is civilian construction work. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

This is the same Black Sky guy whom UNN intel had blamed for the assassination attempt on Avasarala in the previous episode. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

And he's hardly shy about it.

"wupo" = "witch" (Mandarin)

Dawes's (mostly) bloodless coup on Ceres has inspired a lot of people. The problem is that the OPA, somewhat by nature, lacks a coherent leadership or vision. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Fred feels that a show of force would be in order here. I guess Avasarala can sleep a little easier. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Because Tycho is spinning, as soon as Nikil is out the door he falls away and out of sight. Physics is a bitch. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Notice how everyone else's stances have changed — although none of them came to Nikil's aid, they're all ready to defend themselves in case Fred feels like another example needs to be made. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

I love the look of the lady in front with the mohawk and the mismatched hand-wraps. Although I don't think that's actually supposed to be her, this is basically how I'm picturing Michio Pa from the books now. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Since they have the detailed scans the Donnager took of these stealth ships, they can devise a pretty accurate combat simulation for Alex to practice with. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The weakness of the stealth ship's design (compared to a larger ship like the Donnager) is that the entire ship has to be pointed at the target to fire the railgun. But if it does get pointed at you, it'll tear a smaller ship to pieces. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The railgun is deadly up close, but the torpedoes are deadly further away. We don't see what solution they devise for this problem until they're actually doing it later in the episode. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Miller's years of kicking in doors for Star Helix on Ceres will come in handy on this one. And he has experience wrangling angry Belters. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

When Miller gets up to leave, he offers to clean out his room, but Holden stops him, inviting him to stick with them as part of the crew for at least the immediate future. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although Souther stepped down from his current post, he hasn't resigned entirely. Nguyen will oversee the entire UNN fleet and Souther will be relegated to a lower position commanding the ships based near Jupiter. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Avasarala admits to him that she suggested the attack on Deimos in order to stop Nguyen and Errinwright from calling for even further escalation with a more damaging response. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Throughout this scene you can see Cotyar sitting at a table in the corner, out of focus, keeping an eye on Avasarala. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although we saw flashbacks to the Anderson Station Incident in S01E05, we didn't get this final piece of it: the UNN knew the miners were trying to surrender, but Fred wasn't told. This changes Avasarala's opinion of him. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

This is part of why Avasarala hired Cotyar. If she used any of her normal official resources to try to contact Fred Johnson, it would surely get back to Errinwright almost immediately. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Guy Molinari was a 20th-century Congressman from Staten Island, New York. However, according to the authors, this ship is actually named after a Staten Island Ferry that's named after Molinari.

#TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

This is part of an elaborate trick to get the Roci close to the station undetected. With the Roci tucked behind the Molinari like this, no one directly in front of the Molinari will be able to see the Roci on radar. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although the others are still using the civilian spacesuits they brought with them from the Canterbury, Alex is now wearing one of the MCRN unpowered armor suits from the Rocinante's armory. A sign that he feels at home here. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

When it absolutely, positively, has to be there overnight. #FedEx #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The show often applies a slight roll to the camera to indicate that the scene takes place in microgravity. It's surprisingly effective for such a simple little thing. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Miller's really not great at this whole space thing. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

"tenye" = have/possess (Spanish)
"wa" = a/an/some
"chesh" = chase (English)
"gut" = good (German)

"Good hunting" as she just said in English.
#TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Once again we run into Diogo Harari, the kid Miller caught stealing water on Ceres. Last we saw him, he had been tossed out of a spaceship just before his uncle launched a suicidal attack on an MCRN warship. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Our heroes dump all the air from inside the Roci's inner hull. Otherwise, any breach to the hull could cause an explosive decompression and rip the ship apart. This seems to be common practice for smaller warships. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

This episode introduces Camina Drummer, Fred Johnson's right hand and head of security on Tycho. Her role is greatly expanded compared to the books (she doesn't appear until book 5) and in my opinion it's one of the best decisions the show made. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Fred's been the old man sending young men off to war before. He knows how easy it can be to manipulate people into fighting for a cause that you can spin as righteous. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The first move is for the Roci to go into a goofy spin, tumbling away from the Molinari. On long-range radar it will look like a cargo container has come loose from the freighter by accident. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Drummer then tries to sell this a bit by broadcasting a message warning other ships to stay away from their drifting cargo.

This won't fool anyone who looks closely at the Roci, but it only has to work for a couple of minutes.

#TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

It now appears to be common knowledge that the Griegas left Ceres to work as enforcers on Eros, at the behest of (though they didn't know at the time) an Earth corporation. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

"ówala" is an interesting word. It literally means "plumber", but can be used as a slang term for a horny person. Diogo being a bit of a dudebro it's kind of his way of saying "buddy" sometimes. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Second top-notch vomiting scene from Thomas Jane in this show. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

"pampa" literally means "uncle" but is often used to generically refer to any old man. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Diogo was fantastically lucky that someone happened to see the explosion of his uncle's ship and come investigate. He's riding high after surviving that and sees himself as continuing his uncle's fight against the Inners. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

When Alex kicks in the Roci's drive and powers everything up, the interior lights switch from red to blue. They do not seem to ever go to full white when there's no air in the ship. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although I don't think they ever actually say it on screen, this stealth ship is named Osiris. Like Anubis and Thoth, Osiris is a god from ancient Egyptian mythology. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The "dropped cargo" ruse got the Roci up close and inside the minimum range for missiles, but the Molinari is still farther away, and the Osiris tosses a couple torpedoes at it. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

When Alex fires the PDCs at the torpedoes, although there's no air in the ship to carry the sound, the vibration through the hull of the ship itself still damn near deafens our heroes. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Both torpedoes are shot down. The Osiris isn't positioned correctly to use its railgun, so both ships fire their PDCs directly at each other, and we see several rounds punch through the Roci's hull. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

On the wall above Alex's station, there's an MCR flag, which has a big circle representing Mars in the middle of it. In a wild coincidence a PDC round punches directly through the middle of it. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

As the two ships pass by each other, it's reminiscent of two old school sailing ships firing broadsides of cannonballs. It's damn lucky none of these rounds went through anyone's head. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

As Alex activates the Roci's main drive again, you can see the trail of glowing debris from that first PDC round fall down to the floor due to the acceleration. This is the kind of little detail I live for. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

A lucky shot disabled one of the Roci's thrusters, making it difficult to maneuver precisely. Amos volunteers to go fix it, putting himself in extreme danger since the ship could suddenly accelerate violently at any moment. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The OPA is literally FedExing armed troops to this station.

One of the other cargo containers is labeled with the name "ARGOT" and a sunrise logo.

#TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

To fix the thruster issue Amos has to go into the space between the pressurized inner hull and the armored outer hull — like Kenzo did when he stowed away. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The Rocinante could easily shoot down or dodge an unguided projectile from this gun, but the makeshift FedEx breaching pods have no PDCs or hard-burning drives. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Alex's tactic has been to keep the Roci inside the station's ring in the hopes that the Osiris will not fire its railgun at them for fear of damaging the station itself. But now they're going to have to pop their metaphorical head up. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

But the Osiris is ready for them and fires almost immediately. It hits hard enough that it knocks the Roci for a loop and Amos gets tossed around inside. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Taking a close look at the damage — the Roci was VERY lucky. The railgun round went laterally through the shield over the forward airlock. This is like having a gun fired at you and the bullet hitting only the armpit of your shirt. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Also check out all the darker scars and burns on the hull from the PDC fire earlier. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The Osiris moves inside the ring itself, jockeying for a position where it can fire again without hitting the station. It's unwilling to get close enough for another PDC duel — the last one probably hurt them as much as it did the Roci. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Amos is fixing this using some kind of sleeve-like patch that seems to contract when an electrical current is applied to it. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Due to this delay, the gun is able to destroy one of the breaching pods. But it seems to take a while to reload it — it might even be people doing it manually. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

With the thruster fixed, Alex is able to swoop around the station's ring and destroy the gun by firing all the Roci's PDCs at it concurrently. This happens to put them in an ideal position to flank the Osiris. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The Roci's smaller size is now an advantage as it can literally run rings around the Osiris, hitting it with all of its PDCs at once, when the Osiris can't get all of its guns pointed at the Roci at the same time. It's over quickly. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

There's no big explosion, but it's clear that the Osiris is no longer a threat — either its systems have been crippled so badly it can't maneuver or fire, or there's no one left alive over there to control it. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

As Miller leads the surviving troops into the station, you can see how the corridor curves up and away into the distance. This station is much smaller than, say, Tycho, where the curve is wide enough to not be obvious. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

This corridor is almost completely empty, and there are old electronics and cables hanging out of the walls. Seems like this place originally served some other purpose, was abandoned, and then later reoccupied. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

The defenders are carrying unusual weapons that fire blobs of gel designed to knock people down without seriously injuring them. They're no match for the heavily armed Belters.

The reason for this will not become apparent until the next episode.

#TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

"Doors and corners" is an oft-repeated catchphrase of Miller's from the books. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

In this shot you can see the Rocinante and the Guy Molinari off to the left, and the FedEx breaching pod can be seen still attached to the outer ring of the station in the foreground. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Pour one out for the Intense Guy they rescued from Eros. He was on the breaching pod that didn't make it to the station. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

These people are using some kind of VR interface that allows them to use hand movements to control displays that only they can see. Similar interfaces are used in the video game series "Mass Effect". #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

It's eerie how they completely ignore the Belters until their connection to this system is severed, then become instantly hostile. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Miller has a very disappointed-den-mother attitude toward these OPA troops after they kill all but one of the scientists. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Running the show here is Antony Dresden, who conducted the experiments on both Phoebe and Eros.

He's paraphrasing a line often attributed to various revolutionary heroes, but which actually originated as nothing more than a typing exercise.

#TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Miller recognizes Dresden from Eros, where he nearly shot the scientist before Holden stopped him. Dresden never actually saw Miller and doesn't have a clue who he is. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Dresden *does* immediately recognize Fred Johnson, though. He appears to have no particular loyalty to his employers and only tries to negotiate for the ability to continue his work. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Although everything he's doing is ethically abhorrent, there's some twisted logic in what he's saying here — he wants to learn how to make humanity better, so he tests the protomolecule on humanity. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

He has lots of big ideas about what the protomolecule can do for us. And he literally doesn't care who he has to fuck over to make that happen. Keep watching and we'll see why. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

He also reiterates something he said in his lab notes from Phoebe: that the protomolecule was sent here by some outside force, seemingly specifically to manipulate life on Earth. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Dresden doesn't care about Earth, or Mars, or even Jules-Pierre Mao. He just wants to keep doing this work to (in his eyes) protect humanity.

Can't stop the work. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

Miller is sick of all of this bullshit, though. The second Fred starts talking like he might agree to this guy's terms, Miller puts an end to it. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

And because he's Miller, he goes over and shoots the dead guy a few more times just to be sure.

Although Holden raises his weapon defensively after the first shot, he and Fred are both too gobsmacked by this to do or say anything. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

"Haggard Belter" is the guy I was calling "Intense Guy".

Also note the UN Secretary-General has a name, which hasn't been spoken on screen. His full name is Esteban Sorrento-Gillis. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed

That's all for this one, beratnas. Catch you next time. #TheExpanse #SomeThingsINoticed