I wonder if TV Naomi finally realizes what an idiot she was for saving the proto-molecule.
Book Naomi is definitely a better character. Though TV Amos is a better character… so win some, lose some.
E6 was terrific.
This was the most engaging that Naomi’s story has been. I could really tell she got under her son’s skin with that one, eh.
Amos is awesome. Great story, fantastic character. Really liked this one for him.
Bobbie is a badass. I enjoy the way she is written/portrayed as obviously smart and deeply affected but consciously unable or unwilling to properly spend time dealing with it. It’s a subtle but very effective characterization.
Chrisjen’s story is sooooooo big it’s crazy. Shohreh Aghdashloo is an incredible actor; her Chrisjen is fully realized. I loved the way she put her jewelry on like a set of armor, how you could see everything that she was thinking and how much was conveyed with just a few gestures and glances. Just fantastic to watch!
Camina is da bomb. I love this character.
Karal is a total drag and I look forward to her demise. Olunike Adeliyi is amazing and I’m actively looking forward to seeing her in more things.
I liked the new Secretary-General. He seems cool.
ETA: I almost forgot: Naomi’s new thick Belter accent is really driving me crazy. It sounds unnatural*, for one, and its sudden appearance is really jarring for me every time she speaks.
*Others do the accent fine; Miss Tipper seems to not be very good at it. No doubt starting 4 seasons after everyone else may have had some part in that but I just don’t think she’s very good at it.
I really enjoyed it too. Amos’ statement about he’s been doing this for years and everyone else is trying to catch up really helps flesh out his character beyond generic bad-ass who kicks butt because reasons. Agreed on Chrisjen and Shohreh’s portrayal of her in this episode, it was powerful.
I didn’t really enjoy the parts of the book on Marco’s ship with Naomi in captivity, but I’m liking it more on the show. I think Cyn (Marco’s lieutenant) helps - he’s a great character.
The one misstep in the episode, IMO, was Clarissa’s attack on the prepper. I think they could have done a better job showing her speed than a shaky close-up of her snarling face. But that’s a very minor quibble.
Question - how did the Razorback fire up again after dropping core? Did it have two? Was the first one a dummy?
Amos is an utterly amoral sociopath who kills not only without hesitation or regret, but without even understanding that is is bad. He is a reptile.
I think he understands that he’s bad. That why he wants to get back to the Roci because his crew will stop him from going too far.
I’m hoping everyone will join up soon. Everyone is too scattered so we’re just seeing little snippets. I’m guessing Alex and Bobby meet up with the Roci next episode and Amos the episode after that. And then the big climax to the season will be Naomi’s rescue.
To Amos, there is indeed a realization that Holden keeps him on the side of moral. And without that guiding hand, he’d go back to the sociopath he was in Baltimore.
An allusion to code switching perhaps?
Agree with the great ep consensus. Even liked the heavy handed last conversation about not being a monster because monsters aren’t afraid with our knowing that Amos is not afraid. He is that monster. And his self realization that as a monster he needs the crew, Holden in particular, to tell him what someone who is not a good person would do to do good things anyway. WWHD?
He’s such a great character.
Aye; IMO Amos knows he is, in fact, a monster. But he’s also extremely rational and knows he is better off mostly curbing his natural tendencies. And he’s smart enough to realize that he isn’t qualified to always know when he should repress his instincts.
I did like that, but did she have high heeled grav boots?
They wouldn’t be grav boots on the moon. But I’ll bet her grav boots are high heels when she’s on the float.
And I managed to find an answer to my earlier question. Evidently, “dumping core” means they eject the reaction within its magnetic “bottle” while leaving the reactor itself intact. As long as the reactor wasn’t damaged, it’s relatively easy to re-establish the magnetic containment and restart the reaction.
Ah yes, I’d forgotten they were on the moon. I was under the impression that they were on the float from the “acting president of the world” stumbling. Or whatever his real title is, Sec general of the UN?
And you’re right, she’d definitely find some way to get grav boots with heels.
Yeah, this is pretty much the theme of the whole Amos&Peaches part of the show. The difference between being a good person, being a bad person, and being a “bad person who does good”.
Amos used to be the second, but became the third after becoming part of the Roci crew. He clearly wishes he was the first, but knows that will never happen, and can see himself turning back into the second the longer he stays away from the Roci, but can’t see how to stop it.
I agree with what you wrote except that I think Amos was already becoming the third of your categories when the show began.
It seemed to me right from the start that Amos was “attaching” himself to people who he felt embodied traits he should emulate. To me, Amos underwent a very obvious transference from Naomi to Holden that was really awesome to watch because it was all conveyed by subtext. And it had to do with a) Holden being the de-facto commander due to his rank and b) Amos seeing that Holden didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk and the outcomes kept being good outcomes because he did so.
From my perspective (which is only from watching the show), Amos seems like he has always found value in other people’s presences, so he’s not a total sociopath. He’s someone who is going to survive at all costs, is all.
I mean, we know he has morals… look what he did to that doctor.
Agreed, largely. I think the big difference is that (and this is based mostly on the books, which have a bit more history in them) when they were all just working stiffs on the Cant, there was no real need to kill anyone, and only occasionally to fight anyone. Naomi’s job was mostly to remind Amos that he wasn’t in Baltimore any more, and didn’t need to use violence as a casual part of life.
But once they ended up on the Roci, they were in lots of situations where violence, and killing, was actually necessary. That naturally lead into Amos’ natural inclinations, but over time, he started to see that, even in situations where violence might be justified, Holden quite often found ways to avoid violence. It’s figuring out the difference between the two that gives Amos a lot of trouble, but he’s at least realized that there is a difference, even if he personally can’t see it.
Amos could have just been a stock “bad-ass heartless killer” type character. It’s great that they actually gave him some real depth, and Wes Chatham is absolutely nailing the role.
I think Amos doesn’t feel right and wrong, but he can recognize it in others when he sees it. I think a great example is when he was helping Prax find his daughter – at the end, Amos recognized that it would be wrong for Prax to kill the evil scientist. Probably not because of some overarching moral imperative, but because he understood Prax well enough to see that Prax killing the guy would have irrevocably harmed Prax. But then he saw the evil in the scientist, and saw the danger in leaving him alive, and knew that he himself would not be altered at all by killing him.
Also, it made for an awesome scene on TV.
Yeah, I re-watched that scene the other day, and remembered how surreal it was. We saw Amos clearly leaving the airlock, but then, out of nowhere, this disembodied hand appears to stop Prax. Amos appears almost like a vision to tell Prax to stop, but then becomes all too real - “I am that guy”. An amazing mix of inhuman and all too human all at once.
Amazing work.
It did but I’ll finally own up to the fact that I hated that scene because Amos’s line should have been “I’m that guy” not “I am that guy”.
I don’t know about that. Amos always did have a weird sort of almost-formal way of talking at certain times, and this would have been one of them.
Plus, there’s the emphasis on “am”, “I am that guy”. It focuses the message on what Amos is, not that it’s Amos. “I’m that guy” makes it more personal, like this is something Amos wants to do, rather than it just being something that he does. It’s Amos as a force of nature, not Amos as a human being.
It’s the conflict between the two, and the realization that maybe both are needed, even if that’s not what Amos wants, that makes Amos such a good character.
Yep. At the beginning of the series, Amos just seems like your ordinary ‘muscle’ character, but he turns out to be one of the most interesting and layers characters in sci-fi (IMO). This self-awareness he shows at the end of this episode indicates that he knows his limitations and knows he needs to overcome them.