It has been six months since the Free Navy last hit the earth with an asteroid. Mostly, this is because the UN Navy had been reassigned to asteroid protection rather than hunting down Free Navy ships. As such, the Free Navy has had free reign in the belt and beyond. Though independent, the Rocinante had also been on asteroid patrol when it encountered an asteroid with a rocket engine. Interesting. Naomi (Dominique Tipper) reverse engineers the receiver signal and soon locates a Free Navy ship that is orbiting earth and launching these self-propelled asteroids at weak spots in the screen of ships. Plans are hatched to capture the ship. Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) sends Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams) to the Rocinante to oversee the operation.
Meanwhile, Marco Inaros has challenges with his Free Navy. His son, Filip, has a breakdown; that his mother and father are trying to kill one another has been hard on him. The Inners (Earth & Mars) have built new ships and are starting to turn the tide against him. However, Marco hasn't been idle. His alliance with the Martian separatists has provided him some surprises for the Inners.
In a tenuously related storyline, Cara is a girl on Laconia, the Martian separatist colony beyond the ring gates. While exploring, she has encountered some strange dogs that seem to have the ability to fix things that are broken, even reviving a dead bird. Well, that's interesting. There was a definite Pet Cemetary vibe to this.
The inclusion of Cara's tale on Laconia is really a distraction. Yes, this would be important background for the next three novels, but superfluous if this is the final season. The time and expense would have been better spent on the story back in the solar system. I would rather have seen the cameos of Anna Volovodov, Elvi Okoye, and Praxidike Meng expanded. Those were major characters from previous seasons who each had maybe a minute or two in this finale.
It is unfortunate that Kas Anvar, who played Alex Kamal, didn't get to remain with the show for this final season but his character is fondly remembered by the crew in more than one episode. Every character had an opportunity to reflect on his absence. Holden (Stephen Strait) has taken over as pilot and proves to be every bit as good as Alex because the plot requires him to be that good. In the novels, Alex survives to the final book.
At only 6 episodes, this season goes by fast. Though well-handled, it does feel rushed compared to previous seasons. Problems don't get to percolate for a couple of episodes before they get resolved. Nope, this season, we spot a problem at the beginning of the episode and overcome it by the end. It moves toward the standard episodic pattern of TV rather than the ongoing space opera from previous years. Nonetheless, it is great. The whole series is highly recommended.
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