One of the great features of the Expanse is the way that they tell small stories of individuals who aren't part of the main cast of characters in order to flesh out the world. And this week, we got the crew of the Weeping Somnambulist, a freighter bringing emergency supplies to the survivors on Ganymede.
As the episode begins, they're boarded by a pair of Martian marines who seem, like many of these patrols, to be nothing but abusive to the Belters they stop. They threaten to impound the ship despite there being no problems with its cargo or registration, at which point one of the married-couple crew tears off a marine's mask and we realize: oh hey, that's Holden. And the other is Amos.
Yes, as it turns out, the Roci crew are looking for a less conspicuous ride to get to Ganymede, where they'll take Prax to find his daughter and her conspiracy-linked pediatrician.
The fact that the Somnambulist becomes a shooting gallery at the end of the episode, with the husband dead in the crossfire, is not strictly speaking the fault of the Roci folks - they are boarded by the thugs who would have been there anyway, and it's likely that both of these innocent belters would have been murdered had Holden and Amos not stepped in, but it also shows how going after the big picture the way Holden and Co do, they're not going to be able to save everyone, and they shouldn't expect everyone to love them for it.
While the Roci gets to Ganymede, Bobbie Draper arrives on Earth.
The Martians have a culture of strength - compulsory military service and an ethic that detests those who are not working. Earth, as we and Bobbie learn from Avasarala, has a majority of unemployed citizens who live on government assistance. They aren't simply lazy - one does not get the impression that the average Earther can afford the home and clothes that Avasarala has - but Earth just doesn't have the opportunities that are found on a planet united in its goal to terraform.
But physically, Martians are weaker. It's just a simple fact: their physiology is not used to the high gravity and bright light on Earth (Mars is twice the distance from the sun as Earth, and thus would, I think, get a quarter the sunlight.) So as Bobbie arrives on planet that birthed her species, a fellow Martian collapses and vomits and she is nearly blinded by the glare of the sun (she declines to wear sunglasses as they've all been advised.)
She is there to testify at the peace summit where Erinwright and Avasarala are meeting with the guy I assume is the Martian ambassador in a lavish building somewhere on Central Park West.
Bobbie gives her testimony, but the Martian narrative singles out the Earth-born member of her crew as the cause of the incident, attempting to place the blame all on one marine who has to prove himself loyal to Mars by taking out a bunch of Earthers.
But when Avasarala calls her back in for questioning, Bobbie lets slip the detail about the soldier who wasn't wearing a suit. She returns to the official story soon enough, but you can bet your ass that Avasarala caught that detail.
Meanwhile, Avasarala's scientist friend has traveled to Venus to take a look at the impact crater Eros left on the planet's surface. After having some minor arguments with the Naval officer running the research ship, they arrive at the crater to find it full of biological activity.
So yeah, I don't think we're done with the Eros protomolecule. Bad for humanity, but if it means we could see Miller again in some form, I'd be pretty happy about that!
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