The Expanse Back to the Butcher (2015– ) watch online HD

This is going to be a long one. The plot thickens nicely in this episode.

Miller discovers more clues about Julie Mao. She was selfless and she toured the belt a few years ago. A ship called the Anubis was headed from Phoebe station to asteroid Eros. The Scopuli, which Julie was on, was apparently intended to intercept the Anubis, and take what it possessed. At that point, everything started going crazy in the outer worlds. Miller's theory is that the Anubis picked up something at Phoebe station that was incredibly valuable, valuable enough to kill a lot of people over. Where is the Anubis? And how and why did a fleet of advanced warships show up in the outer planets and start wrecking ships left and right? Also the apparent 'plan' by these strange forces to frame Mars is starting to work, as news programs suggest that popular opinion is beginning to pile up against Mars.

The chemistry between the four Canterbury survivors is pretty good, I like it. Not-sure-if-I-want-to-lead/a-bit-full-of-myself Holden, I'm-in-charge-with-a-full-head-of-steam Nagata, whatever-Nagata-says Amos, and quirky-unlucky Kamal who's fond of saying "Crap." when things go south.

We find out more about Fred Johnson, the director of Tycho station, with a checkered past that saw him massacre Belters on Anderson station (earning him the name The Butcher of Anderson Station). Now it appears that he is hard-core OPA, perhaps trying his best to atone for his past. He messages the Cant survivors, offering them safe haven, and the episode ends with them taking him up on his offer as they head for Tycho. Johnson is portrayed by the excellent Chad Coleman, who many will fondly remember as Tyrese from The Walking Dead.

There's a funny scene where Nagata has a run in with the Tachi's computer. Being a front-line ship, the central computer is so smart that it recognizes her as the engineering-type and displays the ship's engineering readouts to her without even being asked, which are perfectly right down the middle of course. This just frustrates her more. "There's nothing to fix." she complains. She pulls away a small patch of wall covering in defiance of the perfect Martian ship.

Coffee comes up a few times during the episode. Miller brews some up, and his friend comments that he's never done that before. It also comes up with the Cant survivors. If we recall, Holden has been pining for real coffee for a while now. In an earlier episode, we saw him flashback when he first met the Canterbury's navigator, whom he had a relationship with before she died on the Cant. The scene revolved around making a close coffee analog. He quickly brews some up in the Martian galley and sips it, and judging by his reaction it has to be pretty good.

We find out that Havlock survived his near-fatal encounter with local thug Kothari and a bolt-driver. Miller's reaction is quite odd. Usually, if a mentor's junior partner is nearly killed, the mentor takes it kind of personal and usually makes it his prime goal to find the scumbag responsible and deal with them. Miller doesn't, even with OPA big shot Dawes practically hands Kothari to him on a silver platter. Is there something in Miller's past that is influencing this odd behavior? Does he resent Havlock because he's an Earther? The episode ends with a nice cliffhanger and I'm certainly on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next.

One final note, I don't know if it's intended as an homage, but the shop that Miller visits near the end of the episode is called Tech Noir, which is also the name of the bar that Sarah Connor goes to in the original Terminator.

Some great writing and acting, especially Miller. Miller's "That's the LAST STUPID THING you get to say to me during this interview." or "I saw him in the morgue. He's mushroom food now....wanna join him?" were memorable.

Parts of the episode are used to properly introduce another new character. This uses a progressive flashback which is a nifty way for introduction, especially when the said character has barely any interaction. The survivor team seems to find their rhythm together, the usual bravado is still present but everyone is more clear-headed and less likely to go full blown brawl.

Chemistry is definitely going well for the four Donnager survivors, the characters are all now set and they function nicely together, it has a better use lighter moments and clash of personalities than two or three episodes ago. Considering the faster pace they endured, this is an excellent progress while still keeping the core characterization intact.

Mystery for Belters moves timely as well. Patrick Jane maintains a good case whether Miller is emotionally or professionally invested on his effort to find Julie Mao. The idea of this lost woman is different than usual damsel in distress, she's almost like a ghost of virtue and Miller is chasing this expectation or phantom of a woman, trailing just one step behind her.

It's a good direction to hide the presence of Julie Mao, but if there's any grievance to the puzzle pacing, it's that the OPA leader doesn't have the appealing chemistry with Miller. Granted, it's only a couple of episodes they have to tolerate each other and the relationship does push the theme along, yet this crime gangster subplot isn't going with the same momentum as the rest.

For establishing new and bolsters the old characters, it is a good expansion for the series.

The new series started out strongly, with a gritty atmosphere, an interesting concept, and great visual effects, but if this new episode is any indication, it looks like the series is going downhill quickly. After five episodes I still don't really like any of the characters, and quite frankly we barely know who they are. This episode introduced more characters, none of them especially interesting or likable. I really thought this was going to be another great series like Battlestar Galactica, but it's not even close.

The story line is so convoluted that the viewer has no idea how the various threads are going. Who are the good guys and the bad guys? Perhaps future episodes will sort everything out, but I'm not sure I'm willing to invest that much time into this.