The Expanse is over (at least for now) and I’m not over it. But this show couldn’t go out without one last moment in which a character’s display screen contains vital—or at least entertaining—tidbits of information. Yet this particular screen reaches far beyond the world of The Expanse. If you’re a fan of, oh, any filmed SF property in the last thirty years, this jam-packed Easter egg has something in it for you.
(This is inevitably a little bit spoilery, but there are only the mildest plot spoilers below.)
The Expanse has a million things going for it—the writing, the cast, the costuming, the scope and intimacy—but something that doesn’t get mentioned quite as often is how thoroughly and beautifully designed the sets are. People spend a lot of time on spaceships, and the details of those ships are a delight, from the extremely practical to the slyly informative.
We’ve seen a lot of details on screens in this show. We saw a mighty battleship that never otherwise made its way to the screen. We saw some of Marco’s plans; he likes to keep secrets, but screens don’t lie. We’ve seen news reports, cameo appearances, and so many details that it’s okay to miss, but that make the whole experience so much richer.
And then we saw the names of a certain strike team in the final episode, and just about every SF fan watching had a little shock of joy and recognition.
The names begin over the comms, but it’s not until I heard “Ripley, ready” that I realized how many of them sounded familiar. And on first (and second) watch, I was way too emotionally invested in the episode to pause and stare at the screen when we get an over-Naomi’s-shoulder view of it; I only saw “Idaho, D.” But who else do we have here?
For starters, Star Wars‘ Admiral Ackbar, Battlestar Galatica‘s Kara Thrace, Terminator‘s Sarah Connor, and a whole handful of folks from Alien.
Fans caught every reference that could be caught, and Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar explained the last three:
Excellent work. And just for the record, Kathleen Garrity, Hidy Ochai, and Rob Levine were, respectively, my karate teacher, sensei, and black belt, in college #theexpanse606 #theexpanse https://t.co/zsYeE3hU5q
— Naren Shankar (@narenshankar) January 15, 2022
This is mostly just a really fun way to nod to The Expanse‘s SF predecessors, but it does illustrate what an intensely difficult fight these squads are headed into—one that will challenge a top-notch team drawn from all of science fiction.
The Expanse airs on Prime Video, and all of it is more than worth watching.
