Summary
“Down and Out” cools the story down slightly after a hectic few chapters; the characters are recovering after recent events and gathering themselves to initiate the plot’s next phase.
This recap of Amazon’s The Expanse season 5, episode 5, “Down and Out” contains significant spoilers.
We will be recapping this season weekly — check out the archive.
The opening
The Expanse season 5, episode 5 begins in the Drummer’s Faction, in the Belt. News keeps spreading on Earth’s tragic attack and Marco Inaros’ message. Camina looks at a screen that shows the death of Fred Johnson and Marco Inaros. She’s feeling guilty for letting Marco go; it’s making her feel responsible for what happened. A message comes through from Marco asking if they’d like to meet regarding the Faction and the Belt. An emotional Camina tells her crew that Fred Johnson was a good man — she believes they should meet Marco. This is not fleshed out in “Down and Out”, so expect this to come to fruition in future chapters.
Stuck underground
Amos and Clarissa are stuck in the pit prison after being hit by the devastation caused by the rocks on earth. As they were underground, they survived. Amos helps Clarissa up. They talk about the possibilities of what happened. A security guard comes to their prison cell, but the door will not open — eventually, they crack it open as Amos is concerned about the foundations falling on them. The security guard is worried about Clarissa leaving her cell. Amos tells the security guard that she’s coming with them. The elevators are down, and the electrics are shut off. They need to take the stairs. With more obstacles in their way, Amos looks for a ventilator shaft.
Amos, Clarissa, and the security guards find another prisoner to open up elevator doors by using his super strength — he hasn’t been sedated for a while so it works. However, there’s no shaft. Amos has a plan that involves taking panels off the wall so they can slowly go up the ladder that exists at the side of the elevator — they use the security guard’s pistols to take the panels off.
Interrogating Sakai
Holden interviews Sakai in her cell. They want as much information off her as possible, but she’s not ready to cooperate. Sakai mocks them and states she liked Fred and keeps on deflecting questions despite the threat of being tortured. Sakai accuses Fred Johnson of treating Belters like a pet. Her anger has consumed her. There’s such conviction in what she is saying — she has a common goal that goes against them.
The terrible family reunion
Naomi’s family reunion continues as she is forced to have dinner with Marco, Filip, and a few crew members. Marco tells Naomi to get to know her son a little and that she isn’t a prisoner. She walks away from dinner and ignores Marco’s manipulations. Filip senses that his father is angry with him — Marco says he is disappointed and wonders what he hopes to achieve by bringing his mother with him. He tells him not to let his feelings make decisions. But it’s easy to see why Filip wanted to bring his mother — it’s his mother after all.
Making progress
As part of their escape, one of the security guards falls from the ladder and dies on impact. The prisoner claims he fell and had nothing to with him. The group continues climbing the ladder while another security guard blows off panels with a gun. Suddenly, the elevator drops but it misses them all. Afterward, they can see daylight. Clarissa wonders how there’s daylight and ponders if the entire building has been eradicated. It’s finally dawning on the characters what has happened.
An assassination attempt
A trapped Naomi is emotional. After being told she has no way to go, she goes into the ship’s control room to attack Marco Inaro — she claims she needs to speak to him as she holds a sharp knife in her hand. Filip sees what she is doing and takes her outside the room. You can see it on Naomi’s face — it’s dawned on her the danger she’s in. This is not a simple imprisonment.
The building is gone
Amos, Clarissa, the prisoner, and the remaining security guards make it to the top of the ladder. The prisoner is laughing at the destruction, realizing he is free. The entire building is gone, and they are all in shock. The prisoner then starts attacking them with his super strength. Amos tries fighting him, but he struggles; one of the security guards shoots the prisoner a couple of times, and then Amos flips him down the hole to his death. Clarissa asks Amos the obvious question — what do they do now? Amos puts a cover around Clarissa to keep her warm and tells her they need to leave.
Naomi sends a message
Getting desperate, Naomi attacks one of the crew members and then sends Holden a video message using their communication device — she tells him not to start Rico’s drive because the reactor code has been sabotaged. She then reveals Marco has kidnapped her. Holden immediately shuts down the reactor. Naomi is sent into a holding cell. But this also changes Holden’s story; he will want to save Naomi now and be more determined to get to the bottom of Marco’s plans.
The ending
“Down and Out” then returns to Bobbie and Alex who have lost the ship they were tracking. They find a Belter ship and then a few more — they look like destroyers. Alex states it’s bigger than he expected. Bobbie then sighs and states this is Marco Inaros free navy and the frigates are the weapons — “his Belters on our Martian ships”. Suddenly, the ships split up and ping Alex and Bobbie’s ship, and they have to flee as quickly as possible before they are attached. Alex has to initiate a core dump to get away. “Down and Out” ends abruptly, leaving things on a soft cliffhanger.
The Expanse season 5, episode 5 cools the story down slightly after a hectic few chapters; the characters are recovering after recent events and gathering themselves to initiate the plot’s next phase.
