The Expanse 1x8 'Salvage': Inside the Box, Behind the Door

nicholasimarshall
Jan 27, 2016
6 min read

The Expanse 1x8 packs just the right heartbreaking punch, expected but poignant, to lead into the two-hour season finale.

Reviewed while watching Andy Murray not lose, and listening to Drömnu.

J.J. Abrams has this thing called 'the Magic Mystery Box.' He has no idea what's inside, he's never opened it. There's probably nothing inside. But until he does open it, it holds infinite possibility. Hope endures. And 'Salvage' deftly holds on to that hope right to the very end.

Let's be honest. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Julie Mao was dead. But so long as Miller failed to find her, there was that sense of hope. I decided to take the Copenhagen Interpretation of events, that unless Miller opens the box, Schrödinger's Cat is both alive and dead. 'Salvage' is all about keeping the box closed and keeping that tension to the last possible moment, letting us lie to ourselves that it was possible for Julie to be alive because we hadn't seen her body. That tension maintains the episode right up until Miller opens the door to her hotel room, and all that tension is abruptly sucked out like oxygen in a vented ship. Her rotting corpse, corroded by the still unknown alien entity, was not a shocking image to end 'Salvage' with, not on its own. But it was a poignant one. A weight upon the heart. And not simply because of the beautifully ethereal music played over the reveal (I never waste a chance to use that word). But because Miller needed to believe in her, in the idea that she was alive and that he would find her. Because Holden was desperate to get answers for why his friends are dead. Because, ultimately, Julie Mao represented hope for the expanse itself. Hope against the fear that the darkness humanity is delving deeper into would not consume us.

Right from the start, 'Salvage' addresses this fear. En route to Eros Station, Miller finds himself chatting with one of the Mormons prepping to go into deep space and settle on a distant, uncertain planet. He can't help asking the Mormon if his people are afraid. What if they find this planet and there's nothing there, and they're all trapped with no way of returning to the Solar System. Of course the Mormon's afraid, but since when has that stopped people from looking behind the curtain? To the Mormons, going out and finding nothing is just God saying they haven't finished their search yet. It's necessary for the episode to open with that message of endurance and unshakable faith. Because it's the best way to reconcile with the grim ending and what it represents.

Beyond the political intrigue and social discourse of The Expanse's plot, the show still knows that its biggest strength lies in staying true to its genre, focusing on the space journeys and exploring the unknown. The Rocinante crew are aptly unsure about what they'll find at the coordinates Fred Johnson gave them, and not really surprised when it turns out to be a stealth ship hidden deep in a remote asteroid. The visual and audio palette of the show has consistently hit the right ominous note to tell the story of a frightening voyage. It's almost disorienting, yet still aesthetically pleasing, to watch the angled shots of long dark tunnels as Holden and Co. investigate the ship. These shots salvage (PUN!!) the slowest segments of the episode, as the writing goes through the expository motions in somewhat dull dialogue. Thankfully, there's not much of this, and we do get some answers, like how this is the same stealth ship that destroyed the Cantebury, and said ship is the Anubis, which Miller had been separately investigating. It's just enough exposition to keep the audience from falling behind, though it was somewhat disconcerting that the show actually makes Alex say the lines 'Let's review,' followed by him laying out everything learned so far to piece together what's happening. It really did feel like a heavy-handed attempt to tell the audience 'Hey, in case you guys are lost on what's going on, here's what's going on.' And even then, there are still a few marginally confusing bits of info, and the tension has dipped slightly.

But 'Salvage' quickly deflects from that back to the dark foreboding anxiety of spacefaring, bringing Holdon and Naomi to the ship's core to find a mysterious dormant orb. The same horrifying alien thing that Julie found shooting out an electrocuted screaming person in the first episode. They obviously don't know what it is, and that frightens them. But they still want to know, they still go closer to it. Because people are unfailingly curious, willing to take the risk of exploring the unknown. It's the thrill of that moment just before we get the answers, which we may not like, that is often the most rewarding. 'Salvage' keeps that moment in the foreground, to prepare us for its final scene. And the episode makes sure it leaves enough time for what the show's been inevitably leading up to, sending Rocinante to Eros and right into Miller's path.

Credit to the writers, they knew the show's two main storylines, and by far its best, had to intersect soon. They couldn't drag it on much longer with Miller and Rocinante not linking up. And this is the right time for it. The eight episode anticipation precipitating this encounter was well-earned, and there's solid payoff in a good ol' fashioned shootout in a hotel lobby. The sound effects of space guns are just right, not too futuristic sounding to be unfamiliar and still thrilling, and the choreography had a nice edge to it with constant quick shots (PUN!) of all people involved. Miller's abrupt entrance into the fray had a suave coolness that would make James Bond proud. But most of all, it's the perfect way to bring the characters together for the first time. The crew's gratefulness is held with reserved caution. They don't gang up on Miller demanding answers for who he is and why he's there, but they don't just go up and shake his hand in thanks either. It's that same tension of uncertainty everyone is feeling in the episode, holding back until you no longer can and have to push on. The hotel is where Julie Mao has been staying since she escaped the alien-infected stealth ship, and this is the last moment before we all open the box and see what's inside. Miller and Rocinante had to meet up in this exact liminal moment, just as all shit's about to break out. They had to be there all together in that hallway, right outside Julie's hotel room door, when the cat is still both alive and dead.

The reveal of Julie's body, dead and bloated with whatever the alien substance is, gives The Expanse a lot of opportunities. It's a visceral image to emphasize the dangers of going into the darkness, and it leaves our characters at an impasse. Miller's job is done, and the Rocinante crew can go back to Johnson, tell him what happened, and be on their way. They could stop and turn back now. But they won't. A minimalist example of the show's society and central conflict. Julie's alien-infected body is a warning sign on the fence between humanity's known world and what lies beyond. There's no doubt we're going to ignore the sign. So this final moment of 'Salvage' carries added weight and intrigue. Because as the Mormons prepare for their one-way voyage, and Earth, Mars, and the Belt are set for war, the last thing we needed was a strange and lethal alien reminding us that we, like poor idealistic Julie, are waaaaaaay out of our depth.

And that's why 'Salvage' spends 58 minutes maintaining The Expanse's intensity of anxious wonder. Sure, it dipped for some minutes in parts of the episode, mainly the first few scenes when Miller arrives on Eros. But in the end, literally, Julie's death brings us full circle back to the question no one wants to ask: have we reached too far? It's an omen for things to come, the show's not-so-subtle but still solid way of winking and saying it's just all going downhill from here, and it knows we're gonna keep on going anyway.

Humanity could be Julie Mao, and our terminus at the end of the voyage might be just as ugly. Or maybe we're the Mormons, accepting disappointment to mean only that we haven't finished our search yet. 'True faith is a risk,' Miller's told. That's a needed message of resilient hope. We're only eight episodes in, so it can tilt either way. 'Salvage' is the waypoint before we go deeper in, before our curiosity gets the better of us and we look behind the curtain. Miller and the Rocinante crew have to keep moving forward, because there are always more answers to be found. We just need to remember along the way: Curiosity killed the Cat.