Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 11 of The Expanse Season 3, called "Fallen World."
Only one week of The Expanse is left on Syfy, and the penultimate episode set the stage for an intense finale before the show makes the big move to streaming TV. Cancelled by Syfy back in May, The Expanse was renewed for a fourth season on Amazon thanks to an impassioned fan campaign. Cas Anvar, who has played pilot Alex Kamal from the very beginning, spoke with CinemaBlend about the series. When I asked if there's anything fans should do to prepare for what they'll get in the Season 3 finale, he said this:
All I can say is maybe you might want to wear some sort of motorcycle helmet or else you might have your mind blown. Something just to keep your head together because it's going to be insane. And now that we have been guaranteed a Season 4, you guys are in for a ride next year! Season 3 is the end of a movement in a symphonic science fiction orchestra. [Seasons] 1, 2, and 3 are the end of the first movement of The Expanse journey and then Season 4 is the beginning of the second movement of this space opera. So prepare yourselves for all these characters that you love to be going in a completely new and absolutely thrilling direction.
If you weren't already excited for the big Season 3 finale after the end of the crazy penultimate episode, Cas Anvar's comments may do the trick! Fans still have a week to wait before the two-hour final hits the airwaves on Syfy, but it sounds like we're all in for a wild ride as The Expanse wraps up the first "movement" of the series and gets ready to launch the second. Whatever happens is going to blow minds and almost certainly leave viewers already itching to get the first episode of Season 4.
"The Fallen World" was a devastating hour of television as the characters -- Martians, Belters, and Earthers alike -- struggled in the aftermath of sudden deceleration. Hundreds of people died, countless were injured, and only the very lucky escaped unscathed. The injured were all but doomed if they were bleeding internally, as the deceleration resulted in a loss of gravity on the ships and so the internal bleeding wouldn't be able to pool or clot. Broken bones could be healed; internal bleeding was a death sentence without gravity.
Meanwhile, Naomi had to try and figure out what happened to Alex and Amos, Holden was in a very altered state, Drummer was seriously injured, and there was little in the way of hope. Spinning the drum of the Behemoth restored gravity to at least that one ship, and the acting captain invited the wounded on board to take advantage of the healing gravity. Anna managed to take out Clarissa Mao before she could kill Naomi in her pursuit of Holden, so not everything was terrible for the survivors.
Basically, The Expanse ended its penultimate Syfy episode on a whole bunch of cliffhangers, and this could be a long week as we wait for the finale on June 27. Although Cas Anvar stated that the end of Season 3 would mark the end of a movement, he also made it quite clear that fans probably would have been upset if Amazon hadn't picked up The Expanse and the Season 3 finale turned out to be the series finale:
It would have been tragic. It's such an immense ending that I guess you could have said, 'Okay, you know, this is just a taste of what the protomolecule was meant to do. Now we kind of get an understanding of what the protomolecule was meant for. We don't know all of the mysteries of it, it's still an incredibly mysterious force. What it's exactly for, who it came from and all that, but you at least get something of it, and it's such a mind-blowing ending that it's really not an ending. It's a huge beginning, and I think people would have been just salivating and frustrated. But it would have at least, there is a certain amount of closure to it in the sense that you finally get some answers. But all those answers do is make you ask bigger questions. What's next? And thank the gods that we get to tell you what's next.
Some answers about the protomolecule would be good; a renewal for Season 4 and the promise for more protomolecule answers is much, much better. Obviously Cas Anvar couldn't spill all the details of what we can expect from the finale, but it sounds like we can expect answers to certain questions as well as some brand new questions that might not have even occurred to us before the episode. The end of the first movement will set the stage for a second movement that could be unlike anything The Expanse has tackled before, and fans should probably keep on thanking their lucky stars -- and Amazon Studios -- for giving The Expanse the chance for another season.
You can catch the Season 3 finale of The Expanse on Wednesday, June 27 starting at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy. For some viewing options once The Expanse is done for the season, check out our summer TV premiere schedule. For some streaming options, take a look at our 2018 Amazon Prime guide.
