The Expanse Episode 2.09 The Weeping Somnambulist

Bobbie becomes a political pawn in the struggle between Earth and Mars.

The Weeping Somnabulist is a relief ship en route to Ganymede. They're suddenly boarded by a crew with space helmets on. Turns out, it's Holden and the Rocinante crew, who need to commandeer the ship so they can get onto Ganymede and search for Dr. Strickland.

Meanwhile, Draper is on an MCR drop ship bound for Earth. The Martians are told to prepare for the switch to Earth's high-gravity environment. They need to take pills, and still when they land some are pukey. Welcome to Earth!

The UN ship Arbogast is approaching Venus, on a fact-finding mission about Eros. Onboard, Colonel Janus and Dr. Iturbi verbally spar about their conflicting worldviews. Janus thinks Iturbi will twist the facts to suit his beliefs in alien life. The two men are interrupted by a signal from a Martian ship.

The Roci crew is still docked with the husband-and-wife crew of the Somnambulist. Neither of whom are thrilled to see them there, though the wife, Melissa, is the angrier of the two.

Dr. Meng records a message to Doris' family expressing his sadness over her death but his gratitude for her helping him get off Ganymede. He goes to send it but he's not authorized. He angrily asks Amos if he's a prisoner on the ship.

On Earth, the summit has begun. Earth shades the Martians about their struggles responding to Earth's gravity. Both sides posture their way through a moment of silence for the lives lost on Ganymede.

On the Arbogast, the Martian ship is not responding to communication requests. Janus broadcasts a message that they are on a scientific mission, and if they're messed with, any aggression could be seen as an act of war.

After getting tipped off by Amos, Meng demands answers about the Protomolecule. Holden tells him enough, then Meng says that his daughter, Mei, has a genetic disorder, one Dr. Strickland was helping her with. So what's the connection between Strickland, the Protomolecule, and Mei's disease?

Reluctantly wearing her Purple Heart, Draper testifies before the panel. As instructed she lies and says she and her team mistook an Earther training exercise for aggression and fired first. One of the Martian bigwigs on the panel offers up the late Private Travis as a scapegoat who fired first, and Draper goes along with it. Avasarala, however, is eyeballing Draper the whole time.

Afterwards, Draper is angry about throwing Travis under the bus, but Martens tells her that Travis, in death, may have averted a war by taking responsibility.

At the U.N., the Secretary General tells Avasarala and Errinwright that Mars is offering reparations for Ganymede as part of a settlement. And while he instructs Errinwright to "squeeze those arrogant Dusters for everything you can get," Avasarala is skeptical that Travis seems like too perfect a scapegoat. Errinwright tells her to leave well enough alone. What are the odds she does that?

With Alex staying behind on the Rocinante, Holden, Naomi, Amos, and Meng pilot the Somnambulist. Melissa says Holden's going to get them all killed.

Just as the Earth/Mars hearings are about to close, Avasarala asks to question Draper again. She meanders in her questioning a bit - snapping at the Martian minister of defense that she's going "wherever I goddamn like" with this - with the intent of making Draper feel guilty for incriminating Travis. She gets Draper off guard, and Draper eventually mentions seeing the figure who wasn't wearing an evac suit. Martens interrupts, earning him an epic clap-back from Avasarala, but the interruption gets Draper to revert to her story. Travis fired first. He panicked.

On the Arbogast, the Martian ship appears to be shadowing them. Janus and Iturbi resume their argument about the possibility of alien civilizations, but they're interrupted by visuals of the Eros impact crater on Venus.

Later, Iturbi communicates to Avasarala that they're seeing biological compounds in the atmosphere on Venus above the Eros crater that should be impossible. "Eros changes everything," muses Avasarala. "Just like a soldier on Ganymede without a suit."

While Alex parks the Roci behind a moon to observe Ganymede, the Somnambulist lands among MCRN patrols. The ship is boarded by some opportunistic dock workers who want to take their usual cut from the Somnambulist haul. Only this time, they want everything, including the ship. There's a tense stand-off, with the pirates holding a gun to Santichai and Melissa's heads.

Holden and Naomi burst out of hiding, and there's a gunfight that leaves the pirates dead, but also Santichai. Melissa is inconsolable, devastated. She orders Holden and his crew to get off her ship, and heavy with the weight of guilt, they do.