The Expanse Season 3 Reviews and Episode Guide

The Expanse season 3 has ended in spectacular fashion! Check out our links to episode reviews, descriptions, and more.

The Expanse season 3 wowed fans with its complex characters, its political intrigue, its attention to scientific authenticity, and its stunningly good visual effects, and with several more books in the series that inspired the show, there’s plenty more source material for the adaptation to explore in future seasons, although now on Amazon rather than Syfy.

Picking up immediately following the emotional and suspenseful second season finale, the 13-episode third season of The Expanse found Earth, Mars and The Belt at war, with each competing entity vying for control. Then the season shifted gears as the Ring opened up and forced the factions to work together to survive. Now that season is over, you can return here to read our reviews and read episode descriptions.

The Expanse Season 3 Reviews and Episode Guide

We’ve been reviewing The Expanse since the very beginning, and we’re not about to stop now! The episode descriptions and air dates will appear below as we learn them alongside the links to our reviews of each episode as they’re written. Enjoy!

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 1: “Fight or Flight”

The Rocinante crew deals with the fallout over Naomi’s betrayal while caught in the middle of the war between Earth and Mars. Avasarala and Bobbie hatch an escape plan. (air date: April 11, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 2: “IFF”

The Rocinante answers an unexpected distress signal. Bobbie and Avasarala find themselves being hunted by a mysterious captor. UN Secretary-General Sorrento-Gillis brings in a colleague from his past to lend an ear during this crucial time of war. (air date: April 18, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 3: “Assured Destruction”

As Earth strategizes a costly ploy to gain advantage in the war against Mars, Anna struggles to convince Sorrento-Gillis to do the right thing. Avasarala and Bobbie seek refuge aboard the Rocinante. (air date: April 25, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 4: “Reload”

The Rocinante tends to wounded Martian soldiers in exchange for supplies. Avasarala struggles with how to disseminate a key piece of evidence despite being in hiding. (air date: May 2, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 5: “Triple Point”

The search for Prax’s daughter comes to a head. Admiral Souther’s men plan for mutiny aboard the Thomas Prince. (air date: May 9, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 6: “Immolation”

The final battle between Earth and Mars threatens the very future of humanity. A new monster is unleashed on Prospero Station. Anna receives the smoking gun she needs. (air date: May 16, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 7: “Delta-V”

All eyes turn to the edge of the solar system as a mysterious new presence emerges. Naomi recommits to her roots. Drummer butts heads with a seasoned new commander aboard the Behemoth. A young Belter makes a name for himself. (air date: May 23, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 8: “It Reaches Out”

An old friend taunts Holden with the answers he seeks. Naomi struggles to fit in. A mysterious low-level tech aboard the Thomas Prince enacts a terrifying plan. (air date: May 30, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 9: “Intransigence”

The Rocinante seeks a new gameplan as they attempt to avoid capture. Melba’s true motives are revealed. Naomi is torn between identity and ideal. Anna seeks a way to stay aboard the Thomas Prince. (air date: June 6, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 10: “Dandelion Sky”

Holden sees past, present, and future. A ghost from Melba’s past threatens her mission. Bobbie struggles to trust an old friend as she leads a group into unchartered territory. (air date: June 13, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 11: “Fallen World”

Drummer and Ashford find themselves trapped with few options for survival. Anna tends to the wounded masses as Melba continues to hunt down her prey. The Rocinante crew struggle to survive as Naomi reunites with her true family. (air date: June 20, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 12: “Congregation”

As survivors arrive to the Behemoth, two factions form over how to handle a life-or-death threat. Holden grapples with what he’s seen and the choices he must make. (air date: June 27, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Episode 13: “Abbadon’s Gate”

Holden and his allies must stop Ashford and his team from destroying the Ring, and perhaps all of humanity. (air date: June 27, 2018)

The Expanse Season 3 Cast

Nadine Nicole of Casual has joined the cast of The Expanse season 3 in major recurring role as Melba, a lowly electrochemical technician who is single-minded of purpose in her hidden agenda. Melba’s later role is awfully familiar for those that have read the novels, but we’ll make that our little secret, shall we?

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Those who enjoyed Defiance on Syfy were glad to hear that Anna Hopkins (Berlin on that show) had joined the cast of The Expanse in season 3 in a recurring role. She plays the Earth journalist, Monica, who is quite familiar to readers of the James S.A. Corey novels. Hopkins showed up midway through the season to document how Holden runs the Rocinante and her crew.

It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 that Lost alum Elizabeth Mitchell will be in a recurring role in The Expanse season 3. Her character name was under wraps at the time, described only as someone who “brings a new, spiritual perspective to the series.” Readers of the James S.A. Corey novels knew that this foretold the appearance of Pastor Anna, who features in both Abbadon’s Gate and Babylon’s Ashes.

In other news, Deadline announced that David Strathairn of The Blacklist and Alphas would be appearing in The Expanse season 3 in a major recurring role. The producers played it close to the vest earlier in the season concerning his character’s identity, but now it’s known that he portrays Ashford, the OPA’s representative on the Behemoth.

The Expanse tells the story of a colonized solar system 200 years in the future, when two strangers and their colleagues become unwittingly swept up in a vast conspiracy. Based on the New York Times bestselling book series collectively known as “The Expanse,” written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (under the pen name James S. A. Corey), The Expanse stars Steven Strait, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Dominique Tipper, Cas Anvar, Wes Chatham and Frankie Adams.

Season two broke into material from the second of six Corey books, Caliban’s War. Although The Expanse has been remarkably faithful to the novels, there have been plenty of changes that keep even the readers guessing. We expect that to continue in The Expanse season 3.