Television Review: Paradigm Shift (The Expanse, S2X06, 2017)

Paradigm Shift (S02E06)

Airdate: March 1st 2017

Written by: Naren Shankar
Directed by: Dave Grossman

Running Time: 41 minutes

Much like the preceding episode, Home, which functioned as a de facto series finale by conclusively resolving the central Leviathan Wakes storyline involving the Eros asteroid and the protomolecule's initial outbreak, Paradigm Shift operates with the distinct aura of an ersatz season premiere. It possesses that crucial, often elusive quality of a fresh beginning, deliberately severing ties with the immediate past catastrophe to plant seeds for an entirely new narrative trajectory. Where Home offered catharsis through resolution, "Paradigm Shift" compels the audience to lean forward, asking not „what was”, but „what now?” It successfully transitions the series from the contained crisis of the first season into the expansive, politically fractured, and profoundly alien-drenched landscape that defines its enduring appeal.

The episode masterfully establishes this new epoch through a prologue set 137 years prior, on a Mars still firmly within the United Nations' colonial sphere. We are introduced to Solomon Epstein, a brilliant but restless engineer whose relentless tinkering with a novel spaceship drive culminates in a fateful solo test flight. His vessel achieves velocities previously deemed impossible, hurtling towards Jupiter with staggering speed. Tragically, Epstein’s triumph becomes his undoing; he fails to disengage the drive, succumbing to lethal G-forces aboard his uncontrollable craft. This poignant, almost Shakespearean hubris – the creator destroyed by his own creation – is the indispensable bedrock of the series' universe. Epstein’s foresight, however, ensured his legacy: he bequeathed his blueprints and data on Mars. His widow capitalised on this inheritance, Mars ascended to technological supremacy, and humanity, empowered by the Epstein Drive, surged outwards to colonise the Asteroid Belt and the outer planets. This prologue is not mere backstory; it is the foundational myth of The Expanse, delivered with economical grace and imbued with a darkly ironic humour by Sam Huntington’s brief but compelling performance as the doomed inventor, whose final, fading voiceover narration lingers with unsettling wit.

The narrative then snaps back to the immediate, chaotic aftermath of Eros’s collision with Venus – a near-miss for Earth that paradoxically saved civilisation while obliterating the asteroid and its horrifying cargo. The episode adeptly dissects the fallout across the solar system’s power blocs. James Holden and Naomi Nagata face the comparatively intimate, yet politically fraught, task of revealing their relationship to the Rocinante crew, a moment underscoring the human cost beneath the grand strategy. On Tycho Station, Fred Johnson and Camina Drummer grapple with the dangerous legacy of Earth’s thermonuclear missiles, now a volatile bargaining chip in the fragile post-crisis landscape. Simultaneously, Chrisjen Avasarala, ever the pragmatic predator, zeroes in on Jules-Pierre Mao, convinced of his culpability, and delivers a suitably menacing ultimatum via his proxy, Errinwright – though this scene occasionally veers into theatrical excess, lacking the razor-sharp subtlety Avasarala usually wields. Crucially, Avasarala’s scientific advisor, Dr. Iturbi (Ted Whittall), begin probing the true nature of the Venus event. Iturbi’s astute hypothesis – that an alien lifeform is responsible – and his subsequent request for an expedition to Venus, forms the vital bridge to the season’s core mystery.

Yet, the old crisis swiftly yields to a new, more insidious one. Gunnery Sergeant Bobbie Draper, on a routine patrol along the tense Ganymede ice boundary separating UN and Martian territories, witnesses the catastrophic attack on the MCRN Scirocco. As debris rains down, Draper’s squad is seemingly annihilated. Barely surviving herself, disoriented and bleeding, Draper glimpses an impossible figure moving through the snow: a tall, unnaturally proportioned humanoid form, distinctly not human. This moment, rendered with chilling ambiguity and visceral terror, is the episode’s true pivot point. It transforms theoretical alien speculation into terrifying, immediate reality, shattering the solar system’s fragile peace anew and setting the stage for the next phase.

Written by series architect Naren Shankar, Paradigm Shift undeniably lacks the raw, cathartic emotional punch of Home, which brought the first novel’s arc to its devastating climax. It consciously steps back from that intensity to lay groundwork. While the episode only tangentially connects to the Caliban’s War novel near its conclusion (with Bobbie’s sighting), the bulk is original teleplay material. Crucially, however, it never feels like filler. Shankar’s genius lies in the framing device: the intermittent Epstein flashbacks, woven throughout the present-day narrative, serve as exemplary worldbuilding. They provide essential historical context with tragic weight and moments of wry, almost gallows humour, enriching the setting without infodumping. Huntington’s performance, though fleeting, anchors this thread with memorable humanity.

Conversely, some contemporary scenes falter. The Rocinante crew’s reaction to Holden and Naomi’s relationship feels somewhat perfunctory, lacking the nuanced interpersonal depth the characters deserve. Similarly, Amos and Alex’s bonding over Tycho Station’s post-crisis celebrations, while offering welcome levity, lacks substantial narrative thrust. Avasarala’s indirect confrontation with Mao’s ally Errinwright, whilst delivering necessary plot momentum, occasionally overplays its hand with dialogue that feels slightly too declamatory for her typically controlled menace.

Nevertheless, Paradigm Shift emerges as a remarkably effective and necessary episode. It successfully navigates the treacherous transition from one major story arc to the next, replacing the immediate threat of Eros with the far more profound and unsettling mystery unfolding on Venus and now, visibly, on Ganymede. The Epstein prologue provides indispensable mythological grounding, Bobbie Draper’s encounter delivers a masterclass in suspenseful horror, and the political machinations, even when occasionally overstated, maintain the series’ signature complexity. It trades the emotional crescendo of its predecessor for a more deliberate, world-expanding recalibration. Far from being a mere placeholder, Paradigm Shift is a confident, intelligent recalibration – a necessary deep breath before the plunge into the even deeper, darker, and more alien conflicts that define The Expanse’s most compelling seasons. It fundamentally shifts the paradigm, proving the series’ capacity to evolve beyond its initial premise into something grander and more unsettling. This is not merely a new season; it is the moment The Expanse truly finds its vast, terrifying, and utterly captivating stride.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo

InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo
Leodex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9