The Expanse season 5 had to digitally edit out a disproportionate amount of blood from a particularly gory scene in episode 5. The Expanse is a televised adaptation of James S.A. Corey’s Hugo Award-winning eponymous novel series that he first published in 2011. The show is set in the near future where the Solar System has been colonized by humans, and it primarily focuses on a group of unlikely antiheroes who travel through space and unwittingly place themselves at the center of a dire plot. The Expanse originally began airing on Syfy in 2015, but then, in 2018, it switched over to Amazon Prime for season 4. The show’s latest season 5 is currently underway on the streaming service. The Expanse has already been renewed for season 6, which will be the last for the series.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
In its current season 5, The Expanse finds its core Rocinante crew disbanded. Naomi (Dominique Tipper) is on Asteroid Pallas, trying to save her son from his toxic father’s influence and Holden (Steven Strait) is researching the protomolecule on his own. Bobbie (Frankie Adams) and Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo ) are, meanwhile, investigating the trafficking of Martian weapons and Alex (Cas Anvar) is trying to make amends with his family on Mars. Amos (Wes Chatham ), on the other hand, has returned to Earth and reconnected with his old friend Clarissa Mao (Nadine Nicole), who is serving jail time for her former crimes. In the latest episode, Amos helps an incapacitated Clarissa escape prison following a catastrophic asteroid strike. The breakout, however, results in gory action and excessive bloodshed, to the extent that the scene had to be virtually revised to make it suitable for the audience.
The Expanse Writers recently revealed on Twitter that there was so much blood on the ground after the escape scene in episode 505 that they had to edit some of it out digitally in post-production. The specific part that the writers have referred to in their tweet is the elevator shaft scene. After the asteroid strike triggers a lockdown, Amos and Clarissa discover that the only way to get out of the wrecked prison is to climb up the maintenance ladder in the elevator shaft. But as the duo, along with the other surviving guards and inmates ascend the ladder, one of the guards falls down to his death due to his knee injury. Later, a superpowered inmate also attacks Amos. There is a struggle but Amos hurls the inmate down the elevator shaft, killing him. Given that multiple deaths occurred down the fateful shaft, it was only logical for the scene to show a lot of blood. But the amount of blood happened to be so huge, that some had to be digitally removed.
Fun fact: there was so much blood on the ground in the elevator shaft scene we had to digitally remove some of the blood from the concrete. #TheExpanse505
— The Expanse Writers (@TheExpanseWR) December 31, 2020
Over its five-season run, The Expanse and its viewers have both grown accustomed to witnessing blood in unrestrained amounts and unusual forms. As fans of the sci-fi epic may remember, during season 2, The Expanse saw mysterious blood snowflakes fall on the ground on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. In the show, blood isn’t just the consequence of ruthless battles, but sometimes it is also significant from a narrative standpoint. For instance, in season 1, episode 8, it was the blood on the airlock door that confirmed that the ship belonged to Jules Pierre Mao (François Chau). As for season 5, fans had known from the very beginning that the iteration was going to be particularly intense and graphic. After all, the first look image from the show depicted a blood-covered Amos.
The Expanse has always paid great attention to detail, which is one of the reasons why the show has been hailed as one of the best in the sci-fi genres. True, the show has its share of grisly and violent scenes, but they are never unnecessary and they are creatively balanced out by the show’s high production values. The Expanse episode 505 told a great story, even though its characters were planets apart. And this expert execution can be credited to the show’s writers and visual effects team who are always working tirelessly to maintain the show’s superior quality.
Source: The Expanse Writers
About The Author