I hate acronyms, having spent far too many years in a sea of military and governmental alphabet soup. The title of this episode, “CQB,” was not one I knew, but quickly found. The term expands to “Close Quarters Combat.” Associating acronyms and the military, the feeling was the only military in the story so far, the Martian Navy, gets up close and personal with unfriendly folks. Since Holden and his band of survivors are closely, although unwillingly, associated with the Martian Navy at the moment, the title also supports an impression they occupy the primary story line. Detective Miller on Ceres appears to be more of a second banana, somewhat like the detective on the Perry Mason shows of black and white television days. The characters in both cases scurry around finding background information so the main story arc can proceed unfettered by massive data dumps. An additional plot line, featuring Avasarala, a prime mover on Earth, for the moment functions mostly as a way to give us the macro view from the home planet.
Since most of the action takes place on the Holden story line, that also carries most of the weight for determining if anyone will come back for the following episode. On the one hand, this episode manages a complete story arc. On the other hand, it keeps the action moving forward. While there is no cliffhanger this time, the number of unresolved threads does a great deal to ensure anyone who has watched the season so far will be back again.
I had a problem with the scenario with the Martian navy. Everyone speaks the same language, even though the belters have developed a completely separate language. Mars and Earth have been pursuing independent research in space and socially. Yet there is no problem when an Earth pilot is called on to run a Mars military ship.
//SPOILERS FOLLOW//
The question posed in episode 3, whether Holden would broadcast a retraction of his broadcast in the blind, blaming the Martians for everything, is never really answered. Instead, this episode sees the flagship of the Martian navy attacked and destroyed. It becomes clear the Martian navy has hardly any experienced fighters, since the captain is the only one with combat experience. The unknown attackers don’t appear to have that problem, having already attacked two freighters and a station owned by Mars.
Holden acts honorably, not taking advantage of the situation. He could have grabbed a weapon but went to help an injured Martian navy sailor. When it becomes clear the ship is in danger, the ship’s captain decides to get him to safety along with information that will prove Mars had nothing to do with any attacks. In turn, Holden refuses to go without the crew members he arrived with.
They manage to get onto a spacecraft carried within the ship, and get away. It isn’t clear where they will go or how many of them survived the firefight on the way to the ship. The Martian warship self-destructs as they escape, leaving them with the same situation they had at the end of episode one. Presumably, they have a functioning ship and life support this time.
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