The Expanse season 5 finale: Is Alex Kamal dead? About the decision
If you missed it, this past summer multiple people came forward and accused the actor of sexual misconduct and harassment — it led to the eventual news that he would not be a part of season 6. Yet, there was still no firm answer as to how the series would write him out.
Now, we have our answer. During the mission to save Naomi, Alex suffers a stroke and dies. There is absolutely meaning behind the death, as he went doing his part to be a hero. With that being said, though, it was also strangely abrupt. There was not said in memory of Alex the character within the episode — it is possible this changes in season 6, as this sort of loss would leave a gaping whole amidst the entire Roci crew. One of the important things to remember here is to draw a distinction between Alex the character and Cas Anvar the actor — while Alex had his fair share of flaws (especially with his family), he was compelling to watch across five seasons.
In speaking about the decision to kill off the Alex character at this point, here is some of what executive producer Naren Shankar had to say to Entertainment Weekly:
As we were drilling into season 5, really talking about the kind of story that we were telling — which is this disaster movie, right? It’s this tremendous cataclysm and everybody trying to claw their way back together. It’s the beginning of a war story. We started realizing we’re telling a war story that wasn’t heavy because it didn’t have consequences. And really the way to drive those things home is when you start talking about losing characters who are important to the audience because especially in science fiction, you have this plot murmur that characters develop that you just feel, “Oh, they’re just never… Because they’re the heroes, nothing can happen to them.” And so these discussions began very early in the season as we were developing the story.
Moving forward, the Roci crew will not have much time to breathe — after all, consider Marco gaining control of the Ring and what that could mean moving forward. Still, it is important for them to retain their humanity, and we may see parts of that in how they choose to remember this character.
Related – When could The Expanse season 6 premiere on Amazon?
What did you think about the events of The Expanse season 5 finale?
Were you surprised at the way in which the Alex character was killed off? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: Amazon.)
This article was written by Jessica Carter. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.