WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Expanse Season 5, Episode 7, "Oyedeng," available now on Amazon Prime Video.
On The Expanse, Naomi Nagata and Marco Inaros are locked in a heated battle for their son's soul, and it's beginning to impact Filip. In Season 5, Episode 7, "Oyedeng," Filip Inaros volleys between two states: the young Belter who just wants to be accepted by his mother and father and the effective soldier of the Free Navy. "Oyedeng" shows Filip crying in his mother's arms one moment and demanding his own command the next, but his father's psychological sway seems to win the day as Filip ultimately verbally abuses his mother before viciously striking her.
Filip's identity crisis comes after he learns that what he thought he knew about his mother might not be entirely true. He was raised to be a soldier in the Free Navy after his father hid him away from Naomi. Naomi wanted to leave Marco and take Filip with her, but she was unable to locate her son after months of searching, so instead she was forced to abandon him. Naomi reached out to Filip this season, after Fred Johnson helped her locate him, with the goal of preventing him from becoming the monster his father wants him to be. Filip has lived most of his life with a negative impression of the mother he never knew, but now, with each passing conversation with her, this impression has cracked further.
Early in "Oyedeng," Naomi explores the personal quarters of her son, at somewhat of a loss for words. When she last spent time with her son, he was an infant, but he's now a young man and, just like her in her younger days, he tinkers with technology in his free time. Naomi tells Filip she never wanted the life he currently leads for him, she wanted to take him away from Marco. Almost to try and convince himself, he declares, with tears in his eyes, "I'm my own man. He doesn't control me. I don't need him or you."
The performances in the scene are powerful, with actors Jasai Chase Owens and Dominique Tipper creating one of the most emotional scenes in the series. Filip, the lost and abandoned child, leans his head on his mother's shoulder and Naomi embraces her child for the first time in almost 20 years. The young Belter asks in almost a whisper, "Why did you leave me?" Naomi explains Marco hid Filip from her and that, after months of searching, it almost drove her to suicide. The moment they share has been a long time coming and emphasizes how young and naive Filip still is.
However, almost in direct contrast, the next time we see Filip he's surreptitiously entering the bridge of the Pella, looking as though he just composed himself outside the room before entering with an exaggerated air of stoicism. He approaches his father and asks to be put in charge of his own ship, claiming he wants to show his value and that people should know who he is. This leads Marco to cruelly point out all the ways he has failed their cause, stating "your weakness nearly undid everything we fought for. That's who you are."
Immediately following this, Naomi is summoned to the bridge so Marco can inform her that they plan to release her -- but only after she witnesses the Rocinante's destruction. He also reveals that this is Filip's plan. Naomi pleads with her son, claiming, "This isn't you. You're not like him," but Filip strikes Naomi with the back of his hand, shouting "You have no idea who I am, but I know who you are now -- a pathetic, earther-loving welwala." In this instance, a "welwala" is a traitor to Belters, someone who is obsessed with the gravity well of the inner planets.
The dissonance between the Filip who was crying with his mother and the Filip that strikes her soon afterwards is rather jarring, but it also may mean something. Filip's acceptance of his mother moments before and her harrowing escape out of the Pella's airlock following Marco's threat to the Rocinante may indicate the two have hatched a plot to trick Marco. Indeed, the timing of their argument is intriguing, as it just so happens to be when the Pella finally cuts the Chetzemoka loose. Naomi's escape to the Chetzemoka seems too strategic for it to be mere coincidence that Filip came up with the plan to leave the ship behind. It may be that his mother has finally won the fight for Filip's heart and mind, but the performances the pair gave in front of Marco will ensure Filip's father will think he's won.
An adaptation of the novel series of the same name by James S.A. Corey, The Expanse stars Steven Strait, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Frankie Adams. New episodes of Season 5 premiere Wednesdays on Amazon Prime Video.
0 Comments