Expanse season 6 seems like the end — but could it continue?

the expanse: rocinante crew eating at a table

(Image credit: Amazon)

This Friday will mark the official end of The Expanse season 6, with the sixth episode of the terminal season hitting Amazon Prime Video. The finale looks to be finishing off the 'Costless Navy' arc, a story that's been in move since the end of season four.

The thing is, I'm not entirely convinced that this is the end of The Expanse (one of the best Amazon Prime Video shows). The show has already survived cancellation one time, after Syfy unceremoniously scrapped the bear witness at the end of its tertiary season, and I have a suspicion that something similar is going to happen now.

That's not simply some wishful thinking from me either. Showrunner Naren Shankar told EW that there is still room for more Area stories to be told. Which makes sense. Afterward all, The Surface area volume serial is nine books (and eight novellas) long, while the Telly series only seems to be going every bit far as book 6: Babylon'due south Ashes.

And that has been reflected in season 6, with the show interim as though it intends to proceed way beyond Friday'due south finale. The bear witness has even started laying the background for adaptations of the final three novels. There have been teases and clues in by seasons, but season 6 has taken information technology to the extreme.

There are more stories for The Expanse to tell

Anyone who hasn't already read the Expanse books will likely exist confused well-nigh the side-plot featuring Cara, the young girl living on the planet Laconia. Her story bears no relevance to the rest of the bear witness, and the Free Navy threat, after all.

Without spoiling anything, Cara does become very important subsequently, and these snippets of her life on Laconia are absolutely crucial to that. In other words, The Surface area is already setting up futurity stories, fifty-fifty if the serial itself is coming to an end.

Which is why I suspect that this isn't actually the end.

The Expanse has been pretty skillful at adapting its source material. Information technology's not been completely faithful, for i reason or another, just in general the show has done a skilful chore of condensing the start six books (and relevant novellas) and adapting them for the small-scale screen.

Without spoiling what'south likely to come in the finale, it makes a trivial sense that The Area, in its current course, would end here. Babylon's Ashes ended in such a way that the show tin can end there, offering solid conclusions to the ongoing plot without leaving any significant cliffhangers.

That beingness said, there are notwithstanding three books to arrange, and those books cover the mysteries of The Expanse universe in much greater detail. Mysteries that the shows have simply touched upon, like the mysterious beings that live within the ring gates, and are only visible to James Holden.

And, of course, Laconia plays a huge role in the terminal three books. So huge that I can't really go into much detail without revealing whatsoever possible spoilers. Needless to say, Cara'southward story is very important — even if it does only seem to be a confusing addition to the electric current arc.

What form would Expanse 2.0 (or Expanse season seven? take?

The only question is, what would more Expanse look similar? The most logical choice would be to jump in and develop the stories as seasons vii to 9. It would make Amazon look a niggling dizzy for declaring flavor six would be the concluding, simply it's not as though fans will be that outraged. And it means we could (hopefully) keep the same cast fans know and honey effectually for a few more years — if they're willing.

Alternatively, at that place's ever room for spin-offs. Amazon has already shown it's not against this course of activity, since The Boys already has two different spin-offs in development. No dubiousness some changes would have to be made, and new characters introduced to replace the outgoing Rocinante crew. Even so, it would hateful beingness able to cease the whole saga, of a sort, and offer a real conclusion the style The Expanse'south creators envisioned.

Then again, who says it would have to be a TV serial? I wouldn't mind being able to come across an Expanse picture, and space activity generally looks pretty incredible on the large screen. Heck, I'd settle for a streaming-merely moving-picture show instead. After all, if Amazon can debut a would-be blockbuster similar The Tomorrow State of war, it could become all in and greenlight an Expanse movie (or movies).

Plus, while Amazon has picked up a bunch of theatrical releases that were affected by the pandemic, there aren't a great many "made-for Prime" movies out there. Certainly not in the aforementioned league as Netflix. Area movies wouldn't be such a terrible way to reinvigorate that push.

Bottom Line

If Flavour 6 really is the end for The Area, information technology wouldn't exist the worst mode to get. The conclusion of Babylon's Ashes was a turning point for the series, and events unfold in such a way that the show tin (and hopefully will) offering a satisfying conclusion to all the major plot threads. Then we're not going to end up in a Deadwood situation, with a cliffhanger ending that has to be resolved in a TV film.

But The Area has been a hit with both audiences and critics alike, with seasons iii, 4 and five still rocking a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It would non be a huge surprise if nosotros got more than stories from the universe at some indicate in the time to come. Later on all, if a show with such a maligned finale as Dexter can come back for more, then annihilation is possible.

Plus, as book readers will already know, a multi-year gap between season 6 and whatever lies ahead could work in the show's favor. No thing what happens, the door will ever exist open up. We merely need someone willing to go through it.

In other streaming news, Netflix just raised prices on all tiers. Over on Hulu, we've got all the details on how to lookout How I Met Your Father online . Also, we've got a tip that every Burn down TV owner needs to hear to make the most of their home screen.

Tom is the Tom'south Guide's Automotive Editor, which ways he tin usually be found knee joint deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. It's long fashion from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He's usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set up onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining that Ikea won't let him buy the stuff he really needs online.