The Expanse: How Naomi Moves On From Confronting Her Son

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The Expanse: How Naomi Moves On From Confronting Her Son

The Expanse star Dominique Tipper has revealed why and how Naomi let go of her son and diverted her focus back on the Rocinante crew.

The Expanse actress Dominique Tipper has opened up about why Naomi ultimately let go of her son in season 5. Based on James S.A. Corey's Hugo Award-winning novel series, The Expanse first premiered on Syfy in 2015. But after three seasons, it switched over to Amazon Prime, where its latest season 5 airs weekly. Throughout all its seasons, the futuristic TV-series has depicted several conspiracies in a human-colonized Solar System. And at the center of all these twisty ploys has always remained one Corvette-class spaceship, the Rocinante, steered by a highly-skilled yet unlikely band of anti-heroes. Tipper's Naomi Nagata has been a key member of the Rocinante crew from day one, and the character has notably gained twofold momentum in the show's current iteration.

When season 5 kicked off, viewers saw Naomi journey to asteroid Pallas in hopes of reuniting with her son Filip and to save him from his psychopathic father's, Marco Inaros, influence. While Naomi initially gets Filip to listen to her side of the story, her desire for an emotional family reunion is all but fulfilled when Filip turns his back on her. In episode 507, "Oyedeng", Filip caves into his yearning for his father's validation. He not only supports Marco in setting up the Chetzemoka as a bomb for the Rocinante, but he also slaps Naomi and calls her a "pathetic, Earther-loving welwala." Filip's mistreatment prompts Naomi to make a difficult choice; she daringly jumps away from Marco's Pella onto the Chetzemoka, redirecting her focus toward the safety of the Rocinante crew.

Now, in an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Tipper has opened up about why Naomi let go of her son and the possibility of Filip's redemption in the future. As per Tipper, it was when Filip slapped Naomi that she realized she had done enough to absolve her son's congenital tyranny. Naomi gained perspective that there is nothing she could do to get Marco out of Filip's head. Therefore, she jumped off the ship to protect her own sanity and the people who actually care about her, i.e., the Rocinante crew. Tipper says that Naomi will be there for her son to help him redeem himself if the opportunity ever arises again. But at the moment, Naomi knows that Filip has succumbed to his father's toxic influence, and there isn't much she can do about it.

I think that scene where he strikes her was a realization. She was quite naive in thinking that, because she'd been through it, she could relieve him of his indoctrination. Naomi, in a lot of ways, represented hope in that environment - and I literally feel like the hope got out of her. It dawned on her in that moment that she can't help him and, actually, she's done enough. To preserve her own sanity and save her own sanity, it's time to go. That's why she jumped.

I do think that if there was ever a chance that he comes around, she'll be there. I think that will always be her hope. But I think she realizes at that moment, her time is done on that ship and in that situation, and there's not much more that can be done there. It's not that Marco has won, but he's so far in Filip's head that I think she realizes she doesn't quite have the power to undo it, unfortunately.

After being betrayed by her son, Naomi indeed experienced a harrowing, heartbreaking conclusion to her attempts to save Filip’s soul. But despite the emotional tragedy, she was able to pull through like a hero and modify the fake distress call on the Chetzemoka in episode 508, "Hard Vacuum". This doesn't, however, doesn't mean that Naomi has put everything that happened on the Pella behind. In fact, the heartbreaks she suffered are probably going to haunt her for the rest of her life. But moving forward, Naomi will put her emotional traumas aside and pull herself together to refocus on her Rocinante family, which Tipper believes is now Naomi's ultimate priority.

The thing I will say, without spoilers, that is she is willing to do whatever it takes to save her family. She will go to extremes for that. That's all I'll say.

The recent episodes of The Expanse season 5 have focused squarely on Tipper's character, introspectively exploring Naomi's backstory and poignant family arcs. This new narrative strategy has given Tipper the textured material that she did not have before. And Tipper too has responded well to this newfound attention, showing a great range of emotions that seamlessly capture Naomi's mental and emotional ups and downs. Tipper delivered a flawless performance during Naomi's confrontation with Filip and now it will be interesting to see how she will reinvent the character to stand true to Naomi's emotionally-scarred disposition. Naomi's vulnerability and her desperate attempts to reconnect with her son have reached a devastating climax. And Tipper's disclosure it's clear that the situation is pretty much a done deal. What remains to be seen is how Naomi will recover from her grief and how will she reunite with her Rocinante crew. Hopefully, fans will get their answers in the remaining two episodes of The Expanse season 5.