A complete and satisfying ending is a must-have for any TV series hoping to be considered an all-time classic. Game of Thrones reigned supreme for seven seasons before its reputation was sullied by the lackluster string of final episodes. Stranger Things was riding high on a wave of Eddie Munson enthusiasm, but not even he could save it from a divisive final season. And while Lost‘s finale is better than it gets credit for, too many unanswered questions bred frustration.

Series such as Breaking Bad, MASH, and Succession, on the other hand, are revered partly because they managed to navigate the tricky waters of fan expectation and deliver finales that were poignant, logical, and conclusive.

The list of shows that failed to wrap up every major plot point because of a creative choice, rather than an abrupt cancellation, is not a long one. The list of shows that opted for such an ending and still emerged with their reputations enhanced is exactly one entry long.

The Expanse first burned onto screens via the Syfy channel, only for Amazon to save it from early cancellation three seasons later. Before season 5 aired, it was announced that The Expanse season 6 would finish the series, leaving plenty of time to devise a conclusive ending. As it happened, The Expanse did the exact opposite. Watching the final episode, anyone would be forgiven for thinking the decision to axe the show had come out of nowhere.

And yet, not only does The Expanse remain arguably the greatest sci-fi series of the 21st century, its final episode is still light years ahead of most other TV endings.

The Expanse’s Final Episode Doesn’t Even Try To Tie Up Every Plot Thread

James S.A. Corey’s series of The Expanse novels comprises nine main books, with the TV version only adapting six of those at an approximate rate of one per season. But the source material is structured into three distinct mini-arcs covering three books each, starting with the Protogen arc, then the Free Navy, then ending with the Laconian Empire.

The Expanse‘s series finale did bring full resolution to the Free Navy arc, with Marco Inaros defeated and killed, his Free Navy fleet disintegrated, and Holden helping to bring a measure of political peace to the galaxy by leaving Drummer, a Belter, as president of the Transport Union. In that sense, The Expanse‘s central narrative of warring factions in the Sol system did, in fact, get a proper ending.

It was The Expanse‘s larger story that the finale failed to address. Since the very beginning, the presence of the Ring Gate entities defined the series, a force patiently lurking in the background as an overarching antagonist. These Dark Gods are only dealt with in James S.A. Corey’s final book, so The Expanse would have needed to reach season 9 if it hoped to adapt that particular story faithfully. After season 6 was confirmed as the ending, The Expanse faced the temptation to bring the Ring Gate entities forward, giving viewers some kind of wrap-up that explained what the beings were and quashed the threat they posed.

The Expanse didn’t do that. It actually continued teasing the Ring Gate entities as future villains until the very last moment, almost like a post-credits sequence for a season 7 that everyone knew wasn’t happening.

And it wasn’t just the Ring Gate entities that The Expanse‘s final episodes couldn’t shut the lid on. Despite the final episode rapidly approaching, season 6 dedicated precious minutes to introducing the Laconian Empire, highlighting its unique relationship with the Protomolecule, and debuting specific characters such as Admiral Winston Duarte, who would have been Marco Inaros’ replacement as the show’s main villain.

Of course, the Laconia setup goes nowhere. It never has time to, and those plot threads can’t help but stick like sore thumbs in The Expanse‘s final chapter.

The Expanse’s Incomplete Ending Is Still Close To Perfect

Even if The Expanse‘s cancellation came with warning, Amazon opting against season 7 gave the show a dilemma. One option (that The Expanse ultimately didn’t take) was to complete the Free Navy arc as planned, but cut the Laconian Empire teases and add in a truncated version of the battle against the Ring Gate entities, thereby ensuring every storyline would be addressed before the end.

In this scenario, the series overall would’ve felt more complete, but the arrival of the Ring Gate entities would have been rushed and anticlimactic, not coming close to doing the book justice. Excising Laconia, meanwhile, would have removed any sense of wonder and mystery from The Expanse‘s final season. The weird happenings with the Protomolecule on Laconia worked nicely against the roaring sci-fi battles happening elsewhere with the Free Navy, so cutting Duarte’s scenes would have left season 6 with an uneven tone.

The Expanse‘s other option (and the one it went for) was to effectively pretend the show hadn’t been canceled and make season 6 the way it was originally intended. While this meant posing questions that would never receive answers, it also allowed The Expanse to maintain its famously high quality and sign off on a positive note. The choice between quality and completion was an impossible one, but The Expanse‘s decision to prioritize the former has aged well.

The outcome would have been very different if The Expanse aired as a completely original TV series not based on any pre-existing IP. If that were the case, the Ring Gate entities and Admiral Duarte’s debut would have gone down as two of the most infuriatingly unresolved cliffhangers in TV history. Because viewers can simply turn to the books for answers, however, The Expanse season 6 gets away with only telling half of the story.

The other advantage is that the door will never completely shut on The Expanse getting a continuation, whether that be the long-awaited season 7 or a feature-length movie. The series could return at any time and easily pick up where it left off. If season 6 had rushed its Laconia and Ring Gate entity storylines through to completion, that’s the ending it would’ve been stuck with forever.

Release Date

2015 – 2022-00-00

Network

SyFy, Prime Video

Showrunner

Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby

Directors

Breck Eisner, Jeff Woolnough, David Grossman, Kenneth Fink, Rob Lieberman, Terry McDonough, Thor Freudenthal, Bill Johnson, David Petrarca, Jennifer Phang, Mikael Salomon, Sarah Harding, Marisol Adler, Anya Adams, Nick Gomez, Simon Cellan Jones

Writers

Georgia Lee, Robin Veith, Hallie Lambert, Matthew Rasmussen, Ty Franck, Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Daniel Abraham, Dan Nowak

• 

• 

  Dominique Tipper

  Naomi Nagata