As I am interested in genre fiction as a legitimate, inclusive platform for art, I chose to sonically analyse the closing sequence from season 5, episode 7 of The Expanse, ‘Oyedeng’. The Expanse is a science fiction show about the spiralling consequences of human colonisation of the solar system in the near-future.
Some context: Held captive by her former romantic partner and perpetrator of the largest terror attack in history, our main character Naomi escapes to another ship by faking suicide, traveling across the vacuum of space without a spacesuit, just an injection of hyper-oxygenated blood to help her stay conscious without breathing.
Tense, low-frequency throbbing transitions into tragic, string-heavy music as the scene climbs towards Naomi’s jump. This very heightened, manipulative non-diegetic score misdirects the viewer into thinking she could actually die. In a sense it’s empathetic, because it’s acknowledging and responding to the genuine pain that brings her to this risky plan, but there’s a sleight of hand in how it emotionally tricks the viewer. The intense score then sets up the tonal tipping point between initial emotive reaction, and realisation of the stakes of her action, emphasised by a period of silence.
The silence not only underscores Naomi’s vulnerability in the hard vacuum without a suit, where sound does not travel, but also focuses the viewer’s anticipation as they will her on. Breathlessly, like her. The silence suspends the action, artificially extending her motion, adding a sense of the improbability of her survival. Functionally, it could be considered diegetic. Famously, sci-fi rarely holds true to the silence of space, as extended silence actually kills tension. A non-diegetic, rising harsh noise illustrates the pain as her blood vessels burst and skin burns on the sunward side of her face, in a close up.
The deadened impact sound effects as she hits the other ship, totally without reverb or ambience create a feeling of desperation compared with the stakes of the life or death situation. For me, they are the most sonically effective part of the sequence; their abruptness and smallness undercuts our expectation for a ‘big moment’, making the scene feel more dangerous by upholding the audiovisual illusion and finding a place for stark realism. Finally, the non-diegetic, empathetic score softly returns, almost acting as the breath of relief.