Warning: Spoilers Ahead

I think the general consensus from last week’s episode is that the action and suspense were kicked up 10 notches in a matter of minutes. Well, buckle down, folks, and prepare yourselves, because it’s about to be kicked up another 10 notches in tomorrow’s season 1 finale.

First, I want to say that I have not read the books, and so, am unaware how the television series was constructed relative to the source material. That being said, I can say that the writers have done a phenomenal job building the mystery up but giving the viewers subtle clues to make them believe they know where the overall storyline is going. Hints have been dropped since day 1 that there’s a huge conspiracy with someone, somewhere wrecking havoc throughout the solar system in order to start a war between Earth, Mars, and the Outer Planets Alliance. What’s more, this has been done in such a way as to divert attention from that horrific amorphous blob Julie Mao found way back in the Pilot. That little detail has been buried — well, until the final scenes of last week’s episode.

What James Holden (Steven Strait) and his crew found on the abandoned Arubis and what had consumed Julie Mao we can assume is the same “thing” we had seen in the opening moments of the Pilot. Suddenly, questions about whether someone is trying to start an interstellar war take a back-burner and are replaced with ones about what in the hell is that stuff and who’s responsible for creating it. Well, many of these questions are answered in the finale, and trust me, they will shock you.

I really don’t want to spoil too much of these 2 fantastic hours of television for you, but here are a few teasers to hold you over until tomorrow night:

• These episodes are loaded with some great flashbacks, including ones that reveal what happened to Julie Mao and her crew before the events that we saw in the Pilot as well as details of her final moments while she was holed-up and dying in that seedy hotel on Eros.
• For those familiar with the books, you know that Miller (Thomas Jane) and Holden eventually become a pretty good team. Well, we see the beginning of that relationship in tomorrow’s finale, and I must say this duo steals the show. Seriously. The twosome really balances each other, with Holden keeping the crazy side of Miller in check, but at the same time, with Miller making the hard choices and taking out anyone who poses the slightest threat, much to the horror of Holden.
• As I had mentioned, I haven’t read the books and so I can’t be sure, but my money’s now on Fred Johnson (Chad Coleman) being a good guy (at least for the most part). In fact, we learn that he has been set up as the escape goat for everything that has happened, and the real “bad guys” have gone through an enormous amount of trouble creating the perfect paper trail that leads every last bit of it back to Fred. But, the guy isn’t totally screwed. He’s finally able to decrypt the data on the chip he lifted from Lopez, and fortunately, the info does prove his innocence at least in the Donnager incident.
• Now, for the big question: what’s the punchline? What’s the blue, glowing gunk Holden’s team found on Arubis? Is it a living organism? Is it a bioweapon? And, who is responsible for all of this and why? Nope, can’t give you those details — sorry! But, I will leave you with this as it’s a pretty good clue: “Only a very foolish man would play around with technology he doesn’t understand.” Human beings by their very nature just cannot leave things alone. Something could post a huge threat to life, but even so, we go over there and kick it around anyways. This is the case with The Expanse, and unfortunately for mankind, I have a gut feeling the price will be pretty steep.

The 2-hour season 1 finale of The Expanse  airs Tuesday starting at 10/9c on Syfy.

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