Season 1, Episode 7:
Windmills
The Rocinante goes out looking for Fred Johnson's man on the Scopuli. Miller discovers a clue that leads him to leave Ceres. Avasarala goes to Holden's family looking for insight into his character.
Tropes:
- A House Divided: Holden puts a gun to Amos' head, and later demands that Naomi either bring him under control or they let him off at their next stop.
- Brick Joke: After hours strapped to a chair, Kenzo finally gets that piss he wanted.
- Dispense with the Pleasantries: Both Elise and Avasarala during their conversation.
- Easily Forgiven: Miller turns up at a Bad Guy Bar looking for trouble, unarmed and greatly outnumbered, but Anderson Dawes has no interest in taking revenge for the two men his partner killed, regarding Miller as one of their own now. Even though Miller doesn't agree, he's allowed to leave.
- Electronic Eyes: Kenzo has them, which is presumably helpful as he's a spy.
- False Flag Operation: A double example! The Rocinante, a former Martian frigate, needs to head through Martian-patrolled territory without being detected, so they dress her up as a civilian gas freighter. However, a patrol ship picks them up and decides to board, which would be disastrous. Their only hope is to find a code on the Rocinante which would identify it to the Martians as an undercover Martian warship pretending to be a civilian gas freighter.
- Iconic Item: Miller abandons his hat in Mao's apartment. He's already been fired, but it may as well be a Turn in Your Badge moment.
- Just Following Orders: Kenzo tries to get Holden's sympathy by saying he's "just a guy trying to do my job." Later he tries the I Have a Family and "Not So Different" Remark cards as well.
- Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: Justified; Amos locks Kenzo in the airlock, with the implication that he will be spaced. However, Kenzo's Electronic Eyes and spy training enable him to find the circuits to open the door, though Amos lets him out before that becomes necessary. He later asks Holden to let him know if he's due to be Thrown Out the Airlock, having secretly rigged the door to open on demand.
- Misaimed Fandom: An in-universe example. According to Elise, Holden loved Don Quixote growing up, but never figured out that it was intended as a tragedy.
- Nobody Poops: Averted, as Kenzo finally gets to take a leak.
- Not Helping Your Case: From Earth, Holden's actions only make him look like a dangerous terrorist, and a UN black ops team is sent to Eros to kill him.
- Nothing Personal: Amos says this to Kenzo.Amos: I'm not gonna lie to you. Either way this plays out, you're dead. And I'm the one that's gonna bring you the good news. You're a loose end. It's nothin' personal.
Kenzo: Just like that, huh?
Amos: Like water's wet. Sky's up. - O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Whereas Amos usually obeys Naomi without question, she has to repeat herself before he goes to investigate the strange signal. The implication is that Amos is slipping his Morality Chain, angry over how Naomi didn't trust him with the information that Holden leaked the distress call.
- Present Company Excluded: Elise casually refers to government "goons" in front of Avasarala, then realizes what she's said and tries to claim, "no offense."
- Refuge in Audacity: The crew's plan for getting past the Martian blockade? Break into a locked compartment and using the one-time-use codes inside to convince the blockade ships that they're an undercover military ship.
- Robbing the Dead: Miller pawns a bunch of Julie's belongings in order to book passage to Eros.
- Removing the Earpiece: Avasarala when her bodyguards become agitated about her going alone into the house where Holden grew up.
- Running the Blockade: The Rocinante has to get past a Martian blockade in order to find the last survivor from the Scopuli. Unlike most examples of this trope, ships in general would probably get through with just an inspection, but since they're in a stolen Martian corvette things will be a little more difficult for them.
- Shoot the Dog: Amos consistently advocates for doing this — he wants to kill first Kenzo, then the Martian patrol, because he sees no other way out of their situation. He's proved wrong in the short term, though time will tell if there are unexpected side-effects to leaving everyone alive...
- Spy Speak: The Martians will leave the Rocinante alone if they work the words "ubiquitous", "mendacious", and "polyglottal" into a sentence. Alex adds "donkey balls" for good measure, having encountered a similar situation from the opposite side.
- Time for Plan B: Amos goes to the airlock to prepare for Plan B, in case Naomi and Alex can't get the right keywords in time. Plan B is to shoot the Martian patrol and then run away before more show up.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Amos doesn't show the least concern when Holden puts a gun to his head. He's either impressively confident that Holden wouldn't pull the trigger or has no fear of death.Amos: You've got a clear shot to the back of the head, if you need to take it, go ahead.Holden: You think I won't do it?Amos: Only one way to find out.
