Season 1, Episode 9:
Critical Mass
In a flashback, we see what happened to Julie Mao. Miller, Sematimba, and the Rocinante crew try to figure out what's happening on Eros. Fred Johnson broadcasts the Donnager data, allowing Avasarala to make a crucial discovery.
Tropes:
- Breaching Pod: The Anubis crashes one into the Scopuli that quickly subdues the crew.
- Can't Stop the Signal: Aware he's going to be blamed for the attacks, Johnson broadcasts the data he decrypted from the Donnager, claiming that stealth ships of that sophistication can only be built at a naval shipyard on Earth. Information uncovered by Frank appears to back this up.
- Counting to Three: Miller says he's just going to count to one!
- The Bad Guys Are Cops: On Eros, most of the cops are actually gang members from Ceres, who have been preparing Eros for the release of the protomolecule for several months. Faced with a hostile crowd, they end up shooting them.
- Fan Disservice: Julie Mao (and then her corpse) is repeatedly shown naked — and covered in protomolecule growths.
- Flashback: To seven weeks earlier, when the Scopuli meets the Anubis.
- Ignored Epiphany: Jules-Pierre Mao is clearly distraught at his daughter's horrific death, but orders Dresden to proceed regardless.
- Irony: People have been telling Miller all along that Julie wasn't some Damsel in Distress that needed rescuing. Turns out she was, but he arrived too late to save her.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: Holden and Miller go off to find out what's going on, while the rest of the Rocinante crew try to make it back to the ship.
- Lock Down: Dresden isolates Eros by blowing up a ship in the dock, then evacuating everyone to the radiation shelters. Unfortunately, this means our heroes are stuck there, too.
- Missed Him by That Much: Julie Mao passes away literal seconds before she's found by Miller.
- Mugging the Monster: The Scopuli was expecting to be able to steal the protomolecule from an unarmed ship full of scientists. The reality was very different.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Julie Mao flees to Eros bringing the protomolecule with her, having incubated in her body. This enables her father to carry out his Evil Plan, as he was planning to infect Eros anyway.
- Oh, Crap!: Holden and Miller force their way into a radiation shelter, only to find the iodine dose given to those inside has actually infected them with the protomolecule. Then a lethal dose of radiation floods the room, and Miller and Holden are both caught in it before they can exit.
- Once More, with Clarity: The scene with Julie Mao from the very beginning of the series shows up again in the flashback, but this time we have a lot more context.
- The Reveal: Jules-Pierre Mao is behind everything (though he didn't intend his daughter to be caught up in it).
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: When the CPM cop objects to Dresden taking over his crime scene, Dresden just says that he's the CPM's employer.
- Synthetic Plague: The protomolecule, now ready to be Tested on Humans.
- Tranquil Fury: Frank's widower, Craig, is clearly furious for what Chrisjen did, but still maintains his composure. He notes that while Frank could forgive her for anything, he can't.
- Unconfessed Unemployment: Frank claimed to be doing consulting work at a shipyard, but nobody hired him. Avasarala discovers that he was actually on the trail of the ships that blew up the Donnager.
- We Need a Distraction: Done on a massive scale; it appears the conspirators aimed to incite a war just to divert attention from the outbreak they were planning on Eros.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Outraged over Julie's death, Miller tries to shoot Dresden, but Holden stops him despite the fact that Dresden's goons are wearing the same armor as those who attacked the Donnager.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Miller asks the CPM cops to help him up, then shoots one and captures the other. He then shoots that cop so they can carry his wounded body past the other cops without being shot under the guise of giving aid.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Julie left clues to her location for Dawes to pick up, but he appears to have ignored them.
- Your Days Are Numbered: The episode ends with Miller and Holden receiving a lethal dose of radiation.
