The Expanse: Why The Mars Economy Tanked

Mars was once a superpower in The Expanse, but season 5 shows that the economy, government, and even society in general has collapsed. The Earth and Mars were on the brink of a devastating war, but by the end of The Expanse season 4, everything changed: the viability of the newly discovered gateway, and the possibility of colonizing habitable planets that were previously inaccessible, has completely altered the stakes. Now, instead of Earth, Mars, and the Belt fighting over shared resources, all three factions are racing to colonize the new worlds — and the Martian society has collapsed as a result.

Each faction in The Expanse season 5 is responding, in one way or another, to the prospect of acquiring new resources through colonizing an alien world. Earth, while arguably the richest of the three, is terribly overcrowded, as the various scenes of Amos in Baltimore demonstrate.  Unemployment is rampant, and the overpopulation has led Earth to depend on various Belter operations for resources, such as mining. The Belters, in turn, have long felt unappreciated as the working class, denied the luxuries enjoyed by the “inners” — those who live on Mars and Earth.

Mars has long defined itself in contrast to Earth: originally a colony, Mars quickly became self-sufficient and opted to separate from Earth and self-govern. Tensions between the two planets have always been high, however, and Mars developed into a militaristic fascist culture. Its people prided themselves on being harder working than their Earth counterparts and dedicated to the future, and to Mars itself, in ways Earthlings and Belters simply weren’t — but this all collapsed when Martians suddenly had another option: the gate.

The Expanse season 4 showed how Martian culture was slowly unravelling in response to the gateway. Terraforming, the long-running generation project to give Mars a breathable atmosphere like Earth, was abandoned as Martians shifted all resources towards exploration and colonization. Unfortunately, a side effect of this shift was the collapse of Martian patriotism, which has been so tightly associated with The Terraforming Project, not to mention the competition with Earth for control of the area and Mars’ militaristic pride. Seasons 2, 3 and 4 saw the Martian military being slowly undermined, first by Bobbie Draper outing Mars for its role in the Ganymede incident, then by Bobbie — who some would consider a hero — losing her position in the Martian Marine Corps and becoming unemployed. Season 4 in particular showed the once nationalistic Marine horrified by the realization that the Mars she returned to was not her home, but a corrupt shell of the planet she had once fought so hard for.

In The Expanse season 5, Alex is similarly distraught to see the once great economy collapsing.  The cracks in this fascist regime existed well before the protomolecule and the ring builders were discovered — but the possibility of starting fresh on a new planet undermined a fundamental aspect of the Martian national identity. The problems that already existed grew worse: without The Terraforming Project to create jobs, and without a mission to make the planet better for the next generation, cynicism took over. This is best exemplified by Bobbie’s own journey but is also demonstrated by the numerous people she encounters on Mars who are more than willing to break the law (in highly immoral ways) for the sake of profit.

About The Author

Sarah Bea Milner
(333 Articles Published)

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Sarah Milner is the Weekend Lead Editor for Screen Rant’s Film/Television features (SR Originals) division. She is a writer, editor, and folk musician. She often watches movies — sometimes she reviews them too.

A graduate of Trent University, Sarah’s MA thesis examines Frankenstein adaptations and their relationship with popular culture. She has a fierce love of all things “spooky,” and a deep appreciation for classic cinema.

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