[Drummer] "But a Belter opened it.
We are the Belt!
We are sharp and we don't feel fear.
Hey guys, Pete here.
I've got a new expanse video for you today.
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So, today, I'm going to Talk about one of my favorite characters in
The Expanse TV show Camina Drummer.
I say the show because while there is a character named Drummer in the books,
what we've seen so far has been a combination of several characters
that were cut when they adapted the story for the screen.
This has made her a bit of a wild card for people who've read the
novels and Cara Gee's amazing performance has elevated
the character to being a whole that is truly greater than the sum of her parts.
I'm going to talk about the character's journey and why I think
she has turned out to be the most interesting example of what it means
to be a Belter.
As far as spoilers, I'll be talking about things that happen through
the fifth season of the TV series.
If you're not caught up to the end of that, then this video might not be for you.
And with that out of the way, let's get into it.
I think the clip I opened the video with is the most memorable Drummer
moment, but it was probably when she executed the two Black Sky,
Belters on Tycho that I realized what an absolute scene-stealer
this character is.
She rose to be the captain of the Behemoth and later Medina
station, but over the seasons Drummer has taken on a number of roles.
When we first met her in season 2 she was working under Fred Johnson as his second-in-command
at Tycho station.
Right off the bat, in her first couple of scenes, we learned
that she's competent, she has a presence, and that Fred Johnson
trusts her to the point of making her his Security Chief.
She's involved in the raid on Thoth station, and then she oversees the
repairs on the Rocinante afterward.
She also starts to form a friendship with Naomi,
who is the only Belter on the Roci and in one of their early scenes
together we learn that she likes to hydrate with beers.
We also pick up details about her background throughout season 2.
She was born and raised on Ceres.
She worked the docks where she eventually came into contact with
Anderson Dawes.
Over time It sounds like she worked her way up to become
a high-ranking member of his faction in the OPA and she was there
when Dawes found Fred Johnson who in a low point after Anderson
station, basically came to the Belt to commit suicide by Belter.
She played a role in convincing Dawes to save Fred rather than killing
him, which is what led to him staying in the Belt, and creating his
own OPA faction as an earther.
At some point, Drummer broke with Dawes and decided to follow Fred to
Tycho station where we meet her.
She plays a role in launching the Nauvoo in an attempt to push Eros
into the Sun and helps take control of the nuclear missiles that were launched
at it by Earth.
Those along with her, loyalty to Fred earn her, a bullet
in her belly, but she does even the score there before it's all
said and done.
the attempt to take control of the missiles, was instigated
by Dawes, who had approached her earlier where he came on strong,
hinting that there is more than just a working relationship in their
past.
And it became clear that he was trying to get close to her, trying to
learn about the secret weapon that Fred had alluded to
All of this caused tension when Fred got ahold of the Protomolecule
sample through Naomi. he made the decision to tell Dawes
about it because he wanted access to Cortazar, which Drummer couldn't
believe because he had kidnapped the Protogen scientist right out
from under him.
This causes Drummer to reconsider things in relation to Fred,
but later she still takes a belter fleet to recover the Nauvoo and
start the process of retrofitting it into the
OPAs first warship.
So the seeds are planted for a very complicated story at this point.
Drummer is now the captain of the Behemoth.
She's reunited with Naomi who has come on board to be the chief engineer,
and they take on Ashford, who is associated with the Anderson Dawes
faction.
For all appearances He doesn't show her the respect that she thinks
that she deserves as the captain, and he does several things that
seem to undermine her Authority.
Things take a turn when Clarissa Mao launches her plan to try to
destroy Holden.
She destroys the Seung-Un and transmits the video of Holden taking
responsibility in the name of the OPA and declaring that only the
belt has legitimate claim to the ring. even though Naomi tries to
assure them that Holden would never do that they're in a position where they have to do
something before the UN retaliates.
not just against the rocinante but also their ship the Behemoth.
So drummer has to make the tough decision to take a shot at them to make it clear that
they're not working together.
that forces the Roci to become the first ship to transit
the ring successfully after Holden talks to Proto Miller.
They do survive but unsurprisingly Naomi is upset and that leads to
her coming to the conclusion that she belongs on the Roci.
Which over time we came to realize as a big loss for drummer who had
developed deep feelings for her.
And in respect for that she just has to let her go. when the Martians
decide to go into the Slow Zone after the Roci
they warned the other ships not to follow, but Ashford and
Drummer realized that this will create a situation where the belters
are shut out completely.
So they decide to Transit the ring with the Behemoth.
And this is where she delivers that incredible speech with Ashford
starting the beat and everyone chanting by the end. and they do
Transit, which earns the belt a seat at the table.
There's some tension over drummer, letting Naomi go, which in a
roundabout way leads to Drummer and Ashford finding themselves pinned
against some farming equipment after the speed limit changed again.
This is another amazing scene where we get to see them talk about
their pasts and then eventually realizing that there's nothing else
that they can do Drummer allows herself to be crushed
So that Ashford could get free.
that crushes he spine and leaves her without feeling in her legs.
This doesn't stop her though because when Ashford takes over and gets the
dangerous idea of shooting the ring with the Behemoth's communication
laser, she puts a Mech together that allows her to walk
again.
She helps Naomi and Holden get back together and in their effort to try
to reach the bridge.
when they're pursued by Diogo, who now has some power armor,
she plans to sacrifice herself to take him out, but is saved at the
last second and doesn't have to go through with it.
The crisis in the slow Zone comes to an end and when you next see Drummer she's healing
and has become the captain of what is now called Medina station.
And we'll get to the next chapter in her life.
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So now drummer is the captain of Medina, which is parked inside the
Slow Zone. because she got the ship through the ring
they were able to leave it there.
They changed the name and are now in a great position to coordinate things
Once the blockade is lifted by the UN.
Colony ships will be able to pass through the ring Gates and access
The worlds Beyond and Fred Johnson's faction of the OPA will be at the
center of it.
And even though her role is toned down in the fourth season.
I think this is where things get really interesting.
I mean her scenes from the end of season 2 through season 3 had pretty
much been a highlight reel, but here she has to try to work with the
inners in the new peace treaty that Fred and Dawes negotiated and
in a conversation with Naomi she also lays out her feelings about belters
going through the Rings and transitioning to living on planets.
She believes that belters belong in space, within two generations on a planet
They'll be inners and will have forgotten their culture and Roots
Naomi counters this with everyone has the right to decide for
themselves.
And while she agrees, you can see how much the idea bothers Camina.
she reconciles what's Ashford and they investigate an incident where
everyone on board a Colony ship are spaced.
There are factions of the OPA that are against the peace treaty with
the inners and they're carrying out attacks to send a message.
Marco Inaros is brought to them for a reward and
they try to get answers out of him.
They learned that he has something going on with somebody on Mars, but
he shuts things down when he figures out what they're doing.
They give him a trial with the leaders of three other factions there
to judge, and it comes down where they're split, and Drummer has to
use her deciding vote to let Marco live.
She explains that she did actually want him dead
but understood that a civil war could break out if she went against the
Black Sky, and golden bough.
This turns out to cause her real problems and eventually brings about
the end of her time working for Fred Johnson.
Marco make some moves that provoked the UN,
they take a more active role in the Slow Zone and then Fred works out
a deal that she doesn't approve of.
She makes some good points that Fred can't really counter, but he's
able to pull the card about her letting inaros live.
And in the end she quits.
before she leaves, Ashford comes to try to talk her out of it
and they talk about the inner planets history of imperialism and violence
while looking at the Mormon paintings.
She says she believed in Fred's vision of a free and independent belt,
but now that they have reached that point They're painting the same picture.
They're playing with the lives of Innocents in exchange for peace.
She expected Ashford to take over her job but learns that he's going
out to try to kill Marco and he offers her the job of XO on the Tynan
for the mission if she wants it.
She decides against it and tells him that she's getting away from all of it.
She gives him a bottle of liquor as a present which he gives back
saying that they can share it together when he returns.
And then they say goodbye.
And it's the last time that they'll see each other because Ashford is
killed by Marco in the season four finale.
The fifth season starts out with drummer in a much different place.
She managed to leave your old life behind and became the
captain of a small group of ships that get by through scavenging.
The crew is more than that There are polyamorous family, which had been
led by Oksana before they brought Drummer in.
It's a tight-knit group with that added emotional connection, and she
seems to care deeply for her partners.
He see that they're getting by trying not to resort to violence, but
we'll protect the territory they've carved out.
When they come across a pirate that attacked a colony ship.
That doesn't want to cut them in.
They attack and disable the ship.
They Eventually locate Ashford ship the Tynan and discover is backup data core.
When she goes through it he hears the recording he made of Marco.
As his life was ending, this puts her on the path of Revenge and she
tells her family that she wants to kill Marco so they can collect the Bounty.
They can see through this though and know that it's personal and that
it's extremely dangerous and they are able to talk her out of it after
Marcos attacks on Earth and Tycho station neutrality isn't an option
her family is forced to make a decision.
Join the free Navy or risk being hunted down, which isn't really a
choice after all and to make things more complicated.
They have to do a crew exchange which puts one of Drummer's family
members on the Pella and brings Karal who is pretty much hostile
onto the Tynan.
This is where Drummer really becomes the embodiment of the Belter struggle.
There is no where she can go to get away from this.
On the one side.
She has a man who is an extremist, who has committed atrocities against humanity
and is responsible for killing people.
She was close to on the other side.
You have the imperialist powers that have subjugated her people and
culture the literal boot on their neck.
It would go against the fabric of her identity to side with the inners.
And if she were to go that way, she might just get herself in her.
Family killed in the process.
When said atrocities guy makes it explicitly personal and orders her
to kill her good friend's crew and destroyed their ship
She reaches a Breaking Point.
She turns against the free Navy.
She turns the battle in the Rocinante's favor and she knows she's risking everything
while she does it.
In retaliation her husband is killed on the Pella, half of
her family leaves her in response, and she's left with nothing and
nowhere to go at the end of season 5.
It's just a tremendous character Arc from start to finish a Belter's
Belter through and through.
a dockworker rising through the ranks as a verifiable badass,
a competent Commander with a moral compass.
And one that understands the game enough to wonder if she wants to
play it at all.
An existence that's built on trying to decide between
the lesser of two evils.
I think that scenario in the books where the corporate boss wants to
cut pay by 3% because that will improve their bottom line and it's not
a lot of money, right?
And the belters are just barely getting by as it is.
So they say, what do you want us to do?
Eat three percent less food?
Breathe 3% less air? and then the reality is, what are
they supposed to do about it?
We also get to see real humanity, intimacy, and depth in her
connection with her family only to see that tested by the reality around
them.
She was there to make sure the belt would be involved when the ring
Gates opened.
And when she saw what that looked like she walked away from it.
She had a chance to take out Marco personally, but thought at the time
that it would lead to more violence.
If she did, she worked closely with Anderson Dawes and Fred Johnson both of whom
rose to powerful positions but in the end she felt they lost their way
once they got there.
I've watched and re-watched This series more than any person should and
I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more interesting individual
story.
Drummer is the belt.
She's the belt.
And while there are other great belter characters like Miller and
Naomi, they're somewhat disconnected from where they came from and
that isn't a case with Camina and I think that's a great place to leave things.
I didn't really get into it because the show character took on a life of her own.
Because the creators like Cara Gee's performance so much.
She just kept getting more stuff.
She just sort of kept absorbing different aspects of characters.
They had to cut as she was becoming her own thing.
One detail that's pretty funny as that Bull is one of
the characters she replaced in season 3.
And when he was introduced in the show in season 5, he basically took
over the role of the original Drummer when she was first
introduced in the fifth book, they switched places.
Mostly She's a combination of Sam, Bull and Michio Pa, but the show's version
of Ashford got some of their stories as well.
beyond working for Fred Johnson, She doesn't really have any of the book drummer.
Let me know what you think about this character, what you like about her.
Why her story so great and if she's not the best belter character
Who is? please like this video If you enjoyed it, please subscribe to my channel if you
haven't already and thanks for watching.
I'll Talk to you soon.