When the doctor was on his knees and Prax wasn't backin down, I was pretty sure he was screwed. Then Amos stepped in. And I knew for sure he was screwed.
@@DarylTUBA Yeah I love how the show has characters like that - Amos even more than the others - where you just kinda know how they will react to certain situations. I think at the latest that when that door closes, everyone exactly what he's gonna say and do.
It's a testament to the writing in this series that blowing a guy's head off can be portrayed as one of the most selfless and wholesome acts in the entire show.
It *isn't* really that selfless for Amos, because he has next to no inhibitions, when it comes to killing people. Especially those, who deserve it. It was a deeply felt act of empathy towards his friend, though, that he knew the dad would just suffer more if he let him go through with it.
@@SubtleAmbition Ya know, given his reputation, I get the feeling Amos didn't actually shoot him in the head. I think he likely shot him in the lower neck, such that the doctor would feel it, and suffer for a moment before he died. I certainly would.... but I would've started with kneecaps.
I like him too, except it's just more jingoistic propaganda. Murders are awesome! Be all that you can be! People should be aware of that shit as they watch. Nothing in the west gets greenlit unless it's serving one of the agendas.
God, the look in Amos's eyes when he delivers the line. No anger, no coldness, just... Amos. Fixing a problem. Being a mechanic. So good. So well written. So well acted.
The first time I read this book, I was so angry at this part. I was thinking he'd get away with it. The evil doctor would escape punishment. Prax won't shoot him. Then I read Amos showed up, and though yeah he would shoot him. The anxious feeling of will him was sooo satisfied at the end.
Yeah, I remember watching an interview with Wes Chatham, apparently they gave him a copy of "The Churn" which follows Amos going to Baltimore. If I'm not mistaken, it was the first time you ever get an Amos POV and it really helped him understand the character. He absolutely crushed the roll, in fact, the casting in general is so damn good. I cannot read the books and not see the actors in my head, they are all perfect.
Amos is such an intresting guy. Totally broken, totally fucked up childhood. He claws his way out, to the stars, and builds a new life. But still broken. In many ways he has no working moral compass, in some ways he does. But he finds people whose morals he respects, and follows their lead so he can avoid being that guy, because he just wants to be a guy, not that guy. Unless you cross a line in his mind. Messing with kids.... yeah, that guy gets to play.
@@danielboatright8887 Perfect read. I think of Amos as a "recovering sociopath". He knows he has no moral compass, he knows he's dangerous and always will be, but he also knows he's a good actor (had to be, growing up in Baltimore). So like you said: he finds people with functional moral compasses and emulates them.
He might not realize it, but at this point Amos showed real love for someone. He actually cared deeply about his friend to want to spare him from the soul-crushing depth of killing in cold blood. He was saving his friend from the pain. This whole scene has layers of meaning. Just love it.
Amos has a dissociative disorder. Between the tons of cortisol dumped into his unborn brain as a result of his mother being a sex worker while she was pregnant with him, and some terrible shit that happened when he was five, he no longer has a sense of self. Other people are real; he is just, there. He constructed this facade to protect the child self that he was not allowed to be. He became the thing that would protect a small child from unbelievable torture. Notice that he does not care when someone points a gun at him, there is no self to protect, but when someone points a gun at someone he is protecting, well, they wind up dead. I don't think it can be real love, since he has no self, but a version of love that he wished others you show him. Not that he isn't capable of love. It's just that his protector self won't allow himself to get hurt. I think that's why he was searching for a cure. So he could really love.
@ Tiago Mendonça Fernandes, 100%v on point. He loved his friend and took away a burden that Prax might not have been able to carry or bare. We would all want a friend like Amos.
Apparently in that last bit, when Amos gets punched in the mouth-he ACTUALLY got hit in the mouth by accident, stayed IN CHARACTER bloody mouth and all.
This is easily my favorite Amos scene. It highlights both his compassion and his ruthlessness. He knows Prax isn't a killer and that murdering Strickland in cold blood would haunt him for the rest of his life, but at the same time Strickland did terrible things to children who were innocent and has to pay for it.
@@Nemo66577 thank you. I rewatched it because of your comment and I agree that these two episodes are the best Amos scenes in an ocean of super good Amos scenes!
It also shows that it's *not* going to haunt Amos for the rest of his life because that part of the human mind is missing in him. And how fortunate for his friends it is.
“Something Vimes had learned as a young guard drifted up from memory. If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you're going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat. They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar. So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word.” ― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
When I was watching this scene for the first time, I willed Amos to say that he is that guy before he turned around. Then he turned and delivered the line. I have never before clicked with a show like that. Absolutely priceless experience.
Me too... That line was just hanging in the air as soon as you saw him standing in front of that closed door. I remember cheering as soon as he said it
I love the irony of this scene. Strickland thinks Amos is saving him, but the audience knows that he’s really saving Prax and that Strickland is certainly going to get his comeuppance.
I Like... well, I like a LOT about this. But of the things I haven't seen said already, I like that Amos takes the time to aim properly, even for an easy shot like this one. Do it right, do it once, don't need to come back and fix it. Absolutely a craftsman.
@@smanni01 Amos did train Prax in proper firearms usage on at least two separate occasions prior to this event, once showing him the basic mechanics of a pistol, and another aboard the Rocinante, training him on plastic rounds.
Actually, he doesn't know what he needs to do unless someone tells or shows what. He did state that many times. But he knows who to listen, that is why he isn't a serial killer but kind of truth enforcer.
@@vasimvaleev5545 Amos needed someone to tell him what to do in the first season and part of the second. But, after Naomi and Holden both made poor decisions that Cas and he had to get them out of, I don't think he needs anyone any more. He made the decision to not let Prax go through with it and also made the decision that what Prax needed to happen was for him to do it for him.
Dramatic irony, noun. 1. a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character. 2. when Amos Burton talks someone into putting down their gun and leaving the room, and you think he's saving your life.
Awesome scene. He saves his friend from the guilt of crossing that unforgivable line. Then Amos does it for him because justice was required. Very deep scene.
if you can Point it out in two sentences in a YT comment, then its not THAT deep. don't get me wrong, i love that scene, but its obvious what going on here
Amos IS the Doom Guy in the Expanse universe, just *SLIGHTLY* less excessive in his use of violence :D Hands down my favourite character for the show. Wes Chatham was the absolute perfect choice to play Amos.
What gives me chills even more than the "I am that guy", is the image of the inner airlock door closing after Prax steps out, because you know why Amos just closed it.
Always love his delivery of the line. He could have put an enphasis on " *I* am that guy", but instead he says it like a normal sentence, because that's just what Amos does, nothing more, nothing less
soon as those doors closed while amos still had his back turned...it's like oh man you are gonna get murdered soo hard doc...amos was born without f*cks to give.
The part I love about this, is when you see the hand coming over the top of the gun. At first, I thought it was Prax's other hand, cocking the weapon. Then you see Amos, and realise it was his hand, saving his friend from doing something that would haunt him. That kind of editing, the angles, cinematography etc, it does make a difference to the end result. Same goes with the music, the build up of tension etc. This is a great scene, for many reasons.
You also don't see him slip into the airlock and neither does Prax, because he has tunnel vision. But, you can see right before the door closes, the Dr looks over Prax's left shoulder and kinda glances back in that direction several times before Amos intervenes.
I want a stylized version of Amos aiming his gun over the text of "I am that guy" on a fucking shirt, it is such a bad ass moment in the series... Wes Chatham is bloody amazing! Right up there alongside Drummer! What an absolute terrifying duo they would make...
I really disliked Drummer up to the elevator scene in the Behemoth. I can't even explain why, I just did. Then while she's cooly standing there with the grenades I sorta fell in like with her.... That was another really great scene that I ought to rewatch
I love the subtle music cue.... the doctor completely unaware his situation has NOT improved, in fact, has worsened. His last hope of survival died when Amos did lot leave the room with Prax. I love that moment of realization... he's not there to save you Doc, he's there to save Prax.
Amos is my favorite member of the Roci crew. He’s the guy who is a great friend and a terrifying enemy. You know damned well you always want to be on his good side because if you cross him you are screwed.
He's the crew's attack dog. Loyal without question, and willing to do whatever to protect his pack. But, he has seen a ton of character growth based on what I have seen on his return to earth.
Years later this is still one of my favorite scenes. The way Stricklands voice gets drowned out over the orchestra playing noise while the camera focuses on the gun. Great way to show prax getting tunnel vision, he probably was going to pull the trigger. Amos puts his hand on the weapon and the sound comes back to the scene. He says you’re not that guy and prax gasps for air. Probably forgot to breathe because he was so focused on finding that resolve to shoot Strickland. It’s such a well done scene depicting the tension and claustrophobia followed by the release and still get the satisfaction of a morally empty person getting what they deserve.
You can feel him almost losing his soul at that moment - becoming the killer he will not be able to live with - or be able to fully love his daughter again.
Also the door behind closes leaving Prax with the doctor alone, just before you see Prax close to pulling the trigger you see the door still closed behind, then he tunnel visions on his gun - Amos puts his hand on the gun the door is opened. Absolute perfect depiction of tunnel vision. The whole crew, all the departments are amazing on this show, truly beautiful.
I found Amos to be an amazing character in the show, because he is not as simple as he looks. He has parts of himself left ; he can have bits of empathy and be quite cold at the same time, be both loyal and wicked, etc.
He's a broken soul looking for a beacon to follow. Sounds like metaphysical claptrap, but his conversations with Holden make it pretty clear that he was the one Amos had chosen.
The music is so good in this scene, building tension when Prax is aiming the gun, then melancholic when Amos steps in, then drops at 1:29 to let you know what's coming. And even though you know it's coming, Wes's expression and delivery of the line is 11/10 and still gets you.
Agreed, also the wraithlike noise at 01:32 as Amos turns, to let you know that Amos, having done his bit of being Prax's friend, returns to the business at hand: Strickland - who lives a further nine seconds, all of which are spent in terror.
@Evilmike42 actually that is a psychopath, sitting back and laughing. I've also talked with the actor who plays Amos, and he told me that he doesn't view Amos as being a sociopath but definitely as someone who has sociopathic traits, largely due to his life experience.
I think he's more of what's called the "sheepdog" mentality, so named for dogs which could be ferocious and savage against wolves which threatened their flocks, but were gentle and peaceable to members of their flock.
@@KTo288 Amos is a sociopath who wants to be good. Hence why he follows Holden. I think instead if the sheepdog analogy, more accurate comparison might be the main character of Dexter, though that doesn't quite match Amos either. Another thing you can conclude is that Amos might have high functioning autism. His blunt, brutally honest, personality as well as his tendency to not conform to societal norms (particularly ones involving being polite or respectful even if you don't like someone) when interacting with other people are similar in many ways to some of the behavior exhibited by individuals with high functioning autism. Combine that with some OCD tendencies, and I think there is a strong case that the character has some form of autism.
Amos may acknowledge he is a monster for the things he has done, and likely do again, but his love for his friends, protecting them from even their worst desires, shows his empathy and compassion. If anything, Amos may be the purest example of what it is to be human, embodying both the best and worst of humanity, not to mention everything in between, in a single individual.
One of the finest scenes ever filmed. Also loved the scene with Anna when she tells him what a minister does. "I see what needs to be done, and I DO it" Amos says "Me too"
This sums up Amos so well, because as he puts it himself: "The way I see it, there’s only three kinds of people in this world. Bad ones, ones you follow, and ones you need to protect." This scene includes two of those three - a bad guy to disposal of, and a good friend whose conscience needed protection.
And if Prax had decided to forgive Strickland, Amos would have honored that, too, because Amos knew Prax to have the moral compass that he lacked. But because Prax had clearly decided Strickland should die...Amos honored that moral decision.
The Expanse, the most underrated series overall. I was first sceptical, but after seeing some episode, I kept binging until the last episode of last season and now waiting until they change their mind.
I just love the character development in this show! Prax really helped Amos to resolve his struggle with empathy and made him overall more calm and resolved. Also Amos helped Prax to overcome his fears and helped him with his realization that the universe is a rough place. I don't wanna indulge in what die shippers do but I woldn't mind seeing some more about their friendship
SO. FUCKING. GOOD. As soon as he says to Prax "You're not that guy" in my head I'm like "but Amos is..." And then the pause while the doors close and then the look of sheer horror in the Doctors face as he realises what's about to happen. One of the best scenes in the show for me.
Great acting by the doctor. When Amos has his back to him there is a genuine look of relief and you can almost hear him thinking "ohh thank god I am safe now." Then he gets a look in the eyes of Amos and realizes that there is no way out.
Absolutely! His just wasting Strictland in the books v his talking Prax down and then full on crazy-eyes Amos says "I am that guy." is, impact wise, a ball-peen hammer v a wrecking ball.
Agreed. The books are great (so far; I've just finished the 4th) but the show has done a brilliant job of adapting them. Everything they've changed has been a reasonable decision.
The writing on this show demonstrates the benefits of having lots of writers in the room. The books offer a great structure and compelling characters. The tv writing brings this to life and really sharpens everything to a fine point.
Amos is always uncompromisingly ruthless when it comes to protecting children. He may not be a good guy, but he will never harm a kid, and will badly hurt anyone who does.
Amos is HANDS DOWN my favorite character in the Expanse. I really like that the character tries to do the right thing and always seems to look at the character he sees as the most moral around him at the time as a guide without asking them exactly what should be done because he himself isn't really sure what 'moral' really is. He's like a functional sociopath trying to not be. With how he grew up, I totally understand why he turned out the way he did.
This right here is the combo of great writing, direction, editing and acting. With just a few words and one action, we see exactly who Amos is. It's scenes like this that will allow the Expanse to pass into the classics along with Battlestar Galactica and Firefly.
How the fuck this series doesn't get the praise it deserves. It's the best sci-fi franchise in history. The characters, the plot, the scientific realism...all are flawless....
Echoing everybody here's sentiment ... this scene is just incredible. Prax ... Amos ... even the Doctor. Just reason 892341 why the Expanse was a great show.
I think this scene defines Amos as a character better than anything else in the series up to this point. He is one of my favorite characters in Science Fiction.
So I like Amos as a character. He feels no remorse or empathy a true psychopath. But he still has enough. Where with all to realize he is messed up he surrounds himself with people who can be his moral compass Naomi, Holden, and Anna valovidov. You can tell he sees himself as a monster. His reason for telling prax to never give up on his daughter is so that she would be saved from being a monster like him. Truly a outstanding character
@@Jason_Wilhelm He actually does feel Empathy. Especially for kids. His life's just been filled with so many piece of shit people he really doesn't give a flying fuck about killing amoral, greedy, etc people when he finds them.
The guy who plays Amos really knows how to show intent than just tell. A total lost art from on many modern media these days. You can tell exactly what is going to happen with a look in most scenes throughout this show. Even in the final Hunger Games movie, he had the similar acting presense.
I really love and respect Amos, he is the perfect example that it's your own fault if you become a monster and hence why he doesn't forgive monsters. It's not about what has happened to you or how damaged you are, it's about what you do with what you got and who you choose to follow. A- FUCKING-MAZING character
George RR martin made a bet with the writers of these books that they wouldn't finish the series before he did. He just lost, in the time it took him to write winds of winter they completed a nine book series... oh wait that's right George RR martin still hasn't F@&*ing finished that one book yet.
This scene is epic on the same scale as when Magnum PI shot the Russian adversary at the end of season one. My son and I both said "He is that guy" just before Amos spoke the line.
