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The Expanse on how to spot the good guy

The Expanse on how to spot the good guy

Last updated on: January 30, 2026 at 9:03 am by Coyle Neal

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The Expanse on how to spot the good guy 2026-01-30T09:03:06-07:00 Coyle Neal

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I’ve started watching through the Amazon series The Expanse (I know, I know, I’m late to the game–but I’ve not heard any spoilers and although I have read the first book in the series, I don’t remember what happens so I think I’m set to enjoy it well enough if it’s any good–four episodes in it’s fine). If nothing else, it was a nice reminder of how much I appreciate Thomas Jane. (The first and best Punisher, as far as I’m concerned.)

The premise is that two planets are on the brink of war and somebody is working hard to push them over. On the one hand is old Earth, the source of human life and civilization. On the other is Mars, Earth’s now-independent colony and dedicated to terraforming the planet. In between are the loosely-independent-but-nominally-under-Earth’s-authority “belters”, who live in the asteroid belt and mine minerals for… both planets? Just Earth? I don’t know, I’m only four episodes in. These belters have among them the shadowy “OPA”, which is made up of either freedom fighters or terrorists, depending on who you ask. All of them are tired of being a pawn in the ongoing cold war between Earth and Mars.

Image: Amazon

Again, someone is trying to stir up trouble between hostile factions. And while there is a Cold War parallel that’s pretty obvious (though so far neither side has a gulag or mass execution of dissidents, so it’s not a perfect parallel), there’s an even more relevant parallel to our own political moment.

As events have unfolded in Minneapolis and around the country, we have two sides screaming at us that the other is evil. Now, I don’t claim there’s a shadowy third side stirring up trouble between the two (though that would make for a fascinating, if groundless, conspiracy theory), we do have to wonder when we see the two sets of obviously biased stories on our news channels of choice: who is right?

Right in the middle of season 1 of The Expanse, we have a quick moment that can give us some guidance. (There is a similar moment in the old Firefly series, but let’s save my rant on that for another day.)

A riot has broken out on the asteroid Ceres with two of the factions going at each other. The police are standing by (and who they are working for is up in the air at this point), and one of the cops notices that there are children in the crowd. She points this out to her partner, and the two of them work with the other cops to get the kids out of danger while the riot is going on around them.

Now, if you’re watching that scene and wondering of the three sides present, two rioting sides and the police, who the good guys are: they’re the ones who

1) realize that children are in danger;
2) set everything else aside to protect said children, even if it makes their other job more difficult;
3) then finish their other business (in this case shutting down the riot).

So! If you’re wondering amidst our current cultural and political chaos who the good guys are: they’re the ones doing the most to protect children.

Now, which side is that? I’ll leave that to you to sort out–and I admit it can be unclear at times. But hey, maybe if we loudly and continually insist–like Jesus did, lest we forget–that the children are a priority, maybe both sides will race to outdo each other in caring for the wee ones. And that would be a much healthier place for us to be in as a nation.

Dr. Coyle Neal co-hosts the City of Man Podcast and is an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog). He teaches Political Science, Philosophy, and History in Southwest Missouri.

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