Naomi Nagata has been through the ringer in The Expanse's fifth season, and no episode exemplified that more clearly than this week's "Hard Vacuum." After realizing there's no hope left for her to reach her son Filip (Jasai Chase-Owens), she ejected herself into space intent on finding her way back to the Rocinante.
Unfortunately, Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) ensured that was a nigh impossible task by sending out a false distress call in her name. With time and oxygen running out, Naomi had to stop her loved ones from coming to her rescue to avoid leading them right into a deadly trap. This lead to an episode of actress Dominique Tipper playing opposite only herself and transforming a mere handful of lines into the poetry of Naomi's soul.
Tipper spoke to Screen Rant at length about how the isolation on set during the episode helped her feed Naomi's mindset, how her time with Marco and Filip this season has changed her outlook, and where Naomi will go from here.
How did you prepare for this episode, both emotionally and physically?
Dominique Tipper: I prepared in the way that I would normally prepare my work. The set design, and the details of the set, are all working. I just think being on that set on my own and using all the moving parts as I have to meant I didn't have to do much with my imagination. I really was very much there.
Then it was just adopting the state. I'd done a lot of research into diving, which is what I was directed towards. Not only diving, but what would have happened if I jumped out in space without a suit on. That really informed my physical state on the ship, because there's all different things that she has from jumping out. Not only the radiation burn and the swelling, but Naomi almost gets the Bends, which is pressure when you dive. I mean, every single part of her body is aching. In the story, every time I move, it would hurt. So, I kind of just have to keep that in mind.
And then also the fact that there's not much oxygen as she's going between the whole time; that's gradually letting oxygen out of the ship. There were all these logical, scientific things. And then also the emotional state of how scared and vulnerable she is, but also her true survivor instinct kicking in and her MacGyver-like skill. She's just fighting for life.
How did the isolation on set and the collaboration with the director help you get into Naomi's mindset?
Dominique Tipper: The director, Marisol Adler, was incredible on this block; she directed 7 and 8. She was very focused on Naomi's emotional state and worked all of her shots around that.
Everyone was there, but the set was very isolated. Sometimes we have sets that have all the walls, but one is out, and that's where everyone's sitting. But nobody was in there with me, apart from the camera guy. That really helped as well, that the director or anyone who had to come in have to go through two sets of doors to get into the set. Everyone was very far away from me; I couldn't hear anyone or anything. Again, it just lent itself to situation I had to portray. I kind of felt that way, anyway.
Also, I wasn't with any of the other cast. So, it was very isolated in that regard. I'm used to coming into work with Steven and Wes there, or in this season Keon and Jasai. And for that episode, there was no one. It was just me, which was cool.
You mentioned her survivor skills, but she's also trying to save her Rocinante family. Is there a conflict between her own survival and theirs at play?
Dominique Tipper: I guess so. Yeah, I definitely think it starts out that way. As we're getting into it, I think it's a mixture of both. Naomi probably wants more to make sure no one comes near the ship. She went off and has done this on our own, and I think she already feels quite responsible for a lot of things that have happened - like when she gave the Proto-Molecule to Fred Johnson and everyone was really upset with her.
So, I think she was just resolved to do on her own time. Seeing that now she's potentially going to be the bait to kill all of her family, that's driving her more than her own survival. But it goes hand in hand, because she has to survive to MacGyver a way to stop that distress call from going out and stop them from coming to "save" her in inverted commas.
After the brutal confrontation with Filip, does Naomi feel there's any chance to save her son? And if not, can she really fight against him in the future?
Dominique Tipper: I think that scene where he strikes her was a realization. She was quite naive in thinking that, because she'd been through it, she could relieve him of his indoctrination. Naomi, in a lot of ways, represented hope in that environment - and I literally feel like the hope got out of her. It dawned on her in that moment that she can't help him and, actually, she's done enough. To preserve her own sanity and save her own sanity, it's time to go. That's why she jumped.
I do think that if there was ever a chance that he comes around, she'll be there. I think that will always be her hope. But I think she realizes in that moment, her time is done on that ship and in that situation, and there's not much more that can be done there. It's not that Marco has won, but he's so far in Filip's head that I think she realizes she doesn't quite have the power to undo it, unfortunately.
After that heartbreak, where can fans expect her to go emotionally from here? Especially when it comes to her Rocinante family.
Dominique Tipper: The thing I will say, without spoilers, that is she is willing to do whatever it takes to save her family. She will go to extremes for that. That's all I'll say.
Looking back on the season thus far, what has been the moment that surprised you most as a performer, either in terms of tapping into Naomi's emotions or seeing where her storyline has gone?
Dominique Tipper: What's been really juicy and sad, and such a different side of her, is the Marco effect. I don't think we've ever seen Naomi this unsettled or undone by anyone. When she's around Marco, especially in this situation where she's trying to save her son, it's the worst-case scenario for her. She's so out of control, and he has a way of getting under her skin that no one else does.
It was really interesting going into this face-off not always been the most together in the room and saving the day, and seeing the kind of rage that she experiences when she's around Marco. She tried to kill him, so it's quite a dark space for Naomi that I don't think we've seen. We've seen hints of Holden starting to go that way when he was doing the Proto-Molecule stuff. Naomi's solution to that was to tap out and say, "If you're going to go this way," which to her means towards the Marco side in him, "Then I'm out. I've already done this before."
Being brought there by her son and not having control over it is just the worst state for her. Exploring that and giving myself permission to go quite far into that with her was really surprising. We've been laying the foundations for seasons now., but at the root of it, there's been composure with Naomi. She's always holding her cards close to her chest, but this is the season where it all comes out.
That was quite delicious, but also made me a bit nervous. I didn't know what that was gonna look like, and I didn't really know until I was doing the scenes. I've done lots and lots of prep, so it was really kind of cathartic in a way to go there and suddenly see the story go full circle. Everyone gets to see just how challenging and dark this person is for her.
Outside of just Marco and Filip, Naomi has to confront this extended family, like Karal and Cyn. How was it to step into this new world for you as an actress, but know it's one that was once so familiar to Naomi?
Dominique Tipper: Naomi thought it was gonna be a lot simpler than it was. It was a gross underestimation of how complex her past has been with these people. Not just in the sense of the hate she feels for Marco and Karal, but also the love and affection she has for Cyn and her son. These four people are the two different sides of the coin.
Finding out the confession from Cyn was a shock, because she never thought Cyn was that guy. I think she would have expected it from Karal. That was heartbreak on top of the rest of it.
I don't think she really knew what it was gonna be like. She thought she had the tools to have her way with these people and save her son, but a lot of wildcards happened. She dealt with them as they went along, but I think it kind of added into her unraveling.
Episodes of The Expanse's fifth season drop weekly on Amazon Prime Video.