Things are escalating on Ceres, even as Mars and Earth seem to be working to avoid a conflict.

Remember the Cant was written by Robin Veith and first aired on 16 December, 2015. Holden (Steven Strait), Naomi (Dominque Tipper), Alex (Cas Anvar), Amos (Wes Chatham) and Shed (Paulo Costanzo) are being held aboard the Mars vessel, Donnager, and being interrogated by Lopez (Greg Bryk) and his captain, Yao (Jean Yoon).

Through the interrogations, we and they learn about one another. Alex was Martian Navy, Naomi may have been OPA (Outer Planets Alliance), Amos is completely loyal to her, Shed falsified his medical credentials, and Holden hasn’t been back to Earth in over a decade.

They all have questions for each other, even as something is approaching the Donnager.

With Holden’s broadcast, before they were taken aboard, tensions are being stoked on Earth, Mars, and Ceres. Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo) is able to reveal that Mars didn’t destroy the Canterbury, but Ceres isn’t listening.

Riots explode even as Miller (Thomas Jane) continues his exploration of Julie Mao’s disappearance and presumed destruction aboard the Scopuli.

All of Star Helix, the security forces on Ceres, are working to keep the peace, but trouble is brewing, and tensions have reached the boiling point. Unfortunately, Havelock (Jay Hernandez) is going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The series is off to a great start, taking its time introducing and developing its characters, this week we got a new one with Anderson Dawes (Jared Harris) who was responsible for crewing Julie on the Scopuli, and building its worlds.

But things are going to start happening quickly.

CQB was written by Naren Shankar and first debuted on 16 December, 2015.

As the incoming bogey continues to close with the Donnager, Miller continues to run down leads on Julie. We also get an introduction to a new character, Johnson (Chad L. Coleman), who is running things on Tycho station, also in the Belt, and is building a generational ship for a group of Latter Day Saints who are planning on leaving the system.

But the episode kicks into high gear when Yao’s ship, the Donnager, comes under attack by craft that Holden recognize as being kin to the ship that destroyed the Canterbury. They close to CQB (Close Quarter Battle) and things go badly for the Donnager, as they are boarded.

Holden is determined to get back to his shipmates and escape, promising that he will reveal that it wasn’t Mars that destroyed the Cant.

But who is using the stealth ships, and the high tech artillery that is able to take down a Martian warship?

Shed is lost before the group can escape. Lopez escorts them to the Tachi (soon to be rechristened) and gives everyone who boards her (Holden, Naomi, Amos, Alex and Lopez) complete command control over her. And it’s a helluva ship.

Four episodes in, and our main characters have just boarded the ship that they will crew through the rest of the series.

The slow build, we’re almost halfway through the first season, is starting to speed up, and we’re going to race towards a season finale. But if we’re comparing the first season to the first book, we’ve barely scratched the surface!

But the series is so good! I love it almost as much as the novels.