‘The Expanse’: Dominique Tipper Talks Police Brutality and Oppression
The Expanse is a political show, there’s no two ways around it. And Season 5 has been particularly harrowing, as fans have watched Dominique Tipper’s Naomi Nagata navigate the troubling waters of a radicalized, militant son under the thumb of her ex, Marco Inaros. Now, Tipper is dishing on the similarities she sees between what the Belters of The Expanse might be experiencing or reacting to, and the troubling modern-day events.
Dominique Tipper discusses political parallels
In The Expanse, the Belters have begun to voice their grievances with the inner planets in a variety of ways, one such being Marco Inaros’ act of terrorism against Earth, as well as his formation of a Free Navy.
To Dominique Tipper, the Belters’ cries of injustice have resonated in some way with current political events, something she touched on during a recent interview with Vulture.
“It always astounds me how timely this show is, every time it comes out. I think it’s because, unfortunately, humans repeat the same mistakes, and we seem to never learn from them as a collective,” Tipper told Vulture.
“We’ve always looked at radicalization as this Eastern, faraway thing. But no, it’s enraging when you’re oppressed, when things are happening to your people that you can’t fix, and you have no control.”
“You look at the structure of things and see the whole system is rigged against you, and that’s Marco’s point of view. But you can see why he’s doing what he’s doing; you see why Belters would side with him. I would actually lean more toward Marco, honestly,” she explained.
Dominique Tipper went on to explain that some of the rage the Belters feel is similar to the rage BLM protestors feel when it came to police violence, or similar such instances.
“Yeah, it’s that rage — when I see another person shot by a cop or watch people storming the Capitol and cops just standing by or even assisting, none of this is imagined or overblown. And how do we change it? Is violence the only answer?” she asked.
How ‘The Expanse’ star felt about Naomi Nagata’s behavior
Season 5 of The Expanse has also been a pivotal one for Dominique Tipper’s character, Naomi Nagata. She’s spent much of the season in the hands of Filip Inaros, her estranged son, and his father, Marco Inaros.
During this time, Nagata has tried to show Filip how Marco is manipulating him, and reveal to Filip how he did the same to her in the past. Tipper says Nagata’s been naive, but that it makes sense for her character.
“I think it was very naïve of her, frankly. But I think Naomi’s always represented hope, and I went into those scenes with that perspective, thinking that her reasoning would be enough,” she told Vulture.
“I think she thought she would be able to convince him, for sure. It’s probably the most illogical we’ve ever seen Naomi; it’s kind of a heart-led, ‘f*ck it and see’ situation, which is so unlike her.”
However, she later added that Nagata might not be fully aware of just how much her ex has manipulated her on-screen son.
“She has really good intentions, but I don’t think she quite understood what she was going to do and how difficult a task it would be. She doesn’t really know who Filip is, what his feelings and hopes and dreams are, and how much Marco has put into his head about her.”
