WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Expanse Season 6, Episode 6, “Babylon’s Ashes,” available to stream now on Prime Video.
Throughout The Expanse‘s beloved run, humanity battled for the fate of the solar system. By the end of Season 6, the treacherous Free Navy made its last stand at a railgun emplacement on the fringes of the solar system. Leading the heroic final charge to destroy the military installation and defeat the Free Navy is Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams). The formidable Martian soldier left her role as the United Nations Secretary-General’s aide-de-camp to take up arms again and play a pivotal role in the devastating, interplanetary war.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Adams reflected on The Expanse‘s final season, explained Bobbie’s role in the show, and praised the cast and crew for an acclaimed six-season run.
Bobbie has always been the biggest badass in whatever room she’s in, and she gets to lead the last charge in the series finale. How was it finding out you’d get that big moment in the finale and in that massive suit of armor?
Frankie Adams: It was amazing, I thought I was going to die! [laughs] I was reading it thinking that this was going to be the end for me, but it was great. I got to read it on a Zoom read-through with the other actors and they were all cheering so it felt good. But Breck [Eisner], our director, did tell me I’d have to be in that suit for three days straight. That was a lot of mental and physical preparation for such a physically enduring three days but it was well worth it.
Wes Chatham was saying it takes 45 minutes just to get that suit on and there’s an undersheath and everything. How much of putting on that suit helps you find the performance or do you really just have to power through it?
Oh, it’s all us [powering through], so you’re welcome! [laughs]
In talking about Wes, when we last saw Amos Burton and Bobbie, they did not get along and were ready to throw down. In Season 6, they’re drunk together, commiserating and comparing notes. How was it flipping that dynamic and finding that chemistry with Wes in this season?
We didn’t have to find it at all because even though I barely worked with Wes for the first five years, we’re still good friends. We were all living in Toronto for half the year for many years and he and I are bro-y like that and give each other shit in real-life. It was just finding the journey of going from really disliking each other at a certain point to regressing to somewhat liking each other or at least understanding each other. I really enjoyed their relationship and wish we had done it sooner. [laughs]
How was it performing that drunken scene in particular? Neither of those characters are known for opening up and it’s a vulnerable moment for both of them.
Those are usually my favorite moments of hers — when you see her be herself and be a little more honest with her feelings. That was a funny day, though, because there’s the whole beginning of that scene with Bobbie giving her pearls of wisdom to him explaining why we really fight and him understanding it. And then it very quickly becomes him going, “Are you coming to the brothel with me?” It’s quite the contrast of things there. Once we got the serious stuff out of the way, Wes and I could hardly look at each other and keep from laughing. Anya [Adams], who directed that episode, was behind the monitor having the best time. And there’s that age-old question, “Did they go…?”
Do you have your own thoughts on what happens next?
I think Bobbie went. I don’t know if she went with him because if they were going to do that, they could’ve just done it on the Roci — they have cabins, right? I do think that they are very good friends but I don’t think that they’ve crossed that boundary. [laughs]
For a lot of Bobbie’s arc, she’s just trying to find out who she is, with Chrisjen Avasarala even noticing she’s not really happy at the start of Season 6. Where do you think Bobbie’s headspace is?
For so long, I think she was just trying to find her identity and where she belongs. Floating before she found a safe space with Avasarala, but there wasn’t really any of that camaraderie or crew. It wasn’t the same purpose that she was passionate about but since she loved Avasarala so much, she was happy to stick around. I love that scene where [Avasarala] says, “You’re really not happy here,” because it’s reflective of how well she knows her and how much Bobbie loves Avasarala because she’s doing something she’s not really enjoying. I think it’s so lovely that Avasarala tells Bobbie she’s going to go on the Roci and you can see me in that scene basically go, “That’d be great!” [laughs] I think that just shows how much they love each other.
If you and Wes are buddy-buddy, how is your relationship with Shohreh Aghdashloo in having her as a scene partner?
I love that woman so much! I did so many scenes with her and she really took me under her wing. I was such a baby when I first met her. She has so many pearls of wisdom. That woman has had an amazing career and she has just become a really wonderful friend and mentor almost. She and I are constantly hugging on-set whenever we have our scenes, especially when Avasarala and Bobbie are not okay with each other. [laughs]
Across the series, was there a scene or arc that really surprised you with where they took Bobbie?
I think Season 4 was really surprising for me because you’ve seen her on Mars but not this close, intimate look of her on Mars. At that point, it’s all turned to shit, and then she becomes a criminal and goes down that journey. That was all very surprising to me because I didn’t really know what happened in the books at that time. I had read the first two. It was just a different route for her but I quite enjoyed doing it because it was a very independent road that she was on, figuring out things and also breathing Mars at the same time. That was surprising but I loved it when Bobbie was being a bit naughty.
With there plenty of material left over from the books beyond the events of Season 6, would you be open to reprising your role as Bobbie in a potential spinoff or continuation?
I would love to work with that crew again. I love them so much but I feel like a Drummer spinoff would be the right way to go, but I’d be up for a Bobbie spinoff too.
In looking back to the audition, was there a specific line that stood out to help inform how you approached the role?
No, it was so challenging but I did read the first two books and that was really helpful because you get into each character’s mind. Initially, I felt I just needed to get her to feel a bit grounded and convincing in this because I knew I was so right for it. When they said I got it, I just went, “Thank god!” [laughs]
Developed for television by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, all six seasons of The Expanse are available to stream on Prime Video.
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