Amos Burton is a man reborn in The Expanse season 6, and it's all thanks to the presence of Clarissa "Peaches" Mao. Played by Wes Chatham, Amos represents one third of The Expanse's ever-present core triangle alongside Holden and Naomi, but his personality is infinitely more complex than either of the character's long-standing crewmates. Initially, Amos came across hot-headed, prone to violence, and unpredictable, but as The Expanse dug deeper into his psyche, the audience learned why the Rocinante's chief fixer acted as he did. Following a difficult childhood, Amos lost the ability to tell right from wrong, and struggled to empathize with others - despite desperately wanting to.
Amos navigates his troubled mindset by relying on others for guidance. In The Expanse season 1, Naomi acted as something of a handler - an ally Amos trusted completely to stop him spiraling out of control. Over time, the entire Rocinante crew came to share that function, and by The Expanse season 5, Amos recognized how much he needed Naomi and Holden to keep his moral compass pointing in the right direction. Stranded on Earth with Peaches, Amos felt his emotionless brutality drawing closer to the surface every day he spent away from the Roci.
In The Expanse season 6, however, his transformation and recovery finally reaches completion. Amos has evolved from a man who relied heavily on his friends for moral guidance into a more confident, independent figure who doesn't need Naomi or Holden to point out when punching someone in the face isn't an appropriate course of action. The first sign of this "new Amos" comes in The Expanse season 6's premiere, when he chews out Naomi about her bad attitude toward Peaches. Not so long ago, Amos either wouldn't have noticed the tension, or wouldn't have cared, and not long before that he would've taken Naomi's side regardless. "Strange Dogs" sees him stand up to Naomi (making some reasonable points in the process), before hinting at possibly leaving the Roci behind. Their argument perfectly demonstrates how Amos is no longer emotionally dependent on Naomi - or anyone else. A little later in the episode, Amos even tells Holden that his reason for sticking around is simply, "I don't want to abandon you" - a far cry from season 5 when he needed Holden to keep himself stable.
When Bobbie explains her plan to capture the Azure Dragon in The Expanse season 6, episode 2, Amos is, unusually, the voice of reason once again. Rather than boarding the Free Navy vessel and getting his hands dirty, Amos prefers the cleaner, safer approach of nuking the enemy from range. Once upon a time, Amos would've enjoyed the scrap of onboard combat, but now he's thinking more logically (and morally) without any prompting from Holden or Naomi. For the first time since The Expanse began, Amos isn't the dangerous firecracker of the Rocinante - he's the one thinking most rationally, and most in tune with everyone else's feelings. That's a huge step in Amos' The Expanse character journey.
And the credit for Amos' newfound inner harmony must surely go to Peaches. Though Naomi and Amos' friendship was utterly genuine, their bond was largely a one-way street, with Amos needing Naomi considerably more than she needed him. With Peaches, the dynamic is evenly-balanced . She helps Amos maintain his moral path, while he encourages Peaches to continue her road toward redemption after almost giving up entirely while languishing in jail. Whereas Naomi told Amos the right path whenever he wavered between The Expanse seasons 1-5, Peaches shows him just by being nearby and allowing Amos to help and guide her. Amos Burton is a more carefree, happier, calmer individual around Peaches, and the way she treats him as a mentor - relying on him in way Naomi and Holden never could - has finally brought out the Roci technician's kinder side.
The Expanse season 6 continues Fridays on Amazon Prime.
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