The Expanse - Season 4
THE EXPANSE - AMAZON
The intergalactic blood-soaked gold rush is on, as The Expanse returns. Having found a new home in Amazon after Syfy’s highly-controversial decision to cancel it, this beloved space opera’s comeback feels fresh and new. It is as if the central premise of the show has changed, but its spiritual core remains the same as before.
After last season’s game-changing conclusion that leads to limitless roads to take for the show’s uncertain future, The Expanse continues to broaden its scope and explore high concepts with new places and characters while still maintaining consistency of the world-building insettings that the series has previously established. At this point, Earth, Mars and the Belt have come to a treaty, and with their focus centered on the Ring, they have opened thousands of gates to unknown galaxies. Yet, the differences between the three factions are far from reconciliation.
The fourth season remains as essentially consequential as before, but the story progression takes a slower burn that is reminiscent to the heavy build-up of the first season. The central narrative revolves around Ilus, an Earth-like planet that is found in one of the Ring gates, as Belter refugees force and find their way in. Although this circumstance seems to be a great opportunity for the people in this universe, it’s not The Expanse if things aren’t going out of hand and to straight-up chaos.
A civil war rages in Ilus between the Belter refugees and a newly-arrived Earther expedition team; a series of destructive events happen that cause severe mistrust and paranoia between the two factions. Whereas protagonist James Holden (Steven Strait) and the crew of Rocinante try to de-escalate the situation, the native structures of the planet are awakened, and threaten to wreak havoc.
The series continues to excel at incorporating high tension in an increasing number of problems caused by the actions of its characters. While none of them are poorly-motivated and try to make the best out of every unpleasant situation they find themselves into, it does carry a significant amount of weight and consequence – a domino effect that results to even more problems. Even after making a final decision, the result falls in the moral gray area and seldomly any presence of a silver lining is encountered.
The Expanse is at its most engaging when the characters try to brainstorm their way through every single conflict. One aspect that compliments the series’ palpable believability is that the production team’s clear understanding and application of science comes into play. Such example is when physics is prominent during a plan to save a spacecraft which is at the risk of falling out of orbit.
If there’s one missing vital element in this season, it would be the central narrative and the subplots never branching themselves together into one big narrative. A great amount of excitement and joy comes from these characters crossing paths with each other. This season never comes to that, but that is not to say that these arcs are pointless. While the central narrative offers some of the series’ most outlandish concepts that require a moderate suspension of disbelief, these subplots introduce new intriguing material to explore more imaginative and realistic ideas. There is matured development in each of the three factions, setting up an explosive fifth season that promises to make these characters meet again.
Although this isn’t its strongest season, The Expanse proves that its sleeves are still packed with tricks and surprises. A satisfying fusion of environmental disaster movie tropes and extraterrestrial themes, but with its optimistic message at humanity: in times of crisis, people will find common ground and work together as one.
