"The Expanse," Year Four

I'm glad that Amazon Prime brought back "The Expanse," which is in the running for the most ambitious series still in production. The fourth season takes some big steps, sending the crew of the Rocinante out of the solar system, and introducing a new, shaky status quo for humanity. However, the show insists on maintaining multiple storylines, including for characters who don't have much to do this season, and is a little less narratively adventurous.

Avasarala sends Holden and the Roci through one of the Ring Gates to Ilus, an alien world that Holden suspects may hold answers about the protomolecule's creators. They find trouble brewing between the Belter refugees who have taken up residence there, and an expedition team from Earth, working for a mining corporation. The expedition is lead by new villain Chief Murtry (Burn Gorman) and his second, Chandra Wei (Jess Salgueiro), who Amos takes a liking to. There's also exobiologist Elvi Okoye (Lyndie Greenwood), who befriends Holden. On the Belters' side there's Lucia Mazur (Rosa Gilmore) and her daughter Felcia (Kyla Madeira). Meanwhile, Avasarala is battling a new challenger, Nancy Gao (Lily Gao) for leadership of the UN, Bobbie Draper is navigating a bunch of bad options on an economically depressed Mars, and Drummer and Ashford struggle to keep the peace while wrangling a terrorist instigator, Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) - Naomi's ex.

Ilus is obviously the big story this season, and handled very well. We see the conflict from all sides, the action moves quickly, and the situation is constantly changing, putting our characters in the middle of a series of harrowing situations. I appreciate that the show addresses many of the concerns of colonizing a new frontier - mystery organisms, challenging terrain, illnesses, extreme weather, vehicle breakdowns, general chaos, and a variety of competing interests. The show's budget keeps up with all of this wonderfully, providing tsunamis, spaceships, swarms of alien pests, and ominous glowy artifacts as needed. None of the new characters are particularly deep, but they're a very watchable lot, with Burn Gorman in prime, scenery chewing, officious baddie mode. The Ilus narrative is itself frequently divided up among multiple characters, so we're watching different groups battling different problems at the same time - a ship falling out of orbit, a mystery ailment attacking the setters, a hunt for a saboteurs, etc.

The other storylines are comparatively much simpler and character focused, and clearly being used to set up bigger conflicts later down the road. Shohreh Adghdashloo has no trouble keeping Avasarala's political battles interesting, as there are clear ties to all the other storylines playing out. Drummer and Ashford acquit themselves pretty well too. Bobbie Draper's troubled civilian life, however, sticks out as an oddity. There doesn't seem to be much justification for her taking up as much of the narrative as she does, and Frankie Adams seems adrift with Bobbie largely denied her ability to be a badass. It's also easily a story the show could have skipped over with few consequences. I hope "The Expanse" is renewed for another season or two so we can see if all this buildup is worthwhile.

If I had my druthers, we'd be getting a little more character drama with the Rocinante crew. Aside from Amos's ill-fated romance, there hasn't been much progression on that front. Naomi and Holden's relationship has been at a virtual standstill for ages. Ditto Drummer and Ashford, who were too often stuck in the role of exposition delivery, despite being some of the most charismatic personalities in the show. At least this season did right by Avasarala, who I've felt was too often sidelined in the past. The role of her husband Arjun was recast this year, bringing more focus to her private life. And getting a glimpse into her dressing room was a treat.

Still, nothing beats "The Expanse" for the sheer scale of its worldbuilding. This is a show where I find it perfectly expected that we'll see multi-year timejumps, major new characters (and new species, and new planets) being introduced constantly. You have a political drama, an action adventure, and a crime story all happening simultaneously, with a clear sense of momentum and purpose propelling everything forward. The Ring Gates appearing in the third season opened up new avenues for storytelling, and so far they've been handled with the same systemic care and consideration and scientific rigor as everything else in the show.

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