The Expanse Review: There is a Path Because There is Love, and Superfit Arms (Season 4 Episodes 1-5)

This is a love story.

The Expanse Season 4 Episodes 1-5 explodes off the screen with high sci-fi drama and action in order to tell us a big, fat, epic love story.

It’s not a conventional love story, I’ll give you that. But, to borrow a phrase from a LoVe heavy franchise, they don’t write shows about the ones that come easy.  As the (newly) Amazon series delves into what life is and what makes it worth living, The Expanse provides a rich allegory with love at its core. 

Or maybe I’m just a total sucker for these characters and this story. I can admit that I’m head over heels. But don’t worry, I have ample evidence of why you should be too.

The first pairing in this love story is The Expanse and us, the fans.

Fans rallied and raised our voices after The Expanse‘s cancellation on SyFy. Amazon stepped in and stepped up to save the series and give it at least two more seasons. 

In response, the entire The Expanse team has showered us with the best possible thank you gift: its very best work.

Let me reiterate. The actors, writers, costumers, set designers, crew, editors, casting agents, and everyone I am forgetting honored the people who fought to give the show life by doing the story justice.

There is nothing that could make my TV-loving heart more full. 

The visual storytelling on the first five episodes is immaculate. The set design on the show is very challenging because of all the different locations that need to be distinct even though, other than Chrisjen, the characters occupy rather similar types of spaces.

The costuming, lighting and special effects make each place come alive. We always know where we are and we have a feeling associated with the place, even if it has super basic set trappings, like on Illus.

The musical storytelling has also increased its quality on this fourth season. The Expanse knows when to let the actors ground the scene with just their voices and, in the case of Amos and Chandra’s hot sex scene, their grunts.

The score is respectful.

By that, I mean the tension is never created by the music; the show trusts the audience to understand. Rather, the music follows along the climactic plot moments and bolsters their impact.

For example, on The Expanse Season 4 Episode 2, “Jetsam,” when Bobbie kicks Leelee’s ass to protect David, the music bobs and weaves around the action without ever overpowering or dictating it.

It is just a few instruments; the characters are doing the big work in the scene. Still, it is meaningful as it adds gravity to the victory Bobbie claims over the liars and the cheats.  

The actors though, I mean hot damn.

Every inch of their performances screams of their commitment to make this show the best thing on television. Every facial expression and muscle twitch Steven Strait makes as Jim Holden is purposeful and powerful. 

THE ARMS. Can we talk about the arms on this show? Arms like Wes Chatham’s are not easy to achieve. He put that work in for us!! It enhances his character Amos and how we feel about Amos’s relationships. It matters, even if in a gratification-focused way. 

The glory that I want to focus on, though, is that of the women actors on this cast.

First, I want to say thank you to the casting team who have given us, without exception as far as I can see, an all BIWOC main cast. Everywhere we look we see non-white women of different shapes and sizes in boss positions kicking ass as they fight for their families and fall in love.

As a witty, exceptionally intelligent, large Latinx woman this representation, presented without comment or apology, makes me emotional. 

The work these women do to create layered, interesting, and addictive characters is exceptional.

Dominique Tipper as Naomi Nagata is a miracle. She can do it all, including slight shifts in her accent depending on who she is talking to. This is a made-up accent! Tipper so embodies her character that she supposes what it would be like to be talking to a Belter woman about deeply painful choices. 

Everyone stands out. Frankie Adams as Bobbie Draper carries every scene she is in.

Her story is the most set apart on the season but she never feels distant. Her on-screen check-in with Alex is a whole meditation on loneliness and purpose.

The New Zealand-Samoan actor employs a subtle voice and facial expression and relies more on her body movements to indicate her emotion. She’s excellence personified. 

My favorite on the season so far just might be Cara Gee as Camina Drummer.

Gee oozes power and rage, but she also makes Drummer human. Her story is exciting and a wild card on the season. The  leader’s encounters with Naomi’s ex sizzle with tension. 

Drummer also has my favorite line of the first five episodes. 

  CAMINA DRUMMER: “I was never that young.”

All of these players, including ones not enumerated here, contribute to the great love story between The Expanse and its adoring audience. 

The other great love stories on the season so far are those between the characters, especially Naomi and Holden.

Whatever Cap and Naomi face, they will face it together. At least, that is what they say. And then they continue to fall on swords trying to shield the other from unnecessary pain. 

It’s all so human. They grandly voice their love for each other. It is a lovely fact that their romance is inextricably tied to the whole Roci crew. 

When Naomi tells Dr. Lucia that there is a path for her and that she loves her people and they love her, she means she loves Jim and Jim loves her. She ALSO means she loves the trio of gents she works with. There is nothing about the fact that these people are linked that diminishes her feelings. 

That is what makes this a love story. Noami loves Jim and that means that she loves living; she loves being alive. That is a beautiful thing that should not be taken for granted. 

On the first half of The Expanse Season 4, this is what we are reminded of: there is a future after devastating loss and great personal failing.

Love of humanity, love of life, love of each other, is what makes a better future possible. 

The Expanse is out here giving us exactly what we need heading into 2020. You know what, The Expanse? We love you, too. 

Space Debris

• Everyone on this show is so attractive sometimes pausing is necessary just to catch a breath. It’s a lot.
• I ship Chandra and Amos something fierce. It makes perfect sense that someone would be completely smitten with Amos. She loves his strange. I love her. Please, please, please let them fall in love. 
• Proto Miller makes me sad for Holden. He’s a sacrificial lamb in so many ways. The way he talks with his old friend highlights his character growth.
• Murtry is Adolphus Murtry, as in Adolf Murtry. It tracks. 
• Alex in a beanie really does it for me. 
• Chirsjen is a flawed leader and it is so cool that we get to see the innards of her political landscape. 
• The accents on this show are incredible. All the cast do such an excellent job and I want the entire panel at the next Comic-Con to be in Belter dialect. 

What did you think of these episodes of The Expanse? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Expanse Season 4 is streaming now on Amazon Prime.

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