Next Clue to the Case
Drummer: “… my friend had a boyfriend who had an imaginary friend who told us how to power that station down.”
Ashford: “And I thought he was madman. But he … he turns out to be a prophet.”
Drummer: “It’s possible to be both.”
Drummer is back. And so is Ashford and both are patrolling space in and around the Sol Ring gate on behalf the Belters and an uneasy alliance between the Belt, Mars, and the U.N. of Earth. Meanwhile, ex-marine Bobbie Draper is stirring shit up on her homeworld of Mars where life is getting harder and temptation more difficult to resist. As for Holden, Amos, Naomi and Alex, the crew of the Rocinante accepts a commission from Chrisjen Avasarala to investigate Ilis (aka New Terra), a recently settled planet waiting beyond one of the 1300 gates Holden and company opened at the conclusion of last season.
To absolutely no ones surprise, evidence of the protomolecule and at least one ancient civilization is also found on Ilis. And despite whatever alliances may have formed over the intervening months, various rogue actors are intent upon stirring all of this up into a shitstorm of epic proportions.
The Expanse, based upon a best selling series of novels by James S.A. Corey, is nothing if not epic. This is Season 4, the first brought to us exclusively by Amazon. Fortunately, all three previous seasons are also available on Prime Video. You don’t have to watch the first three seasons before jumping on board, but it helps. And it is also highly recommended. The series starts strong and only gets better episode to episode. I’m not sure Season 4 quite measures up the Season 3, but that’s a difficult ask. Season 3 of The Expanse was the best thing SyFy ever did. And yes, I’m including the reboot of Battlestar Galactica.
The performances, special effects, and world building are all equal or beyond anything else you’ll ever see on television anywhere. But it’s the writing that elevates The Expanse above all else and all comers. And, yeah, the source material helps. For current fans, I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know. But if you’re new to the serious, you may find the initial learning curve a bit steep. Don’t let that stop you. Once you get familiar with the main cast (Steven Strait, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Frankie Adams, and Cara Gee), they’ll begin to feel like old friends and you’ll look forward to every chance you can get for another visit.
The Expanse Season 4 dropped on December 13 exclusively on Amazon Prime.