The Expanse

:

Season 4
Season #: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
Watch Now

Where To Watch

Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

  1. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Steve Greene
    Dec 13, 2019
    91
    Continuing the tradition of thoughtfully outlining a system-wide conflict while following through a portal to countless untold problems, “The Expanse” is an evolving text that an increased sense of scale has only made richer.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Zack Handlen
    Dec 9, 2019
    91
    Minor misgivings aside, it’s a relief to have a new season of The Expanse to get lost in. The show is still one of the best science fiction series out there, and it appears to have made the move to streaming with minimal compromises.
  3. Salon
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    Dec 13, 2019
    90
    Complicated as this set-up might read, the sheer gorgeousness of “The Expense” goes quite a distance toward shoring up a person’s commitment to it, as do the performances. ... A heavily serialized show like this one will never be easily accessible to newcomers who drop into mid-voyage. Ergo, to say that this previous description provides all you need to know to get up to speed is not quite accurate. But it does help that these new episodes reconfigure the grid a bit and simplify the plot.
  5. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Sadie Gennis
    Dec 4, 2019
    90
    The Expanse's fourth season throws a lot of balls into the air, and in the six episodes released to critics in advance, it juggles them all impressively.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 169 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 140 out of 169
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 169
  3. Negative: 15 out of 169
  1. lsargent
    Dec 22, 2019
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I was really surprised at the idiocy of this season and then surprised again when I checked the reviews which was why I had to open an account and write the first ever on-line review in my 40 years of life. I gave it 2 stars due to the fact the same production values were there and the actors did the best they could with the content they were given, but the plot and logic are completely gone in this season. In past seasons, there was the odd logic gap which every science fiction show eventually has and us, as viewers just looking to be entertained for 10 hours, don't often mind.
    However in Season 4, NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE!
    -Bobbie learns in previous seasons that Mars isn't any better than anyone else and constantly refuses orders, but now she's once again 100% loyal to Mars no matter what happens.
    - Avasarala let the odd f-bomb drop in previous seasons which made the viewer sit up and notice where as in this season, she's turned into a cursing sailor. She was a pivotal, intelligent character in previous seasons who saved Earth despite great personal risk and she has trouble in an election? The election was so tedious and complete waste of time.
    - There is no reasoning given to why there is a blockade at the gate, why they let colony ships just stack up in front of it, why they let the belter station remain in the ring area.
    - Makes no sense why Mars would be decommissioning their warships? As the most "advanced" faction, and after protomolecule and belter alliances and UN shadow governments, AND 1300 new worlds to explore, you would think there would be a massive need more more warships and science ships.
    - After 3 seasons of watching the factions learn somewhat to work together, why isn't there a permanent "UN-Style" location where governments of the UN, OPA, and Mars can communicate and get along? It's like each still operates in a vacuum and nobody knows what the other is doing. You would just think that for all factions, there would be a mutually beneficial great need to cooperate and looking for conflict wouldn't be high on anyone's radar.
    - Amos does nothing in this season, but get shot and beat up and makes him out to be a total incompetent idiot.
    - Naomi is supposed to be the smart one, but she throws logic aside and puts everyone at risk when it's obvious her body can't handle the planet's gravity.
    - The belters and scientists hate living with each other, but on an entire planet, they choose to live in the exact same area...
    - Holden and his ship are sent directly from UN Government, but is treated with zero respect on the planet to the point they are just actively trying to kill him for no particular reason... do they think there would be no consequences?
    - Alex was inconsequential the entire season except you heard him sometimes say "hoss"
    - Holden has cancer and takes anti-cancer drugs on a regular basis and somehow they have trouble figuring out what makes him immune to blindness.
    - The whole season is basically the show's "heros" stuck on a planet for no good reason, helping a few settlers which are (in the scheme of the show) not important. After 1300 new words are available, this is best course of action? Mediation 101?
    - One thing I also found puzzling with this show is the ship design... other shows... Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar -- they all had ships which had sleek, inventive designs which helps develop a fondness for these vessels along with.... merchandising? Desktop wallpapers? Posters? But ALL SHIPS on this show look exactly the same! They are basically different profiles of tin cans. Some thinner and longer... some longer and thicker... and the biggest ship made by the belters... looks exactly like a tin can. Can you pick out a Mars ship and what makes it different than a UN ship? There's a huge opportunity missed here with ship design... I've played video games in the past with much better ideas. Given this dumb decision, every space battle looks very similar and you can't make out who's who.
    - And as a broader critique of this whole idea (haven't read the books, but I will now), in the future there is ZERO possible chance that the United States/China/Russia or any other powerful nation would ever agree to be ruled by the United Nations. (part of suspension of disbelief)    … Full Review »
  2. MrNiceGaius
    Feb 2, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. While I would rate the first and second season a very good 8.5 to 9 and the third season a 7.5, this fourth season is not a 7 or 8 and CERTAINLY not a 9 or 10. I would rate it a 5 and a 6 with fan glasses on. Yes, the quality of this show has dropped quite a bit. I don't know if I will continue watching it, surely not without trustworthy opinions beforehand. I have other things to do.

    The biggest problem is: nothing of importance ever happens until the very end and even that feels a bit uninspired and is presented with stupid action scenes and cliché characters. While I was always surprised that the previous seasons provided so much content, now the first six or seven of only ten episodes feel like filler. There is this totally stupid and unnecessary feud going on between the two uninteresting factions on the planet with one of the most cliché bad guy I have ever seen. Worst thing is that this guy is even part of the last three episodes. The Bobby and Avasarala stories felt like they were only there to keep them in the show and find a reason to get them together again in the future and were stretched as far as possible. For the most part this season felt more like a drama generator than a science-fiction show. The snails could have been good but they were also presented in such a bad way. From one moment to another they materialised from thin air and vanished as soon as there was another plot going on. Just like the feud they were just there for the drama and didn't provide anything to the global story.
    On top there were stupid, lazy and illogical things like the doctor who didn't know that cancer medicine can help against infections (which is stupid in itsself) and who solved the problem producing more medicine !while being blind! or the random scrapyard girl who suddenly was on par with Georgi La Forge in terms of engineering. Or Naomi who from all women in the solar system coincidentally is the ex and mother of the two top terrorists of the century. This is science fiction. Don't make the world smaller, make it bigger! I would have liked to see the first flight through another gate into a new solar system and the first landing on another planet. Instead we start the season on a scrapyard where nobody cares for the massive spikes coming out of the ground. And did they really forget to test the environment on aggressive bacterias and viruses beforehand? Just send a team and all will be good? Come on, that's stupidity level of "The War of the Worlds". And what happened to Drummer? She has no purpose at all. Is she going to get buried soon like Fred Johnson? This is sad.

    You can say that it is based on a book and that the book prepares the story for what's coming next. But well then ... this particular book must be quite boring and stupid too. If season 4 is just there to lay out the hints for season 5 and otherwise is full of fillers, then why not put them together? Sadly most of the times money milking is the answer. I also think that the show's writers couldn't properly handle the book template. Maybe because they were pressured by an unreasonable deadline and therefore just stuck with an ordinary black and white story with a good guy and bad guy and a clash in the end. Something I hoped the Expanse as a whole could largely avoid and represented a big part of me liking it until now.

    What I liked about this season are the visuals (but I am not a fetishist of visuals), some of the main characters (though they acted way stupider and more illogical than before) and the mysticism around Miller and the alien races which, however, is not season 4 exclusive.

    If you look up the reviews you'll notice that the 9 and 10 reviews are mostly just a short babbling like: "Oh my god! This is the best show ever! I love the CGI, Bobby and the crew. They are all so cool!" There's no analysis, no detail, no nothing - just like with Star Trek Discovery. Don't trust them. Especially not in times when Amazon takes over. You know that they are specialists in getting a product a rating of at least 4 1/2 stars regardless of its quality. But I also don't like the low protest votes, even if I can understand them in order to compensate for the fake or headless top ratings.

    Reading my own opinion I think I am quite generous with my 5 to 6 rating. I hope this is not the beginning of the end.    … Full Review »
  3. Xizor14
    Dec 13, 2019
    10
    The drastic change of setting and pace really set this season up for success, which it handily achieves. Amazing performances from DominiqueThe drastic change of setting and pace really set this season up for success, which it handily achieves. Amazing performances from Dominique Tipper as Naomi across the board. New characters added to the mix really change the plot direction. In addition, the show has never looked better as the production value has ramped up.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »