The Expanse

:

Season 4
Season #: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
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
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User Reviews

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  1. MrNiceGaius
    Feb 2, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand 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.    … Expand
  2. mortendynamo
    Jan 1, 2020
    4
    A total **** of charter development that does not make any sense. It should have stopped at season 3. This is just waste of time.
  3. cylun
    Feb 4, 2021
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Personally, I see season 4 as the weakest season of the whole show. The whole story pacing is decelerated in this outer star system without a good reason. The whole sub conflict between Holden's crew and Murtry doesn't seem authentic or natural. It has a manufactured taste to it like it is only plot armor because they needed to fill a whole season. It doesn't seem to influence the character arcs of Holden's crew either. It has no overall significance to the whole plot except for a minor discussion during the election campaign on Earth. The story around Bobbie Draper gives a good contrast to this lethargic process in the outer system. Unfortunately, her character isn't told in a consistent and authentic way. At least, it doesn't fill its full potential. Bobbie's complete shift in moral has a manufactured taste to it. The story doesn't thoroughly show why her morals should change and change back. It could have been told differently in such a way that Bobbie's suspicion is her main drive to get into the black market crew and not the need for a job or for money - as it is communicated in various scenes. This would have been a more authentic way to lead into the next season as well. These two issues define this season and fortunately solely this season. This is why I can not agree that it reaches any of the other seasons' quality.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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
  1. 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.
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  2. 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.
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  3. 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.
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