Season Analysis

The Expanse

Season 4 Analysis

Season Woke Score

out of 10

Season Overview

With the Ring Gates now open to thousands of new planets, a blood-soaked gold rush begins, igniting new conflicts between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. Meanwhile, on one unexplored planet, the Rocinante crew gets caught in a violent clash between an Earth mining corporation and desperate Belter settlers as deadly, new threats from the protomolecule emerge.

Season Review

Season 4 focuses on humanity's first colonization attempt through the Ring Gates, creating a microcosm of historical struggles for a new audience. The plot heavily centers on the conflict between the desperate, marginalized Belter settlers on the planet Ilus and the powerful, Earth-backed corporate mining security forces. This framing of the Earther corporation as the arrogant, imperial oppressor and the Belters as the heroic victims is the narrative's primary engine. The show features a plethora of highly competent women in top political, military, and scientific roles across every faction—Earth's UN, Mars' military, and the OPA. While the female characters are well-written and flawed, their universal dominance in high-level leadership positions is noticeable. Male characters remain competent but often serve as moral support or antagonists to the powerful women. Traditional religious themes are irrelevant to the core political and scientific conflicts, with the narrative focusing on a secular humanist plea for cooperation over factional identity to ensure humanity's survival.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7/10

The core plot focuses on the oppressed Belter identity clashing with the privileged, colonial Earther corporation. The main human villain, the RCE security chief, is a white male figure who embodies corporate and Inner Planet ruthlessness. However, the show's overall message advocates for rejecting *all* tribalism (Earther, Martian, Belter) in favor of a universal human identity.

Oikophobia8/10

The dominant Earth civilization is consistently portrayed as corrupt, overpopulated, and a neo-imperial power attempting to exploit new worlds, framing the home culture as the fundamental source of colonial oppression. The Belter settlers are depicted as the virtuous, anti-colonial refugees seeking freedom from this corrupt system.

Feminism6/10

Powerful women dominate the key political and military leadership positions across the entire solar system, including the UN Secretary-General and the OPA Station Commander. Female characters are highly skilled and rarely shown making mistakes in their professional capacity. Men are not universally emasculated, but the narrative strongly elevates female authority and competence.

LGBTQ+4/10

Alternative sexual relationships, such as the polyamorous structure of the Belter leader Camina Drummer, are included and normalized as part of the established social reality. These relationships exist in the background without being a major plot focus or a subject of in-show lecturing on gender theory. The traditional family unit is neither centered nor explicitly vilified.

Anti-Theism5/10

Traditional religion is absent from the narrative, having been replaced by a secular, humanistic moral framework where the ultimate 'objective truth' is the cosmic, existential threat of the protomolecule and the alien builders. The show does not actively demonize Christianity, but it operates in a spiritual vacuum where secular morality is the only guiding force.