The Expanse season 4 will be “darker,” “sexier”

The Expanse is the little sci-fi epic that could. Based on the ongoing series of novels by James S. A. Corey, the show is a little like Game of Thrones in space, checking in with multiple characters spread across the solar system each episode as they vie for control of natural resources being drawn from the asteroid belt beyond Mars. The show had a cult following but not enough mainstream popularity, so SyFy cancelled it after its third season.

But lo, Amazon came to the rescue and will release a fourth season later this year. Cast member Cas Anvar (who plays Martian fighter pilot with a southern drawl Alex Kamal) recently talked to Fandom Spotlight about what fans can expect, and how things will be different. “Amazon is the best home for us,” he said. “In hindsight, being cancelled was the best thing that ever happened to us.” That sounds like something someone who was cancelled would say, but alright.

"Syfy produced a great show with us. It looked good, it really did serve the books, it honored the story and everything, it was a beautiful, high quality show. But we weren’t reaching the audiences that we could reach and it was being done in a format that didn’t serve the kind of show we were: with commercial breaks and the four acts and all that stuff…[With Amazon,] [w]e’re not restricted by time, we don’t have to bang on 47 minutes every episode, we don’t have to worry about commercial breaks. We don’t have the restrictions in terms of content: it’s darker, it’s sexier, it’s a little more gritty, it’s a little more real."

Well, I’d never want to stand in the way of things becoming darker and sexier.

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But seriously, Anvar has a point that fewer restrictions when it comes to episode length and commercial breaks could make for better, more responsive storytelling. And if they can have a bit more sex and violence…well, I’m sure they’ll be responsible about it. “They want this show to be a great show,” Anvar said of Amazon. “They want this show to go to tens of missions of people. They want this to be like their Game of Thrones.”

Not THAT does worry me a bit. Lots of networks are currently trying to make “the next Game of Thrones,” but Amazon has been more blatant than most. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos pretty much demanded that his company produce the heir to the throne. To that end, in addition to picking up The Expanse, Amazon is also making series based on The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time. They are going all in, people.

It’s going to be an interesting time for TV, although I worry that they’re after a hit show first and a good show second. We will see.

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h/t Newsweek