WiC Watches: The Expanse season 4

Photo: The Expanse: Season 4.. Image Courtesy Amazon Studios

Episode 405: “Oppressor”

Now that Holden has made his move, it’s time to get things back on track. It’s time for the Belters and the RCE to put their differences aside and work together to survive on this alien planet. Yeah, right.

As Holden arrives back at the camp, he confronts the RCE guards about releasing Amos. He eventually gets Chandra to release Amos, with some help from Amos himself.

On a side note, the chemistry between actors Wes Chatam and Jess Salgueiro is excellent. The way their voices go a touch higher and their body language relaxes around one another really sells their connection. Both characters are tough fighters. To see their soft sides come out when they’re together gives them added depth. At one point, Amos gives advice to Chandra during a shootout, and it helps her stay safe. She’s so off put by his genuine care for her, even in this most extreme of situations.

Speaking of shootouts, that’s exactly what erupts when the remaining Belter insurgency takes two of the RCE guards hostage. Some extras get killed and Murtry reveals his ultimate plan for the Belter squatters: He intends to put all of them in stasis until his mission on New Terra is complete. He divulges all of this while hiding behind a barricade with Holden, Amos and Chandra. Holden intends to see Murtry stand trial for the murders he’s committed on New Terra. So I guess it’s best if your opposition knows exactly what your plans are for them?

Eventually, the bullets stop flying and the two sides meet in the middle with Holden between them. He tries to mediate by explaining how dangerous the planet is for all of them. He even tries to explain his connections with the proto-molecule and the ruins left by its creators. It’s not surprising when many don’t believe him after he tells them of Miller and how he’s turning on all of the old machines within the ruins. His pleas for evacuation fall on deaf ears as the Belters refuse to leave and the RCE won’t leave unless the Belters go with them.

Back on the Rocinante, Lucia nearly dies when her wound begins to bleed and she’s found unconscious, floating in her room. Following an argument with her husband regarding the safety of her daughter, she becomes suicidal and tries to deny treatment for her wounds. Alex and Naomi are forced to save her with some risky surgery. In a matter of minuets she goes from wanting to abandon her family to helping Naomi with her work.

In the final minutes of the episode, Alex picks up strange readings from the planet’s surface, and we see a shot of the Rociniante in orbit with what looks like a massive mushroom cloud sprouting up on the planet below. The squabbles of the humans are about to be dwarfed by a true disaster.