WiC Watches: The Expanse season 4

Image: The Expanse/Amazon

Episode 408: “The One Eyed Man”

Holden has become the only person who can see on an entire planet. Both the Belters and the RCE rely on him for nearly everything. People from both groups must remain where they are at all times lest they risk walking into a slug covered wall. That seems to be the case, as the episode opens with Holden placing a body atop a small pile of them, telling Naomi how another Belter had walked away only to find death. He is then forced to break the news to the persons loved ones, something we can see he’s done too many times in the previous days. The world is dark to all but Holden, and some cannot cope, one of those being Amos. With his sight gone, Amos seems to be slowly losing his sanity, and even walks away from the safe zones, forcing Holden to coax him back to his spot. Amos is used to being the one who protects, not the one who needs protecting, and it’s causing a major identity crisis. Like a machine without a prime function, Amos doesn’t have a purpose anymore, and it’s slowly killing him.

Avasarala is faced with the fallout of the attempted capture of Macros Inaros, “fallout” meaning a dip in poll numbers. We get a vintage rant from Crisjen, full of colorful language, bashing her two campaign managers. It’s only when she goes off script during her speech at the memorial that we finally see the very human side of this leader of Earth. This side of Avasarala has been what defines her drive for power. It’s what makes us cheer for her, and love her genuineness. This show does a great job in showing how power corrupts, and the heartfelt speech Avasarala gives to the grieving families goes against that theme in a bright way. Even her opposing candidate, Nancy Gao (Lily Gao), remarks on the Secratary General’s words. It’s a shame when we discover that Crisjen leaked classified photos from New Terra to shift the spotlight away from her. It undoes all the good her previous actions did, but that’s pretty standard in this story about the underside of politics.

Remember how Bobbie had that strict Marine code that she was forced to break? Well she’s decided to live by that again now that it involves moving military weapons. It’s a bit more like Bobbie to finally start poking and prodding at everything that warrants her attention. The Bobbie we saw just going along with the current didn’t feel right. Bobbie thrives on confrontation. Her ability to control situations that are usually chaotic is unrivaled, and we see her take control of her destiny again, severing ties with her lover and Martin’s gang. Though her purpose is still unclear, Bobbie is too important to sit this one out.

Fred Johnson (Chad L. Coleman) has arrived on Medina station and is immediately greeted with a sucker punch from Drummer. She’s angry with him that he gave Inaros’ position away to the Inners because it led to the deaths of innocent Belters. Fred claims he’s arrived to solve the situation with the Inners, and Drummer makes a point by quitting. Well, it doesn’t exactly make a point at all since Drummer wants more dedication to the people of the Belt, and quitting a leadership position doesn’t help that cause at all. It does, however, allow Drummer to accompany Ashford on a mission to assassinate Inaros.

Eventually, Holden and Elvi discover a cure for everyone’s blindness. It involves injecting everyone with the radiation medication Holden needs to keep the cancer he has from spreading. Immediately spirits in the camp seem to climb, as we see Belters helping RCE members and vice versa. With everyone caring for themselves again, Holden heads up to the surface to discover the ocean has receded, and the ground is now ground again and not sea bed.

Alex and Naomi get the tow cable attached and begin pulling the Barbapiccola into a higher orbit. It’s honestly the first time I’ve ever seen someone get towed in space. While the ships climb, Naomi and Holden share good news with each other over intercom, something very rare for them. With so many defeats and problems, any win is a good thing, and these are two big wins.

Finally, things seem to be looking up for the Rossi crew. That is until the final scene shows Murtry telling one of his soldiers to plant bombs on a ligte shuttle.