'The Expanse' Season 4's biggest highlight is eventual coming together of Belters and New Terra
This article contains spoilers for Season 4
The latest and fourth season of 'The Expanse' is all about the quest for transhumanism while Holden and Co. struggle to weather foreign planets and proto-molecules trying to sabotage everything they are fighting for. Amidst all of that crazy science and action taking place, it is the coming together of the two primary groups of rivals — the Belters and the New Terra — trying to take over Ilus and establish their authority on the planet, to fight the big bad that steals the show.
The focal problem that most of the action revolves around in Season 4 of 'The Expanse' is the evergoing struggle of human biology trying to survive in an environment best suited for the extraterrestrial. While humans aren't used to breathing the same air as other planetary species, it automatically becomes difficult for them to build a life on Ilus. Things definitely don't help the populace on Ilus — the Belters, when the RCE or New Terra barge in on their territory, trying to do what would be called on Earth a brazen urbanizing or gentrifying of their community.
With the atmosphere making it difficult for both the sections of human populace on Ilus to breathe, even with the partial oxygen that allows them to function properly, the fight for survival soon turns into a fight amongst themselves. The New Terra wants to establish their authority on Ilus and the materials it possesses, and the Belters aren't ready to give their land up. They feel threatened under the elaborate machines and mechanism of the New Terra, who even though probably mean well under Chrisjen's leadership, but come off as a fascist government trying to take over another community's life and livelihood.
While certain crucial plot points from the novel are definitely borrowed to escalate the story, the execution is somewhat swift without really delving deep into why the twists happened, or what the repercussions could amount to. It is only when Ilus, which is practically a colossal barren rock with alien particles sticking out, starts turning on the humans trying to make a home out of it, that these humans unite to fight back. Particularly, a giant explosion on Ilus is what brings the two forces of human societies together and that's right where things pace up to give us 'The Expanse' we have loved and adored so avidly since it hit the SyFy network back in 2015.
Sadly, we couldn't get much of a foray into what happens after the two join forces or how they overcome the explosive situation on Ilus due to the permissible episodes that were granted for early screening and press purposes ending right at this point. But it's safe to conclude that after five long episodes of just basically two rival parties fighting and holding each other off, this beautiful coming together is what has proved to be the highlight of the show so far.
'The Expanse' Season 4 premieres on Friday, December 13, only on Amazon Prime.