Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, December 13, and Saturday, December 14. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
The Expanse (Amazon, Friday, 3:01 a.m., complete fourth season): Once dead (thanks a lot, SyFy), The Expanse now lives again—and things look dark in the best, most entertaining way.
Here’s Zack Handlen on the show’s excellent fourth season, which arrives today in full on Amazon:
On The Expanse, every choice has weight. Sometimes literally. Early in the show’s compelling fourth season, a character decides to leave her spaceship home and go planetside. It’s a decision her crewmates have made multiple times before, but in Naomi Nagata’s (Dominique Tipper) case, there are special circumstances. As a Belter, Naomi was born and raised in low-gravity environments, which means that her body hasn’t built up the necessary muscle mass to endure planetary gravity. The series hasn’t lost its sense of scope since it left the SyFy channel for Amazon Prime. If anything, it’s broadened its horizons, taking in new worlds and the political strife of multiple systems. Yet a small but meaningful amount of tension is generated out of wondering if a person can walk across level ground without collapsing.
Naomi’s struggles, and the attention paid to those struggles, is emblematic of what makes The Expanse so effective. The show’s canny use of consequences ensures that its wilder sci-fi concepts exist in a context that grounds them without diminishing their impact. Even more importantly, those consequences always exist for narrative purposes. Information is never introduced simply for its own sake, but rather to ensure that the viewer is constantly aware of the cost of all this space travel and terraforming. Unlike the pulp fantasy of Star Wars or the utopian vision of Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Expanse is a fictional future that takes what we already know about humanity and the systems we cling to, and just gives us more room to fuck everything up.
That’s a long excerpt, but it’s a great review of a great show, and you should read and watch accordingly. Amazon, which has already renewed the series for a fifth season, would really like it if you would, even if you’ve never watched before:
Regular coverage
The Mandalorian (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
Steven Universe Future (Cartoon Network, Saturday, 8 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, Saturday, 11:29 p.m.): host Scarlett Johansson, musical guest Niall Horan
Wild cards
Forky Asks A Question (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): We mean this most sincerely: Forky Asks A Question is legitimately excellent.
Last week’s installment, “What Is Love?” was its best yet, but they’ve all been great, and each short is so, well, short that you could binge them all before you finish that sandwich/coffee/whatever you’re eating or drinking at the moment. Yes, yes Baby Yoda is great, but do yourself a favor once you’ve Mandalorian-ed and head on over to this little gem.
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Yes, yes Baby Yoda is great, but do yourself a favor once you’ve Mandalorian-ed and head on over to this little gem.
AV Club has been every voice you have ever heard inside your head!
The Expanse (Amazon, Friday, 3:01 a.mHa! I checked at around 4:30 this afternoon (West Coast time) and it was already up.
It’s weird, all the scenes on Ilus are letterboxed while everything else is fullscreen.
I thought I noticed something strange about episode 1 but couldn’t put my finger on it.Also, an awful lot of fades from one scene into the next.
I know, right? I kept expecting a commercial.
I kept checking all night and The Expanse went up for me at 11pm cst. Just watched the first three eps. Bobbi Draper could have her own show. Hell, Drummer and Ashford could have their own show. Double Hell, Amos could have his own show. I love this show.
Speaking of brilliant shows cancelled moronically, you’re invited to help Lodge 49 get resurrected too!
It looks like a great weekend to stay home, shop online and binge watch.
Are there going to be Expanse recaps? If not can we get a discussion space?
I was wondering the same, it seems just the pre-air review of the whole season is what we are getting. I’ve only watched the 1st episode of this new season so far and waiting.
“You are cordially invited to enter The Expanse”My wife extends that same invitation a couple times a year. Usually as a birthday gift or for Christmas
Hopefully this isn’t a time where Christmas comes early.
I finally started watching The Expanse. Only six episodes in, but I am absolutely hooked. It’s everything I want in Sci-Fi, but harder. The gore is done tastefully (in that it’s not just for gore’s sake), the humour is fantastic (Space Mormons!) and the space ship combat being rendered the way it is has been a treat. I can’t wait to dig into more.
For the second time, this brilliant show has released a season near the end of the year after most publications have released their year-end lists for best television. And, for the second time, this brilliant show has been largely ignored in those lists. This is unforgivable!
I’m probably not the first to ask this, but when is this show going to go back to it’s roots and become an MMO?