4-05. "Oppressor"
Written by Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck
Directed by Jeff Woolnough
First aired 12 December 2019
SYNOPSIS
A flashback reveals Lucia's involvement in the destruction of the RCE shuttle. Lucia and her husband argue over her part in the destruction of the RCE shuttle. Aboard the Roci, Lucia attempts suicide, but Alex saves her.
Avasarala and Gao's first public debate is cut short by a security threat: an unidentified civilian vessel claiming to have engine difficulty suddenly changed course and was headed directly for an Earth asteroid spotter. The ship is finally identified as the Sojourner, which was reported by Belters as destroyed; Avasarala orders its immediate destruction.
On Ilus, tensions between Earthers and Belters escalate, leading to armed combat and hostage-taking. Holden attempts to calm things down by explaining his connection with the Protomolecule, but it only makes matters worse. On the opposite of the planet, an island explodes, creating a massive shock wave that threatens to wipe out the settlement with a tsunami.
ANALYSIS
"Maybe I've just got that kind of face."
In truth, despite Shohreh Aghdashloo's appeal, all of the election scenes are so tedious as to be painful to watch. Meanwhile, the Protomolecule threat continues to escalate; this time it's a global shockwave. And, sad to say, "Holden being Holden" (revealing his Miller visions to everyone) is an awkward mess so embarrassing to watch that, for a bit, I was rooting for Murtry. That said, the argument between Lucia and her husband is quite gripping.
But Wei saves the show with some great one-liners. Seeing Amos bound to his bed, she stands close and murmurs, "You know, in a different context, this could be kinda fun." (Even funnier is Amos' total cluelessness.) Later, Amos and Wei discuss a coming threat. Amos observes, "Watching your ass is always a good idea." Wei: "Oh, you hitting on me?" Amos innocently says, "Not right now." Wei slays with, "Disappointing."
Just for Season 4, I was tempted to add the category of "Most annoying scene." Perfect example: Arjun pestering Chrisjen over her performance in an interview. "Treat the lens as a friend..." Smack!
Best Scene: Murtry defending himself from Holden—"But I'm the bad guy"—is a brilliant bit of writing in a sea of disappointing nonsense.
Best Line: Holden demands that Wei release Amos, who advises, "Don't kill her. She just hasn't figured out her boss is a dick."
Technobabble Alert: It's back to technobabble hell, as an exploding island kicks up multiple technobabble threats to everyone on the opposite side of the planet.
Hard Media "After Show": Steven Strait; Executive Producer Naren Shankar; Dominique Tipper (Naomi Nagata); Wes Chatham (Amos Burton); Burn Gorman (Adolphus Murtry).
SCORE: 