'The Expanse' Is Back! Season 4 Launches Today on Amazon Prime

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A new planet filled with solar system refugees sets the stage for the fourth season of "The Expanse," premiering today (Dec. 13) on Amazon Prime.

It has been a long and winding road (through space) for the crew of the Rocinante, the starring ship of "The Expanse." The show has also gone through a dramatic leap: This will be the futuristic interplanetary saga's first run on Amazon's streaming platform, after initially airing on the Syfy channel but getting canceled after the third season. 

You can watch Season 4 of "The Expanse" for free with an Amazon Prime subscription, or you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to the service.

Related: 'The Expanse' Season 4 Premieres This Week: Here's What to Expect.

Actors Dominique Tipper (right) and Steven Strait (left) from the science fiction series "The Expanse" appear in a scene from the trailer of the show's fourth season. (Image credit: Amazon)

In essence, the show explores what the solar system might look like if people began living away from Earth. There's also an alien problem, and the way powerful figures weaponize this life-form, known as the "protomolecule," has played a key part in the story. As a trailer for Season 4 reveals, this alien "protomolecule" shows no signs of going away.

The new season follows Capt. James Holden (Steven Strait), asteroid belt "belter" Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper), Earthling Amos Burton (Wes Chatham) and Martian pilot Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar). The crew accepts a request from U.N. Secretary General Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) to check out the situation unfolding on "New Terra," the newly adopted home of several refugees who come from the asteroid belt. This world lies beyond a wormhole network called the "Ring," which played a big role last season. 

If you want a refresher on the plot, Amazon Prime put together a video with the help of filmmaker Kevin Smith. Warning: There is some adult language in this video.

If the trailer is any indication, this new chapter will keep on delivering the goods on alien danger, space romance and Aghdashloo's captivating on-screen presence. The series shows no signs of slowing down: Amazon Prime already greenlighted a fifth season for the series.

Filming New Terra scenes means the show now boasts a brand-new location. The uncharted planet was shot on a frigid, barren landscape of a quarry outside of Toronto. But there will still be plenty of spaceship interiors for fans to enjoy, if the trailers are any indication of what's in store.

All four seasons of "The Expanse" are now available on Amazon Prime. 

Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

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Doris Elin Urrutia
Doris Elin Urrutia
Contributing Writer

Doris is a science journalist and Space.com contributor. She received a B.A. in Sociology and Communications at Fordham University in New York City. Her first work was published in collaboration with London Mining Network, where her love of science writing was born. Her passion for astronomy started as a kid when she helped her sister build a model solar system in the Bronx. She got her first shot at astronomy writing as a Space.com editorial intern and continues to write about all things cosmic for the website. Doris has also written about microscopic plant life for Scientific American’s website and about whale calls for their print magazine. She has also written about ancient humans for Inverse, with stories ranging from how to recreate Pompeii’s cuisine to how to map the Polynesian expansion through genomics. She currently shares her home with two rabbits. Follow her on twitter at @salazar_elin.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • lcarlson
    Thank you, thank you, thank you for this article! We are about to start watching Season 4, and this article is now required reading for my household, because I am NOT going to play the "Who is that, again? What does this group do? How come these guys are over here" game!!!
    Reply