[Spoiler (click to open)]* Bobbie isn't really in book 4, so they got to write new material for her and showcase Bobbie the human, rather than just Bobbie the Marine, which Frankie Adams enjoyed doing. Ty Franck (one half of James S.A. Corey) talks about the Roci landing for the first time on a planet, having to redesign the ship and adding landing struts that come down. He also mentions the brutal physical aspect Belters go through to prepare for being planet-side, a side of Belter life we hadn't seen before and how Dominique Tipper was committed to it.
* Regarding adapting the books to the show, Ty says they have a rule when writing the books, which is also true for the show's writers' room: The best idea wins, the only thing that matters is that they make a thing that's good. They don't fight about whose idea should win. Naren Shankar (showrunner) praised the two authors for not being 'precious' about things and willing to change chronology, folding character arcs into different characters and moving storylines around. This season they took a character that they didn't include in an earlier season for the storyline in the book for that season, and pulled that character into this season. They say book readers will be very excited when this character shows up, because we thought the writers forgot about this character.
* Cas Anvar says there's a nice evolution between Alex and Naomi in season 4, that has to do with the huge shift that they're taking, going to the planet. Dom says it's the first time you really see the Roci crew as a family, kind of settled in who they are and their relations with each other. They start off in a lovely family dynamic, but you know it's all gonna go downhill, basically.
* They talk a bit about Murtry (played by Burn Gorman)- the character has a certain perspective, one of the things they like doing in the show is not having anybody who is just evil for the sake of being evil, everyone who's in conflict is there because they think they're doing the right thing. You see in the clip that was released the Earth corporation, the Belters and the Roci crew, that gives you a good sense of what a core conflic in the season is going to be about.
* According to Steven Strait, season four will have a different tone- book four is kind of a gear change and has a different flavor to it. The show approaches that also on a technical level with lens changes- they use anamorphic lenses that are kind of wide screen and gives a frontier look to it. But there's also a gritty intimacy with the Roci crew and the people on New Terra/Ilus. You move into this vast and different space, and yet you kind of delve deeper into each character as well. The world does get much larger, and yet it also gets far more intimate at the same time.
highlights: [Spoiler (click to open)] * About Naomi-Amos relationship: it won't be like it was before, because of the break of trust, it switches something in Amos' psyche, but there are little nods to their relationship before. Amos' emotional journey is massive on the show.
* Alex is the most mysterious about his backstory, he seems just the chill and relaxed guy. You learn more in s3, you meet his family and realize the tension his family was under and what he's been going through. It seems like it's resolved in s3, but he doesn't have his closure and doesn't deal well with causing pain to someone in his life, it gets re-explored.
* Dom has a desire to break Naomi down a bit, to see her in a state of complete devastation, something that challenges her strength and how it would shape her.
* Alex has no intimate relationships, he just has the Roci. Cas would love to explore that, Alex isn't like Amos, he wouldn't go on a bender or to a brothel. He doesn't think Alex knows how to handle connecting to someone, but he really wants to.
Highlights: [Spoiler (click to open)] * Shohreh loves the scene by the water where Avasarala recruits Bobbie and tells her she's not her enemy, it speaks to Shohreh, she says we're not each other's enemies and together we're more powerful. Frankie is proud she survived playing Bobbie, because it's very physically grueling.
* Shohreh doesn't read the books, she doesn't want spoilers to affect her performance. She talks about not having to sanitizing the curses now on Amazon. Frankie says they'd be fools not to have Bobbie and Avasarala in a scene together in season 4, they'll be some communication between them. One of the action scenes Frankie does is the best action scene they've done on The Expanse.
* The show is about the people of the world, Shohreh thinks it should have been on Amazon from day one and shown to the people of the world. Before, she had to tape the episodes and send them to the UK to her brothers and mother so they could see it too, now they can all watch it simultaneously.
* They talk about the strong female characters in the show, Frankie as Polynesian didn't grow up being represented much on the world stage, beyond Lilo and Nani (Lilo & Stitch), she's experienced their reaction now to her succeeding. For Shohreh as a woman, she wants to send a message out 'you don't have to listen to what you've been told, think, vote, your voice matters'. When watching, people can go if they did it, we can do it too.
Highlights: [Spoiler (click to open)] * They talk about how global the fans are, that it's fitting because it's a global narrative. The story is very universal and human, a lot of the issues dealt with in the show are mirrored in real life. Despite the books being written several years ago, they can connect to current affairs and hit on a very intimate level, it might mean we're destined to doing the same stuff over and over again.
* They talk about Holden's celebrity status, he becomes a figurehead people project themselves on, it does play a role his season.
* This season there are challenges and struggles that the Roci crew face that are stronger than any internal ones, it forces them to bind together as a family, in a way they're closer and stronger than they were before.