As I age (I’m 71 now), I find that what makes movies and series’ high quality for me is good stories and good character development. That is not all that common, but often comes in “b side” movies that actually don’t cost much. I did like the first Reacher season. And the second wasn’t bad. The third was a bit lame.
I’ve learned that If I want to see a quality movie/show I’ll probably be best served by avoiding sequels.
I even noticed when watching the expanse that the full story really came to an end after three seasons, and then it just became an episodic TV show. I stopped watching with the killer bugs in the cave episode, a few into the fourth season. It lost its spark for me.
But the first few seasons were rather thought provoking.
My husband and I have retreated to older movies, a lot of them British.
The Expanse may be the only TV scifi show that dealt with orbital mechanics and travel time accurately. It was top notch even if it did flag a bit at the end. But the chick that played the Belter war chief, Drummond was an awesome character and worth the price of admission.