5 lines of text on the same image, then 5 more on the next one, and again 5 more lines of text on the previous one are a bit boring. I don't think a simple change of expression costs a lot.
You know the drill if he did that. The things that will be written here will be along the lines of "They are all the same renders and he is unnecessarily inflating render count to make it look like he is working hard but infact this is all a devious scheme on his part. Why does he need to make such superfluous renders. Next thing we will see is Sophia opening and closing a door and walking through it from 5 different angles. These renders add nothing to the story and people here are dumb to not realise that he is just lying and dragging out scenes to make more money, 230 renders is already a big scene, no other game requires so many renders to tell a scene why does he need to make so many pointless renders" and so on. I have been far more respectful in this comment than the general language that is used in this thread for him.
Now personally i too felt the same way as you. It was very recognisable that the same render was used again and again. It is normally not L&P's style to use the same render again and again for long conversations. He tends to slightly change expressions and subtle changes in pose. But the general masses don't want it. He is intentionally cutting it short and keep the renders to the point as much as possible. He has even cut down the intro and outro that we had for each scene reflecting Sophia's thoughts. It is an abrupt cut or transition from one scene to another.
i used always say in this thread the those so called unnecessary and superfluous renders are important to the scene as they enhance the quality of the visual storytelling and scene flow. But none here was with me on that idea. People who liked those renders never spoke up. People who hated it were very vocal. Ultimately L&P has started to actively cut down such renders. Which is sad and as you noticed it depreciates the immersion.
The fact that the ones with actual understanding of the game don't speak and those that just want porn are way too vocal. This is what it has lead to.
Here is L&P's message from when I mentioned to him after v0.150 that the Cathy and Andy scene seemed pretty lacklustre and that the same renders were used for such long conversation.