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The Expanse S1 on Amazon Prime

FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
Just started watching The Expanse now that it's on Amazon Prime and I can't tell you how much I like it so far!

I love hard-science Scifi and this definitely does a good job of utilizing science to drive the fiction. I love the fact that instead of ignoring physics when it inconvenient to the storytelling, the real world is an integral part of the storyline.

The world building feels robust and complete with hitting you over the head with the fact this is "the future".

Finally the characters feel real, like they are making real decisions and not those convenient to the plot. For example while initially appearing to be a "bad guy" I am coming to appreciate the choices the UN undersecretary makes, though not nice or easy, they appear to be the necessary path.

Jake
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Comments

  • I only watched the first five episodes, but I really, really liked it. Need to finish it up and then watch season 2 when it comes on!
  • Is it worth getting amazon prime to watch this and High Castle? Has anyone watched that by the way?
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Expanse might be on non-US netflix. I loved both the series and the books, with the books continuing to improve as the series goes on.

    I've heard good things about High Castle but I haven't seen it yet. If nothing else I get 2 day shipping with prime :P
  • FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
    And if you're a car guy, with Prime, you get The Grand Tour with the former Top Gear trio.
  • FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
    Oh and one more thing I like about the Expanse...the bridge is at the center of the ship where it friggin belongs....
  • FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
    edited January 2017
    Finished up season 1 and while I normally like shorter season formats, 10 episodes felt way to short in this case, which left the final episode feeling more like a mid-season climax than a resolved season....anyway since we don't have cable, guess we'll need to wait for S2 to be on Amazon...hopefully it will happen a bit quicker this time.

    I did find one nit-pick about the "science" part of the show, LOL. In the 5th episode, Holden is looking for coffee in cabinets on the Rosi. When he opens the cabinet doors, everything is neatly placed and ordered as if you were opening a cabinet at your grandmothers, definitely not what the inside of your cabinets would look like if they'd gone through periods of weightlessness then maneuvering followed by acceleration....

    Jake
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    It is a martian ship, well designed for all sorts of tumble. You bet someone set up that coffee to stay in place!

    They set up season 1 to go about half way though the first book, and season 2 takes place in the second half. I agree it could of used a couple more episodes to breathe.
  • FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
    Lol, maybe magnetic strips on the bottom of the bags?

    I ordered the book off Amazon, hopefully I like it...haven't read a good Sci-fi book in a loooonnnnggg time.

    Jake
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    The books improve the further in the series you get.

    And I liked the first one.
  • AnlaShokAnlaShok Democrat From Hell
    Just watched the first episode of season 2. Excellent!
  • PJHPJH The Lovely Thing
    Amazing show! Pretty much just what I have waited all these years. I have to say I didn't really believe, that we would still see a scifi-show of this caliber anymore on TV, but I'm glad to be wrong! They are showing it on Netflix here, but with a delay, so I'm getting them online. Still have the latter part of the season 2 premiere to watch, but it seems like it's only getting better! I can't wait to see more and I hope that Expanse will be a long lasting show. A-class scifi! :)
  • Dang, with that ringing endorsement I have to watch it now.
  • FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
    Wife bought me S2 on Amazon for Valentines day, so now I'm caught up to the SyFy's airing. Latest episode "Home" was pretty damn good.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    For reference, the series is now at the end of the first book. It is interesting how the seasons are not lining up with the pacing of the books like Game of Thrones. It is a brilliant idea actually as it serves the pacing needed for television story telling. I felt that HBO's GoT started to suffer until they finally surpassed the books.

    I say we open up the thread to discussion about the current TV episodes, so if people are not caught up yet they should avoid the thread. I say keep the thread spoiler free of the books though.
  • HuntSmackerHuntSmacker Firstones Ambassador to Starcraftia
    edited February 2017
    *Emerges from the woodwork*

    I love this show. It's the first show since BSG that feels like proper hard sci-fi. And the B5 vibes are quite strong in this one. Hello, spinning stations, blue uniforms, suits without ties? :D
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    It also shares the epic space-opera of nations with individual character development that B5 had too.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Expanse renewed for a third season!
  • PJHPJH The Lovely Thing
    That's great news. It would've been quite a big surprise if it hadn't been. I feel that it's just really starting properly and getting more interesting and I'm expecting it to continue many more seasons. Especially as the seasons are not even proper normal seasons for a TV-show as they're so short. It's pretty silly to even call them seasons really.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    It seems like high quality television has moved to the half season length (10-13 episodes). This really helps with the pacing imho as there is no need for filler episodes to pad out the season. On the other hand character development is at risk for suffering because there is less screen time. Expanse has been doing a really good job with character development by focusing into short but detailed scenes, especially with Amos. I'm hoping they will do his back story arc which shows up in later books.

    I've always wondered what B5 would look like if it was reedited to 13 episode seasons. It's on my bucket list.

    My favorite two scenes from this week episode: Cas hiding the ship and setting up the computer to track and listen to traffic, then how his eyes darted around going "ok, what next? erm, how long will this take?"

    And “With all due respect, Madame, where are you going with this?” “Wherever I goddamn like!” Avasarala <3

    It took me a bit longer to warm up to TV Avasarala than book Avasarala, but syfy has lighten up on their language requirements for season 2 so her delightful fowl mouth quips have more chances to shine.

  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    image

    Best scene
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    edited April 2017
    “I’ve found a way out— there’s a maintenance crawl on the
    other side of that wall; it should lead us to the elevator shaft.”
    “That is not going to work”
    “Right, you’d never make that climb.”
    “Jesus Christ, not because I’m old!”

    It’s going to be a long nine months. At least we’re sliding smoothly into Doctor Who season.
  • PJHPJH The Lovely Thing
    I'm wondering why some TV-shows have such long brakes. Short seasons and insanely long brakes. Me not like.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Because the market prefers shorter, tighter seasons instead of filler episodes. Netflix helped change that.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    Shows with high production values, such as this, require a lot of work. So yeah, we might have less episodes than a 20 episode season, but they still take a long time to make.
  • RickRick Sector 14 Studios
    The Expanse is probably the best SciFi since B5...well, there was that BSG thing too, I suppose...
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    BSG got weaker with each progressing season, opposite of most series. Season 1 of BSG and the miniseries was some of the best television sci fi ever.
  • DarthCaligulaDarthCaligula Elite Ranger
    Yeah, the first season of BSG was just so good. The second season was all right, but it really did just go downhill. It became pretty clear to me that they didn't really know what they wanted to do, and I felt like it was just turning into a soap opera. That's why I never finished the show, and don't have any desire to go back. But that first season was just so good.

    I've never seen this show. Maybe I'll have to give it a chance, but maybe I'm too much of a snob now and will turn my elitist nose up.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    I would put the expanse very close to the top, especially with contemporary viewing expectations. S1 BSG is probably the last great space sci-fi series before this one (as much as I love KillJoys). It helps that the general plot outlines are already established int he book, and the authors are involved with the script writing and production. At times the details deliciously differ from the book, but this is almost always to the advantage of the medium.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    I fell in love with this show during Season 1, then marathon-viewed all of Season 2 during a flight from New York to Las Vegas. With few exceptions, I agree that it is simply one of the best "Long burn" scifi shows I've ever seen. There are so many subtle details built into the show's world during each episode, with so many layers of interaction.

    The only issue I have with it is Steven Strait as Holden, who I feel still plays his character somewhat flat compared to everyone else. That his character is pivotal to the show makes it a big deal, but his ability to portray his character's genuine commitment to his "cause" offsets this somewhat.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    I've seen this alot. The shirtless scenes make up for it.
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