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The Expanse

Gathomas88

Gathomas88

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Anyone else watching this? I just finished the first couple of episodes, and it seems pretty good so far.

It's kind of a crazy mash-up of space opera, neo-noir, mystery, and political intrigue. There's lots of action, and the atmosphere is actually pretty damn dark and violent for something from the SyFy channel.

The basic story seems to be that humanity has moved out into the solar system, but not beyond. Power is divided between two main powers, who are in a Cold War with one another - Earth and Mars. The Earthers are ruled by the UN and are really little more than an extension of the more ultra-Liberal elements of today's society, basically having turned the entire planet into a giant (admittedly, somewhat cushy) welfare state they can barely afford and that they're desperately struggling to maintain. Mars, meanwhile, is essentially a mash-up of the 19th Century United States and 19th Prussia IN SPAAAACCCEE - militarism, personal/industrial efficiency, "manifest destiny," moral superiority, and all. Their goal is to terraform Mars into a new Earth before the Earthers (who they basically view as being decadent and lazy welfare queens) finish wrecking up the place.

The Belters, asteroid miners working out between Mars and Jupiter, are a ragtag periphery underclass technically ruled by Earth, but which tends to be exploited by both sides. There's a Marxist/Anarchist "Revolution" brewing among their population for that exact reason.

Obviously, I'm on team Martian. :mrgreen:

I like how the show avoids heavy-handed judgements on the subject, and actually lets you decide that for yourself.

It's far from perfect, mind you. The special effects are a bit dated (BSG looked better, IMO), and a couple of the stars aren't exactly up to par with the rest of the cast with regard to their acting ability. However, I think the show looks pretty damn promising either way regardless so far.

Good thing too, it's been ages since we've had a decent science fiction show set in space.
 
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I've actually read the books before I even knew it was going to become a TV show. After having watched the first several episodes, I've come to the pretty strong conclusion that this show has staying power and I've recommended both the show and the books to a lot of my friends. The most common comparison seems to be to Battlestar.
 
I haven't watched this yet, but I want to. I've read the books, and I've really enjoyed them. It's a pretty awesome space opera, IMO. I don't go as far as to claim it to be tried-and-true Sci-Fi, but a good space opera has been missing since the days of Firefly (god damned you Fox!!!!). But if the show stays true to the books, then the story certainly has a lot of staying power and can prove to be a really nice addition to the Sci-Fi channel.
 
Gathomas88 said:


Anyone else watching this? I just finished the first couple of episodes, and it seems pretty good so far.

It's kind of a crazy mash-up of space opera, neo-noir, mystery, and political intrigue. There's lots of action, and the atmosphere is actually pretty damn dark and violent for something from the SyFy channel.

The basic story seems to be that humanity has moved out into the solar system, but not beyond. Power is divided between two main powers, who are in a Cold War with one another - Earth and Mars. The Earthers are ruled by the UN and are really little more than an extension of the more ultra-Liberal elements of today's society, basically having turned the entire planet into a giant (admittedly, somewhat cushy) welfare state they can barely afford and that they're desperately struggling to maintain. Mars, meanwhile, is essentially a mash-up of the 19th Century United States and 19th Prussia IN SPAAAACCCEE - militarism, personal/industrial efficiency, "manifest destiny," moral superiority, and all. Their goal is to terraform Mars into a new Earth before the Earthers (who they basically view as being decadent and lazy welfare queens) finish wrecking up the place.

The Belters, asteroid miners working out between Mars and Jupiter, are a ragtag periphery underclass technically ruled by Earth, but which tends to be exploited by both sides. There's a Marxist/Anarchist "Revolution" brewing among their population for that exact reason.

Obviously, I'm on team Martian. :mrgreen:

I like how the show avoids heavy-handed judgements on the subject, and actually lets you decide that for yourself.

It's far from perfect, mind you. The special effects are a bit dated (BSG looked better, IMO), and a couple of the stars aren't exactly up to par with the rest of the cast with regard to their acting ability. However, I think the show looks pretty damn promising either way regardless so far.

Good thing too, it's been ages since we've had a decent science fiction show set in space.
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I was actually one of the people who, I don't know what you call it, was studied/polled to see if it should be put to market, I got paid for it... i didn't know it actually made it out... I had to watch the first episode and some other random stuff hooked up to all these devices... I got like a 98.5% attention rate xD which was really good ( it means I was paying attention 98.5% of the time) family that did it with me had like 90%...

watching the pilot I thought it was OKAY... I mentioned I probably wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but if it was convenient I would probably watch it.
I like the detective in the hat...
 
celticwar17 said:
I was actually one of the people who, I don't know what you call it, was studied/polled to see if it should be put to market, I got paid for it... i didn't know it actually made it out... I had to watch the first episode and some other random stuff hooked up to all these devices... I got like a 98.5% attention rate xD which was really good ( it means I was paying attention 98.5% of the time) family that did it with me had like 90%...

watching the pilot I thought it was OKAY... I mentioned I probably wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but if it was convenient I would probably watch it.
I like the detective in the hat...
Click to expand...

Yeah. Thomas Jane definitely seems to be the best actor on the show so far. The (weirdly hot for her age) Indian woman with the 3 pack a day voice is a close second.

Freighter officer guy started out okay, but I pretty quickly realized that he doesn't have much range in his acting. That gets kind of distracting.
 
I am watching this show with my wife and we are both pretty big fans. I heard that Syfy has already agreed to a 2nd season, which should tell you something about the staying power of the show. Looking forward to the new episode tonight.
 
I hate the show... cause they not releasing them fast enough!!..

Officially of course I cant see it here... but I have heard good things about the show..
 
MrT said:
I am watching this show with my wife and we are both pretty big fans. I heard that Syfy has already agreed to a 2nd season, which should tell you something about the staying power of the show. Looking forward to the new episode tonight.
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I don't know if they're doing a book/season thing like Game of Thrones or not. But there are 5 books out now, with 4 more planned, so it should be a long series.
 
Eh. Kind of boring episode tonight, especially in comparison to the last couple of weeks.

Shame, because I was trying to get my dad into it, and he straight up fell asleep. lol
 
Watched the first two episodes, decided I really didn't care about the story or any of the characters and am leaving it at that.
 
Enjoying it. It's been a long time since I saw a decent space opera, and this is good. I didn't really get into BSG, but I'm pretty hooked by this one.
 
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