WHAT IS THE EXPANSE?
It's a world building, realistic space opera oft compared to Game of Thrones, since it has several factions, fewer but more fleshed out characters, political intrigue, backstabbing, bloody action, tragedy, personal journeys, conspiracy plus a ot of science. Not boring-ass stuff, just everything is based on actual physics and what's to come based on our horrible 20th/21st century. It's appropriately dark and gritty, but always with a glimmer of hope, with huge amount of emotions. It is both an ongoing bestselling novel-series heading toward the 9th and final book next year, and a television series starting on SyFy (Amazon and Netflix splitting the US/international online rights). From the fourth, Amazon will fully air.
WHAT'S THE STORY?
If Earth is overcrowded and violent now, so imagine it two centuries from now! Places for humans in the Solar System are scares, either on small moons or on space stations, so there's always a fight for resources. Earth is the most populated and politically powerful entity, selfishly burning through more materials. Mars is a now independent militant power united under the goal of creating a sustainable New Earth. The Asteroid Belt holds several stations and small moon colonies, with millions of Belters working hard, mining minerals and ice, barely having any resources and cut from political power, as well as human rights.
And if tensions weren't high enough, something strange is found near Jupiter and a grand conspiracy breaks loose. We follow a small, multi-faction crew caught in the middle of it, and a lot of space action is happening around their ship, with every burn and hard maneuver hurting their fragile bodies. There's a political thread on Earth as things are escalating diplomatically, And there's a disillusioned, corrupt cop takes on a noir-style investigation on Ceres station, going after a missing girl who could connect all dots. Genres clash effortlessly, always entertaining with humans in the middle. In time there are more sci-fi elements (emphasis on science and less on the fiction) and some existential questions in our place in the big empty. The story is always evolving and never gets stuck, boring or repetitive.
WHY THE TV SERIES IS SO GOOD?
It's the best damn world-builder since Game of Thrones. While the Solar System is certainly larger than Westeros, there are fewer parties, less sex and violence for the sake of it, and deeper character study, solid backgrounds and good-old super-impressive space stuff that makes this space opera tick.
Best pacing in television. It's not about Nolan-like telegraphed twists or big reveals, but The Expanse does a great job at building tension before releasing it at unpredictable moments. They actually keep getting better at this, season 2 was even better than 1, and 3 is just great right now.
Rock solid cast. Even though most are character actors and some not even B+ level, as an ensemble, they deliver their parts with supreme confidence. Each character are given lines they can handle, and backstories, motivations and emotions click just right between them. It's enormous joy to follow the good guys, the bad guys and those in between.
Best sci-fi visuals on TV. Ever. Forget Klingoons standing on the bridge at warp speed: if you ever dived deep under or felt car/plane burnout to your gut, imagine yourself tossed around like a rag doll at 2/5 G burns, realistic space battles, depressurization and so forth. Action scenes follow real world physics, ships and stations and built based on that as well, guns are realistic and all the small visual details, differences make The Expanse great. Super impressive stuff!
Beltalowda! Belters have been taken advantage of for generations, have sickly bodies and weak bones from working in zero G, but are super tough, have their own creole (semi-language) and pride, and a very un-Earth sense of time, morals, view on possession and a sense of brotherhood. They are enduring the most whatever happens between big political parties, but will they stand to suffer forever?
SO SHOULD I WATCH IT?
Damn should, even if you're not interesting in sci-f, it's just damn good television and of course it's a bestselling novel series for a reason. Space explorer Amazon head Jeff Bezos (who personally announced that Amazon saves it after SyFy cancelled it) and George R.R. Martin (author of Game of Thrones) both find the books and the series great.
It's exciting, emotional and the show is great to look at, and while it'll never reach The Wire status or Game of Thrones budget, I confidently say: you'll quickly catch-up with the ongoing third season ending July 2018. There are some inconsistencies of course and may start slow for you (after all it's complex and missing like super bloody, gory, nude filled stuff to entertain), but give it a good 4-5 episodes and it will grow on you. Each season is better. It always gets better.
WHERE CAN I READ IT?
Wherever books are found, silly. Besides stores, you can obviously look it up at the Amazon Kindle Store for example, first few books are at a bargain price right now.
WHERE CAN I WATCH IT?
The first 3 seasons have been aired on SyFy, but once this season is concluded, it's officially heading to Amazon. Which already offers the first two seasons per episode or for free if you subscribe to Amazon Prime Video in the US and in some markets. Whereas first two seasons can be found in the Netflix catalog internationally. There may be local deals and airing in your country, use Google.
Don't be alarmed by SyFy (that brought Battlestar Galactica to screen): The Expanse is fully financed and developed by award-winning Alcon Television Group, so quality is independent from where it's airing. The reason SyFy had to give it up was low ratings and they only had first run linear rights, so their success was solely depending on ratings whereas you could watch it on Amazon or Netflix (with good numbers actually) whenever you liked. Since streaming services are the future, and The Expanse is set in it, I think it's best suited at Amazon anyway.
DISCUSS THE NOVEL AND SERIES FREELY, JUST USE SPOILER TAGS
Since The Expanse is still gaining popularity the the show doesn't have a huge live fan base, please use spoiler tags whenever you discuss story elements or if a YouTube video title gives away too much. Let's allow noobs to pick up on the novels and series and discuss it just as freely as veterans.
It's a world building, realistic space opera oft compared to Game of Thrones, since it has several factions, fewer but more fleshed out characters, political intrigue, backstabbing, bloody action, tragedy, personal journeys, conspiracy plus a ot of science. Not boring-ass stuff, just everything is based on actual physics and what's to come based on our horrible 20th/21st century. It's appropriately dark and gritty, but always with a glimmer of hope, with huge amount of emotions. It is both an ongoing bestselling novel-series heading toward the 9th and final book next year, and a television series starting on SyFy (Amazon and Netflix splitting the US/international online rights). From the fourth, Amazon will fully air.
WHAT'S THE STORY?
If Earth is overcrowded and violent now, so imagine it two centuries from now! Places for humans in the Solar System are scares, either on small moons or on space stations, so there's always a fight for resources. Earth is the most populated and politically powerful entity, selfishly burning through more materials. Mars is a now independent militant power united under the goal of creating a sustainable New Earth. The Asteroid Belt holds several stations and small moon colonies, with millions of Belters working hard, mining minerals and ice, barely having any resources and cut from political power, as well as human rights.
And if tensions weren't high enough, something strange is found near Jupiter and a grand conspiracy breaks loose. We follow a small, multi-faction crew caught in the middle of it, and a lot of space action is happening around their ship, with every burn and hard maneuver hurting their fragile bodies. There's a political thread on Earth as things are escalating diplomatically, And there's a disillusioned, corrupt cop takes on a noir-style investigation on Ceres station, going after a missing girl who could connect all dots. Genres clash effortlessly, always entertaining with humans in the middle. In time there are more sci-fi elements (emphasis on science and less on the fiction) and some existential questions in our place in the big empty. The story is always evolving and never gets stuck, boring or repetitive.
WHY THE TV SERIES IS SO GOOD?
It's the best damn world-builder since Game of Thrones. While the Solar System is certainly larger than Westeros, there are fewer parties, less sex and violence for the sake of it, and deeper character study, solid backgrounds and good-old super-impressive space stuff that makes this space opera tick.
Best pacing in television. It's not about Nolan-like telegraphed twists or big reveals, but The Expanse does a great job at building tension before releasing it at unpredictable moments. They actually keep getting better at this, season 2 was even better than 1, and 3 is just great right now.
Rock solid cast. Even though most are character actors and some not even B+ level, as an ensemble, they deliver their parts with supreme confidence. Each character are given lines they can handle, and backstories, motivations and emotions click just right between them. It's enormous joy to follow the good guys, the bad guys and those in between.
Best sci-fi visuals on TV. Ever. Forget Klingoons standing on the bridge at warp speed: if you ever dived deep under or felt car/plane burnout to your gut, imagine yourself tossed around like a rag doll at 2/5 G burns, realistic space battles, depressurization and so forth. Action scenes follow real world physics, ships and stations and built based on that as well, guns are realistic and all the small visual details, differences make The Expanse great. Super impressive stuff!
Beltalowda! Belters have been taken advantage of for generations, have sickly bodies and weak bones from working in zero G, but are super tough, have their own creole (semi-language) and pride, and a very un-Earth sense of time, morals, view on possession and a sense of brotherhood. They are enduring the most whatever happens between big political parties, but will they stand to suffer forever?
SO SHOULD I WATCH IT?
Damn should, even if you're not interesting in sci-f, it's just damn good television and of course it's a bestselling novel series for a reason. Space explorer Amazon head Jeff Bezos (who personally announced that Amazon saves it after SyFy cancelled it) and George R.R. Martin (author of Game of Thrones) both find the books and the series great.
It's exciting, emotional and the show is great to look at, and while it'll never reach The Wire status or Game of Thrones budget, I confidently say: you'll quickly catch-up with the ongoing third season ending July 2018. There are some inconsistencies of course and may start slow for you (after all it's complex and missing like super bloody, gory, nude filled stuff to entertain), but give it a good 4-5 episodes and it will grow on you. Each season is better. It always gets better.
WHERE CAN I READ IT?
Wherever books are found, silly. Besides stores, you can obviously look it up at the Amazon Kindle Store for example, first few books are at a bargain price right now.
WHERE CAN I WATCH IT?
The first 3 seasons have been aired on SyFy, but once this season is concluded, it's officially heading to Amazon. Which already offers the first two seasons per episode or for free if you subscribe to Amazon Prime Video in the US and in some markets. Whereas first two seasons can be found in the Netflix catalog internationally. There may be local deals and airing in your country, use Google.
Don't be alarmed by SyFy (that brought Battlestar Galactica to screen): The Expanse is fully financed and developed by award-winning Alcon Television Group, so quality is independent from where it's airing. The reason SyFy had to give it up was low ratings and they only had first run linear rights, so their success was solely depending on ratings whereas you could watch it on Amazon or Netflix (with good numbers actually) whenever you liked. Since streaming services are the future, and The Expanse is set in it, I think it's best suited at Amazon anyway.
DISCUSS THE NOVEL AND SERIES FREELY, JUST USE SPOILER TAGS
Since The Expanse is still gaining popularity the the show doesn't have a huge live fan base, please use spoiler tags whenever you discuss story elements or if a YouTube video title gives away too much. Let's allow noobs to pick up on the novels and series and discuss it just as freely as veterans.
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