The Expanse... 2 2

[Arkham]

A few months ago IMDb ran a series of polls on Twitter to determine the best sci-fi show of all time. Even the Trekkies found themselves voting for The Expanse and it came out on top. So many people hadn’t heard of it and I hope it brought the books and the show a bigger audience. 

https://twitter.com/imdb/status/1284257532488364037

I’ve binged the first three episodes of S5 on Amazon Prime. It is already shaping up to be a phenomenal season. The week long wait for Ep 4 is going to draaaaag.  

Edited December 17, 2020 by Arkham
Adding the Twitter link

[Beige]

On Season 3

Draper does get better.

Significant changes with the Ngyuen mutiny, and '1st MCRN / UN' war.

Millers back - they are just off to the sphere.

Corners and doors Holden, Corners and doors.

 

I think tbh Holden is the weakest link - a better actor would have done him justice (from the books).

Naomi, Amos and Alex are perfect.

 

However - the Star for me is Drummer - how flippin' good is she!

Loved the 'Belter Stomp' on the Behemoth - got the adrenaline pumping......and, I'm pretty sure they were implying a relationship between her and Naomi when Naomi went back to the Roci.

That was NOT in the book!

Quality show - more coffee needed!

 

It reaches out, it reaches out........

[drotto]

On 12/17/2020 at 4:04 PM, Beige said:

On Season 3

Draper does get better.

Significant changes with the Ngyuen mutiny, and '1st MCRN / UN' war.

Millers back - they are just off to the sphere.

Corners and doors Holden, Corners and doors.

 

I think tbh Holden is the weakest link - a better actor would have done him justice (from the books).

Naomi, Amos and Alex are perfect.

 

However - the Star for me is Drummer - how flippin' good is she!

Loved the 'Belter Stomp' on the Behemoth - got the adrenaline pumping......and, I'm pretty sure they were implying a relationship between her and Naomi when Naomi went back to the Roci.

That was NOT in the book!

Quality show - more coffee needed!

 

It reaches out, it reaches out........

If you love Naomi, Amos, Alex, and Drummer the start of season 5 will make you extremely happy. 

[Beige]

I guess the problem for me was being such a huge fan of the books.

Season 3 was like comparing a redwood to a sapling.

The fact Holden had to explain what happened in a solo speech at the end of the last ep said it all.

Completely had the feel of an "are we on / off for next season"  muddle.

Trying to end it, whilst leaving room to continue if renewed.

 

The rebellion war was basically sacrificed for ludicrously long scenes with the priest, and Millers second arc was reduced to a cameo, when it was the key to the whole of books 3 + 4.

Havelock never returned.

As someone said - too many characters were blends of original ones.

 

Hopefully with the knowledge they were greenlit to finish - Season 4 onward will be better.

If you were a fan of the show - read the books, they really are so much better by an order of magnitude. 

Books 1 - 8 are written, the final book is out in October.

 

Really disappointed in Season 3. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Beige

[drotto]

S05 E04 Holy %$^% !!!!!!!  That is all.

Edited December 25, 2020 by drotto

[drotto]

5 hours ago, Beige said:

I guess the problem for me was being such a huge fan of the books.

Season 3 was like comparing a redwood to a sapling.

The fact Holden had to explain what happened in a solo speech at the end of the last ep said it all.

Completely had the feel of an "are we on / off for next season"  muddle.

Trying to end it, whilst leaving room to continue if renewed.

 

The rebellion war was basically sacrificed for ludicrously long scenes with the priest, and Millers second arc was reduced to a cameo, when it was the key to the whole of books 3 + 4.

Havelock never returned.

As someone said - too many characters were blends of original ones.

 

Hopefully with the knowledge they were greenlit to finish - Season 4 onward will be better.

If you were a fan of the show - read the books, they really are so much better by an order of magnitude. 

Books 1 - 8 are written, the final book is out in October.

 

Really disappointed in Season 3. 

They specifically changed after season 3 to say each season would be written to encompass about 1 book, and would come to a satisfying endpoint just in case the show was not renewed.  

[Xenosmilus]

No spoilers please (I’m trying to not to read earlier posts). Season 5 any good?

[drotto]

11 minutes ago, Xenosmilus said:

No spoilers please (I’m trying to not to read earlier posts). Season 5 any good?

Through 4 episodes, It is the best since the first season, possibly the best yet. Episode 4 was possibly the most eventful episode since the one that ended book two at the mid portion of season 3.

[Bosco685]

1 hour ago, drotto said:

Through 4 episodes, It is the best since the first season, possibly the best yet. Episode 4 was possibly the most eventful episode since the one that ended book two at the mid portion of season 3.

Season 3 for me was much stronger than Season 1. The characters were all established now, and actors very comfortable in their roles while the story was far along.

[Bosco685]

Quote

While The Expanse is planned to conclude after its sixth season, that might not actually be the end for the popular sci-fi series. Originally airing on Syfy, The Expanse was cancelled after just three seasons until a fan campaign prompted Amazon to renew the show. Season 4, the first on Amazon, was widely praised, prompting the company to order the currently-airing season 5 and planned season 6. However, it sounds like there could be even more after that.

 

Since it began at Syfy, The Expanse has become one of the most lauded science-fiction series on television. The balance of its stunning aesthetic design, compelling drama, diverse ensemble cast and delicate handling of contemporary sociopolitical issues has garnered the show positive reviews and a dedicated following. Unfortunately for those fans, Amazon will be ending the series after its current season and the ensuing sixth season.

 

However, it sounds like the cancellation at Amazon might not be The Expanse’s true ending. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Naren Shankar referenced how much more story exists in the books the show is based on and alluded to the possibility of more after season 6. “You know, honestly, that would be more of a question for our studio, for Alcon,” Shankar said when asked about the show continuing. “They control the property, but what I will say is that there's definitely more to tell and I'm sure [the book authors] Ty and Daniel would say exactly the same thing. But yeah, that's probably about as much as I can say at this point.”

 

Given that The Expanse has been saved from cancellation once already, a second resurrection doesn’t actually seem that far out of reach. The story of the Expanse books continues well past where season 6 will likely end, which leaves a lot of rich material for further adaption. Plus, the fan base is still as loyal as ever. Amazon’s renewal of the show was largely due to fan outcry, and those same people could easily make their voices heard once again if the cast and crew want to come back for more.

 

Of course, continuing the story onscreen will bring its own set of unique challenges. The books make a pretty major time jump after the point in the story where season 6 will likely end, which would necessitate either recasting key characters or doing some serious de-aging work on the existing cast. It’s not impossible, but it would be a significant change. With luck, The Expanse could have the opportunity to take that challenge on in more stories after season 6.

 

[siro123]

I love this show

[Beige]

8 hours ago, Bosco685 said:

 

It had to.

The whole point of the protomolecule was the formation of the gate. Then introducing the sphere.

Spoiler

And the fact it was SENTIENT - which has not been explained at all (except for the awful Holden / Martian marines scene) - as in it's basically an organic responsive AI if you like, capable of still working a billion years after being built. 

Then the other worlds.

Then Laconia.

The 1st MRCN v UN war was cut so short it actually missed

Spoiler

the Laconian breakaway ships from Mars. They have to now be added.

otherwise the whole of books 6,7,8 and 9 can't happen.

I know I'm behind, but I really hope they FULLY explain what / who Miller is, and why he's doing what he does. I'm on Season 4 ep 2 and they have explained sweet FA.

I hope the New Terra arc focuses on Miller / waking stuff up, and not the nutty security chief. 

I'm honestly at the stage where the show is such a let-down compared to the books, I wish I hadn't started watching

Spoiler

 

They need to explain much more explicitly that the whole system is a protomolecule built empire - and all the stuff still turns back on, or still works. On every Planet.

Laconia builds its world-destroying warships ON PROTOMOLECULE SHIPYARDS - and yet we don't even see the breakaway Mars fleet leave, or even have the name of the Eternal Emperor Duarte mentioned.

 

They even changed the 'terrorist' explosion of the 1st ship on New Terra - the security force from the mining company was on a second ship.

The Roci arrived months later - long after things got way out of hand between groups -

Spoiler

and the planet is already starting to wake up

So many good scenes have been sacrificed to fit in the Priest, and more Ashford, leaving out swathes of stuff affecting Bobbie , Fred Johnson, Havelock and Clarissa.

They are going to have to shoehorn so much stuff from earlier books in to make sense of

Spoiler

Laconia and them causing the destroying Uber-race to declare war on Mankind. 

 I guess I'm just frustrated that the show, that was so hyped, is nowhere near as good as the books.

So far, anyway.....

[drotto]

18 hours ago, Beige said:

It had to.

The whole point of the protomolecule was the formation of the gate. Then introducing the sphere.

  Reveal hidden contents

And the fact it was SENTIENT - which has not been explained at all (except for the awful Holden / Martian marines scene) - as in it's basically an organic responsive AI if you like, capable of still working a billion years after being built. 

Then the other worlds.

Then Laconia.

The 1st MRCN v UN war was cut so short it actually missed

  Reveal hidden contents

the Laconian breakaway ships from Mars. They have to now be added.

otherwise the whole of books 6,7,8 and 9 can't happen.

I know I'm behind, but I really hope they FULLY explain what / who Miller is, and why he's doing what he does. I'm on Season 4 ep 2 and they have explained sweet FA.

I hope the New Terra arc focuses on Miller / waking stuff up, and not the nutty security chief. 

I'm honestly at the stage where the show is such a let-down compared to the books, I wish I hadn't started watching

  Reveal hidden contents

 

They need to explain much more explicitly that the whole system is a protomolecule built empire - and all the stuff still turns back on, or still works. On every Planet.

Laconia builds its world-destroying warships ON PROTOMOLECULE SHIPYARDS - and yet we don't even see the breakaway Mars fleet leave, or even have the name of the Eternal Emperor Duarte mentioned.

 

They even changed the 'terrorist' explosion of the 1st ship on New Terra - the security force from the mining company was on a second ship.

The Roci arrived months later - long after things got way out of hand between groups -

  Reveal hidden contents

and the planet is already starting to wake up

So many good scenes have been sacrificed to fit in the Priest, and more Ashford, leaving out swathes of stuff affecting Bobbie , Fred Johnson, Havelock and Clarissa.

They are going to have to shoehorn so much stuff from earlier books in to make sense of

  Reveal hidden contents

Laconia and them causing the destroying Uber-race to declare war on Mankind. 

 I guess I'm just frustrated that the show, that was so hyped, is nowhere near as good as the books.

So far, anyway.....

I am now glad I have not read the books.  Without the reference to the books, the series remains awesome.

[Beige]

3 hours ago, drotto said:

I am now glad I have not read the books.  Without the reference to the books, the series remains awesome.

I think you are 100% correct.

The stories are so far apart that it's frustrating to watch.

I would imagine reading the books afterwards would be different.

That way the expanse 'universe' grows, not contracts.

 

If I hadn't read the books I'd probably feel the same.

[Bosco685]

Quote

No one jumps into the vast emptiness of space without protection just because they want to do it. Sci-fi writers probably feel the same amount of reluctance about putting characters in that situation, pushing them right to edges of what the human body can safely take.

 

But if any TV show is capable of pulling off a near-impossible feat like that, it’s “The Expanse.” This week’s chapter, the Season 5 episode “Oyedeng,” caps off with Naomi (Dominique Tipper) risking her life to float from the ship where she’s being held captive to the decoy vessel being used to lure the Rocinante into a death trap.

 

It’s a move born of desperation and it ends up resulting in the death of Cyn (Brent Sexton). But instead of being a cheap, credulity-straining move from a space story just looking to get from one story point to the other, it’s an example of how meticulous and thorough “The Expanse” is at setting up its most surprising turns.

 

The emergence of Marco (Keon Alexander) and Filip (Jasai Chase Owens) Inaros has been the trickiest new element for Season 5. Building up this emerging totalitarian father-son combo as the preeminent threat to the solar system is a tall task, even over the course of an entire season. Though, with the time that those two and Naomi have had in their uncomfortable family reunion on the Pella, the show has built the groundwork for why her jump into the void means so much more than an escape.

 

However he intends it, when Marcos sneers that the Roci crew is Naomi’s family now, he’s right. Even if Filip is her son (and we can see glimpses of the domestic bliss the three of them had when he was an infant), the physical and metaphorical abuse she endures is a stark breaking point. When given the choice, she’d rather sail across empty space than keep trying to reform either of them.

 

There’s a patience to how those preceding interactions in “Oyedeng” are situated. We see Naomi in various combinations with Marco, Filip, and Cyn, even hearing the same story of her last airlock experience from different perspectives. It may not be obvious on a first viewing, but rewatching those scenes, it’s a meticulous way of setting up the ending not only as a mirror for her past near-decisions, but additional context for what that jump means to her.

 

That’s not the only way that “The Expanse” is subtly establishing a framework. Even something as simple as including a 10-second stretch of someone walking across a gangway primes anyone watching for just how much that looming emptiness is devoid of sound. It doesn’t just rely on any innate fear of space. It underlines just how much what surrounds these ships is the extreme absence of….anything.

 

This episode also has plenty of emphasis on boosters: the Roci engines throttling as Holden tries to intercept a target with Naomi’s possible coordinates, the bursts from the torpedos as they’re caught between two sides of a dogfight. “The Expanse” always been smart about showing the logistics of motion in this faster-than-light universe, especially in the Amazon Prime Video seasons, where the series’ scale has grown by orders of magnitude. Marisol Adler, this episode’s director, uses that tradition to track the Roci and the Razorback and any other flying projectiles as they make their way across their respective planes.

 

The roar of fuel burning and of explosions in space help set up another contrast. As Naomi drifts toward her destination in the final moments, it’s only through the thrust of her own push. She can’t go any faster or expend any amount of the precious air she has left. And when she arrives at the opposite airlock, she’s at the mercy of her own trajectory and what little bit of discolored focus her taxed eyeballs can muster.

 

Knowing now that she at least survives long enough to arrive where she intends, that ending’s savviest touch might be to withhold the moment she injects herself with the decompression kit until after we’ve seen her float for a few extra seconds. There’s just enough time to register that Cyn is now dead, and that the same fate might be awaiting Naomi. For a brief pause, it almost looks like she’s at peace. With the urgency of getting to the other side, she’s still facing a series of decisions. Leaving the ship, going to the lock, taking the plunge, giving her bloodstream emergency oxygen: those are all choices to keep going.

 

None of them make sense without the story tracks that “The Expanse” continues to lay down week after week, season after season. The payoff is that it gets to validate these extreme methods of survival that in other tales might just be mere convenience. As it continues to do, “The Expanse” somehow makes the impossible make sense.

 

[drotto]

On 1/18/2021 at 9:07 AM, Bosco685 said:

 

There is a YouTube video explaining that the space walk is possible.  If you did everything 100% correctly a person may be able to survive 60 to 90 seconds.

 

[Bosco685]

 

[HighVoltage]

On 10/8/2021 at 1:18 PM, Bosco685 said:

 

Awesome. Really enjoy this show.

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]