The Expanse (Amazon) [** Spoilers **]

Skerries

the first trailer is out

http://insidetv.ew.com/2015/01/15/the-expanse-trailer/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM11UGPRl0s

pixelburp

Could be a good one, and it has a lot of potential: the books themselves are great page-turners, though not necessarily brilliantly written. The clichés come thick and fast in all departments, but that's not always a bad thing if the clichés are entertainingly put together. The first novel, Leviathan Wakes, is a blast and full of adventure. The world of The Expanse is also pretty intriguing, given how relatively small it is compared to other sci-fi universes (spanning only our solar system given warp drives simply don't exist). Even out in space there never seems to be enough room for everyone to spread out and avoid each other, so there's always a lot of tension waiting to explode out.

The trailer looks interesting, but it's disappointing already how white everyone looks given the books tried to emphasise how mixed we have become by this future; also a pity how (what I presume to be) the people living on the moon/asteroid colonies, the 'belters', aren't the long, thin people from the novels.

Still looking forward to this, I'm just worried ScyFy will tinker with enough of the incidental detail to remove the little things that made The Expanse that bit different.

Spunge

wow i literally just finished this book. Kind of have to watch it now.

mafaa

The Expanse Renewed For Season 2 By Syfy!

Thargor

That looks really cheap and low budget like Andromeda or Babylon 5, I'll wait for the reviews here before I bother I think...

Antar Bolaeisk

Thargor wrote: »

That looks really cheap and low budget like Andromeda or Babylon 5, I'll wait for the reviews here before I bother I think...

If you're not watching Babylon 5 due to the special effects you're missing out big time.

Kinda looking forward to this but that could just be due to the almost complete dearth of space based sci-fi over the last while.

Thargor

Ive seen it, doesn't mean its not cheap though. Set design just jooks really crap, generic concrete hall shots from a million other ScyFy shows.

pixelburp

Scy Fy's shows often seem to lack that tiny bit of polish or creativity that other stations bring; except mind you when they do throw money behind projects and they end up being pretty underwhelming (Helix, Defiance, Ascension). I saw a trailer for another of rScyFy's shows, Killjoys and again it looked like a show set within drab corridors and buildings.

pixelburp

Bumping the thread as there's a new trailer out; not sold on the actor playing Holden at all, expected him to be a little older.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q7q-m4ybQ0

PhiloCypher

Fairly glowing review on Io9

http://io9.com/the-expanse-is-the-show-we-ve-been-wanting-since-battle-1717279167

Thargor

Good stuff! Except:

The Expanse premieres in December 2015 on Syfy.

Crap...

Mal-Adjusted

Thargor wrote: »

Good stuff! Except:

Crap...

I'm trying to remember other original sci-fi shows to compare it to. Weren't BSG and Stargate:Atlantis & Universe made by them?

I don't think it would be fair to compare it to those sci-fi original films they make.

I'm about half way into Abadons Gate and loving these books so far.

Thargor

I meant crap we have to wait until December...

pixelburp

Looks like the first episode will be out much sooner than the general December release for the whole series: apparently the 1st episode will be out on VOD on November 23rd

http://deadline.com/2015/11/the-expanse-digital-premiere-syfy-series-1201604928/

Agent Coulson

Episode 1 is out in the universe.

Nody

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Episode 1 is out in the universe.

Looked decent to be honest.

Skerries

good opener, kind of a Babylon 5 mixed with Battlestar vibe about it

Mal-Adjusted

Surprisingly enjoyable, though i do wonder how easy it'd be to follow from the perspective of someone who hasn't read the books.
Production values seem top notch. Fears put to rest?

pixelburp

Wow, that's the most amount of money I've seen onscreen from a ScyFy channel series in ages; possibly since Battlestar. It's a far cry from the downright penury of shows like Dark Matter, whose budget is kinda pathetic. The Expanse's first episode looked fantastic, and if it stays at that level, it should be worth watching for the FX alone.

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

Surprisingly enjoyable, though i do wonder how easy it'd be to follow from the perspective of someone who hasn't read the books.
Production values seem top notch. Fears put to rest?

Good question tbh; from what I recall of the first book, the first episode was pretty faithful to events that led up to

the destruction of the Canterbury

, but without the voices from the page, I suspect context and detail would be lost to new viewers. In fact, the first scene of the episode was pretty muddled & confusing tbh, even for me. Not to mention very censored compared to the book version.

Nody

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

Surprisingly enjoyable, though i do wonder how easy it'd be to follow from the perspective of someone who hasn't read the books.

Not read the books and only a quick wiki summary to get the overall plot direction (to make sure it was not zombies in space) so I'll let you know :P

Mal-Adjusted

Nody wrote: »

to make sure it was not zombies in space

Stay tuned for season two...

This was surprisingly good. I was expecting utter **** from syfy but it was pretty decent. Been a while since there was some good space based Sci fi on telly.

CiDeRmAn

Amos seemed a little young and they avoided making Alex, Miller and Naomi having the physical characteristics of Mars and Belt born humans.
Amos should be bigger and older but, time will tell.

Poor Shed the medic though, will he make it out of episode 2, I don't think so!

Mal-Adjusted

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Poor Shed the medic though, will he make it out of episode 2, I don't think so!

I may be completely wrong, but i do recall reading somewhere that

episode two would have then Knight crew in transit and focus on the troubles in Ceres after the broadcast, and that episode three would pretty much be the Donnager, but we'll have to wait and see.

pixelburp

For those interested, the series started properly on ScyFy on Monday night; the first episode aired yesterday & the second airs tonight. All the subsequent episodes will be every Tuesday.

BKtje

Episode 3 and 4 are out there as well. Must say that I'm absolutely loving the show so far.

Mal-Adjusted

Having seen the first three, i notice that the pacing does seem to be all over the place but it's only a minor complaint. Amos seems a bit more aggressive towards Holden than he does in the book though.

I feel like they're trying to make Muss a bigger character than she is in the book, whick makes me wonder how long we'll be on Ceres? I didn't expect Haverlock to get kebab'd like that!

They did a great job making me like Shed, the feckers!

pixelburp

Still enjoying this quite a bit; definitely one of the strongest pieces of Space Sci-Fi the channel has produced in years. It looks great (most obvious amount of money in a ScyFy channel show for a good while), the characters and dynamics work really well, it all hangs together quite nicely. They've definitely changed around the dynamic of the main crew mind you, but presumably it'll soften a little, otherwise the

Rocinante

isn't going to be such a happy environment.

My only quibble so far is the terrible audio-mixing going on: I'm actually considering using subtitles because some scenes are indecipherable. Dialogue is often muffled and hard to pick out among the other ambient noise.

SoftMicro

Well this really is a fantastic sci-fi show.

CiDeRmAn

I binged the lot yesterday and was well impressed with the whole shebang.
One thing though, I though Amos was far more tied to Holden, in the show he hangs on every word Naomi says, I'll have to refer back to the books to double check, if it's true and they did change it there's going to be other changes later when the Amos/Holden relationship becomes very important.

Shed's death was perfect, straight from the page to the screen, one moment he's there, the next nanosecond his head is missing, or rather we know where it is, out the hole behind it that the rail gun round punched in the wall

I was even impressed that they

got the drum beat of the point defence cannons right, as they drummed away at the stealthed ships attacking the Donnager.

User45701

loving this show. so happy i have a NEW scifi fix to ease me out of the Farscape re-watch

ant wait for episode 5. I have been telling everyone about it. So happy they released the first 4 online to generate a bit of buzz. i love the way combat is done at extreme distances - time to have a coffee and a chat - walk into a different room and come back before anything has impacted. Its a interesting change

pixelburp

Finished episode 3, and this show really is a belter, pardon the pun. It not only captures the world and texture of the books, but made decent enough additions on its own, such as expanding Havelock a little, or adding some extra division in the main crew. My only complaint is the minor quibble that it's a shame Avasarala doesn't swear; obviously due to the channel constraints, but her potty mouth was a distinct part of the book version.

redrums

are they showing this on syfy on Sky yet

the_syco

Just saw episode 4 there. WOW. I love the

new ship!

Also, who the funk is funding this? This goes well beyond SyFy's usual crappy graphics.

Yggr of Asgard

the_syco wrote: »

Just saw episode 4 there. WOW. I love the

new ship!

Also, who the funk is funding this? This goes well beyond SyFy's usual crappy graphics.

My Guess:

Possibly just like the new ship: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

But I agree, it's better than what SyFy/Space are usually putting out in terms of production value.

User45701

its up there with BSG in terms of production quality

Thargor

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

My Guess:

Possibly just like the new ship: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

But I agree, it's better than what SyFy/Space are usually putting out in terms of production value.

The internet would have been screaming about that spoiler for weeks if it was true.

Agent Coulson

Renewed for a second season.

pixelburp

Well deserved renewal. Episode 4 was pretty epic, really kept the pace up and the plates spinning. The set piece on the Donniger was one of the most spectacular action scenes in recent TV memory. Anyone any idea how this is performing, ratings wise?

Yggr of Asgard

So there we are 1/2 through the current season and I'm hooked, the last episode was a great piece furthering our understanding of the key players and more character driven than action. I enjoyed it.

Now I'm looking forward to next weeks episode.

Mickeroo

Finished the first book a few days ago and three episodes in now, really liking it though I'm finding the forced drama between Holden and his crew a bit jarring at the moment, but I guess it works better for TV than just having them get along all the time. Amos is depicted as a lot more sombre than they way I pictured him so far too.

Regards the stuff on earth,

is that all from the later books? I've only read Leviathan Wakes.

pixelburp

Mickeroo wrote: »

Finished the first book a few days ago and three episodes in now, really liking it though I'm finding the forced drama between Holden and his crew a bit jarring at the moment, but I guess it works better for TV than just having them get along all the time. Amos is depicted as a lot more sombre than they way I pictured him so far too.

Regards the stuff on earth,

is that all from the later books? I've only read Leviathan Wakes.

Yeah, not a mad fan of the forced hostility between the crew myself; as you say it's a bit forced and obviously there to add a little spice for the TV adaptation.

as for the Earth stuff:

yeah, the characters make their appearance in the second book onwards, but Avarasala's presence prematurely in the first season makes a lot of sense anyway; she adds a nice contrast to the events happening in the Belt (even if so far her entire roll consists of looking concerned)

Caught the 5th episode and a it's a bit of a slower one, compared with the hell-for-leather action of episode four. Speaking of the crew,

it was also the first episode that showed a little of the camaraderie and the small seeds of friendship that the book had.

squonk

Up to episode 3 and I really like it so far. Like others said, I'm getting BSG, Babylong 5 vibes from it which is very reassuring and there also seems to be an element of Game of Thrones to it so far with all the political elements. I don't think I gave the show the attention it deserved early on because I was expecting the usual SciFi crappiness but this show transcends that so I may go back and rewatch earlier episodes. REally, it's great to have decently produced and entertaining Sci Fi back that's actualy set in space and involving sips. There's been too much of an absence of anything like that the past while.

Mickeroo

Watched episode 6 last night and the show continues to impress. Was another slow mover but moved the story along nicely all the same and there was a couple of really good moments. I do wonder have they left too much to fit into the last 4 episodes though.

pixelburp

Mickeroo wrote: »

Watched episode 6 last night and the show continues to impress. Was another slow mover but moved the story along nicely all the same and there was a couple of really good moments. I do wonder have they left too much to fit into the last 4 episodes though.

Yeah, definitely slowest episode yet, but not a coincidence that it also had the most room for the characters to breath; all the major players got a chance to show a little much-needed depth.

I loved the little moment that both highlighted character and the world surrounding them: Dawes spoke of the scar circling his neck being caused by helmet seals over-heating, all feeding into the concept of this harsh, unforgiving frontier world these people live in. Yet I couldn't help notice Naomi sported a neck tattoo, almost identical in shape to Dawes' scar. A lovely bit of background, cultural detail. Love that kind of thing.

As for the remainder of the season, I've been wondering about the time left myself; remembering the events of the book, I suspect (seriously, if you've not read the book, do not highlight the text)

Episode 10 will revolve around the discovery of Julie Mao and the proto-molecule. I did wonder if there was enough time to cover the events on Eros, but that alone could be an arc within Season 2. 10 episodes never felt enough time to build up the complexity of an entire society in the Solar System, AND the presence of alien proto-molecule-goop causing a stir. Better to build the world first in season 1

PhiloCypher

pixelburp wrote: »

Yeah, definitely slowest episode yet, but not a coincidence that it also had the most room for the characters to breath; all the major players got a chance to show a little much-needed depth.

I loved the little moment that both highlighted character and the world surrounding them: Dawes spoke of the scar circling his neck being caused by helmet seals over-heating, all feeding into the concept of this harsh, unforgiving frontier world these people live in. Yet I couldn't help notice Naomi sported a neck tattoo, almost identical in shape to Dawes' scar. A lovely bit of background, cultural detail. Love that kind of thing.

As for the remainder of the season, I've been wondering about the time left myself; remembering the events of the book, I suspect (seriously, if you've not read the book, do not highlight the text)

Episode 10 will revolve around the discovery of Julie Mao and the proto-molecule. I did wonder if there was enough time to cover the events on Eros, but that alone could be an arc within Season 2. 10 episodes never felt enough time to build up the complexity of an entire society in the Solar System, AND the presence of alien proto-molecule-goop causing a stir. Better to build the world first in season 1

Slow as it was I think this beats out CQB as my favourite episode. Every story thread worked for me. Chrisjen's political machinations, the scene with Miller and Dawes about his sister worked on so many levels, as an acting show piece for Jared harris, a chess move from Miller to distract him from finding the chip and as an insight into a belters life. Then we had the Tycho scenes where we begin to get to know the Roci crew and see them come together for a common purpose by choice rather then having been randomly thrown together by circumstances.

Totally agree with you about the great cultural details they are layering in to differentiate the belters from everybody else whether its Dawes helmet seal neck scar or Naomi's neck tattoo which,to my mind, looks like a helmet seal. Details like these are important given,two actors aside, they aren't/can't portraying Belters as the tall willowy beings they are in the books. It also occurs to me that given belters spend a lot of time in their Suits neck tattoo's would be the the way to go if you want to show off your ink.

The_Valeyard

Is this show worth watching?

Fan of firefly, star trek, battlestar, stargate, ascension, dark matter, etc

pixelburp

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Is this show worth watching?

Fan of firefly, star trek, battlestar, stargate, ascension, dark matter, etc

Unreserved yes from me. Genetically quite similar to battlestar in spots, no so much something like stargate.

On episode 4 and find it odd that Mormons have come up quite frequently. Find it kind of offputting, to be honest.

Mickeroo

Deleted User wrote: »

On episode 4 and find it odd that Mormons have come up quite frequently. Find it kind of offputting, to be honest.

Why?

Mickeroo

Mickeroo wrote: »

Why?

Because it would make me worry whether it uses it in a preachy manner, if they're featured more heavily. Battlestar Galactica is one thing, because it featured a fictional religion, but it felt like it featured far too much in later seasons.

Have to say I'm enjoying this so far - enough intrigue, police procedural, and violence to keep me happy.