The Expanse

A few of the one-star reviews here say they gave up after 2 episodes, Dull acting, silly plot etc etc. Well, I did give up too. I concurred, and thought it was hopeless.

Damn, though, my niece, son and a friend said it was the best TV series they had seen. Respecting their views based on previous recommendations, I persevered out of respect only, and recommenced watching the series with great reluctance and bemusement that they could be so misinformed.

At some point, and certainly into Season 2 I became aware that I was watching the best TV series I had seen. Firefly used to be may fav, but this has swept past. The architecture is spectacular and importantly grounded. Not the fantasy (apologies to fans) that is served up in Star Wars but a grounded realism that hooks one to the possibility.

It's just awesome, truely, I'm mesmerised.

What ever you do, stick with it to Season 2 and I promise you wont be disappointed. If you are, then my profuse apologies for making a promise that I thought could not possibly be compromised.

The Expanse is a sci-fi series that takes place hundreds of years in the future where humanity has colonized the solar system and where Mars has become an independent military power. Tensions between Earth and Mars have put them at the brink of war. It follows a space ship and it's crew as the race through the solar system exposing one of the greatest conspiracy theories in human history. I never watched this show while it was on cable but finally started watching it once Amazon Prime Video picked it up. I just heard so many great things about it and how it was one the best sci-fi shows ever created. I'm glad I finally gave in and watched it because I couldn't agree more...this is one of the better sci-fi shows I've ever seen! I'm so glad Amazon picked it up and continued the show. It got even better at Amazon because they gave them a bigger budget. It just finished the last season and ended on a great note. People are talking about a follow up movie so maybe there's still more to come. We can only hope!

OMG I love this show. I've seen up through S02E03 on Amazon Prime.

I only gave it a 9 because I don't like to give anything a 10.

Others have gone into good detail of what is good about this show so I'll just add some bullet points that I didn't see covered (although with 250+ reviews I probably just missed 'em)

In no particular order other than stream-of-consciousness:

* Detailed, realistic science fiction * Space behaves like, well, space * Gravity. They did a stellar job with gravity. It isn't perfect. But they emphasize realistic ways to simulate gravity (ships under continuous acceleration, spinning, ring-shaped space stations). And they shut gravity off when appropriate. * Space ship battles are incredibly thoughtfully designed, with an eye for small details. They pump the air out of the ship before a battle, for goodness' sake. I can't think of *any* other scifi space show that goes into these details * Consistency. Characters act consistently. Environments act consistently. * Details. So many details! Mag boots. Ship maneuvers. technology such as computer/handheld devices. All so believable. * Mormons! There are mormons, because, of course there are. And they aren't even the bad guys! (I only state it this way because too often, mysterious religious groups are used as hollywood shorthand for "bad guys"). The presence of Mormons just enriches the worldbuilding. * I love the fact that Eros station just looks like a giant potato with a porthole on its butt. It isn't polished. It isn't flashy. It's grimy and utilitarian. * I love that every move made by a spaceship has corresponding thrusters pushing it in that direction. The space ships do not fly like fighter jets, like they do in other typical sci fi shows. They fly like rocks. * I love the fact that space craft tracking screens look like legitimate space object tracking screens, with curved, mathematically drawn projected trajectories.

I can't gush enough about the "hard" sci-fi elements. I haven't even gushed about the production yet:

* Story is detailed, in-depth, and engaging. It's basically a political/war drama, but it is very well written. * Acting is great. Seriously. Even the throwaway characters are great. * Anyone can die at any time. Very Game-of-Thrones-y in this regard, in a good way. Builds tension very realistically. * Costumes, sets, graphics, cinematography are all excellent

Star Trek. I used to like Star Trek. Have you seen Star Trek Beyond (2016) though? That was terrible. Everything that is done wrong in Star Trek Beyond is done correctly in The Expanse. In fact, I'm not sure I can watch any Star Trek show or movie again after The Expanse.

Ultimately The Expanse feels like a combination of Battlestar Galactica (2005 one) and Firefly, more than any other series I can think of.

The Expanse is not an easy series to start. The first couple of episodes are slower because there are a lot of world building to do and character to present. That can threw off a lot of people, but if you keep watching, the series shows everything one can hope in a Sci-fi and space opera series. I also realized that the first slowest episodes are much better in a re watch when you know the characters and what is going on.

The first season is a more paused space opera, but in the 2nd season the brakes are off, the stakes are higher and its being an even more awesome show. The 5th chapter of 2nd season "Home" is one of the best chapters in the history of sci-fi without a doubt.

The series follow several mayor characters across the solar system:

Miller, a burn out cop searching for a missing girl in Ceres in the asteroid belt, Avasarala, a ruthless Earther politician who wants to stop a possible war between Earth and Mars, Holden, the 2nd officer in an Ice hauler who sees himself in a situation he never saw coming...

Later more characters join the plot with the same level of importance like Bobbie the Martian Marine, Fred Johnson, Tycho station head project and one of the OPA leaders and a lot of other complex characters.

The plot and characters at first feel disconnected and random, but when the series develops, you realize they they fit incredibly well.

The special effects are top notch with some incredible gorgeous shots, and and incredible attention to detail. That shows in how smartly they use real physics in a way that is almost a character and plot in itself.

The acting is great for the most part. Specially Thomas Jane, who simply nails it in a way that makes Miller one of the most compelling and charismatic characters in TV in a long time.

So to summarize:

• Great plot

• Great Characters

• Stuning Special Effects

• Great use of real physics

• Hard to follow at the beginning, but with a great payoff later

• Great re watch value

• The series is gonna be a CULT SERIES, mark my words-

This is possibly (probably) the best television or even cinematic experience I have ever seen (particularly in the sci-fi realm). I am very stingy when it comes to TV shows since I feel that often they are inconsistently realized. I created an IMDB account just to drop a review for this one.

I just finished an episode in season 2 that made me cry and just stare at the credits for 2 minutes, motionless. No other show has ever so consistently provided the following for me:

• Non-stop realistic character development and exposition
• emotional gravity and consequences; every action has a reaction and every single second of seemingly unimportant exposure or backstory is relevant to building character and stakes in the story. No fluff here.
• a real and believable world with new thoughts and a reason for everything
• delivered creative, thoughtful, new ideas and plot points which make me question the nature of life and humanity
• great acting from all levels of character

This series reminds a lot of the video game series Mass Effect but with even more consistency and thoughtful execution. Don't miss this, very much underrated in my opinion.