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The Expanse |S1| Ubiquitous. Mendacious. Polyglottal. Like a couple of donkey balls.

M

Mifune

Mehmber
Moff said:
I really like the expanse, but it's nowhere near BSG, sorry guys. nowhere near as interesting characters here.
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This is the understatement of the century. There's like zero interesting characters in The Expanse, and the only actor who isn't sleepwalking through is Jared Harris.

I felt like the fifth episode kinda got me onboard and this last one pushed me off again. Such awkward direction - a main character almost eats it and there's no tension or excitement. "Character moments" abound but nothing interesting is gained. And the plot continues to move at the speed of molasses.

Only a handful of episodes left so I'll probably see it through but I keep waiting for that jolt of excitement or energy and it never comes. Glad others are enjoying it, though.
 
T

Tony Redgrave

Member
Yeah, comparisons are odious but it's clear Galactica had a much, much stronger opening. The miniseries started with a bang (literally) and 33 was an spectacular first episode.

I think that's kind of the trade off for being based on a literary series, in the long run it is going to pay off for The Expanse but Galactica, being original material, had an advantage in terms of structure and pacing. Also, BSG's cast seemed much more professional and compromised with the project, here only Thomas Jane, Jared Harris, Sohreh Aghdashloo and Chad L. Coleman seem to be truly putting their hearts into it to some degree and even those pale in comparison to Edward James Olmos', Mary McDowell's, James Callis' and even Tricia Helfer's acting in the first episodes of Galactica IMO.

I think The Expanse has great potential to become something as good or even better than Galactica given time, but its strenght lies in a long term startegy, here's hoping it gets the time it needs.
 
L

lt519

Member
Volimar said:
I gotta say the Earth scenes bring the show's momentum to a screeching halt every time.
Click to expand...

I love how ruthless Avasarala is, but I was hoping from more from the Earth viewpoint. I think a lot gets lost in the show; like that The Martian fleets pride and joy was just wiped out with relative ease. I'm not really scared of these people that are doing this yet and I feel like an Earth/Mars point of view could have easily given things more weight. Instead of seeing a panicked Mars back channeling with Earth through Avasarala, we get a 1 on 1 conversation with blackmailing over a spy.

It just seems to me that major things happen and there is no weight behind it. Lone survivors (the crew) of two of the most major space conflicts in the shows history and they just get sent off as errand boys...meh.

Maybe I'm not picking up on some things as well as I should be and having read the books I'm kind of just waiting for things to pick up. What are some non-book readers thoughts? How invested are you in any of the story or characters yet?
 
C

Cornballer

Member
New episode tonight:
Windmills

Holden and crew realize they're not alone on the Rocinante; Miller finds a new reason to keep going; Avasarala visits Holden's family.
Click to expand...
*somewhat spoilery logline this week, so highlight at your own risk*
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
I mean, it's not like they are giving away an Eldar-Tau Alliance invading the galaxy through a wormhole or anything like that, but it gives away what could be one of the most interesting moments of the episode.

Bad SyFy, bad.
 
Moff

Moff

Member
Dave Inc. said:
Book stuff
I totally don't recall them having a stowaway or anything.
Click to expand...

me neither, but it looks like a good idea
I also love Avarasala visiting his parents. I really think they are improving the book material with everything so far.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- DVD/Blu-ray news:
Syfy and Universal Studios Home Entertainment have set The Expanse: Season One Blu-ray and Digital HD combo pack release date, as well as DVD, for April 5th. The Blu-ray combo pack will span three discs and naturally include every episode from the currently airing first season.

Details are sketchy at this time as any bonus features have yet to be announced and are likely still being produced.
Click to expand...
 
M

metsallica

Member
I was pretty disappointed by the premiere of The Colony... Is this where I should be directing my sci-fi TV viewing? I adore BSG, possibly my favorite anything ever, but have been pretty let down by most SyFy since (Helix, 12 Monkeys).
 
L

lt519

Member
metsallica said:
I was pretty disappointed by the premiere of The Colony... Is this where I should be directing my sci-fi TV viewing? I adore BSG, possibly my favorite anything ever, but have been pretty let down by most SyFy since (Helix, 12 Monkeys).
Click to expand...

I'd give it 4 episodes, the show doesn't have a blistering pace, but the world is fantastic and the source material is solid. I'm hard on a lot of TV shows and I like this one a lot. You'll probably know after the first episode whether its your thing or not, but it settles into itself around episode 3-4.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
New episode starting up now.
metsallica said:
I was pretty disappointed by the premiere of The Colony... Is this where I should be directing my sci-fi TV viewing? I adore BSG, possibly my favorite anything ever, but have been pretty let down by most SyFy since (Helix, 12 Monkeys).
Click to expand...
It's worth a shot.
 
L

lt519

Member
These SyFy streaming commercials are really killing my vibe with the show right now. I might watch the rest of the season on demand instead of live. I can only watch a commercial for the show I'm watching 10 times before I go insane and just tune out completely.

Another slower episode so far..

Edit: Good episode, some more character development which was sorely needed, but I'm ready for some action again! Looks like it's giddyup from here on out with that "on next week.".
 
I

itschris

Member
Man, it was driving me crazy, I knew I recognized the spy's voice. I was thrown off because I didn't recognize his face at all. He's the voice actor for Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Elias Toufexis.
 
C

Chiclets

Banned
itschris said:
Man, it was driving me crazy, I knew I recognized
the spy's voice. I was thrown off because I didn't recognize his face at all. He's the voice actor for Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Elias Toufexis.
Click to expand...

Whaat ??? really ? so cool if true man he really did a good acting job
 
S

StopMakingSense

Member
itschris said:
Man, it was driving me crazy, I knew I recognized
the spy's voice. I was thrown off because I didn't recognize his face at all. He's the voice actor for Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Elias Toufexis.
Click to expand...
Yeah people were talking about it after last weeks preview. And you really don't need to spoiler that, at all.
 
I

itschris

Member
StopMakingSense said:
Yeah people were talking about it after last weeks preview. And you really don't need to spoiler that, at all.
Click to expand...

Fair enough! I avoid watching the previews/reading discussions about them - I prefer to go into the next episode of a show with no foreknowledge. I removed the spoiler - it was my first time posting here, just being cautious.
 
S

StopMakingSense

Member
itschris said:
Fair enough! I avoid watching the previews/reading discussions about them - I prefer to go into the next episode of a show with no foreknowledge. I removed the spoiler - it was my first time posting here, just being cautious.
Click to expand...

Except for the previews of unaired episodes, if it airs, it's fair game.
 
L

Ledhead

Member
itschris said:
Man, it was driving me crazy, I knew I recognized the spy's voice. I was thrown off because I didn't recognize his face at all. He's the voice actor for Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Elias Toufexis.
Click to expand...

I knew it! Hearing him talk, I couldn't help but think of Jensen. Hahaha that's great
 
F

foxtrot3d

Banned
Paganmoon said:
My experience with BSG was severely tainted by the lackluster ending. No matter how many times the intro said "and they have a plan", the series and the ending showed that the writers really didn't have a plan at all.
Whenever I think of BSG nowdays, what comes to mind first is "black market".
Further more, BSG ended up being more of a soap opera than a space opera, and compared to The Expanse, so far, BSG's production values were pretty low.
Click to expand...

I still don't understand the hate for the ending, I personally loved it and thought it was fantastic. I guess I just wasn't too caught up in the mystery aspect of the whole thing and held onto the belief that it would all "make sense." I thought the ending tied everything up nicely without having to suffer through too many leaps of logic. In the end, I cared more about the characters than the religious/mystery stuff and the ending delivered by focusing on all of the characters and closing their arcs.

Also, funny enough, I enjoy the Black Market episode for what it is. I actually never understood the hate for that episode besides the fact that it was basically a bottle show and introduced a love interest for Lee out of nowhere, besides that it's a pretty solid episode to me. Again, I care about the characters not some convoluted plot.
 
P

Paganmoon

Member
foxtrot3d said:
I still don't understand the hate for the ending, I personally loved it and thought it was fantastic. I guess I just wasn't too caught up in the mystery aspect of the whole thing and held onto the belief that it would all "make sense." I thought the ending tied everything up nicely without having to suffer through too many leaps of logic. In the end, I cared more about the characters than the religious/mystery stuff and the ending delivered by focusing on all of the characters and closing their arcs.

Also, funny enough, I enjoy the Black Market episode for what it is. I actually never understood the hate for that episode besides the fact that it was basically a bottle show and introduced a love interest for Lee out of nowhere, besides that it's a pretty solid episode to me. Again, I care about the characters not some convoluted plot.
Click to expand...

Re: the ending of BSG, every single character could've died in episode 1 of the show, and it would've basically changed nothing in the end, hell, it might've even been better for the indigenous proto-humans of earth. They made this whole journey, just to find a planet, and not keep their culture, but simply spread out, and have their DNA "live on", but hey, it would've anyway, considering the indigenous proto-humans already shared enough to be able to procreate together. It was a lackluster ending, that wasn't all about the characters even, considering the characters basically committed suicide by spreading out and not keeping any of their culture, or technology.
But if you liked it, good for you, I thought it was pretty damned bad, with the only even remotely redeeming quality for the final episode being Roslin's last words "so much life", that was a nice sendoff, everything else, yeah, pretty damned bad.

Anyway good episode today. book 1 spoilers
no way in hell they're getting to the vomitzombies this season right? I mean 3 episodes left, it's going to feel rushed as hell if they're going to finish book 1, guessing it'll end about the time Miller and Holden and gang meetup, or maybe get to the research station together?
 
Moff

Moff

Member
as good as BSG was, it turned mediocre after/during mid season 3 and the ending was trash.

this weeks expanse was very good again, love the space/ship shots

nemesis games spoiler
next to nothing in this episode was from the books, right? and it's excellent. competent showrunners here.
 
P

Paganmoon

Member
Moff said:
as good as BSG was, it turned mediocre after/during mid season 3 and the ending was trash.

this weeks expanse was very good again, love the space/ship shots

nemesis games spoiler
next to nothing in this episode was from the books, right? and it's excellent. competent showrunners here.
Click to expand...

Re your spoiler:
Yeah, pretty much nothing was from the books as far as I could tell, however, iirc, this episode was written by the authors of the book.
 
C

CosmicQueso

Member
I adore the books, and this show just doesn't have the same tone or pace. Everything is so much slower and it's missing the wit of the characters in the book. The show is trying so hard to be dramatic and epic, but it has all fallen a bit flat so far. Really hope it gets moving soon.

Moff said:
I think the show is a lot better
the books are ok, but among all the scifi books out there, they are forgettable
the tv show however is definitely a remarkable scifi tv show
Click to expand...

Man I'm just not getting that yet. I'll stick with the show, hopefully I'll get where you are because I want to like it.
 
Moff

Moff

Member
CosmicQueso said:
I adore the books, and this show just doesn't have the same tone or pace. Everything is so much slower and it's missing the wit of the characters in the book. The show is trying so hard to be dramatic and epic, but it has all fallen a bit flat so far. Really hope it gets moving soon.
Click to expand...

I think the show is a lot better
the books are ok, but among all the scifi books out there, they are forgettable
the tv show however is definitely a remarkable scifi tv show
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Re: BSG

I think some people here are forgetting how much garbage and senseless filler we had to deal with through several seasons for no other reason than the writing room writting themselves into a corner. It was a monumental show, but it had a lot of poor episodes and plot lines. Kara's "death", Cally's incredibly forced revelation, much of the dream pap...

Also, BSG had the huge benefit of starting with humanity being largely nuked off by an army of sentient killer robots embodied by prime Tricia Helfer. I mean, it doesn't get more intense than that. You can't really expect to compete.

lt519 said:
So what do we think Miller's creepy message was?
Click to expand...
Emoji dickbutts would be my best guess.
 
S

Selner

Member
Paganmoon said:
Anyway good episode today. book 1 spoilers
no way in hell they're getting to the vomitzombies this season right? I mean 3 episodes left, it's going to feel rushed as hell if they're going to finish book 1, guessing it'll end about the time Miller and Holden and gang meetup, or maybe get to the research station together?
Click to expand...

Response to your book 1 spoiler:
I believe book 1 is split over seasons 1 and 2, I think that is the accepted thing at this point.

Episode 8 promo / book 1 spoilers:
Woo, they meet Miller, so they're on Eros, and it looks like a shot of Miller finding Julie? The gunfire is probably the fight at Julie's hotel. Then a jump to finding the abandoned/dead Stealth Ship that Julie was on.. So the season will probably end at some point during the "Eros Incident", probably before Miller and Holden get off the station. Thoth Station will have to be Season 2, along with the Navuu stuff.
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Spoiler me this, Book GAF: Was the Martian ship hit by that crazed Brazilian miner destroyed or did it survive that suicide run?
 
A

aku:jiki

Member
Elias plays a hacker spy with augmentations... That has to be some of the narrowest typecasting ever. I was just waiting for him to randomly activate his mirrorshades.

CosmicQueso said:
Everything is so much slower and it's missing the wit of the characters in the book.
Click to expand...
I think that's your mind playing tricks on you. Each book is like 600 pages and they actually move pretty slowly, what with the jumping between characters and how sometimes character chapters overlap and will describe the same situation from a different viewpoint.
 
L

lt519

Member
Funky Papa said:
Spoiler me this, Book GAF: Was the Martian ship hit by that crazed Brazilian miner destroyed or did it survive that suicide run?
Click to expand...

I don't know, seriously disabled at a minimum. The miner look like he took a rocket to the face though. I thought he flung the rocks and peeled up when he did it and then the martian fired back. It happened pretty fast and I didn't re-watch. I hope so those Martians were assholes.
 
Moff

Moff

Member
Funky Papa said:
Spoiler me this, Book GAF: Was the Martian ship hit by that crazed Brazilian miner destroyed or did it survive that suicide run?
Click to expand...

this scene was not in the books, so we don't know. the show has a lot of exclusive content, some of it written by the authors of the books. they're basically already where game of thrones went in season 5, only that it works a lot better. I think the show is already better than the first book and will probably continue to be better, because some of the books are plain bad
 
F

foxtrot3d

Banned
Moff said:
this scene was not in the books, so we don't know. the show has a lot of exclusive content, some of it written by the authors of the books. they're basically already where game of thrones went in season 5, only that it works a lot better. I think the show is already better than the first book and will probably continue to be better, because some of the books are plain bad
Click to expand...

Agreed. Unlike GoT they aren't adapting some masterpiece of fiction where changing just the slightest of things can end up diminishing the work as a whole, instead they are adapting what I considered a very mediocre book and elevating in the medium of TV with some smarter writing, editing, and pacing.
 
GavinUK86

GavinUK86

Member
Funky Papa said:
Spoiler me this, Book GAF: Was the Martian ship hit by that crazed Brazilian miner destroyed or did it survive that suicide run?
Click to expand...

lt519 said:
I don't know, seriously disabled at a minimum. The miner look like he took a rocket to the face though. I thought he flung the rocks and peeled up when he did it and then the martian fired back. It happened pretty fast and I didn't re-watch. I hope so those Martians were assholes.
Click to expand...

I think the Martian ship survived but the miner definitely blew up.

stiM0U2.gif
 
S

ShemhazaiX

Member
So after ignoring this thread and this show due to not recognising the name, I have finally learned that this is actually based off of the series of books that Leviathan Wakes belongs to.

They really should have taken the Game of Thrones route and named it after the first book.

Going to have to binge all the existing episodes since I loved Leviathan Wakes.
 
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