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The Expanse |S2| You guys look like shit - Wednesdays on Syfy

B

Back-In-Black

Banned
Moff said:
I had a lot more fun with the first 2 seasons of the expanse than with anything BSG after the first half of season 3
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Vulcano's assistant said:
But the writing is really terrible towards the ends, it is amazing they still managed to end it while they have been self destructing all the way for over two seasons, hell the minute it started to be about doing whatever seems convenient and dismiss consequences. It is a real schlock, at least the expanse has a simple plot with stakes that makes sense. BSG just betrays itself, it has the direction of an expensive soap opera with writers fighting one another over where the plot should go.
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Eh, to each his own I still enjoyed the later season of BSG even if they were a step down from the first two seasons. It was still leagues beyond most everything else on TV at the time.
 
T

Tony Redgrave

Member
Galactica was something else, it had a way to combine action, politics and spiritual themes like no other show has manged IMO. It was hit or miss for some people but it was refreshingly unashamed about it.

The Expanse on the other hand is more like space opera wrapped in semi-hard sci-fi and with a streak of GoT-esque court intrigues, it's really cool but more about action and entertainment, it has considerably poorer characters though IMO.

In the end I think they're both great shows, although very different. It'll eventually depend on how the Expanse fares to really know which is best.
 
T

tearsintherain

Member
h1nch said:
It's harder to compare w/ Star Trek given that the shows come from a different era and with a much different style of storytelling. If that new CBS Trek show ever comes out, it will be interesting to compare it w/ The Expanse (my money is on The Expanse being better)
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It'll be a miracle if Star Trek is even watchable, given the year+ production delays, inability to get actors to sign up (due to it being on CBS streaming only, a lot of people have apparently passed), the original show runner Bryan Fuller quitting, the show premiere first set to Jan 2017, then May 2017, then postponed indefinitely, and what seems to be a pretty mediocre cast.

Then again Westworld had major issues before release and while it isn't fantastic it still ended up pretty interesting I think. Hope Star Trek can pull it off but I have serious doubts.
 
B

Back-In-Black

Banned
tearsintherain said:
It'll be a miracle if Star Trek is even watchable, given the year+ production delays, inability to get actors to sign up (due to it being on CBS streaming only, a lot of people have apparently passed), the original show runner Bryan Fuller quitting, the show premiere first set to Jan 2017, then May 2017, then postponed indefinitely, and what seems to be a pretty mediocre cast.

Then again Westworld had major issues before release and while it isn't fantastic it still ended up pretty interesting I think. Hope Star Trek can pull it off but I have serious doubts.
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I have no hope without Fuller.
 
Kadayi

Kadayi

Banned
Octavianus said:
No Amos is still alive.
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^ I approve this statement.

I'm enjoying the show, though it's clear they're operating on a tight budget (empty corridors seems to be a regular thing) but I must admit neither Holden or Naomi do much for me in the acting stakes, whereas the guy playing Amos is legitimately scary, which is what the role required based on the books.

Hope it gets renewed.
 
S

Sir Doom

Member
Best Syfy show I've watched since Farscape so this is going to get cancelled right. Like Farscape with high production value.

Fuck... My favorite character gone😫
 
E

EverythingShiny

Member
I just watched the latest episode a few days ago. Man. I'm on book 6, so I knew what was coming, but Miller is my favorite character and it still really fucking hurt. Thomas Jane elevated that character to a new level. Vague book series spoilers
I've really missed Miller in the books (since protomolecule!Miller is featured so sparingly) but it's Jane's performance that really makes the character for me so I think I'm more sad that it means less/no screentime for Thomas Jane if the show continues.
I'm hopeful they may change that, though, since Thomas Jane is just so damn good.

Holden still does nothing for me. He's boring in the books and he's boring in the show. I don't really like Naomi's storyline in the books, but I think the actress is decent. Alex, Amos, and Chrisjen Avasarala are so, so good. Great casting jobs for those three.
 
B

Back-In-Black

Banned
EverythingShiny said:
I just watched the latest episode a few days ago. Man. I'm on book 6, so I knew what was coming, but Miller is my favorite character and it still really fucking hurt. Thomas Jane elevated that character to a new level. Vague book series spoilers
I've really missed Miller in the books (since protomolecule!Miller is featured so sparingly) but it's Jane's performance that really makes the character for me so I think I'm more sad that it means less/no screentime for Thomas Jane if the show continues.
I'm hopeful they may change that, though, since Thomas Jane is just so damn good.

Holden still does nothing for me. He's boring in the books and he's boring in the show. I don't really like Naomi's storyline in the books, but I think the actress is decent. Alex, Amos, and Chrisjen Avasarala are so, so good. Great casting jobs for those three.
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Agreed.
 
S

suzu

Member
Holden gets better as the book series goes on, imo. He's a goody-two-shoes for sure compared to the others, but hey they all can't be as great as Amos (and Bobbie and Avasarala). :p
 
N

Night Hunter

Banned
BlueDogAnchorite said:
Man this episode made my heart hurt..
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I showed the last 10 minutes to a friend of mine, purely because I thought that the ending with Miller and Julie was particularly well done in terms of set and aesthetics, she hasn't seen a single second of the show other than that and she cried like a baby.

The kiss might have been a little too much, but otherwise that was some powerful stuff.
 
K

Kyougar

Member
Back-In-Black said:
Nah man, nah. Even the late seasons of BSG are better than Expanse. And, the "religious BS" was fine and well integrated into that show save a few ass pulls like the Final Five. But, BSG also outclasses it in all other technical aspects as well such as cinematography, soundtrack, set design, casting, etc.
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I did a RTTP: BSG 2 years or so. BSG was one of my favourite Space Scifi Series after Babylon 5.
I couldnt watch longer than the end of Season 2. Thats especially sad because the rescue scene from new caprica in Season 3 was one of the best Space battle porn ever televised.

But I couldnt watch any longer because "They have a plan" was such BS and rewatching the series got a chore because you know that there is no plan.

I said it 2 years ago in the thread: "Watching BSG is like reading a REALLY good Murder Mystery Novel only to get a slap in the face and got told IT WAS MAGIC ALL ALONG!"
 
S

Steejee

Member
Kyougar said:
I did a RTTP: BSG 2 years or so. BSG was one of my favourite Space Scifi Series after Babylon 5.
I couldnt watch longer than the end of Season 2. Thats especially sad because the rescue scene from new caprica in Season 3 was one of the best Space battle porn ever televised.

But I couldnt watch any longer because "They have a plan" was such BS and rewatching the series got a chore because you know that there is no plan.

I said it 2 years ago in the thread: "Watching BSG is like reading a REALLY good Murder Mystery Novel only to get a slap in the face and got told IT WAS MAGIC ALL ALONG!"
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For me at least the key to enjoying the final two seasons was just to turn my brain off and enjoy it for what it was. Yeah not much made sense and the ending was a bit out there (though I almost broke down at Roslin's final scene due to how close it hit to home), but it still had great moments.

So far the Expanse has been like the best of those first two BSG seasons with none of the nonsense of the last two, and since it's based on a book series I have to presume it will continue down that path for a long while. Sometimes they seem to forget to write in parts of the physics, and the editing in S2 makes space feel a lot smaller than in S1, but nothing too egregious so far.
 
B

Back-In-Black

Banned
Kyougar said:
I did a RTTP: BSG 2 years or so. BSG was one of my favourite Space Scifi Series after Babylon 5.
I couldnt watch longer than the end of Season 2. Thats especially sad because the rescue scene from new caprica in Season 3 was one of the best Space battle porn ever televised.

But I couldnt watch any longer because "They have a plan" was such BS and rewatching the series got a chore because you know that there is no plan.

I said it 2 years ago in the thread: "Watching BSG is like reading a REALLY good Murder Mystery Novel only to get a slap in the face and got told IT WAS MAGIC ALL ALONG!"
Click to expand...

I don't view it that way, I've always believed that people's enjoyment of the final seasons depends upon their feelings towards faith, specifically religious faith. I'm an Atheist but that doesn't stop my enjoyment of certain faith heavy stories. I never really expected some logical explanation to everything in BSG so when it all turned out to be the will of "divine intervention" I wasn't exactly disappointed. I actually think the ending is perfect. BSG answers most of the questions it sets up it just turns out that not all of the answers are the result of concrete "science." To me a truly disappointed series where things are just made up is LOST. It never actually felt like it knew where it was going and could never properly explain anything that happened in the show.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Hey folks. I deleted a few posts and handed out short bans to a couple people. Please be more careful with how you discuss the books in the future. Note that ALL book spoilers should be appropriately tagged and labeled per the OP. Think before you post and be considerate to other posters. This is generally a fun OT, but people have been fast and loose with the tagging of late. Bans in the future will be longer.

If there are people interested in having lengthy discussions about the books, you're welcome to make a new OT specifically for talking about the series. This thread is for TV show discussion.
 
L

lt519

Member
Mass Effect: Andromeda Lead Designer credits The Expanse for inspiration:

We pull inspiration from a lot of sources. When we talk about the Tempest, the ship in the game, we often reference Serenity from Firefly as we want that intimate close-knit feel versus the kind of military frigate that the various versions of the Normandy were. It's funny you brought up The Expanse because in more recent times, like over the last year, that's something that I looked to a lot as a reference point for the game. There's been a lot of stuff in between. We took the dev team to see Interstellar. I don't think we took a lot of narrative aspects from it, but certainly visually, they did a lot of things with space that were really inspiring to us. Some of our artists, including the guy who did the galaxy map, went, "OK, that's cool. How can I achieve some of that?"
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Full article: Courtesy of Glixel
 
B

BlueDogAnchorite

Member
Night Hunter said:
I showed the last 10 minutes to a friend of mine, purely because I thought that the ending with Miller and Julie was particularly well done in terms of set and aesthetics, she hasn't seen a single second of the show other than that and she cried like a baby.

The kiss might have been a little too much, but otherwise that was some powerful stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know I want to introduce my friend to this show now due to this scene..
 
T

tearsintherain

Member
Night Hunter said:
I showed the last 10 minutes to a friend of mine, purely because I thought that the ending with Miller and Julie was particularly well done in terms of set and aesthetics, she hasn't seen a single second of the show other than that and she cried like a baby.

The kiss might have been a little too much, but otherwise that was some powerful stuff.
Click to expand...

Thats kind of interesting, I would have figured with zero backstory of Miller and Julie that scene would just be weird. With our knowledge of what a sad life Miller has had, the even sadder life Julie had - or more accurately, the amazing life she COULD have had but gave up to help strangers and felt so abandoned at the end - that ending really is crushing even the crustiest viewer.

This show and Black Sails is really vying hard for emotional whiplash this season.
 
D

Diablos54

Member
Jag said:
Guy that plays Fred Johnson is fantastic. Seen him in Arrow and Goldbergs this season as well. Hope he gets more parts.
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Definitely not how I imagained him to look (wasn't he white and bald on the books) but he's absolutely nailed the character so props to him!
 
Moff

Moff

Member
I loved him in the wire but I think he is the biggest miscast in the show. He just feels like a completely different character to me and Book Johnson was a favorite of mine.

I imagined Fred Johnson as a seasoned, wise man. Show Johnson is emotional, weak and doesn't seem to be very smart.

He had dark skin in the books as well, but it was not mentioned often.
I would have loved to see Jeffrey Wright as Johnson, but I love him in everything so I might be biased.

But let's talk about Fred Johnson, I'd like to know what other readers think of the show version.
 
T

tearsintherain

Member
Moff said:
I loved him in the wire but I think he is the biggest miscast in the show. He just feels like a completely different character to me and Book Johnson was a favorite of mine.

I imagined Fred Johnson as a seasoned, wise man. Show Johnson is emotional, weak and doesn't seem to be very smart.

He had dark skin in the books as well, but it was not mentioned often.
I would have loved to see Jeffrey Wright as Johnson, but I love him in everything so I might be biased.

But let's talk about Fred Johnson, I'd like to know what other readers think of the show version.
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Thats interesting, Johnson doesn't come across as emotional or weak to me at all. He is beset on all sides by people who are unable to see the big picture and act on short term interests.

I feel he is constantly torn by his desire to help Belters, his desire to do it non violently, his desire to move forward all of mankind (the Mormon ship is a great example), and his desire to atone for his past sins.

He is sort of a mirror of Avasarala, who also lies in a den of snakes and must maneuver carefully, she also wants to do generally good but puts Earth first whereas Fred puts belters first.

So nah, I think his characterization is just perfect so far and really matches what I imagined the character would be like. I never viewed him as wise, a really intelligent guy would never have gotten into the Butcher of Anderson Station situation. He got played hard by his superiors, and now is much more wary of the motivations of everyone else. Like Avasarala, he is able to instantly make a gut decision on whether the guy standing in front of him is someone he can trust or not.
 
MisterFalcon

MisterFalcon

Member
Moff said:
But let's talk about Fred Johnson, I'd like to know what other readers think of the show version.
Click to expand...

It's starting to look like Drummer is running Tycho as much as Johnson. Their team is an odd one with a Belter and rogue Earther but they work together extremely well.
 
Jag

Jag

Member
tearsintherain said:
So nah, I think his characterization is just perfect so far and really matches what I imagined the character would be like. I never viewed him as wise, a really intelligent guy would never have gotten into the Butcher of Anderson Station situation. He got played hard by his superiors, and now is much more wary of the motivations of everyone else. Like Avasarala, he is able to instantly make a gut decision on whether the guy standing in front of him is someone he can trust or not.
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That's how I see him. He's a hero and a pariah who now is forced into being a statesman and knows he's probably out of his pay grade. He exudes menace and you get the sense he's constantly on the edge of barely controlled violence.

MisterFalcon said:
It's starting to look like Drummer is running Tycho as much as Johnson. Their team is an odd one with a Belter and rogue Earther but they work together extremely well.
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I don't remember Drummer from the books but I like the TV character. I thought maybe it was
Michio Pa
from the books.
 
S

suzu

Member
Drummer doesn't show up for a long while in the books. She is like head of security on Tycho or something. It seems like the tv show is replacing or merging a certain character or two (
Sam and maybe also Michio
) with Drummer.
 
L

lt519

Member
Moff said:
But let's talk about Fred Johnson, I'd like to know what other readers think of the show version.
Click to expand...

He's basically what I pictured in the book, but as much as I love me some Cutty, I also think he comes off as weak willed. He tries too hard to come off as this tough gruffy manly man and I think it misses the mark. Like every conversation doesn't have to be in a low volume raspy context because then when he does get down to business it's no different than his normal mannerisms. He and Holden are the same for me, Holden acts the same no matter what.
 
Backlogger

Backlogger

Member
suzu said:
Drummer doesn't show up for a long while in the books. She is like head of security on Tycho or something. It seems like the tv show is replacing or merging a certain character or two (
Sam and maybe also Michio
) with Drummer.
Click to expand...

I think Sam would have been a great TV Character. Sad that she isn't more prominent or at least her own character. Though I do like the actress, even if its not Sam or is some combination of Characters.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
New episode tonight:
Paradigm Shift

Earth and Mars search for answers in the aftermath of the asteroid collision and Avasarala wages war against Jules-Pierre Mao. The Rocinante crew continue their quest of eradicating the Protomolecule. Naomi and Holden's differences in opinion cause Naomi to take actions into her own hands. Bobbie and her Martian fire team arrive on Ganymede patrol and are faced with the unthinkable.
Click to expand...
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- GeekDad podcast: Episode 118: James S.A. Corey
On this episode, I’m joined by GeekMom Shiri Sondheimer, and we chat with Abraham and Franck about The Expanse, collaborative storytelling, RPGs, the importance of strong (i.e., well-rounded, thoughtful, independent) female characters, and some of the differences between the books and show.
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D

DangerMouse

Member
Oh this guy. I recognize this actor.

YES! Here's the scene from the preview! :D
It's still hilarious!

Jag said:
Guy that plays Fred Johnson is fantastic. Seen him in Arrow and Goldbergs this season as well. Hope he gets more parts.
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Yeah.

MisterFalcon said:
It's starting to look like Drummer is running Tycho as much as Johnson. Their team is an odd one with a Belter and rogue Earther but they work together extremely well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they've been an interesting team.
 
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