# The Expanse



## Xaios (Dec 16, 2020)

I was pretty shocked to see that there wasn't a thread for this show. Season 5 debuted last night on Amazon Prime, and it's an excellent start to the season. I'm actually really glad that they went back to the old one episode per week model (aside from releasing the first 3 episodes at once, kinda like The Boys season 2), as opposed to season 4 which was released all at once.

Y'all watching this?


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## Mathemagician (Dec 16, 2020)

Only read the first book and it was amazing. I need to re-read it then get to the rest of the series. Haven’t seen the show but heard it’s amazing.


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## Lorcan Ward (Dec 16, 2020)

I’m so behind on this. I’m half way through S3 so I’ll put it on my holiday list to watch.


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 16, 2020)

I'm also very behind but haven't touched it since this spring. I'm a little more than half way through season 2 (after the events that are the end of the first book. I thought it was really weird how they did that because it makes the pacing of the second season weird but otherwise it's enjoyable.

My gf and I had some other things come up to watch so we shelved this until later. Now I'm not gonna know wtf is going on when I come back to it. I will say that some production stuff is a bit distracting but I just need to remind myself that it was on SyFy.


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## Millul (Dec 18, 2020)

Have not touched the show, but I've read all the books during the March-April lockdown, and REALLY liked them - looking forward to reading the (last?) one once it comes out!


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## jaxadam (Dec 18, 2020)

My wife loves this show, and she will be very happy to know that season 5 is out.


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## eaeolian (Dec 18, 2020)

I love the show, even if it's very different from the books in many ways. I look forward to digesting season 5.


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## SnoozyWyrm (Jan 5, 2021)

Might have certain differences from the books, but still the show is amazing. I am really glad to see them continue and get better at it. Excellent casting, excellent acting and they are getting better and better in the CGI part. 

It needs some kind of dedication (and a certain attention span) for someone to like it though. I have suggested it to a lot of friends/people, only one guy did watch more than one episode.


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## Seabeast2000 (Jan 5, 2021)

I'm a few eps into S5....I don't know if I care about whatever it is they are trying to do yet.


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## devastone (Jan 22, 2021)

You guys have me curious, looks like it's on Prime, starting from the beginning.


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## Xaios (Jan 22, 2021)

devastone said:


> You guys have me curious, looks like it's on Prime, starting from the beginning.


Be aware, you might not gel with it in the first few episodes. The weakest part of the show is easily the first half of the first season. Picks up after that.


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## ResistentialAssultSquadron (Jan 22, 2021)

Xaios said:


> I was pretty shocked to see that there wasn't a thread for this show. Season 5 debuted last night on Amazon Prime, and it's an excellent start to the season. I'm actually really glad that they went back to the old one episode per week model (aside from releasing the first 3 episodes at once, kinda like The Boys season 2), as opposed to season 4 which was released all at once.
> 
> Y'all watching this?



Ive been hooked since season 1...best scifi show current, and def fit to be an all-time great.


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## narad (Jan 23, 2021)

I heard it was hard to follow but gave it a show anyway...damn, incredibly obtuse. I was so confused. Maybe about halfway through the season things started to make sense. Then when the season ended I was waiting for season 2 to kick in which wasn't happening for some reason. And that's when I realized I had just watched Season 5 since I got confused by Amazon Prime JP's all Japanese interface. 

Now I'm on season 1 but seeing a lot of faces I know ain't around by season 5...


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## Xaios (Jan 24, 2021)

narad said:


> I heard it was hard to follow but gave it a show anyway...damn, incredibly obtuse. I was so confused. Maybe about halfway through the season things started to make sense. Then when the season ended I was waiting for season 2 to kick in which wasn't happening for some reason. And that's when I realized I had just watched Season 5 since I got confused by Amazon Prime JP's all Japanese interface.
> 
> Now I'm on season 1 but seeing a lot of faces I know ain't around by season 5...


Oh man, that's rough. 

I had a similar experience. Me and my brother-in-law decided to give the first episode "The Boys" a go. After it finished, all I could really remark was "holy crap, that was SOAPY". Only a year later did I realize that we'd actually watched the _last_ episode of the season, not the first, because my sister had watched the entire series, and so the autoplay was set to the last episode.


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## narad (Jan 24, 2021)

Xaios said:


> Oh man, that's rough.
> 
> I had a similar experience. Me and my brother-in-law decided to give the first episode "The Boys" a go. After it finished, all I could really remark was "holy crap, that was SOAPY". Only a year later did I realize that we'd actually watched the _last_ episode of the season, not the first, because my sister had watched the entire series, and so the autoplay was set to the last episode.



Ha, yea. To be honest, could have been a lot worse. Imagine if I had started something like Battlestar Galactica from the last season...


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## technomancer (Jan 24, 2021)

Not sure how I never commented in here as I love the show... by far the best scifi series currently airing.

Finally getting around to reading the books now


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## jaxadam (Jan 24, 2021)

technomancer said:


> Not sure how I never commented in here as I love the show... by far the best scifi series currently airing.
> 
> Finally getting around to reading the books now



My wife said she is willing to start all the way back over at the beginning if I'll watch it with her. That's a keeper.


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## technomancer (Mar 21, 2021)

jaxadam said:


> My wife said she is willing to start all the way back over at the beginning if I'll watch it with her. That's a keeper.



Nah the show is just that good  (super ultra late response...)


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 2, 2021)

A little over the midpoint of season 3 now. Not a fan of how they clearly ended the plot of the first 2 books in the middle of seasons 2 and 3. Kinda kills the flow for me but maybe they weren't sure if they'd get a season 2 out of the gate and only planned so much. Still enjoying it, though.


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## Miek (Apr 2, 2021)

I remember reading the first book years ago and bouncing off it, kinda hating Holden and Miller, despite liking everything else. Now I fucking love the show and wanna go back and give the book a second a chance.

Still think Holden is the weakest of the main cast but Thomas Jane went a long way in getting me to like Miller.


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## DeathbyDesign (Apr 3, 2021)

My wife and I are hooked on the show. I haven't read the books yet but I might start later this year after I get my backlog of books down. It bums me out there is only 1 season left but damn they did a really good job on all the seasons so far.


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## Ericjutsu (Apr 10, 2021)

I really want to get into this show but for some reason, I find it boring. How are the later seasons?


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## Miek (Apr 11, 2021)

It gets better the further on you go. Seasons 3-5 are way better than the earlier stuff in execution


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## Miek (Apr 17, 2021)

Rewatching and I forgot how much Miller opposes Dawes for basically no reason other than pride.


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 18, 2021)

Finished season 4 last night. The first 1.5 - 2 seasons are a little slow but it really picks up in season 3. There are still plenty of moments that take me out a bit with low budget actors but I guess it's part of the charm.


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## wheresthefbomb (Jun 13, 2021)

I binged through all of this over winter, reading the books now. The show has plenty of weaknesses but overall is enjoyably bold for sci fi in the themes it explores.

Generally I enjoy the storytelling of the books more, it feels less "space bros" and they really develop some of the complex themes more, but television is necessarily a confined medium.

As someone with a linguistics background I really appreciated the development of the Belter patois and unique accent on screen, just not something that can be done easily in writing. It starts becoming really cohesive in the later seasons and for me really establishes the feel of who the Belters are culturally, having come from disparate Earth cultures and become their own through generations of communal isolation. In this regard the show really outdid the books and maximized the medium, a fine piece of immersive detail. 

On the other hand, Alex's accent onscreen never doesn't sound fake, and while the books contextualize this by explaining that Martians from the mariner valley all adopt a "southern" accent that indeed sounds goofy or forced and that he even drops it sometimes, in the show it just comes off as bad acting, which is a shame because the whole thing is pretty hilarious to me and makes the character feel more real in the books.


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## mcleanab (Jun 14, 2021)

Haven't read the books, so I went in with no expectation. I tried watching it a while back, and I agree, the slowest/weakest part is the first part of season 1... almost comes across as typical and cliche. Stopped watching for a while and then came back to it...

HOWEVER, it moves quickly from there and establishes itself, at least to me, as some of the best television I've seen in a while, not just some of the best sci-fi. Very solid, great character development, thoughtful, smart. Love it. Season 5 is difficult to watch as it's personal, intimate, and the characters go through hell. Can't wait for the last season...


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## BigViolin (Jun 21, 2021)

I’m at the end of book 3 and TV season 2…..so I’m all fucked up. 

Love it.


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## Choop (Jul 7, 2021)

About half through season 2 now. I like the setting/world building stuff a lot, and the production is quite good. Maybe worth watching just for that...and the overarching plot is cool. The characters still feel pretty flat right now presently, though, and I dislike the political scenes with Chrisjen Avasarala...it comes off as Game of Thrones but bad. I'm also consistently annoyed with Miller. It seems like he just does things that contradict his character constantly. Honestly I still don't know much about any of the characters' motivations beyond reacting to what is immediately happening. Alex is probably the most likable right now because you understand what he wants at this point and he's developing, but his character is also pretty simple.


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## Miek (Nov 6, 2021)

Final season announced lads. ready for it?


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## mcleanab (Nov 6, 2021)

I never read the books, but Season 5 was a hard watch... they dug so deep into those characters and it was so gritty and gutsy the whole time. Excellent, but tough... Season 6 looks like they are going to cut loose... can't wait.


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## slimefuzz (Nov 6, 2021)

lifetime scifi fan, enjoyed the show immensely so far. 
one of the least dumbed down scifi series ever. 
Lots of deep concepts, and multidimensional characters

peace


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## jaxadam (Nov 6, 2021)

Miek said:


> Final season announced lads. ready for it?



My wife will be thrilled to know this. Just told her. Yep, she's thrilled.


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## nightflameauto (Nov 8, 2021)

I'll be sad to see The Expanse end. One of my favorite sci-fi series of all time. The depth of characters is so believable, and they hold fast to their science outside of the alien artifacts.


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## Adieu (Nov 8, 2021)

I kinda lost interest midway through the planet colonizing Season, whichever that was... does it pick back up?


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## eaeolian (Nov 8, 2021)

Adieu said:


> I kinda lost interest midway through the planet colonizing Season, whichever that was... does it pick back up?



Oh yes, yes it does.


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## nightflameauto (Nov 8, 2021)

Adieu said:


> I kinda lost interest midway through the planet colonizing Season, whichever that was... does it pick back up?


That season had a ton of down time between action sequences, but the end of that season onward gets pretty brutal. In a good way.


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## wheresthefbomb (Dec 5, 2021)

Been blasting through the books, I'm on 8 of 9, well ahead of the show in plot development by this point. Looking forward to seeing how the final season wraps everything up.


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## Furtive Glance (Dec 5, 2021)

I was mooching all my friend's books for this series but I moved away in March. As soon as they officially release a box set, I'm grabbing it.


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## Adieu (Dec 5, 2021)

Furtive Glance said:


> I was mooching all my friend's books for this series but I moved away in March. As soon as they officially release a box set, I'm grabbing it.



You still read books on paper?

I bet that would feel so damn odd if I tried


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## Xaios (Dec 6, 2021)

I'm personally holding off until the series is finished before tackling the books.


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## wheresthefbomb (Dec 6, 2021)

I still read analog books during the day and prefer them overall, but I like to read easily digestible stuff on my kindle laying down in bed to help me get to sleep. I don't think I've read more than a few dozen pages of The Expanse outside of the ~hour before I fall asleep. 

Fun to compare the plot lines, but also gets a little confusing honestly, especially since quite a few of the many character arcs have been truncated, altered, or combined to fit the TV series medium.


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## ElRay (Dec 6, 2021)

Furtive Glance said:


> I was mooching all my friend's books for this series but I moved away in March. As soon as they officially release a box set, I'm grabbing it.


Amazon had an 8-boox boxed set, which I said, "I'm too busy right now, I'll get it later." and now it's gone.


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## Xaios (Dec 7, 2021)

ElRay said:


> Amazon had an 8-boox boxed set, which I said, "I'm too busy right now, I'll get it later." and now it's gone.


Well, hopefully the 9-book boxed set is out soon.


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## ElRay (Dec 8, 2021)

Xaios said:


> Well, hopefully the 9-book boxed set is out soon.


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## wheresthefbomb (Jan 27, 2022)

S6 was a big yawn for me, and I don't think it's just 'cause I'm most of the way through the last book. Seemed super rushed or like effort was weirdly misplaced.

I really dislike this growing trend of building elaborate, usually very-obviously-fake sets to look like outdoor scenes. The Laconia scenes were a total flop for me, they failed at looking "alien" and also failed at looking like a real forest. I can't imagine it costs more to just go film it in the fucking woods, but what do I know? 

Another Life handled this much better imo by just digitally coloring the "alien" trees blue or purple or whatever. It was a simple trick, but "blue trees=alien" disrupts my immersion a lot less than continually noticing every single too-perfect stone and piece of moss.

At least they finally vaporized Marco, I was getting really bored of his shtick. Somehow he didn't translate well from the books and seemed to get more insufferable as time went on, and not in an intentional "villain you love to hate" kind of way.

I did enjoy Filip's character arc during this season, and found him more likable than ever. Also, the Laconian orbital platforms were rendered in sufficiently jaw-dropping fashion.

I also found that overall, they seemed to be trying to portray "grittier" characters but it was super jarring. All of a sudden Holden has a Batman/Punisher voice and everybody says fuck a lot. Maybe I just didn't notice it in S5 but I found it really disorienting and had a hard time getting back into the characters.


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## Furtive Glance (Feb 27, 2022)

I finally grabbed a copy of Book 9 from the library. Not the most exciting finish but they wrapped it up nicely enough for me. Will definitely be grabbing a box set when it comes out officially.


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## ElRay (Feb 28, 2022)

wheresthefbomb said:


> ... All of a sudden Holden has a Batman/Punisher voice and everybody says fuck a lot...


Character development. Anybody's who's been on a military deployment, or has had family members do one has experienced this. Six months in Afghanistan would get even the Air Force swearing like sailors.


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## jaxadam (Nov 1, 2022)

My wife is currently re-bingeing this.


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## nightflameauto (Nov 2, 2022)

There's rumors circulating that they're starting work on another season, but it'll be several decades time-jumped. As long as they keep up the good writing and directing, I'd be down.


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## ElRay (Nov 2, 2022)

tom schelfaut said:


> I couldn't get past the first episode for some reason...


I didn't either -- The first time

The first episode was too "Film Noire Detective Story in Space" to grab me, so I stopped watching after the episode. I kept hearing good things, so I decided I'd watch the first three episodes before making a new decision. That was a good choice.

There are times you need to pay attention, so it's not "background noise" kind of show. Not as "informationally dense" as Dark, but definitely not a sitcom you have running in the background while eating dinner.


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