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The Expanse

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:21 pm
by LarsMac
The Expanse is a series that was originally commissioned by the Sy-Fy channel

It is now showing on Amazon Prime video.

I am 6 episodes in and I am hooked.

The effects are quite amazing, and the Physics are very close to accurate(very important for a space flick)

I think that it is worth the time investment to check it out. It is even worth paying for, IMHO.

The setting is two centuries in the future, when Earth has colonized Mars, which has rapidly become a force to be reckoned with, and the colonies of miners(Belters) in the Asteroid belt are developing their own collective identity.

There is not a lot of set-up, or introductory story telling. You are dropped right smack-dab into the middle of an unfolding story, and you have to figure it out as it goes along, right alongside the characters.

The Expanse

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 3:54 pm
by tude dog
I have seen commercials on this. I'll check it out.

The Expanse

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:30 am
by spot
From what I recall, the chap with the hat puts in a startlingly good performance. I mean not just pretty neat but wow that was acting.

Were it suited to a younger audience I'd have shown it to my lad but it's not, by a big margin.

A very long time ago I even red the novels.

It has the odd attribute that the plot is transparent and the denouement crystal clear from very early on, in terms of whodunnit and how big a mistake the choice will prove, but that the lack of suspense is irrelevant to the satisfaction of the telling.

The Expanse

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 12:09 pm
by Bryn Mawr
spot;1529780 wrote: From what I recall, the chap with the hat puts in a startlingly good performance. I mean not just pretty neat but wow that was acting.

Were it suited to a younger audience I'd have shown it to my lad but it's not, by a big margin.

A very long time ago I even red the novels.

It has the odd attribute that the plot is transparent and the denouement crystal clear from very early on, in terms of whodunnit and how big a mistake the choice will prove, but that the lack of suspense is irrelevant to the satisfaction of the telling.


The plot tells me I’ve read them but I cannot recall the titles?

The Expanse

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 12:13 pm
by spot
Bryn Mawr;1529816 wrote: The plot tells me I’ve read them but I cannot recall the titles?


I expect it has Leviathan in it. Awakes?

The Expanse

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 12:19 pm
by Bryn Mawr
spot;1529818 wrote: I expect it has Leviathan in it. Awakes?


It is indeed Leviathan Wakes but that was only written in 2011 and I’m thinking of a book with the same plot that I read in the ?sixties?

The Expanse

Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 2:25 pm
by LarsMac
I'm in the third season, now. It has taken some rather interesting twists. Some even predictable.

The Expanse

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2020 5:56 pm
by LarsMac
Well, made it through the four seasons of the thing.

Some very interesting plot twists.

Some of my favorite scenes was Frank Villa's character jetting through space to Deep Purple's "Highway Star." Well, except for his rather abrupt demise.

Thomas Jane's character proves to be fairly durable.

Shawn Doyle, David Straithaim, and Wes Chatham provide some wonderfully consistent performances.

It does kinda go off the deep end a bit with physics, a few times.

But it really sticks to the human element. Basically, everyone sees the universe through their own perception, and clings determinedly to their personal frame of reference. This brings about the demise of many, and makes the Universe a very dangerous place.

The Expanse

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 12:47 pm
by spot
There appears to also be a program aimed at 6-8 year olds called The Orville, if anyone has access to it and a child in the appropriate age bracket.

The Expanse

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 1:40 pm
by LarsMac
spot;1531756 wrote: There appears to also be a program aimed at 6-8 year olds called The Orville, if anyone has access to it and a child in the appropriate age bracket.


I never saw that. It sounded interesting, but apparently it never caught on.

Finished the first 4 seasons of The Expanse. It has become quite the Space Opera. I look forward to season 5. It's been Very entertaining, so far.

Re: The Expanse

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:26 am
by LarsMac
Time for a revisit.
So, Season Five rolled out and was very interesting.
I got to wondering about a lot of "Holes" in the story line.
People came through, without any background on why they were there, and how they got involved.
A lot seemed to be taken for granted.
So, I dug up the books. Not a difficult task, since the series is quite popular, now.

The the story line follows the books pretty well for the first 3, but in the fourth the series gets to wandering, and # 5 the drift becomes fairly significant.
I am unwilling to even speculate on how the 6th, and apparently final episode will even stay close to the book story line. Some of the major players in the 5th episode were relatively minor in the book, but promise to take on very significant events in the film, while significant actors in the fifth and sixth book are relegated to bit parts by the close of the fifth episode of the film series.

The books contain a lot of detail and discussion of the "Physical Science" where the film just presumes everybody will take their word for it, like Star Trek and Star Wars fans do.

Having moved on to book # 7, now. I can see why the film people will likely end the series at #6. The story line takes place 30 years or so on after the events of #6, which will make it tough to carry on with the same actors and character lines.

Re: The Expanse

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2022 10:02 am
by LarsMac
So, all nine books in the bag, along with a few "Mini-novels" with extra content. The writers have finished their part.
The 6th season is a wrap. Last episode of the series drops a week from now.
The producers fell victim to the wrap-it-up, and let's move one syndrome that finished the "Game of Thrones" bunch.

Plot drift is annoying in the series. One character in particular, who was a bit part in the book has taken over as one of the major players in the film series.

The series will wrap somewhere around the end of the 6th and 7th books, and, of course, leave a lot of room to maneuver for an extension of the film series should someone wish to pick up the banner -and the price tag - and run with the story into the future.

I actually find myself wishing that I had held off on reading the books until after the film series had finished.
Both are great works within their respective Media, but there is so much plot drift between them, now, it is quite distraction.

Re: The Expanse

Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 2:38 am
by Connor434
As for books, I love reading them. They are all interesting in their own way.