The Expanse

Wow: This was by far the biggest surprise for me in 2016. And apparently, I was somewhat late to the party, as the show already began to air in 2015. I'm an avid sci-fi fan, but I hadn't heard or read anything about 'The Expanse', and yet it's one of the most ambitious sci-fi (or generally high profile/concept TV) shows I've come across in recent years.

First, I believe a little (spoiler-free) information might be helpful prior to watching the show, because the viewer is thrown right into an incredibly detailed world where much is shown rather than explained (which is certainly an elegant choice in terms of storytelling and world-building, but there's so much going on and every shot is packed with so much visual information that it can be a little confusing during the first 2 or 3 episodes). So what you need to know is this: A couple of hundred years into the future, humanity is spread out throughout the solar system and divided into 3 opposing forces who are on the brink of an all out war for political power and resources (mainly water - which is harvested in the form of asteroid ice). The 3 fractions consist of the two superpowers Earth (governed by the U.N.) and Mars; the third party are the "belters", which is basically everyone unfortunate enough to be living on poor dwarf planets like Ceres or other large rocks in the asteroid belt (hence the name "belters").

Those belters are the future equivalent of the 3rd World population, as they represent the poor, exploited and underdeveloped colonies in the solar system. Many belters feel represented by the "Outer Planets Alliance" (short: O.P.A.) which is a radical group demanding more autonomy and fairer distribution of resources for the inhabitants of the asteroid belt, but is viewed as a terrorist group by Earth and Mars. Belters are badly affected by the harsh conditions in low (or even zero) gravity (which is often referred to as "low-G" or "zero-G"), as well as low oxygen levels and the strict rationing of water; their bodies develop less muscles and their bone structure has less density compared to that of humans born and raised on Earth or Mars. The belters' life expectancy is roughly half of that of humans living on Earth.

So that's the backdrop to the story told in 'The Expanse', and it all may seem a little complicated at the start, because the plot unfolds through several separate story lines. The key parts of the story are told through the eyes of three different protagonists: a high ranking U.N. official on Earth named Avasarala (played by Shohreh Aghdashloo); a cynical belter police detective named Miller (Thomas Jane) whose story starts on Ceres; and a young executive officer named Holden (Steven Strait) working on an ice freighter in space. Although those three don't know it (yet), their stories are connected - and that's all I'm gonna say about the plot, because this show deserves to be watched unspoiled.

Featuring visual and narrative elements that reminded me of almost every sci-fi film I ever loved - 'Alien', 'Outland', 'Serenity', 'Blade Runner' and many more - this is an R-rated space opera no sci-fi fan should miss. And although it probably can't compete with 175 million costing blockbusters like the new 'Star Trek' movies in terms of visual effects, 'The Expanse' looks fantastic. Given the insane amount of effects work involved, it must have been a very expensive affair for SyFy (who ordered the series from production companies Alcon Television and The Sean Daniel Company), and although I doubt they were able to afford the kind of budget HBO usually spends on shows like 'Game of Thrones' or 'Westworld', in terms of scope and complexity, this new SyFy show easily matches HBO's flagships (it appears Syfy is trying to get rid of its reputation as "shlock-channel").

The storytelling is meticulous and perfectly paced; the world-building richly detailed and always credible, and the patient viewer who doesn't demand everything be explained within the first episodes is rewarded with a thrilling, mysterious tale of adventure and discovery. The cast is terrific (especially Thomas Jane who seems to fit his character like a glove) and the writing manages the astounding feat to elegantly lead us through a very complex world and complicated story without ever feeling forced or weighed down by expository dialogue. Showrunners/writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (known for their Oscar nominated work on the screenplay for 'Children of Men') really have done a fine job bringing the series of novels by James S. A. Corey (aka Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) to life. Highly recommended to every sci- fi fan: 9 stars out of 10.

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-Known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Enthralling series: intelligent, intriguing and action-packed. 9/10

(Updated after Season 6).

Hundreds of years into the future, Earth has colonised Mars but Mars is now independent, and the two planets are in a constant state of distrust and unease. Caught between these two are the people of the asteroid belt and outer planets. James Holden, the executive officer of a freighter witnesses his ship, being destroyed by what appears to be a Martian warship. This heightens the tensions between Earth and Mars and sets Holden and his remaining crew on a quest across the galaxy to find the truth behind the incident. Meanwhile, on Ceres in the Asteroid Belt, a police detective is searching for the daughter of the wealthiest man in the galaxy. These are all parts of a conspiracy that that will threaten life in the Solar System.

Brilliant. I am not a huge fan of sci fi series (Firefly was the notable exception): they tend to rely too much on gimmicky inventions and faux science, at the expense of plot. The Expanse is different: the science and future history are incredibly believable. I'm no physicist but I found it difficult to fault the physics and technology involved. More than that, the futuristic nature of the series provides the background, not the story, so the series does not rely on it.

What the series does rely on is plot, and it is a great one. Starts out pretty slowly, so doesn't immediately pull you in, but after three episodes or so it is off to the races. The seemingly-parallel stories start to intersect, things start to make more sense (though, thankfully, not so much that the mystery disappears), the characters become more interesting and the action ramps up.

The story is then intelligently developed over the following seasons. Despite the many twists and turns, the plot remains solid, with no twists for twists sake and everything fits together very well. Even when one mystery is solved, another emerges to take its place, without feeling gratuitous.

Quite grittily told too: no characters are unexpendable, making the plot quite unpredictable.

Superb special effects and action scenes. The CGI is absolutely seamless and realistic, without being too ostentatious. Like the science, the CGI is the medium, not the message.

Performances are where the series does feel a bit lacking. The main characters - the crew of the Rocinante - are reasonably well played, though there are no stand-out performances. Some of the lesser characters are quite badly played though, with the worst culprits being Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala and Shawn Doyle as Sadavir Enright. Any scene they were in made me cringe, with Aghdashloo being particularly irritating. She wasn't helped by her character being pretty badly drawn, with the worst dialogue and most grating mannerisms of any character in the series. The two factors - the character and her performance - just compounded each other.

The lack of character depth is a general weakness in the show too. The series is about the intrigue and action, much more than the people and their relationships, making character engagement less than complete (unlike Firefly, which was highly engaging because of the characters and their interactions).

This is a minor flaw though, as the plot and its roller-coaster momentum propel the show.

Amazingly, after five seasons, the series managed to get better. Most shows would be running out of ideas at that point but The Expanse managed to stay fresh and innovative. Season 5 is actually the best season of the lot, which says a lot. The show moves from our heroes vs weird science to a good old fashioned good guys vs bad guys war.

After the brilliance of S5 I was expecting great things from Season 6. Everything was set up for a great, climactic finale. While it isn't bad, S6 feels padded and unfocussed, like the writers didn't know to end it and/or didn't have enough material for a complete season.

Best evidence of this is the girl with dead bird sub-plot that takes up the first 5-10 minutes of every episode. This was totally pointless and was just there to take up space.

Even when things get wrapped up it's sometimes in clumsy fashion: tight situations that get resolved by some out-of-the-blue force or a technology that nobody knew existed before. Between the slow, meaningless girl with dead bird sub-plot and the action scenes that sometimes get resolved in quick, out-of-the-blue fashion, the pacing is jarring in its inconsistency. The writing in S6 is definitely looser than the rest of the series making S6 the weakest of all the seasons.

Season ratings: S1-4 9/10, S5 10/10, S6 7/10.

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.

Damn. If the Syfy (I hate that abbreviation) Channel would show more stuff like this and less from The Asylum, I'd watch it more. This is simply great SF. The physics of space travel are as realistic as can be. The characters, from Miller the beat up Belter Cop, to Amos the Earther, to Holden the righteous captain by default and the places, Ceres, Tycho, Earth and Mars are all well defined and believable. The sfx is brilliant and the ship designs look like they've evolved from what we use today. The situations, different governments vying for power, resources and land, are all excellently done. A really great adaptation of a really great book series. This should be watched by anyone who even claims to be a sf fan.

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.