The Expanse?
As a big fan of the books, I'll say this: there's nothing revolutionary in them. They're traditional, almost old-fashioned science fiction, with a commitment to setting and engaging characters you can root for. Familiar by design, but done with a superior level of craftsmanship. The show looks to be the same.
My generic food metaphor for the series is "a great hamburger". Nothing haute or fancy; no seared foie gras on top, no dusting of weird molecular gastronomy powder. Just great (ahem, aged) beef cooked to near-perfection. On a tasty bun.
Disclaimer I'm not a critical type of viewer. I find I enjoy things on some level (be it story , or effects , or , more commonly, simple escapism to avoid other stuff I should be doing) more than most people who post on these boards. So take my opinion with a grain of salt
I just watched the first two episodes. I have NOT read the books or previews so basically I knew nothing about it before going in.
I'll start with my cons so far: there are three story lines going on, I kept expecting them to intersect in the episode, but nope, they are distinct ( so far anyway) and I found that a bit jarring until I realized it was going to be a slow burn to the intersection. There are a lot of characters in the first episode, combine that with the similar muted color tones of clothing and such and I admit the first episode I had no idea who was who between scenes ( i.e. If someone was in scene 1 and then again scene 4 , I didn't recognize it as the same person from scene 1). But that aspect got better for me by the second episode as by then I was accepting of the three separate stories as well as by the second episode some focus shifted to highlight who the main characters are ( I'm trying not to spoil).
Normally with new shows you have a character that acts as the audience eyes who gets introduced to stuff, but you don't really get that here , this goes back to three story lines, but I kept looking for 'that character' in the first ten minutes and I just didn't get that....that isn't a bad thing just my expectation was otherwise so it took a moment and so I don't think I actually 'got' the show , it's pacing, it's characters, it's story lines, until a bit in to the second episode.
Pros: for a tv show it has nice effects and scenes and such. Its going for a gritty realistic feel and heavily on lore ( which is a con, but at the same time I'm listing it as a pro since it does just help me achieve my goal of escapism.)
Bottom line : I'll continue watching, and really that's it comes down to.
That said I know it won't be for everyone.
I just watched the first two episodes. I have NOT read the books or previews so basically I knew nothing about it before going in.
I'll start with my cons so far: there are three story lines going on, I kept expecting them to intersect in the episode, but nope, they are distinct ( so far anyway) and I found that a bit jarring until I realized it was going to be a slow burn to the intersection. There are a lot of characters in the first episode, combine that with the similar muted color tones of clothing and such and I admit the first episode I had no idea who was who between scenes ( i.e. If someone was in scene 1 and then again scene 4 , I didn't recognize it as the same person from scene 1). But that aspect got better for me by the second episode as by then I was accepting of the three separate stories as well as by the second episode some focus shifted to highlight who the main characters are ( I'm trying not to spoil).
Normally with new shows you have a character that acts as the audience eyes who gets introduced to stuff, but you don't really get that here , this goes back to three story lines, but I kept looking for 'that character' in the first ten minutes and I just didn't get that....that isn't a bad thing just my expectation was otherwise so it took a moment and so I don't think I actually 'got' the show , it's pacing, it's characters, it's story lines, until a bit in to the second episode.
Pros: for a tv show it has nice effects and scenes and such. Its going for a gritty realistic feel and heavily on lore ( which is a con, but at the same time I'm listing it as a pro since it does just help me achieve my goal of escapism.)
Bottom line : I'll continue watching, and really that's it comes down to.
That said I know it won't be for everyone.
Dog Moon
Adventurer
I just finished watching the most recent episode and I like the show. It seemed a little slow buildup in the first episode, but after a couple more I started to enjoy it more though I admit that while the show isn't bad, there aren't any characters that really jump out and make you go "Wow!". I like how the detective searching for the girl saw her water supply in the apartment and decided to take advantage of it and he has a little style, but it's still not quite enough to really grab me.
But I think the biggest thing that kind of annoys me are the comments of the technology level. Like "This guy is wearing technologically advanced armor" or something. It's hard to really be amazed at this superior technology level when everything else is already technologically advanced compared to what we have now. When something is amazing, how do we differentiate between amazing and REALLY amazing?
For example the most recent episode in which the six ships are fighting the cruiser. We had never seen the power of the cruiser before so it being attacked by SIX ships didn't really seem to be special despite the Captain seeming to think them of little consequences. Usually shows have a comparison from previous episodes or something. If I had seen a battle of the cruiser versus a dozen ships and saw their weaponry and THEN saw six ships take it on with something advanced, it puts the situation in a different light.
So overall it isn't a terrible show, but it's also not a great show. Only time will tell if it will ever be anything greater than average.
But I think the biggest thing that kind of annoys me are the comments of the technology level. Like "This guy is wearing technologically advanced armor" or something. It's hard to really be amazed at this superior technology level when everything else is already technologically advanced compared to what we have now. When something is amazing, how do we differentiate between amazing and REALLY amazing?
For example the most recent episode in which the six ships are fighting the cruiser. We had never seen the power of the cruiser before so it being attacked by SIX ships didn't really seem to be special despite the Captain seeming to think them of little consequences. Usually shows have a comparison from previous episodes or something. If I had seen a battle of the cruiser versus a dozen ships and saw their weaponry and THEN saw six ships take it on with something advanced, it puts the situation in a different light.
So overall it isn't a terrible show, but it's also not a great show. Only time will tell if it will ever be anything greater than average.
PurpleDragonKnight
First Post
Liked the first episode. Apparently there's a buzz online saying this might be based on some amount of reality... LOL
The conspiracy theorists posit that there's no rovers on Mars and the pics we've seen so far are shot from Devon Island, Canada, which has a terrain that looks like Mars. They say the skies are blue on Mars and there's already a lot of people there, that NASA is just a smokescreen of disinformation so we don't all get excited about that nice little Elysium they have out there. LOL! Oh, and there's 35,000 Nazis on the moon too. That's the show I want by the way. Or maybe they're saving that plot for the return of Red Skull in a future Avengers movie?
The conspiracy theorists posit that there's no rovers on Mars and the pics we've seen so far are shot from Devon Island, Canada, which has a terrain that looks like Mars. They say the skies are blue on Mars and there's already a lot of people there, that NASA is just a smokescreen of disinformation so we don't all get excited about that nice little Elysium they have out there. LOL! Oh, and there's 35,000 Nazis on the moon too. That's the show I want by the way. Or maybe they're saving that plot for the return of Red Skull in a future Avengers movie?
Oh, and there's 35,000 Nazis on the moon too. That's the show I want by the way. Or maybe they're saving that plot for the return of Red Skull in a future Avengers movie?
That's already a film. Check out Iron Sky.
PurpleDragonKnight
First Post
LOL... wow! LOL
Ryujin
Legend
Cergorach
The Laughing One
I read all the books, but didn't make the connection with the TV series "The Expanse" until well into the first episode. Mostly me muttering to myself: "This is familiar...", "Is this THAT novel series?!?!", "No it couldn't be!", "Maybe...", "Oh damn! It is!". Even thought at one point: "Remake of Babelon 5? Is that Garibaldi?"
The 'problem' is that I read the series quite recently and all the main characters aren't exactly as I envisioned them in my minds eye, except one: "Chrisjen Avasarala", she's exactly how I saw that character in my mind. The rest I recognized some things of, just not a 100% match imho.
The pacing is imho a bit slow, I can understand why some folk think it's boring. I also think it's a little to gritty a la BSG (2004), I always thought of it as a bit more babylon 5 smoothness...
I think I like the show enough because I like the books, that doesn't exactly make me impartial...
The 'problem' is that I read the series quite recently and all the main characters aren't exactly as I envisioned them in my minds eye, except one: "Chrisjen Avasarala", she's exactly how I saw that character in my mind. The rest I recognized some things of, just not a 100% match imho.
The pacing is imho a bit slow, I can understand why some folk think it's boring. I also think it's a little to gritty a la BSG (2004), I always thought of it as a bit more babylon 5 smoothness...
I think I like the show enough because I like the books, that doesn't exactly make me impartial...
