The Expanse

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sunnyside
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The Expanse

Post by sunnyside »

It's an excellent series being put out by SyFy that's already been renewed for a second season.

It's really taking a shot at being "hard" science fiction with a strong helping of dystopia. No FTL, artificial gravity, transporters, or Q to be found. Mostly what they have on us are self sealing space suits and some kind of reactor (presumably fusion based) that allows them to move around our solar system with some difficulty. However whenever they stop accelerating they lose their effective gravity.

I especially like the efforts they put in to showcase that events are supposed to be taking place in low gravity, like birds being able to move around while moving their wings much slower than on earth.

You should watch it. I think it'd be interesting to discuss.
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Re: The Expanse

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I've been enjoying this series immensely. I appreciate the way maneuvering in space is depicted, and as you say some of the effects of a less-than-Earth-gravity environment
such as how simply being made to stand up for half a day in Earth gravity was considered banned torture for a subject from the Belt.
Perhaps more importantly, the production values are good and Thomas Jane has been great along with the supporting cast.
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Re: The Expanse

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Every once n a while they remind the viewer that they are using mag-boots. They do not over do it nor do they ignore it.
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Re: The Expanse

Post by sunnyside »

I'm not sure what I can include here without spoiler tags to get more people here watching. So I'll include their trailer.



I'm not sure about the rest of you, but when I heard that quote they have at the end of the trailer my first thought was "he wants the lens flare".
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Re: The Expanse

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I am not sure if anything has really happened yet that would require a spoiler... 7 episodes in. It is well done which is why it is still in my queue, but they really need to get to it already. Foot on the gas fellas!
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Re: The Expanse

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Jim wrote:I am not sure if anything has really happened yet that would require a spoiler... 7 episodes in. It is well done which is why it is still in my queue, but they really need to get to it already. Foot on the gas fellas!
HELLA plot twist last night... and in general a nicely organic way to tie the threads together for next week's season finale.

I have to say that SyFy's series have been a welcome contrast from their movies. I also immensely enjoyed Killjoys and am glad to see that it got picked up for S2... I personally didn't care much for Dark Matter or the premier of The Magicians, but it seems to be more of a personal preference issue than a judgment of production values. I will certainly give Hunters a look when it comes out as well, and will have to arrange to binge on 12 Monkeys when I get the chance.

Also, of course, I will now have to read the original "Expanse" novel series.
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Re: The Expanse

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Mikey wrote:
Jim wrote:I am not sure if anything has really happened yet that would require a spoiler... 7 episodes in. It is well done which is why it is still in my queue, but they really need to get to it already. Foot on the gas fellas!
HELLA plot twist last night... and in general a nicely organic way to tie the threads together for next week's season finale.

I have to say that SyFy's series have been a welcome contrast from their movies. I also immensely enjoyed Killjoys and am glad to see that it got picked up for S2... I personally didn't care much for Dark Matter or the premier of The Magicians, but it seems to be more of a personal preference issue than a judgment of production values. I will certainly give Hunters a look when it comes out as well, and will have to arrange to binge on 12 Monkeys when I get the chance.

Also, of course, I will now have to read the original "Expanse" novel series.
Didn't get to watch E8 yet. If SyFy put as much into their movies as they do their tv shows the movies could probably be released as features.
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Re: The Expanse

Post by Mikey »

True dat.
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Re: The Expanse

Post by McAvoy »

Is this something I could wait for the entire season to end?
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Re: The Expanse

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Mikey wrote: HELLA plot twist last night... and in general a nicely organic way to tie the threads together for next week's season finale.
The weaving together seemed forgone, but I really thought they'd make Julie into a major character. Though I guess there's still a tiny chance they could surprise us by having her not be dead dead in some manner.
Jim wrote:I am not sure if anything has really happened yet that would require a spoiler... 7 episodes in. It is well done which is why it is still in my queue, but they really need to get to it already. Foot on the gas fellas!
A lot of series feature the mustachioed bad guy on his flagship monologuing away about his scheme so the audience is clued in. Then somebody blows up the bad guy's deathstar/dreadnaught/starkiller base/Narada/Scimitar, and then perhaps beat the baddie one on one...possibly after a dance off distraction.

I could be wrong, but I think the expanse isn't going to go there. I think they like their intrigues too much, and I don't think they're done introducing new and interesting locals dripping in the human condition. While we all probably have roughly the same theory about what's going on, I think they've deliberately left themselves enough wiggle room for a surprise. And they know they have at least one more season.

On a separate note, have we ever discussed the efficacy of nuclear weapons in space?

It occurs to me that most of the damage comes from the blast wave, but you need air for that (or contact with something, at which point the weapon is obviously devastating). So it'd be mostly gamma rays and neutrons, so at that point it's mostly a question of if there is a meaningful way for the defending ship to reflect, deflect, or otherwise transform those into something that won't kill any humans within a hundred miles. However radiation shielding would be something you'd need to figure out to allow for long term survival in space in any case.
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Re: The Expanse

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Jim wrote:
Mikey wrote:
Jim wrote:I am not sure if anything has really happened yet that would require a spoiler... 7 episodes in. It is well done which is why it is still in my queue, but they really need to get to it already. Foot on the gas fellas!
HELLA plot twist last night... and in general a nicely organic way to tie the threads together for next week's season finale.

I have to say that SyFy's series have been a welcome contrast from their movies. I also immensely enjoyed Killjoys and am glad to see that it got picked up for S2... I personally didn't care much for Dark Matter or the premier of The Magicians, but it seems to be more of a personal preference issue than a judgment of production values. I will certainly give Hunters a look when it comes out as well, and will have to arrange to binge on 12 Monkeys when I get the chance.

Also, of course, I will now have to read the original "Expanse" novel series.
Didn't get to watch E8 yet. If SyFy put as much into their movies as they do their tv shows the movies could probably be released as features.
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Re: The Expanse

Post by Mikey »

McAvoy wrote:Is this something I could wait for the entire season to end?
Prob, but if you wanted to start I believe the whole season is available on OnDemand for nothing extra.
Nutso wrote: Those Sharknado and Giant Octopus movies come from a studio called The Asylum. http://www.theasylum.cc/
I believe those movies came simply from an asylum.
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Re: The Expanse

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sunnyside wrote:
Jim wrote:I am not sure if anything has really happened yet that would require a spoiler... 7 episodes in. It is well done which is why it is still in my queue, but they really need to get to it already. Foot on the gas fellas!
A lot of series feature the mustachioed bad guy on his flagship monologuing away about his scheme so the audience is clued in. Then somebody blows up the bad guy's deathstar/dreadnaught/starkiller base/Narada/Scimitar, and then perhaps beat the baddie one on one...possibly after a dance off distraction.

I could be wrong, but I think the expanse isn't going to go there. I think they like their intrigues too much, and I don't think they're done introducing new and interesting locals dripping in the human condition. While we all probably have roughly the same theory about what's going on, I think they've deliberately left themselves enough wiggle room for a surprise. And they know they have at least one more season.
I do not expect the Shadow War... I just meant that in terms of spoiler type things... I do not think that there is anything through 7 episodes that would really qualify. Even on the "drama" side there hasn't been any "oooooooo" moments. Almost like it is all just well done filler through 7.
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Re: The Expanse

Post by Nutso »

sunnyside wrote:
Mikey wrote: HELLA plot twist last night... and in general a nicely organic way to tie the threads together for next week's season finale.
The weaving together seemed forgone, but I really thought they'd make Julie into a major character. Though I guess there's still a tiny chance they could surprise us by having her not be dead dead in some manner.
I hope her death isn't washed away by bringing her back to life via that organic machine thing. Part of me thinks that would be cool but, part of me would like there to be consequences.
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Re: The Expanse

Post by Nutso »

Jim wrote:
sunnyside wrote:
Jim wrote:I am not sure if anything has really happened yet that would require a spoiler... 7 episodes in. It is well done which is why it is still in my queue, but they really need to get to it already. Foot on the gas fellas!
A lot of series feature the mustachioed bad guy on his flagship monologuing away about his scheme so the audience is clued in. Then somebody blows up the bad guy's deathstar/dreadnaught/starkiller base/Narada/Scimitar, and then perhaps beat the baddie one on one...possibly after a dance off distraction.

I could be wrong, but I think the expanse isn't going to go there. I think they like their intrigues too much, and I don't think they're done introducing new and interesting locals dripping in the human condition. While we all probably have roughly the same theory about what's going on, I think they've deliberately left themselves enough wiggle room for a surprise. And they know they have at least one more season.
I do not expect the Shadow War... I just meant that in terms of spoiler type things... I do not think that there is anything through 7 episodes that would really qualify. Even on the "drama" side there hasn't been any "oooooooo" moments. Almost like it is all just well done filler through 7.
I think everything so far has been setup. This show is a slow burn really. I think we're finally about to see consequences. One character has become a living Martyr.
We learned in the last episode that he was actually born for and raised to be the centerpiece of a cause. His mother took pity on Holden and set him free before it would be too late. Yet he has become the face of another cause.
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