10 ms·
My SO and I were looking for a show to watch last November, so I did a search of "highest rated shows on X platform" and The Expanse was one of the frontrunners
by BlameKaneda 6y ago
My SO and I were looking for a show to watch last November, so I did a search of "highest rated shows on X platform" and The Expanse was one of the frontrunners. There were some reviews that said it was slow to start, with lots of confusing world-building, but it picked up straight after.
We didn't get the sense that it was slow and hard to follow, at all. In fact, one of my favorite things about it is the amount of world-building that you're presented with, especially in the beginning.
We marathoned the first four seasons in a few weeks, and luckily Season 5 started less than a week after we ended. It's easily one of the best shows I've seen in a long time, and one that I've been recommending to people left and right.
- fullstop 6y agoI also encourage people to read the books / novellas. They are excellent.
- brmgb 6y agoAs a counterpoint, while I consider the shows to be oscillating between enjoyable and watchable (though admittedly only barely if we are talking about season 3), I found the books to be completely unreadable (well the first one at least - I'm not a masochist. I stoped there). Abraham and Franck's prose is at best unremarkable when it's not plain bad and they have a bad habit of relying on characters acting, well, out of character and contrary to their interest when the story is stuck (which actually happens quite often and is something the show can't entierely escape sadly).
- goatlover 6y agoSeason 3 was the absolute pinnacle of the show and some of the best scifi ever on tv. It completely blew my mind, and I’ve watched my share of Star Trek, Stargate, Babylon 5, Farscape, BSG, etc over the years. It completely pays off for the buildup of seasons 1 and 2.
- e40 6y agoI agree, S03 was awesome, but I'm finding I like S05 even more. I'm really sorry to see Bezos cancel it after next season. I was hoping for many more.
- imbnwa 6y agoCanceled it, then resigned as CEO, he knew what he was doing
- wmf 6y agoBook 6/season 6 is the end of the "original" Expanse; book 7 takes place decades later. If they want to make books 7-9 into Expanse: TNG they might want to recast the actors. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing the novellas made into pseudo-standalone movies.
- sveme 6y agoI don't see an issue with using the same actors, people seem to live much longer lives anyway and some make-up will make them look older. I really want to watch the last three books as a big budget series. Jeff, if you're reading this, you should have the time and money now to make it happen. Please?
- wmf 6y agoBlue Origin launching a streaming service would be so 2021.
- angry-tempest 6y agoExpanse but actually shot in space
- brummm 6y agoSome of the novellas were actually part of the show.
- 6y ago
- Arrath 6y agoI must admit to having a completely opposite view to yours. I started with the show, and then read the books after having finished season 3. I absolutely devoured them at about 1 book a week until I caught up.
- Valgrim 6y agoThey're also quite different. The difference looks like two different groups of people playing the same published DND adventure: the worldbuilding is the same, the main events are the same, but the characters and their choices are very different, in my opinion (and it makes both the show and the books equally interesting).
- herbstein 6y agoAnd it should be made very clear that both writers of the books (they write under a single pseudonym) are heavily involved in the writing and production of the show. Character and story changes are done to accommodate the TV medium, or to better support a future storyline not originally thought out.
- Shivetya 6y agowhich is what tripped up some viewers with Season 5 as the books its based on were very individual character story driven. how they handled the Cas Anvar (plays Alex) issue did require a change from the books but they did it at end of season so its not disruptive and gave the character a good exit (which the character deserved, not the actor)
- andrei_says_ 6y agoI just watched that and was wondering why they killed Alex. But then remembered there was some kind of scandal with Cas Anvar. Too bad, the character is great in the books, was looking for his deepening relationship with Bobby.
- fullstop 6y agoSpoilers follow: I'm pretty sure that they digitally removed him from some scenes on Luna at the end.
- TLightful 6y agoSame. Struggling through the 5th season, though. Feels like it's lost its narrative drive.
- lazypenguin 6y agoI abandoned the show after season 4. The fourth season was disappointing and sounds like the fifth might be a let down as well. The first 3 seasons were absolutely fantastic.
- baq 6y ago5th season is based on the 5th book which is easily top 3 of the whole series. the 4th season and the 4th book are widely considered below average for the series. if you liked the first 3 seasons, you'll feel right at home with s5.
- watwut 6y agoFifth one is better then 4th and I would say also better then 3th.
- narag 6y agoFor me 4th was boring and even more disappointing considering that, after all they suffered to open the portal, all that they found was a ruined, minefield piece of shit planet. Fith is being a little more entertaining but also turning the back to the portal. Edit: also there's sound in space. IIRC that wasn't the case in the first seasons.
- FreeKill 6y agoI like the yearly rankings they do over at Reddit to try and find shows I've missed. (example: this years https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/kqnefi/results_for_the_2020_rtelevision_favorite_shows/ https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/kqnefi/results_...) It's quite interesting if you look at The Expanse. Started barely top 100, then top 40, then top 20, and now this year people are ranking it #2 all time behind Breaking Bad. Seems like it took a bit for the word to get out about it, but people who take the time to watch it, seem to really enjoy it.
- Krasnol 6y agoNever heard of those ratings but asking for any kind of recommendation in /r/scifi guarantees you a recommendation for The Expanse. Years of this practice were bound to produce results outside the sub.
- sjg007 6y agoIt certainly switches from an almost procedural detective noir in space genre to a more gritty space opera.
- hef19898 6y agoOne of my preferred parts. Even better that each story arch worked on itself, in the same world, and nicely connected together. And that worked in the books and the show.
- tomjakubowski 6y agoDuring the transition there's an episode or two of glorious Space Gothic Romance as well. The genre shift is very impressive.
- trianglem 6y agoAre the protagonists mainly women? I have a hard time relating to shows without male protagonists.
- thatsJustBadUX 6y agoThe main protagonist is male but there are plenty of female protagonists as well. As far as relating goes for most story lines you should be able to relate as much as one possibly could to a space opera.
- effie 6y agoProtagonist means "the main representative". So there can be only one protagonist. By the way, it seems to me Expanse does not have a protagonist.
- bserge 6y agoActually, that's one of the good things about it: everyone's equal. Gender doesn't matter, only the character does. Just as it should be.
- trianglem 6y agoI prefer fiction where the women are defined purely in terms of love interests or other traditionally gender specific roles.
- fossuser 6y agoYeah, I really enjoyed it even though there were some slower parts like the slugs (and I found the Holden character irritating). Somewhat tangential, it's wild to me that Devs was suggested alongside The Expanse in that Clubhouse Elon chat. I thought Devs was unwatchable. There's a point in the first episode where they're just saying fibonacci out loud to show how 'smart' they are. I looked up some of the plot after that to see what I was missing and it didn't look like it was going to get better.
- andrei_says_ 6y agoIf you liked the show I highly recommend the books. Rich, emotional, textured. More extensive world building. And somehow made me appreciate the show more.