[SyFy]Expanse

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LordMortis
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[SyFy]Expanse

Post by LordMortis »

http://www.syfy.com/theexpanse

Nothing on TV for me lately, and an advertisement for this caught my eye. Am I the only one? Is it going to suck that bad?
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Rumpy »

Well, unlike a lot of people, I didn't care too much for the novel, but I've been hearing some good things about it, so I might take a look at it.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by rshetts2 »

I liked the books ( Ive read 3 of the 5 ) and also saw the first episode when is available on line. It was pretty good. SyFy looks like they are making a serious attempt at getting into better production value sci-fi.
Well do you ever get the feeling that the story's too damn real and in the present tense?
Or that everybody's on the stage and it seems like you're the only person sitting in the audience?
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Smoove_B »

I have no experience with the books, but I'm going to watch, yes. I didn't read any spoilers or previews but I've seen a few online reviews suggesting it was good.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by LawBeefaroni »

They actually put "Game of Thrones in Space" in the ad I saw. Really put me off.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jag »

Read all the books, including the latest one, Nemesis Games. The first book was good, but unlike many longer series, this one just gets better and better. The character development and world building is really good, especially once James Holden starts playing a more prominent role. Holden is more of a Mal Reynolds than a Picard type captain. He'll do the right thing no matter the consequences. Often to disastrous results.

I'm also a huge fan of Daniel Abraham, who is 1/2 of the James S. A. Corey writing duo (pen name). They also collaborate with the venerable GRRM in New Mexico where they all live.

Haven't watched the show yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. Haven't seen a good space opera since BSG died.
LawBeefaroni wrote:They actually put "Game of Thrones in Space" in the ad I saw. Really put me off.
It's nothing like GoT, but it is a Space Opera. They actually do have a very close relationship with GRRM and he's been involved in their work. I think he's the one that called it GoT in space as a favor. They are obviously trying to pull in the GoT crowd, who would like this show. They just should have done a better job of describing it like, if you liked GoT, you will like The Expanse.
Last edited by Jag on Mon Dec 14, 2015 6:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jag »

I should also add that there probably won't be alot of exposition in the show, which can be confusing. The first book is more of a mystery than space novel, but that's not the direction the show will take.

Also, the books made the technology close to real world physics as possible. You won't have starships turning on a dime and humanity of the future is just as fucked as we are now, just in space. There is no wonderful Federation of Planets, but massive corporations and corrupt politicians. More Alien than ST.

As background, there are basically 3 main factions. Earth which is now run by the UN. Mars which was colonized by Earth, but is an independent military power now and the Belt. Residents of the belt are called Belters, who grow up in low gravity and are looked down upon by both Earthers and Martians. They are the blue collar workers of the future and have been treated like crap by the planets and they are not happy at all. The Belters differ physically from human who grew up "down the well" (gravity). They also have their own slang, a type of creole-ish patois, which is really hard to understand and is a combination of words and gestures since they spend so much time in a vacuum.

Decent preview here by IO9.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Cortilian »

I have also read all the book and watched the 1st online episode. Very excited.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Rumpy »

Jag wrote: I'm also a huge fan of Daniel Abraham, who is 1/2 of the James S. A. Corey writing duo (pen name). They also collaborate with the venerable GRRM in New Mexico where they all live.

Abraham's Path of the Dragon was packaged with my Kindle version of Leviathan Wakes. And ironically, I liked Abraham's novel far more, and I plan to continue the series. At the same time, I'm not so sure I'll return to the Expanse.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Smoove_B »

Watched the first episode last night and enjoyed it. There are (were) a lot of characters and some jumping back and forth between story lines, but the setup seems solid.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by hepcat »

I binge watched the first four episodes streaming and I really, really liked it. Oddly enough, any scene featuring Thomas Jane just seems to drag the show down for me though. I say odd because I usually like Jane in almost anything he does. But the whole "40's gumshoe in the future" shtick has become so overused that I just roll my eyes every time he grabs that fedora.

The rest of it though, I'm lovin'. The politics, the skulduggery, it's all the things I loved about Rome and other shows featuring various factions fighting both on the battlefield and in the court of public opinion.

It also doesn't hurt that adding Shohreh Aghdashloo will automatically raise your show's quality by at least a factor of two.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jaymann »

hepcat wrote:I binge watched the first four episodes streaming and I really, really liked it. Oddly enough, any scene featuring Thomas Jane just seems to drag the show down for me though. I say odd because I usually like Jane in almost anything he does. But the whole "40's gumshoe in the future" shtick has become so overused that I just roll my eyes every time he grabs that fedora.
I've only read the books, but detective Miller evolves into one of the most interesting characters.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by hepcat »

That's good to hear. Like I said, I like Jane as an actor (he won me as a fan after Arrested Development...plus, he seems to genuinely enjoy geek stardom), it was just the character I didn't like. If he grows past the cliché I'll be happy.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by FishPants »

Saw the first episode, it was OK.. I loved the books, but found the first episode was kind of all over the map. It's been awhile but I don't recall the story being so.. confusing.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by rshetts2 »

Ive watched the four available episodes and damn, SyFy is serious with this one. The production values are way above norm for Syfy and the show is really good. If they can keep the production and writing at this level through out the series, the show should do quite well. Cant wait until they see what they are really up against!

I like the character of Miller and think Jane is doing an excellent job of portraying him as he was in the book. He had a noir affectation in the book as well so while it may come off as cliche' its a cliche' his character personally chose.
Last edited by rshetts2 on Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Well do you ever get the feeling that the story's too damn real and in the present tense?
Or that everybody's on the stage and it seems like you're the only person sitting in the audience?
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Moliere »

rshetts2 wrote:Ive watched the four available episodes and damn, SyFy is serious with this one. The production values are way above norm for Syfy and the show is really good. If they can keep the production and writing at this level through out the series, the show should do quite well. Cant wait until they see what they are really up against!
Agree. I have really enjoyed the first 3 episodes. High production value and multiple compelling storylines going at once. The characters seem multidimensional and best of all, no teen angst in sight! :D
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jag »

Jaymann wrote:
hepcat wrote:I binge watched the first four episodes streaming and I really, really liked it. Oddly enough, any scene featuring Thomas Jane just seems to drag the show down for me though. I say odd because I usually like Jane in almost anything he does. But the whole "40's gumshoe in the future" shtick has become so overused that I just roll my eyes every time he grabs that fedora.
I've only read the books, but detective Miller evolves into one the most interesting characters.
Was going to say this too. His gumshoe style was annoying in the first book, but you don't see it again in the later ones.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by LordMortis »

I really really dug the first episode. It really felt like a sort of solar system colonial set up. The exposition felt a bit forced at first but once I turned my brain off to it or they dialed it down, I'm not sure which, the whole narrative felt very right.

I know nothing about the books.

I do dislike that more and more shows are shooting everything in shades of darkness. My eyes are getting too old for that.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Moat_Man »

I'm on episode 4 and it really has it's hooks in me. The most surprising thing is that Moat_Woman probably likes it more than me. It took a few episodes to get moving but now I can't wait for the next one. Two drawbridges up!
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by tiny ogre »

I really like this show. It's the first good thing SyFy has done in a long, long time. Since BSG really. But they're idiots and it will only get one season. Which will probably end with a cliffhanger rather than actually finishing out the first book.

At least the books are still a thing. (I haven't read all of them yet either. Now I think I will.)
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Cortilian »

Yup, really enjoying it.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Sherpa »

tiny ogre wrote:I really like this show. It's the first good thing SyFy has done in a long, long time. Since BSG really. But they're idiots and it will only get one season. Which will probably end with a cliffhanger rather than actually finishing out the first book.

At least the books are still a thing. (I haven't read all of them yet either. Now I think I will.)
Renewed for a second season - 13 episodes vice 10 in S1.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by tiny ogre »

Sherpa wrote:
tiny ogre wrote: But they're idiots and it will only get one season.
Renewed for a second season - 13 episodes vice 10 in S1.
That must be some kind of record for shortest time to prove me wrong :)

I am glad.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by LordMortis »

tiny ogre wrote:That must be some kind of record for shortest time to prove me wrong :)

I am glad.
Me too. My TiVo is running bare. And while I'd look forward to cutting giving up TV and the bills associated with it, TV often keeps me company and my eyes are too tired to kept company by a book on a regular basis any more.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jaymann »

Caught the first 3 episodes over the weekend, extremely well done, I can't remember ever seeing such high production values on a tv show. The casting did not match my imagination from reading the books (much younger) but that may have been intentional to grab a younger audience. Space opera at it's best.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Scuzz »

I have seen the first three episodes. Generally I like the show, but maybe because I just finished reading the first book I do have some complaints with the Holden story line to date. They have changed several things. Sure, minor bitches, but they are things that didn't need changing.

I have been impressed to date by the production standards though, and the acting has for the most part been good.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Odin »

I haven't read the books, but I'm enjoying the hell out of the show. Really well-done. Kind of feels like a cross between Babylon 5 and BSG at times, though a bit more "realistic" than either, obviously. This feels like what I was hoping Ascension was going to be.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jag »

Very interesting article on how the books started. I knew it was an online forum RPG, but didn't realize it started actually earlier as an attempt to create an MMO which fizzled. The characters and crew were characters made by the players.

(MAJOR SHOW SPOILERS FROM FIRST BOOK AT THE LINK!)
Evolution of a Space Epic: James S.A. Corey’s The Expanse
They complimented one another, and as they wrote, they became James S.A. Corey. Abraham is quick to note that Franck was not an inferior writer: because the original post-to-play forum game was text based, he had a lot of prose and writing under his belt. Rather than honing his skills through the typical cycle of short story or novel rejections, he essentially used brute force in a public setting to do the same thing. “My original writing teacher taught me that everyone has 10,000 pages of crap that they have to work through before you start trying to sell things,” Franck noted, and through the forum work, he learned about pacing, and keeping an extra couple of surprises held back for when things start to slow down, attitudes that translated well into the novel.

Creating a novel that had only existed as a game presented challenges. A common adage in the speculative science fiction world is “Don’t adapt your long-running Dungeons and Dragons game.” The pace and focus of an RPG is different than that of a novel, a fact that was in the forefront of each man’s mind as they wrote. What came out of the game, beyond the major events they adapted, was the sense of pacing.
Pretty interesting to read about the creative and development process of writing a sci-fi story and how they collaborated.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by pr0ner »

I got caught up on Season 1 thanks to Snowzilla, and I'm really hooked now. Glad to see SyFy continuing their latest trend with high quality original scripted entertainment, and I'm glad they've already renewed this for a second season.

Hepcat, still feeling annoyed about Miller now? He's the best character on the show for me. Holden is a bit annoying since he has the same blank expression when giving most of his lines, but that's a minor niggle.

Also, Jared Harris chews scenery just like he did in the second Sherlock Holmes movie.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jaymann »

I have fallen 3 or 4 episodes behind - perfect for a weekend before the Super Bowl binge.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Hamlet3145 »

Wow, so I just finished the book (Leviathan Wakes) and now I want to go back and watch the first seven episodes all over again. The book, like the show, is slow at first but picks up steam particularly once (minor spoiler)
Spoiler:
Holden and Miller finally get together.
I'm extremely curious to see where the TV season stops at. I would guess with
Spoiler:
the crazy sequence on Eros once they find Julie Mao.
Looking forward to it.
Last edited by Hamlet3145 on Tue Jan 26, 2016 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by LordMortis »

They decided keeping me at 2 up 2 down was too much of a paperwork nightmare and upgraded my service to 2 up 15 down (which I am sure will raise my bill next year)

In virtue of my super fast 15 megabits per second speed, I can now stream media tolerably and rarely have a show die in the middle subjecting me to like 10 minutes of add just to reload it! Streaming reliably to my new TV is so much better than watching shows on my Series II TiVo on a dying 20 year old tube TV through a reduced quality DTA.

In short, I am also three episodes behind and tend to watch two or more episodes at a time.

I'm still loving the setting.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Jag »

Hamlet3145 wrote:Wow, so I just finished the book (Leviathan Wakes) and now I want to go back and watch the first seven episodes all over again. The book, like the show, is slow at first but picks up steam particularly once (minor spoiler)
Spoiler:
Holden and Miller finally get together.
I'm extremely curious to see where the TV season stops at. I would guess with
Spoiler:
the crazy sequence on Eros once they find Julie Mao.
Looking forward to it.
Keep reading. It gets better. :D
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Hamlet3145 »

Jag wrote:
Hamlet3145 wrote:Wow, so I just finished the book (Leviathan Wakes) and now I want to go back and watch the first seven episodes all over again. The book, like the show, is slow at first but picks up steam particularly once (minor spoiler)
Spoiler:
Holden and Miller finally get together.
I'm extremely curious to see where the TV season stops at. I would guess with
Spoiler:
the crazy sequence on Eros once they find Julie Mao.
Looking forward to it.
Keep reading. It gets better. :D
Yep! Already started Caliban's War. :horse:
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by rshetts2 »

Ive enjoyed the show so far and the most recent episode was definitely the best one so far. I was a bit skeptical that Syfy could pull this series off but so far they have done a really good job with the material. I really liked the lobby scene and how the built the scene by conveying info with subtle things. You had the goofy lobby music trying to set a cheerful tone and all the while theres just little things that tell you nothing is right here. I also like how they have portrayed space so far. Its dark, empty, silent and foreboding. Living out there is dangerous and the smallest of mistake will cost you dearly. Based on the pace of the plot development vs the book, its looking like they are going to leave season 1 with one helluva cliffhanger. Hopefully we dont have to wait til next October for new episodes.
Well do you ever get the feeling that the story's too damn real and in the present tense?
Or that everybody's on the stage and it seems like you're the only person sitting in the audience?
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by pr0ner »

Gonna have to wait til 2017 for new episodes.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Hamlet3145 »

Two hour season finale tonight. :horse:
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Scuzz »

I didn't know that was how they were going to end it. I hope my DVR knows that.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Odin »

Scuzz wrote:I didn't know that was how they were going to end it. I hope my DVR knows that.
I think they kicked off with two back-to-back eps, so if your DVR handled that, it'll probably get this, too.
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Re: [SyFy]Expanse

Post by Montag »

Read the books and enjoying the series. Don't have a problem with the subtle changes in the TV series versus the books. I really like the portrayal of Amos and Miller. Only character that seems off is Alex. Not too fond of him. Naomi is portrayed well, but I was expecting the actor to be appreciably taller since she is supposed to be a belter.

Miller and Julie
Spoiler:
In the books, when did he start hallucinating about seeing Julie? Miller should have kept the hat, although I did like the significance of him leaving it behind with his conversation with Sammi.
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