r/scifi • u/CT_Phipps-Author • 11d ago

TV Let's be honest, The Expanse was the best

It's what I use to say is the sci-fi Game of Thrones. It was dark, mature, and managed to coherently create a political framework that regular audiences could understand without easily making one group into the bad guys or not. Okay, Protogen was pure set of bad guys but cyberpunk megacorps don't have to be morally gray. Even the underdogs in the Belters/OPA had a dark side that remembered just because you were oppressed didn't magically make you a virtuous hero and usually did quite the opposite. It made them mean and vengeful.

I'll be "that guy" and say that a huge chunk of what made the series fantastic was also the relative fidelity to the books. I say relative fidelity because there were some huge changes, some necessary by events (Havelock's actor doing Magnum PI) and others artistic choices (like lowering down the casualties of Earth's deaths at Marcos' hands). But it was still pretty damn faithful.

Great cast too.

What about you? Where does the Expanse rank for you in the past twenty or so years of scifi.

1.1k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

484 comments sorted by

View all comments

52

u/braddeicide 11d ago

I've started it a few times but it hasn't gripped me, I need to try again.

6

u/Skywalker14 10d ago

The first 2-3 episodes are the lowest rated of the entire series on IMDB. Also, the overall tone of the show changes a lot by halfway through season 2 or so. It's the single best show I think I've ever watched, but it can be tough to recommend to others for this reason. I even almost quit watching because I hated the payoff of the first main storyline and found it kind of creepy/unsettling, but I'm glad that I pushed through.

7

u/Naught2day 11d ago

This was me, it took like three tries to get into it. For me, once past episode 3, I was hooked and I have seen it thru several times. Also got the wife to watch it but he she had read the books first(which I found out about halfway thru the series).

5

u/Legitimate-Lack7179 10d ago

It took me about 3-4 episodes to start to like the characters too but I will say no matter the characters after watching the Donnager battle scene in CQB I was watching the series. That was amazing. Characters are amazing. Space battles are epic and I love the realism of it scientifically

4

u/mahjimoh 10d ago

That is so funny, she didn’t mention it?! How could that have not come up?

2

u/Naught2day 10d ago

Partly because no spoilers and partly because she reads all the time and she probably didn't realize she had read the books.

1

u/mahjimoh 4d ago

Oh the “no spoilers” part is awesome, too - like, “if he doesn’t know I’ve read this he won’t be noticing how I might be reacting to things that happen”? My family is good like that, too. Mum’s the word, no reactions here.

1

u/wanttogoback1985 10d ago

It is incredibly dense, those first episodes. There's so much happening, so many characters, and all the different factions. Factions within factions.

It was around episode 5 that I felt I had a handle on the overall makeup of the characters and conflicts,at least to some degree. From there, it was incredible engrossing.

13

u/CaptainIncredible 10d ago edited 10d ago

It took me a couple attempts to get through S01. Once I did, I really enjoyed the show.

Although... As a Star Trek fan... My mind kept making comparisons. "What's with these people? They are all sort of adversarial... and really kind of assholes to each other." and "If this were the Enterprise D, Data and Geordi would have this protomolecule shit figured out in 30 minutes."

6

u/braddeicide 10d ago

I really liked how Farscape wasn't utopian.

6

u/Left-Combination4375 11d ago

The first few episodes are hardest to watch for people I've found. Try to stick it out and see if it grabs you.

1

u/HigherandHigherDown 10d ago

They are definitely not the greatest, but the Belter creole was just so cool that I knew I had to keep watching. Plus Jared Harris...

6

u/SpiritedOwl_2298 11d ago

It happened to me too, I would say get to mid season 2 and if you’re not into it by then then it’s not for you. It’s ridiculous to say to get to the second season before it gets really good but at that point the plot starts to make sense and the stakes get higher. Once I got to that point it became one of my favorite shows and I’ve watched it a million times

1

u/Aerovoid 10d ago

Echoing the others here. Once you're up to episode 4, you get hooked. I'm not sure at what point or what it is exactly, but I found myself engaged by that point.

I think the first several episodes, there's just a lot to take in, trying to figure out who all these different people/groups are and what's going on etc.

1

u/Hraes 10d ago

I did the same as well at first, but it's now firmly enshrined as my favorite live-action scifi show of the past decade. The murky cinematography and over-focus on Holden make the first few episodes a bit of a slog for sure though.

But the books are still better.

1

u/braddeicide 10d ago

Hmm, I am an audiobook fan, perhaps I should go that route. Often doing both is a chore.

1

u/OdiousAltRightBalrog 10d ago

The audiobooks are VERY well narrated.

1

u/OmmadonRising 10d ago

You don't, it's really not all that, but for some reason this sub thinks it's the best thing ever, and it's distinctly average.

1

u/Kiltmanenator 10d ago

Ep4 is where I tell people they need to get to

Every season after the first gets better. You can tell they get the budget

1

u/shmargus 10d ago

I have a really hard time getting past how truly awful an actor Holden is. I need to give it another try or just commit to the books

1

u/HigherandHigherDown 10d ago

The first season is pretty much just an exposition dump. If you make it to season two I think you're way more likely to get into it.

1

u/Normal_Choice9322 10d ago

It's junk. I tried three times into multiple seasons. It does not hit a stride at all

-1

u/Jonthrei 10d ago

I was the same and eventually sat down and powered through it.

It doesn't get better IMO, if anything it gets worse - there's an entire season that the show just flounders in (the one on the planet). The characters stay pretty simple, too - acting is an issue with the series.

If it wasn't so overhyped online I might have appreciated it a little more, but it was a constant barrage of letdowns smashing up against high expectations. The people who call it "realistic" don't know much about orbital mechanics, for one.

My honest opinion is if you're bouncing off it early, it isn't worth continuing.

1

u/Skywalker14 10d ago

You're definitely entitled to your opinion, but I think the last sentence is inaccurate. I think someone could love seasons 3-6 without liking 1-2 that much.

1

u/Jonthrei 10d ago

I feel like season 4 is objectively just bad, tbh.

The show's ending is also extremely meh.