The Expanse (TV)

Topic

Season 4 trailer and they’re currently shooting season 5.
I am tumescent.

Replies

I finished book 8 a few weeks ago, and shit indeed did go down. Highly excited for the conclusion.

The shows looks really expensive now. It always looked good for it’s budget, but they’ve raised the bar again here.

Is there any news on that yet?

Trailer looks fantastic. Can’t wait.

I love that last exchange with Amos:

Someday I think you and I are going to get bloody
I’m free now

I’m really hoping the keep all the Amos stuff from the book. It’s some of my favorite.

Plus, Burn Gorman looks amazing as Murtry so watching the pair of them bounce off each other is gonna be goood

BUMPED because it is back next friday Dec 13.

Well there goes the weekend of 14-15 Dec.

Oh they’re releasing the whole thing? neat!!! I always wanted that with this series.

Ohhhhhh and this time, as it’s on amazon prime in the first place, it should be released here at the same time! Whooooo! I know what I’ll be doing between Christmas and New Year.

You have no idea how hard it is to not spoil everything. Keeping the gates opening up under my hat was hard enough… but some of the stuff coming up is even bigger

I’m a little surprised they have haven’t planted a few more seeds for the later seasons yet. I would have expected Duarte or Marcos to have shown up already.

rory wrote:

I’m a little surprised they have haven’t planted a few more seeds for the later seasons yet. I would have expected Duarte or Marcos to have shown up already.

Marcos got mentioned in series 2

Yeah a brief one. I would have expected him to have shown up even in a small role by now though. Much the way Chrisjen was introduced early because she was going to be important.

rory wrote:

Yeah a brief one. I would have expected him to have shown up even in a small role by now though. Much the way Chrisjen was introduced early because she was going to be important.

I’m kinda expecting Marco and Duarte to show up this year.  Bobbi’s plot appears to be an expansion on her chapters in books 4 and 5 – and a lot of people have suspected they might have more of a buildup to what happens in the solar system in book 5, and kick that whole thing off while the Roci crew are still returning from Ilus

That would make sense. (A quick look at IMDB does say that Marco shows up for 3 episodes this season. No Duarte though.)

Perhaps surprising nobody, the AV Club loved the new series

 

https://tv.avclub.com/the-expanse-has-a-new-home-but-it-s-as-excellent-as-ev-1840240422

Series 4 is out in the wild now, so usual spoiler etiquette, sa sa? Mark what episode you’re on, tag major plot details and events from as-yet unadapted novels.

Also, it’s probably safe to say this much about the background to the universe now?

A long, long time ago, an alien race evolved to sapience. Having gained a mastery of biotechnology far beyond that of humans, their preferred mode of colonisation was to launch asteroids at distant solar systems, letting them cruise along slower than light. When the asteroids would reach a system with a suitably habitable world, they would crash into that world, set about reformatting the atmosphere and life there to match their creators, and then build a massive structure – a ring – that would position itself at the edge of the solar system and then connect to a liminal space that allowed for rapid travel between gates. They colonised a thousand worlds this way.

And then they met something dangerous.

This second race waged a brutal war against the Ring Builders, and try as they might, the Ring Builders were unable to mount an effective defence. They tried wiping out solar systems, they shut down their Ring Network – nothing worked. They died.

Millions of years later, on the Saturnian moon Phoebe, humans encounter the Ring Builders’ biotech, and call it the Protomolecule.

Bozverse coping strategy #1: Watch Expanse S4.

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy was it so short??? =(
 
2 years of wait and I binged it in less of a say… u_u
 
Anyways, good show, obviously. I’m a bit bummed they stayed on the same planet all season long, but eh… it was ok… I loved the extended look at the martian society and particularly the consequences of the gates opening… that’s why this is the best sci-fi show, they really make it feel “real”, so yeah even though I didn’t particularly care for Gunny’s subplot, her story allowed for a very overdue look at Mars.
 
However I didn’t really care about Avasaralla’s re-election subplot… but again, I love seeing that actress chew the scenery everytime she’s on camera, so even though it was a bit boring, it’s okay.
 
Ugh I hope they renew it, that cliffhanger is very promising if they go through with it… =P

Well, so much for the usual spoiler etiquette.

I probably will only get to watching it between Christmas and New Year’s; we’re spending a few days at the seaside, and that seems like a good time to binge-watch the nights away.

uh, what’s the “usual spoiler etiquette”?
 
Also, I was careful not to really spoil anything… those are very broad set-up points I touched on… not like I said “oh yeah and xxxxxxx dies”… xD

I’ll post some thoughts later, but were there some scenes missing from episode 9 for anyone else?  In episode 8 Bobbie has her discussion with Esai, then her argument with her boyfriend but appears to still be in for the job. And then in episode 10 she’s shadowing Beltran and when Leelee confronts her, she says Bobbie was out.  Similarly in episode 8, the last we see of Ashford is him leaving Medina Station to go hunt down Marco, and then in episode 10 one of his crew is torturing a Martian

Jon wrote:

uh, what’s the “usual spoiler etiquette”?

I was refering to Lorcan’s post two posts above yours.

It’s no biggy, but I’d prefer not to get even hints about major plotlines of the season before having seen any of it. So I stopped reading your post after like two sentences.

I probbaly should keep out of this thread before I’ve at least started watching it, anyway.

That was great. Watched the whole thing over the weekend. Really liked a lot of the alterations from the book. Not sure I totally bought into Bobbi’s storyline/character development but that actress is so good I didn’t mind once she was in. Liked all the set up for next (already greenlit) season too. They cut my favorite line though!

OK so my practice of watching it like I have watched every other season(1 per week) is not going to fly for this thread. O well. Christian you may want to watch last season’s finale because much of what Lorcan discussed was covered then. Episode 1 was very good. I’m glad the crew is back together although Holden and Naomi could dial down the PDA. Interesting to see where they are going with Burn Gorman’s character and the other new cast.(Bingers: no you do not need to tell me). Miller’s character seems to be less coherent than before. It would be nice to discuss just ep 1 but i realize I am not the norm for streaming viewers.

Let’s bring it back to episode 1 then:  How cool were the changes to the opening and closing credits?

Spoilers! God.

Does anyone find Ashford’s belter accent more annoying that the others? Naomi barely has one, Drummer is soft spoken so it is not as pronounced but I have realized I hate listening to Ashford

Rocket wrote:

Does anyone find Ashford’s belter accent more annoying that the others? Naomi barely has one, Drummer is soft spoken so it is not as pronounced but I have realized I hate listening to Ashford

Naomi code-shifts.  Notice how much thicker her accent is when she’s on the Behemoth.  It’s one of my favourite little cultural tricks they do on the show.

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garjones

I finished the season last night, I wouldn’t dare come in here otherwise. It was really good, it took until the 3rd ep for them to fully find their feet but once they did, wow!

I love the way they fix the problems that the books had, maybe flesh things out a little better. I’m not going to get into detail until we’re all up to speed.

I do hate the binge model, it robs us of the week to week chat and build up. After a 2 year wait, 10 ep’s went in less than a week, and that was binged more due to the fact my wife wasn’t about and I could

 

So season 5 then

Yeah I hadn’t intended to binge it but there were so many great cliffhangers and great moments I just kept watching.

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

So season 5 then

hehe, that is one of the reasons I am watching it on a weekly basis. I’d rather prolong my enjoyment than take it all in at once.

you do know where the term Binge came from and what comes next? Purge 

I mean, I guess we could use spoiler tags, but ehh… I’m too lazy… so yeah, I’ll wait a bit more as well… =P
 
There’s actually a couple of things I wasn’t too clear on, so I hope I don’t forget asking about it…

Yes, very good. Watched 7 episodes last Sunday, and then last 3 eps on Tuesday.
Was going to wait for now-ish (I’m off 2 weeks, back to work Jan. 6th) but just couldn’t.
.
I will say I’d prefer they release single episodes weekly.
It can be done, and binge watchers can wait to the end (they can be the ones to avoid spoilers).
We seem to get robbed of discussing things (which helps sometimes, and you digest easier).
I did not mind doing the spoiler warning posts in past seasons (and the ST:D thread) to help the ones lagging behind to avoid spoilers, and it honestly warmed my heart every time it was acknowledged. Anyways…
.
My god, Amos Burton (Wes Chatham) has some serious arms. Few would survive if he wanted you hurt (and that one scene scared the crap out of me. That stare.)
I do love that character, his moral code, and the actor pulls it off.
.
I’m being vague, but in season one, wasn’t Amos with Holden when (that) happened? Wouldn’t they both have same?
Hmmm, maybe not. Or was it Alex? I forget.
.
Lorcan – my brain was trying to tell me something wrong/missing, but watching so much so soon covers that up.
I’ll put it down to editing. I do appreciate it being tight, and every minute counts, but they seemed to stick to 44 – 48 minute episodes.
Streaming services can add 5 minutes whenever they want (although maybe it’s sold to TV in certain countries).
.
Okay, I don’t want to be vague. Go away if you’re you haven’t watched it all.
but I can use spoiler tags
.
I don’t want anyone to go away. Will we see **** Thomas Jane’s Joe Miller ***** again? Maybe don’t tell me. I’m a fan.
Always enjoy seeing David Straithairn and loved his Klaes Ashford. Jumped up and cheered (not kidding) at the next scene as I thought the ship was coming to save. nope. Scene change, dammit. Arrrggh!
.
New characters (Murtry, Esai Martin, Elvi Okoye, others) were enjoyed (or loved to hate) and good casting.
Wanted two of those three to die horrible deaths at one point, but then changed my mind one one.
Maybe I get too wrapped up in things (I have admitted to yelling out loud when Errinwright was on the screen), but a testament to the quality.
.
Wish we saw more of Chad Coleman’s Fred Johnson, and can’t remember the last time I saw Jared Harris’ Anderson Dawes (like we can still see him, right? I’m not forgetting something major?)
and Cara Gee’s Camina Drummer is not allowed to leave.
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Lorcan (again) – thanks for the “background to the universe” post. That (and other things back when it was released weekly) help me keep a focus. There really is a lot going on here.
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This is the best Sci-Fi show on TV, and one of the best in general. How are some not watching?
Especially when it’s right in some people’s wheelhouses?
They better keep releasing the blu-rays, and I’ll keep buying (and loaning it out).
Keep “fighting the good fight” and spread the word.

I’m being vague, but in season one, wasn’t Amos with Holden when (that) happened? Wouldn’t they both have same?<br style=”color: #000000; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif;” />Hmmm, maybe not. Or was it Alex? I forget.

 

It was Holden and Miller. The rest of the Roci’s crew were in the tunnels trying to get to the docks.

So I watched Episode 2. Liked Miller’s mundane task for Holden(I don’t have hands). Happy to see Amos get some. I like his disdain for Murty(?) who has got serious anger issues. I’d be scared if I was one of his co-workers. Pissing off the Belters is not going to go well for any of them. Yes I saw the end but I still haven’t got the hang of spoiler text. Naomi’s health issues are hardcore. Feeling sorry for Bobby. I think she should have signed on with Roci. She may be the best fighter outside of Amos on the show. Knowing how Chrisjen doesn’t bullshit around, Bobby should’ve realized the job offer was legit. She may still love Mars but it is becoming clear that Mars does not love her.

Rocket wrote:

Christian you may want to watch last season’s finale because much of what Lorcan discussed was covered then.

I wasn’t refering to Lorcan, but to Jon. I do know that Lorcan only covered stuff we already knew :)

Jon didn’t spoil any details, but I’d rather not even know what the subplots will be about, or that the whole season will be set on that planet.

my bad sorry about that

Rocket wrote:

my bad sorry about that

No worries! Just didn’t want it to seem like I hadn’t understood what Lorcan was talking about.

I may have deliberately left out stuff that was revealed later to boot.

On ep 5 and the big weakness of the series is that I don’t care about the bulk of the new plots or characters.

Really?

Yes.

Granted, it was always going to be up against it after how good S3 was and this series has to restart the story in effect.

Well, the last couple of episodes were better, set up some interesting plots for S5 but it was a slog to get there.  The stuff I’m supposed to care about for this season to work just didn’t connect that much.  And that was the case not just for Ilus too.

In a lot of ways it is the little details that really shine, like the effect of a gravity on a body unused to it.  Similarly the effect of the rings discovery, socially and politically,  worked well.

As to Murthy, only seeing one punch from Amos at the end was a missed opportunity.  The full smack down should have been shown.  Really liked Wei’s fate, she was every bit as much of a shitbag as her boss.

S5 should be able to benefit from the new momentum built up by these eps.  I do recognise that it was unavoidable, given the amount of stuff S3 wrapped up too.

I think that’s fair.  Elvi is one of the POV characters in the books, and most of her stuff that isn’t her helping Holden is either internal monologue, or her relationship with Fayez developing.  Neither of which happens too much in the show because… well, it’s not a book, and Fayez gets shunted off into a highly truncated version of Havelock’s plot from the novel. (I’ll do a differences from the book post at some point, but basically Miller’s old partner from Ceres is a security officer for RCE in the book). It’s a shame because I really like Elvi, and Lyndie Greenwood was fantastic in the role.

Similarly, Lucia in the show is Basia in the book – Prax’s friend from Ganymede who’s son was turned into a Protomolecule hybrid, and he gets a lot more development in the book.

But they needed to keep Avasarala and Bobbie and Drummer around, so the book’s tight focus on Ilus is pulled a few different ways for the show, and the secondary characters suffered as a result.

And now it’s been out so long that I’m kind of assuming that everybody who is going to watch it has already done so and we don’t need spoiler tags anymore. Yes, I am changing the rules and it’s outrageous!

Anyway: On the scale of Expanse seasons, this was probably the weakest one, for me. Lucia was a character I never really cared about and towards the end, her presence got a bit annoying instead (not sure if that was due to the story, the character or the actress – probably the latter. The character and her story should’ve been compelling in theory, but it just wasn’t, for me), and the plot on the planet just was a bit too  simplistically Holden Unleashes Alien Stuff and Then They Have to Fix It. Deus ex machina style, too. In a way that’s something the show has always been, but the greater story arc was always there to keep things more interesting.

Also, the stakes are lower, with the tension between Earth and Mars gone, so I didn’t care much about Avasarala’s story at all. I mean, more or less from the start I was thinking, hey, maybe it’s not such a bad thing if the other one takes over, she doesn’t seem like a bad person and the situation at the rings really has become terrible. And Marco Inaros doesn’t really work as the big new threat for me yet – he came too much out of nowhere and became important way too fast.

So those were the things that didn’t really work for me. But there was more than enough that did:

– It was great to see Miller again, even if it was mostly at the end of the season.
– Loved every minute of Klaes on the screen. He’s a brilliant character. The second he floats in shooting at the end there, I knew he was dead because that was just far too epic an entrance for it not to be the last one. (And why the fuck didn’t he just blast the whole ship instead of taking that risk?!) Also liked the interactions between him and Drummer.
– Ilus as a setting was pretty neat, and it was cool to see some more alien architecture.
– Murtry was a great character, and the whole plot revolving around the belters and the RCE characters and Amos was very good (well, except for Lucia, as covered). Loved every time Murtry and Amos faced off, and Amos keeps being the best thing about the show.
– The Mars plot was very good overall, with Bobbie’s descent into crime being completely relatable. The good guys turned into nice guys maybe a bit too quickly, but never mind that. This aspect of the story really worked.

Plus, overall, it’s still the Expanse, so it was always compelling viewing, even if not everything worked quite as well as it did in other seasons. But the quality of the writing and everything else was top-notch as always, and a weaker season of the Expanse is still better than any other sci-fi show out there.

Yeah I didn’t care for Avasarala’s plot this season, but I always enjoy seeing that actress, so it wasn’t as painful as it would’ve been with someone less capable in the role.
 
One thing I’m still super confused about is: Whose techology was it on the new planet? I mean the structures we saw… were they made by the protomolecule or whomever created it or were they made by someone else who got attacked by the protomolecule… I’m utterly confused by that whole thing, probably doesn’t help I don’t remember every bit of lore from past seasons xD

<p style=”text-align: left;”>They said it was the same people who made the protomolecule’s technology repeatedly (including the very first time it’s shown). The only thing that wasn’t was the “bullet” at the end that kills all the technology.</p>

Oh I thought they were made by others but got infected by the protomolecule… Miller kept throwing me off with his wackiness… I hope they explore that whole thing more, it’d be nice to see “who” made that kill-switch.

Oh I thought they were made by others but got infected by the protomolecule… Miller kept throwing me off with his wackiness… I hope they explore that whole thing more, it’d be nice to see “who” made that kill-switch.

That’s a big element of the overarching story going on in the books.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BOOKS AND THE TV SHOW

Leviathan Wakes

• Adapted as series 1 and the first 5 episodes of series 2.
• Neither Avasarala nor Bobbie are in the book at all. Aside from the prologue each chapter is written from Holden or Miller’s POV.  the prologue is from Julie’s, and is largely identical to her scene at the start of episode 1.
• The UN and Mars are nowhere near as hostile towards each other as they are in the show, presenting a unified front against the belt.
• Holden is XO of the Cant when the story begins.
• The details of Miller’s plot are quite different, he doesn’t wind up in fights with water thieves or OPA thugs.  Havelock doesn’t get hospitalised, but he does leave the station on Miller’s advice about a third of the way into the book.  During the water riots, Miller is partnered with Muss, but they’re just colleagues who get on well in the show.  During the riots, the Star Helix cops discover their riot gear has been stolen. He’s still warned off the investigation by Dawes and fired by Shadid, lading him to travel to Eros.
• The show’s flashback to Fred in the UNMC is adapted from a short story, The Butcher of Anderson Station
• There’s no real tension between Fred and the Roci crew when they get to Tycho, and they agree readily to go to Eros and pick up “Lionel Polanski”.  There’s no spy hiding on the outside of the ship, they don’t encounter a Martian patrol or anything like that.
• Turns out Star Helix’s riot gear was stolen by the various criminals who left Ceres to pose as cops on Eros. CPM, the name of the fake security company is short for Carné Por la Machina – Meat for the Machine (which is why Miller yells it when he and Holden are trying to sneak across the dock in the show)
• The subsumation of humans into protomolecule biomass is far more macabre in the book.  The first victims become what are called “vomit zombies” in the text – they puke up bile onto nominally healthy people who are then zombified themselves
• The Roci encounters the Anubis after they escape Eros with Miller in tow.
• The voice is far more prominent in the book, and it’s the first hint that Julie is a controlling personality in Eros.  When the Nauvoo is about to hit it, it yells DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!
• Holden gives Fred their Protomolecule sample, there’s no decision by the crew to shoot it into the sun or anything.
• Drummer isn’t a character in the books yet.  Naomi’s close friend is an engineer named Sam Rosenberg who works on the Roci.  She’s briefly in series 1 but was amalgamated into Drummer for series 2+
• Anderson Dawes doesn’t travel to Tycho at any point, Coratazar isn’t abducted.
• Holden broadcasts the information about the stealth ships being built on Earth, leading to limited hostilities breaking out between Earth and Mars
• Diogo is just an OPA tough that Miller befriends on the assault of Thoth station.  He has no connection to Anderson Dawes or the rockhopper who takes out a Martian ship by flinging rocks at it (that’s a background detail in the book)
• As well as hearing a weird voice coming off of Eros, people hack into the video feeds on the station – the interior is basically a body horror nightmare with walls coated in flesh and creatures made out of human parts shambling around, as well as the blue light and fireflies seen in the show.

Caliban’s War

Adapted as series 2 episodes 6-13 and series 3 episodes 1-6

• POV characters: Mei Meng (Prologue), Holden, Prax, Bobbie, Avasarala
• Anna is not a character in this book, her plot in the UN offices is original to the show
• The sequence showing the invention of the Epstein drive is an adaptation of the short story Drive.
• Bobbie’s unit on Ganymede has a mech. It’s not important to the plot, but it’s cool.
• Prax doesn’t leave Ganymede at the start, he spends his time despondently searching for Mei. Early in the book, his friend Basia leaves on the Barbapiccola with his wife and daughter, assuming Katoa is dead
• The Roci crew travels to Ganymede at Fred’s request to investigate what’s going on, with Alex holding back in the Roci. The Somnambulist is an OPA ship they use to get in discreetly.  Holden grows his beard at this point to try and disguise his face.  It doesn’t work and he laments this repeatedly.
• In fact, Prax recognises Holden on Ganymede and approaches him for help finding Mei. Before the shootout in the docking bay, they encounter a private security team they have a limited fight with before teaming up.
• Prax recognises the hybridised corpse they find as Katoa – he’s not the hybrid Bobbie fights later.
• Avasarala is assigned the task of investigating what’s happening on Venus, in order to stop her intervening in Errinwright and Admiral Nguyen’s intention to kick off a shooting war.
• The dissection of the Arboghast by the Protomolecule happens off-screen, Avasarala just receives a report about it.  There’s no tension between it and a Martian ship in the book.
• The hearing on Earth about Bobbie’s experiences on Ganymede is far more diplomatic, and she’s seconded to Avasarala’s office after rather than having to defect. There’s a subplot about Bobbie discovering Avasarala’s aide is spying on her for Errinwright.
• Jules-Pierre Mao isn’t a wanted man at this point, rather than go to the Guanshiyin to negotiate for his surrender, Avasarala accepts his invitation to travel use the ship to travel to Ganymede.  Cotyar doesn’t accompany Bobbie and Avasarala to the ship. Mao excuses himself from travelling with them, at which point Avasarala realises she’s been put on to keep her out of communications with her contacts that can prevent war. Bobbie uses her power armour to take control of the ship and they escape on the Razorback.
• Naomi doesn’t split up with Holden until the Roci returns to Tycho with Prax. Holden and Fred have their falling out and he loses OPA access to the station’s facilities. He transmits Prax’s story to the system, and Prax gets massive outpourings of support, the financial donations allow him to hire the Roci to help him rescue Mei, but his ex-wife goes on the news to claim he was physically abusive and possibly molested Mei.  She’s doing this at Errinwright’s behest to discredit him. Following this and a crew meeting where they decide to incorporate the Roci and everyone gets an even share, Naomi decides that Holden is back to normal and they get back together.
• Naomi doesn’t tell anyone about her son and their estrangement.
• The Roci is able to negotiate for supplies from the Martians, there’s no salvaging a damaged ship or attempted takeover.
• During the fighting over Io, it’s Holden who goes aboard the Agatha King rather than Naomi and Alex, and a crew member he helps while aboard is the one who sets off the self-destruct rather than Cotyar.
• Sorrento-Gillis isn’t deposed during the book, he’s still Secretary General.  Avasarala takes over Errinwright’s position after he’s disgraced.
• The Investigator/Miller first appears to Holden at the very end of the book.

Abaddon’s Gate.

• Adapted in series 3, episodes 7-13
• POV characters: Manéo (prologue), Holden, Melba/Clarissa, Anna, Carlos “Bull” c De Baca
• A full year passes between the end of Caliban’s War and the start of Abaddon’s Gate.  Miller has been appearing to Holden all this time, and the Roci crew know about it.
• Bobbie isn’t in this book at all.  She’s left the MCRN by this point
• Drummer isn’t in this book at all. The Behemoth is commanded by Captain Ashford who’s more of a martinet. Bull, a former UN Marine and close friend of Fred’s is meant to be XO and Fred’s eyes and ears on the ring mission, but Ashford doesn’t want an Inner in such a high position.  Bull is made chief of security and Michio Pa is made XO.  Naomi’s friend Sam Rosenberg is chief Engineer.
• There’s a lot more buildup to the moment when Melba triggers the bomb on the Seung Un and frames Holden, but it’s mostly along the lines of what happens in the show – the Roci crew are standoffish with the reporters, Bull deals with the drug problems on the Behemoth, Anna makes friends on the Thomas Prince, Melba kills Ren, but she hides the body in a locker in her quarters which she fills with expanding foam.  This weighs very heavy in her mind for a long time.
• There’s no offloading of civilians from the Thomas Prince before they go through the ring.  In fact, Hector Cortez, the priest who Anna talks to when they’re leaving in the show is insistent on them going through in the book.
• Naomi and Bull negotiate for the Behemoth to take the TV crew off their hands, rather than Amos shoving them into space.
• Bull is the one paralysed when the Slow Zone kicks off, rather than the exoskeleton Drummer has in the show he sits in a stripped-down mech’s lower half.
• Bull has the idea to spin the Behemoth’s Drum in order to help people heal, which requires removing or decomisisoning most of the ship’s weapons, including their barely-functional railgun.  He and Sam do this without Ashford’s approval, who goes crazy when he finds out.  This results in Pa and Bull staging a mutiny, putting her in command.
• Ashford has loyalists in the crew and sympathisers in the injured – they plan a coup in order to use the comms laser to destroy the Ring and allegedly save the solar system. Clarissa joins them when they bust Ashford out of the brig.
• After Ashford retakes control of the ship, he orders Sam to supercharge the laser, which she constantly sabotages.  When Ashford figures out what’s going on, he kills her.
• The final fight is more involved
  • Bull and his loyalists retake engineering, but then have to fight off 4 of Ashford’s people in stolen Martian Power Armour. Bull sacrifices himself while using grenades to take out one of them
  • Amos is defending Monica and Anna as they broadcast the truth to the people trapped in the Slow Zone.  He’s heavily injured and most of his troops die keeping Ashford’s people out.
  • Naomi was meant to gas the bridge from engineering and Holden would then secure the people in there, but Clarissa successfully isolated Naomi from the bridge’s environmental controls, meaning Holden is trapped outside.  As Ashford seems more and more unhinged, she contacts Holden and Anna and Anna convinces her to open the doors.  She kills Ashford and also takes down the power grid.
  • Like in the show, Clarissa is returned to Earth for trial on the Roci.  Amos befriends her and they work together to repair the damage she dealt when she smashed her way in.

Cibola Burn

• Adapted as series 4
• POV characters: Bobbie (prologue), Holden, Elvi, Havelock, Basia, The investigator, Avasarala (Epilogue)
• Bobbie’s chapter deals with the malaise spreading on Mars, she’s working in the Veteran’s Outreach office she’s shown visiting in the show, and living with her brother
• The sequence where Bobbie beats up the drug dealers is adapted from the novella Gods of Risk, but Bobbie isn’t drawn into the crime ring in the books. In the novella, Leelee is a friend of Bobbie’s nephew, and is the one reluctantly in with the gang. Everything else in her arc is new.
• Avasarala’s plot is totally new.  Sorrento-Gillis is still secretary-general, there is no election.
• Drummer and Ashford’s arc in the show is totally original.  Marco doesn’t appear in the books until Nemesis Games.
• In the books, there is no blockade at the Ring and many exploration/colony missions have been launched. The conflict at Ilus is that the Belters are basically squatting.  The Barbapiccola had been trying to find a port that would let them offload the refugees from Ganymede for months, and when they heard about the ring they made a sustained high-G burn, allowing them to pass through the Slow Zone at high speed and head for a world that probes had confirmed was habitable.  Ilus/New Terra had been legally allocated to RCE as a mining colony.
• Lucia in the show takes on Basia’s arc in the books.  In the book, Basia and Lucia have two surviving kids – Felcia is the only one in the show and her arc remains the same.
• The Roci only lands on Ilus for a short period of time to allow Holden and Amos to disembark, Naomi and Alex spend most of the book in orbit, there’s no attempt by Naomi to spend time on the planet.  After Murtry tries to arrest Basia they come back down and take him into orbit.
• There’s an extended plotline in orbit. Havelock, Miller’s partner from book 1 is Murtry’s second in command, and is left in charge aboard the Edward Israel while Murtry takes most of the security team to the surface.  On Murtry’s orders, avelock converts the Israel’s second shuttle into a flying bomb, and trains part of the ship’s science team as a militia. Naomi and Alex spot the shuttle conversion and she decides to EVA over and install a cut-off on the shuttle’s drive rather than just shoot the shuttle, but she’s spotted and captured by the militia on manoeuvres on the hull.  While in the brig, she and Havelock have multiple conversations that eventually convince him to free her to try and figure out how to get the ships’ reactors working again.  This coincides with Basia storming the Israel in a suit of powered armour able to withstand the small arms aboard even though he’s terrified and unable to fight.  the thee escape back to the Roci together.
• There’s a bit more time given to the weird shit kicking off on Ilus as a result of The Investigator ‘flipping switches’ – Robotic machines like the one he posessed in the last episode of the show appear on the surface, and seemingly native life begins to be spotted near the colony. When Elvi analyses one it turns out to also be a protomolecule creation.  There’s a lot more of a sense of dread to the island exploding and the energy weapon melting one of the moons.
• Elvi has a lot more character time in the book.  Fayez is also no-world and their friendship/romance is a big part of her character arc, but she’s also got a crush on Holden to begin with.
• In the epilogue, Avasarala contacts Bobbie and asks her to keep an eye on events on Mars, as she surmises that with mass migration from the world through the Rings, Mars will have little to keep the economy afloat except to sell off military hardware, most notably their thousands of nukes.

So, putting this here, but it’s about comics

‘The Expanse’ is getting a new comic book miniseries: A first look

The protomolecule is alive and well!

“Leviathan Falls” (Orbit Books) will be the ninth and final book in James S.A. Corey’s (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) stellar space series, “The Expanse,” the publisher announced last week. No release date was revealed, but it’s expected for sometime in 2021.

With the fifth season of Amazon Prime’s TV series “The Expanse” awaiting an air date, avid fans might get their fix in the absence of new material in a fresh comic book miniseries being offered by Boom! Studios this December.

“The Expanse” is a bold new four-issue limited series crafted by writer Corinna Bechko (“Green Lantern: Earth One”) and artist Alejandro Aragon (“Resonant”) which acts as a bridge between Season 4 and the upcoming Season 5 of Amazon’s smash sci-fi show.

The storyline picks up with Chrisjen Avasarala, the longtime Secretary-General of the United Nations, following the events at the end of the TV series’ fourth season. Avasarala finds herself dealing with the outcome of the turbulent elections as they are far away from Earth but not its complicated politics.

When former marine Bobbie Draper brings Avasarala intelligence on an intergalactic black market weapons ring, Avasarala recognizes a chance to reclaim her political position through a secret operation. But, as Draper delves deeper into this secret cabal, she soon realizes the dire threat they pose is far larger and closer to home than either of them could have ever imagined.

“Corinna and Alejandro are the perfect team to tackle the complicated relationship between two of the most compelling and unpredictable characters in ‘The Expanse,'” said Eric Harburn, Senior Editor with Boom! Studios. “Fans of epic science-fiction, political intrigue, and the machinations of Martians, Earthers, and Belters can’t miss a single moment of this tie-in series that sets the stage for the newest season of the beloved television series.”

Boom! Studios’ “The Expanse #1” will premiere on Dec. 2. This issue will feature a main cover by W. Scott Forbes (“Firefly”) and variant cover from artist Tigh Walker (“Venom: Annual”).

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Uncle Retrospective

and since I’m here…

The Expanse Theory: How [blank] Can Return In Season 5

Amazon Prime’s ‘The Expanse’ Seasons 1-2 Returns to Netflix Internationally

So that friend you have that hasn’t watched yet? It just got easier.

10 Shows To Watch If You Like The Expanse (#7 will surprise you)

Sean Robinson wrote:

The Expanse Theory: How [blank] Can Return In Season 5

They could just read the books to find out what happens there

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Looks like they’re doing a much more faithful adaptation of book 5 than I expected – I recognised bits from Alex, Amos and Naomi’s arcs in there. I guess Drummer is going to be taking on at least some of Pa’s arc from the books. The big question is if they’re going to condense books 5 and 6 into a single series or not. You could cut a lot of the political manoeuvring from both books and have the big event happen earlier in the story and get to the resolution in 10 or 12 episodes.

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lorcan_nagle

Damn December… it seems quick, but then again it’s because last one took a lot longer… anyways, great… I can’t wait! I do hope it’s a bit better than last season though… last one was a bit meh…

The first three episodes of series 5 will drop on December 16th, and it’s weekly after that, like The Boys.

So I was searching for the amount of episodes (which is 10 for season 5, same as season 4, and 1)

and I found this

Exclusive: ‘The Expanse’ Lands Early Season 6 Renewal at Amazon

from Cinemaspot.com – Aug. 3rd/20
We have learned some exciting news for The Expanse fans! Amazon has decided to renew the sci-fi series for a sixth season. This decision has been made before season 5 has even premiered.
Pre-production on season 6 started today. Production on the fifth season already wrapped back in February, before the Coronavirus shutdown.

Did I know that? Honestly unsure, maybe it was scrolled over in the TV news thread.
Whatever, I’m at ease knowing.

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Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

I didn’t… great news! =)

I suppose they’ll end it with S6 though… That’s a pretty good number!

Sean Robinson wrote:

So I was searching for the amount of episodes (which is 10 for season 5, same as season 4, and 1)

and I found this

Exclusive: ‘The Expanse’ Lands Early Season 6 Renewal at Amazon

from Cinemaspot.com – Aug. 3rd/20
We have learned some exciting news for The Expanse fans! Amazon has decided to renew the sci-fi series for a sixth season. This decision has been made before season 5 has even premiered.
Pre-production on season 6 started today. Production on the fifth season already wrapped back in February, before the Coronavirus shutdown.

Did I know that? Honestly unsure, maybe it was scrolled over in the TV news thread.
Whatever, I’m at ease knowing.

The big question is, how do they do the Laconian arc? You cannot do it in 10 episodes, it’s going to have to be two series at least (and even then, the events that make for good cliffhangers happen at the end of books 7 and 8, so do you do it as 1 series adapting book 7, and the other 8 and 9, or do you do 7 and 8, and then 9?) Or if series 5 is just adapting book 5, do you do book 6 as series 6 and build it as a potential endpoint given how it’s arcs conclude similarly to how series/book 3 finished off a lot of the existing arcs while setting up for the next phase? But if you do that with the expectation of not necessarily getting 2-3 more series to do the last arc, then there’s a lot of stuff from series 4 and things we know are in series 5 from the trailer and interviews that’s wasted space…

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Just some stuff to click on if you’re searching for info, or skip if you want to go in blind…

Everything We Know About The Expanse Season 5

Dec. 16th – Episode 1: Exodus
Dec. 16th – Episode 2: Churn
Dec. 16th – Episode 3: Mother
Dec. 23rd – Episode 4: Guagamela
Dec. 30th – Episode 5: Down and out
Jan. 6th – Episode 6: Tribes
Jan. 13th – Episode 7: Oyedeng
Jan. 20th – Episode 8: Hard Vacuum
Jan. 27th – Episode 9: Winnipesaukee
Feb. 3rd – Episode 10: Nemesis Games

Intel on season 5 of The Expanse

The Expanse Season 5 Will Finally Pay Off This Season 1 Plot Point

The Expanse Season 5 Is All About the ‘Sins of the Past’

The Okoye detail you missed in The Expanse season 5 trailer

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‘The Expanse’ Renewed For Sixth & Final Season By Amazon Ahead Of Season 5 Premiere

Amazon Studios has set an end date for The Expanse. The popular sci-fi drama has received an early renewal for Season 6, which will be its last. Not returning for the final season is original cast member Cas Anvar, who faced a slew of sexual misconduct allegations during the summer. The rest of the cast, led by Steven Strait, and longtime Expanse showrunner Naren Shankar will be back.

The Season 6 renewal comes three weeks before the December 16 Season 5 debut on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories. I hear Season 6 tentatively is slated to begin production Janusary 20, with the target start date subject to change amid fluid pandemic conditions.

The Alcon-produced The Expanse, based on James S.A. Corey’s best-selling novels, originally was picked up by Syfy, where it aired for three seasons. Following its cancellation in 2018, the show’s army of passionate fans launched a massive Save Our Show campaign, which helped seal the deal at Amazon. The space drama’s fourth season was released globally as an Amazon Original Series in December 2019.

“From the moment we committed to bringing this show to life up until this final season, we have worked tirelessly to honor the vision of the writers,” said Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, co-CEOs and co-Founders of Alcon Television Group and executive producers of The Expanse. “We have prided ourselves on having one of the most diverse casts on television and giving a platform to stories that matter. A special thanks to Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the writers of both the books and series, and to Naren Shankar, the series showrunner and executive producer. It continues to be an honor and privilege to work with this team. We also would like to thank Amazon for their continuing support to help us tell this story in its fullest and to bring The Expanse to a global audience.”

The Expanse is set in the future where humanity has colonized the solar system and the people of Earth, Mars and the Asteroid Belt have long been in opposition with one another. When the crew of the Rocinante uncovers an ancient alien technology, a vast conspiracy begins to emerge — one that will bring the solar system to the brink of war. The Expanse is a high-action, sci-fi adventure that explores the depth of humanity against the far-spanning reaches of the known universe.

“The dedication and artistry of everyone who helps bring The Expanse to the screen is incredible,” said Shankar, who has served as executive producer/showrunners on all seasons. “Our fans are awesome, and we cannot wait to get rolling on Season 6.”

The Hugo Award-winning series was developed and scripted by the Oscar-nominated Children of Men writing duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, who executive produce the series alongside Shankar, Kosove, Johnson, Laura Lancaster, Sharon Hall, Sean Daniel, Jason Brown and Dan Nowak. The Expanse is produced by Alcon Television Group. The studio in June launched an independent investigation after series star Anvar faced numerous accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The fifth season of The Expanse will launch December 16 with three episodes. After that, one new episode will be released weekly through February 3.

I’m guessing they’re not doing the time jump and just wrapping everything up in a different way. Which is fine!

What? Oh well, got 6 seasons of awesome  I suppose.

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Uncle Retrospective

Yeah, there’s no way they’re doing the Laconian arc now, shame they spent a bunch of last year setting it up?

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Ben

I mean, 6 seasons is pretty fuckin good all in all… as long as they really wrap it up well, I’m okay with it, wether they adapt x or y, I don’t really care… I guess you can always read the books if you want more…

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective

Agreed, the good think is they have been given plenty of advance notice this is where it’s going to end so can wrap it up properly. I love the show but have to admit 6 seasons is pretty good going for the niche appeal and when it’s clearly not cheap to make.

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Uncle Retrospective, Ben

I can’t help it but my mind keeps thinking GoT season 8 when Expanse Season 6 is mentioned.

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Rocket wrote:

I can’t help it but my mind keeps thinking GoT season 8 when Expanse Season 6 is mentioned.

If series 6 is just a straight adaptation of book 6, the ending there is fairly satisfying if the story doesn’t continue.

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Uncle Retrospective, Rocket

That seems to reflect a bit the way the series and I assume the books are written, there’s more of a cutoff than a continuous saga like GoT. You can see a certain level of ‘clean slate’ with the ends of seasons 2 and 3 where it wouldn’t be that terrible if it had cut off at those points. The initial plots are mainly resolved.

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lorcan_nagle

Yeah, okay, cool. I’d have liked to see it continue longer, but I’m happy we’re getting a sixth season and that they get to wrap it up properly.

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Uncle Retrospective

garjones wrote:

That seems to reflect a bit the way the series and I assume the books are written, there’s more of a cutoff than a continuous saga like GoT. You can see a certain level of ‘clean slate’ with the ends of seasons 2 and 3 where it wouldn’t be that terrible if it had cut off at those points. The initial plots are mainly resolved.

Yeah, depending on how you slice it up, there’s either 3 or 4 arcs in the series, depending on how you look at it. The first two books – so everything up to the Ring emerging from Venus is basically about the conflict between the Belt, Mars and Earth and the emergence of the Protomolecule – notice how it fucking with humans kinda fades into the background after this. Books 3 and 4 – so the back half of series 3 and all of series 4 is about humanity coming to terms with the protomolecule and their new place in a larger universe. Books 5 and 6 are about… stuff. And then 7-9 ties it all together. Given how book 8 ends, it might be argued that 7 and 8 form an arc and 9 is going to be the grand conclusion.

You can also make an argument that books 1-3 form a discrete unit as the Earth/Mars/Belt stuff bleeds over into the conflict in the Slow Zone and it ends with humans on the verge of exploring the galaxy, and in this interpretation 4-6 have thematic links that I’m not going to talk about right now.

garjones wrote:

That seems to reflect a bit the way the series and I assume the books are written, there’s more of a cutoff than a continuous saga like GoT. You can see a certain level of ‘clean slate’ with the ends of seasons 2 and 3 where it wouldn’t be that terrible if it had cut off at those points. The initial plots are mainly resolved.

Yeah, depending on how you slice it up, there’s either 3 or 4 arcs in the series, depending on how you look at it. The first two books – so everything up to the Ring emerging from Venus is basically about the conflict between the Belt, Mars and Earth and the emergence of the Protomolecule – notice how it fucking with humans kinda fades into the background after this. Books 3 and 4 – so the back half of series 3 and all of series 4 is about humanity coming to terms with the protomolecule and their new place in a larger universe. Books 5 and 6 are about… stuff. And then 7-9 ties it all together. Given how book 8 ends, it might be argued that 7 and 8 form an arc and 9 is going to be the grand conclusion.

You can also make an argument that books 1-3 form a discrete unit as the Earth/Mars/Belt stuff bleeds over into the conflict in the Slow Zone and it ends with humans on the verge of exploring the galaxy, and in this interpretation 4-6 have thematic links that I’m not going to talk about right now.

For me, looking at it as a viewer that hasn’t read the books, the only really outstanding question is around the origins of the protomolecule. I’m not inviting spoilers for the books, and we can imagine they’ll diverge a bit because they don’t have the time to adapt them as they are, but if that is covered sufficiently then it’s ok. They’ve hinted at a civilization being destroyed without giving too much detail.

Maybe also some more on Naomi’s kid had been left hanging but I believe that’s going to be addressed in season 5.

It’s a lot different to something like Game of Thrones or even BGS which had dozens of plot threads in the air entering the final season.

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lorcan_nagle

Yeah I’d just like them to explore the protomolecule’s origin before it wraps up, so it goes full circle… I hope the 2 remaining seasons are more like S2 & 3 rather than 4…

garjones wrote:

the only really outstanding question is around the origins of the protomolecule.

Holden’s vision when he touched the device in the station in series 3 showed him the origins of the protomolecule. How he explained it to people after that is accurate.

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Holden’s vision when he touched the device in the station in series 3 showed him the origins of the protomolecule. How he explained it to people after that is accurate.

But isn’t there still, like, the question of what happened to the people who built it? Or at this point rather, what about the people who killed them? I think that was what Gar was referring to.

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Christian wrote:

I think that was what Gar was referring to.

I was. I want to know the answer to those questions.

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lorcan_nagle

The aliens that killed the Ring Builders are still out there, yes.

I do hope they pop up in the last two seasons. It’d be nice to go really big before we go out.

Fuck man, the Expanse really set a new standard for TV space sci-fi. I hope someone will be able to follow up.

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Episodes 1-3 drop tomorrow! The AV Club has a pre-release review up and it’s positive

https://tv.avclub.com/the-sky-is-falling-on-another-great-season-of-the-expan-1845878898

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Sean Robinson

The AV Club has been full of it for a long time now.

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lorcan_nagle

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

The AV Club has been full of it for a long time now.

They’re definitely not as good as they used to be, but they still have some good reviewers. Zack Handlen, who did that Expanse writeup has been phoning in his Trek reviews for some time though, sadly.

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Uncle Retrospective

Episodes go up at 12am GMT here, which is nice. (I’m probably only going to watch the first one.)

Also, Prime Video is available through my Sky Q box now, so I don’t have to mess around with any of the awful apps or browser players. Literally the only one I could get Amazon videos to play on was Edge, a browser nobody ever uses, and even then I had to wait two minutes for it to load, and if I paused the video it would take over a minute to restart.

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lorcan_nagle

“They were alive when I left them”

Amos is the best.

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lorcan_nagle wrote:

Episodes 1-3 drop tomorrow!

There they are! Wheee!

It’ll probably take me a few days to get to them, unfortunately.

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Todd, lorcan_nagle

Christian wrote:

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Episodes 1-3 drop tomorrow!

There they are! Wheee!

It’ll probably take me a few days to get to them, unfortunately.

What could you possibly have going on in your life that is more important than a TV series?

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Ben, Christian

Let me say this, if it was just me, I’d be watching either way, but as I was able to rope Claudi into watching this one with me, I’ll have to wait until she is able to take her eyes off the little one for a bit.

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In the amusing turnaround, the security chief character on Tycho introduced in series 5 is Carlos “Bull” de Baca, a character from book 3 who’s role got moved to Drummer for the show. But Drummer was introduced as Tycho’s chief of security in Book 5, and she’s been positioned to replace the novel character Michio Pa for series 5 and 6 – so for once a novel character is getting her role in the show instead of the other way around.

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Ben

I love Drummer, put her on screen as often as possible. I’m drafting a letter to Bezos now demanding she get her own spinoff.

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I would not be averse to a couple dozen episodes of Drummer and her polyamorous space pirate family.

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Uncle Retrospective, Sean Robinson, garjones

Make it a couple of dozen seasons and we’re aligned.

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lorcan_nagle

I did love that the 3rd episode had Drummer as the focus (or at least far more than anyone else, and they did get a little bit each).
Also not averse to more of, um, that scene (and kinda forgot they could do that).
Politely, I definitely did not like her less after this episode.

A quick ‘in general’; I am loving it. Hardcore too.

Love Amos. How is Wes Chatham not one of the many ‘superheroes’ out there? Those arms? But acted by someone I can believe the brutality, and immediately buy in to his ‘conscience’ and ‘soft side’.
The writing for it too. That over-used ‘open-the-jacket-and-show-the-gun’ scene had Amos do what I’ve thought many a time and grab the gun (and fuck did he grab it fast, beat him, and then make him the offer.

And then Alex. Argh! I like the character and the actor’s (Cas Anvar) portrayal, yet when “multiple women come forward” (and proof to support), well, he’s got to go. Dumbass!
I’ve got no problem with someone taking over for season 6.
But I do feel guilty for liking him in a scene. Just put it aside…

Could go through all the characters, but will give you a break from my rambling.

But I will say the 3 episode drop worked well here (like it did with The Boys).
The 3rd episode alone covered a lot, and was great, but if you waited a week for it then, I dunno, just way better this way.

Honestly, who came up with that? Amazon?
I’ve always thought a weekly drop gets the buzz and people talking. If you want to binge, then wait for it to be over.
Here, someone came up with a great way to start and keep up the weekly talking.

Netflix? Well, I’m learning how to hate them.
Could my way have saved Sense8, Mindhunters, The OA, and bunch more I can’t think of right now…
Oops! forgot I said something about not rambling…

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Sean Robinson wrote:

Love Amos. How is Wes Chatham not one of the many ‘superheroes’ out there?

I’m still crossing my fingers he’ll get the Wolverine part… imagine that…

I have huge nitpick with these new episodes, particularly the first one… so now, apparently they’re doing the usual hollywood thing of having sound effects in space… that’s new right? I remember that the Expanse was the only show that didn’t repeat any of those tropes… I’m a bit disappointed, tbh.

Buuuut the rest is good, so at least there’s that… it’s also a lot more interesting that the last season so far. That ending of ep3… glad they didn’t stretch it out any further, plus what a cliffhanger… motherfuckers gonna make us wait a week now… u_u