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- SyFy
- Sep 15, 2015
- SyFy
- Sep 15, 2015
- SyFy
- Sep 15, 2015
- SyFy
- Sep 15, 2015
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
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6 Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
65
61% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
39% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
65
61% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
39% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The biggest challenge will be how well all these threads can hold together, but so far, the show’s proven its ability to focus when essential. And all those little stories, when blended together, create a hell of a narrative.
But where “Battlestar Galactica’s” story engine ran almost entirely on mystery, The Expanse is a little more like “Game of Thrones,” with its intensely detailed and ever-broadening world inhabited by very recognizable characters.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 648 User Ratings
8.5
89% Positive
574 Ratings
574 Ratings
5% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
6% Negative
40 Ratings
40 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 648 User Ratings
8.5
89% Positive
574 Ratings
574 Ratings
5% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
6% Negative
40 Ratings
40 Ratings
The Expanse is the best sci-fi show I have ever seen, and I hold that in the same company as Battlestar Galactica and the Stargate series. The feeling of "immersion" in space while watching it is unlike any other space opera I've ever seen - from the physics realism, to the sound effects, to even the theme song and sound track, it truly feels like you are hundreds of years in the future in the spaceship with the cast. The production quality, writing, character development, special effects, and story progression are outstanding.
The Expanse is criminally under-watched and under-marketed. I look forward to each new season as much as I did Game of Thrones.
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SEASON 1
The Expanse has enough well-wrought plot to keep things moving swiftly without confusing those of us who aren’t hardcore sci-fi fans.
The Expanse manages to take familiar sci-fi elements and synthesize them into something that looks and feels distinctive.
The Expanse is indeed expansive with the universe it sets up within the pilot and through the characters presented. Unfortunately though there’s so much going on in the pilot that it quickly becomes a convoluted romp through space that’s more about showcasing the wasteland that humans have become than developing characters viewers will remember, let alone invest in watching.
It’s all a little too smooth and unexceptional, though--nothing in the central performances, the writing, the action or the computer effects goes beyond proficient, and nothing has the stark, strange, sometimes brutal feeling that made “Battlestar Galactica” compelling. For Syfy, the search goes on.
This could have been more appealing with a stylized visual approach or a novel tone but instead it's sci-fi-by-numbers. [Nov-Dec 2015, p.78]
Watching the first season and all I can say is WOW! This show combines ACTION, DRAMA, POLITICAL GAMES, DETECTIVE WORK, SOCIAL AND ECO COMMENTARY, into a beautiful package smartly written and cleanly executed along with absolutely OUTSTANDING special effects and (nearly) 100% accurate physics in space(yes there are some mistakes but nothing glaring).
My new favourite show!! Love Marvel, Joss Whedon stuff and James Cameron movies, just to give you an idea where my tastes normally lie!
Watch it!!!
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SEASON 1
It's probably not going to accumulate a cult following, but it's another slightly above average show from SyFy that's in the same basket with the likes of Falling Skies or Defiance. It doesn't achieve the level of some science fiction cinematography like Star Wars or Alien, but it can be entertaining in it's own way, depends on how much you like to nitpick on plot holes.
Couple of aspects bother me more than others:
1) The most significant one is that the plot seems to center a bit too much on the main characters while putting a serious emphasis on the political background of the scenario, but develops the latter insufficiently. Consequently we don't really get answers to dwelling questions like: How did the different factions come to be? Why is there so much tension between those factions? How has Mars become such a strong military power if that planet is barren and, as it said in the show, hasn't even started terraforming into an Earth-like planet (meaning it's hardly sustainable)? Based on our knowledge today such a scenario is not possible and Mars could only serve as a colony, nothing more.
Also the OPA is regarded as a terrorist organization and in several instances the viewer is expected to react solely upon the connotation of the word, rather than the background of their activities. There are two kinds of dialogue you'll come across:"He's OPA! Terrorist bastard!" and "You're wrong! The OPA only serves the people, we're the good guys." How could any viewer sympathize with either one? It's easy if you're an easily triggered person that doesn't need more than some guy to tell you that the other guy is a terrorist and you're already emotionally involved. Others need more intricacy.
2) Another problem is that sometimes the characters seem to be pulling deductions out of their asses - they just randomly know information that helps drive the plot... I call that cheating and it really makes the already fast-paced show feel like it's developing even faster than it should.
3) And what the bloody hell is going on with these dumb user interfaces that we see in almost every average sci-fi flick? They're all over the walls and tables, but most of them seem impractical and when they do get used, we usually only get to see that single big button in the middle of the screen that says something you'd never expect to see there. It's kind of analogous to those scenes from other movies where someone is locally hacking a computer for top-secret information and there's that big button in the middle of the screen that says HACK. You press it and a wild loading bar appears...
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SEASON 1
I haven't read the books, so the story and setting is all new to me. I am thoroughly enjoying the storyline and really like how well SyFy has done with the production on this and on several of its new series. I particularly like that the tech isn't the focus of the series, but merely the setting in which the story is delivered. I also like that it is in the near future, still within our own solar system, which adds to the plausibility of the whole.
My biggest complaint is the language. They at least (mostly) bleep out the f-bomb, but anything else gets aired. I've never understood why some feel the need to use profanity to tell a story. I think it actually takes away from a very good show, and my rating reflects that.
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SEASON 1
Season 1 - very good. Season 2? Total letdown. Directing is horrible, scenes are rushed. From the ridiculous, "woo-hoo" that's completely out of place given tone of what's taking place, to the over-excited childish responses to a random girl armwrestling a machine (like the old arcade game), to an incredibly stupid discussion about, "cheese farts"? Did this series suddenly get re-written for 10 year-old kids? What's the point?
There was very little about the Season 2 start that has my family at all interested. There was no time for thought, scenes were consistently over-emotional, and cutaways were not smooth and lacked any real segue. The entire thing seems confused and unplanned, culminating in a completely unlikely closing sequence that makes almost no sense whatsoever. Great for keeping a series going, maybe, but so completely unrelated to any realistic expectation, I sincerely doubt I watch another episode.
That's really very sad. Whatever these guys sold out to - whether the continuous repetition of one cliche after another or the stupid Hollywood, "female minority hero" or, "strong woman but sexy and soft and sultry but powerful and independent" - it's just ridiculous trash at this point.
Sell out - 100%. Sign your 8 year-old up. She'll love it. As for the boys? Probably their xbox and playstations continue to offer much more. As for parents - find something with more meaning - this won't hold it for you.
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SEASON 1
