@maino82@oehm Agreed. The show because of Shohreh Aghdashloo, whose casting was a stroke of genius. And the books because it's a great story. Silo (on Apple TV) is also great. #ScienceFiction
Slight disagreement: Books and series are both fantastic, and yet: There are a bunch of great #SciFi sagas and novels, but hard #SF as TV series on that level?
The series absolutely excels in its art form, the novels only shine very brightly in their, due to the much bigger competition.
Another big vote for The Expanse. I always tell people to give the first season 3-4 episodes before judging. The main plot doesn't get started until around then and the full cast isn't even fully introduced after the first episode (IIRC). It's one of those shows that doesn't make it easy early on, but rewards those who stick through for the whole ride.
I’m a huge fan of the first few seasons. When Amazon bought them I feel the quality really dropped (especially in the set pieces/visual effects) but the story is still good. A lot of people didn’t care for the first season or Miller’s character but I really enjoyed it.
It’s wild to me when fans of the show disregard the first season. To me, that season is pretty much perfect. Three arcs - a detective story, a motley crew, a political thriller - pay off feels so great when it all comes together at the end. Season 2 was such a drastic change in pacing, concept and ‘feel’ that I didn’t want to keep watching. I felt a little betrayed that Miller wasn’t actually the main character.
Besides Amos, I don’t really care about the Roci crew. I had to wait until Ashford came along in Season 3 for a new favorite character.
All in all - Avasarala, Bobby and Drummer carried the series for me.
It’s interesting that you felt betrayed by Miller not being the main character. In the book his chapters are a good example of unreliable narrator.
He comes across as a good guy and a good cop. It’s only later you realise he is unpopular which is why he was dumped with the Earther and his reputation as a drunk earned him an investigation they wanted done poorly.
Maybe the show got a similar result to the book in a different way.
I liked him too though and was gutted by his fate.
In the show, he was definitely a bad and corrupt cop that nobody liked. The Mao investigation was something he got really fixated on, mostly because of selfishness. He saw a picture of a pretty girl and made up an idea she could redeem who he became. Or love him.
I didn’t expect him to be reliable. But the season did such a great job focusing on him, making him three dimensional, that I didn’t expect him to be a relatively minor character in the grand scheme of things.  And also, besides Cowboy Bebop, there’s not a whole lot of noir detective/noir stories in space. I guess Doctor Who also, to some extent - though that’s more akin to Scooby Doo (not a criticism). So it wasn’t just Miller for me that made me feel betrayed. It was also the change of genre.
I didn’t read the books, but the show’s storyboarding is certainly atypical. I appreciated it a lot more starting in Season 3 when I was able to reflect on the series as a whole and see the genre changes in each season as a creative choice.
Yes, the Expanse is wonderful … I miss it TBH. As “blasphemous” as it might be here, I’d be more excited for a new Expanse series than new a Trek series.
You may have heard already, but give the show 3-4 episodes before you give up on it.
I was told this and I recall a specific moment even where I felt myself switch from, “this is fine” to “ok I like this”. May not be that way for everyone, but give it 3-4 episodes.
Also, and others have said this, each season is different with a different vibe, however that alters your viewing.
They’d need to reduce the time jump between books 6 and 7 to make another series work. I think where they ended it was a really good point. That said I would love to have seen like a fucking valkyrie on screen.
I’m aware of the time jump, and agree it ended on a good point. But I’d still be hyped about continuing the story which was clearly hinted at in the ending too.
Other than the time jump I thought my reference was cryptic enough that to get it you’d either need to have read the books, or already been spoilered. Sorry if it wasn’t.
But I’d still be hyped about continuing the story which was clearly hinted at in the ending too.
Yeah. Hopefully there’ll be some kind of follow up, maybe a film or something.