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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Nov 23, 2015 9:40:16 GMT -5
So I just watched the Expanse pilot; which is available in multiple websites as of today (like YouTube) but one or the ones I know that didn't provide a region lock would be IGN so this link should be good for everyone. Anyway it's a good pilot. It jumps between three locations and has a lot of ground to cover - the biological differences between people born on the 'inner planets' (Earth and Mars) and those born on asteroids and the like (the 'Belters'), protagonists who run the gamut from a detective with a porkpie hat to a UN undersecretary who is also a grandmother - but some laying pipe of exposition aside it slips right in to a potentially interesting main story and has some pretty respectable production values for a Syfy show (this clearly has more money to play with for its outer space shots than say Dark Matter.) I recommend checking it out, as long as that link still works, or whenever it airs on TV (next month Stateside.) |
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Post-Lupin
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Post by Post-Lupin on Nov 25, 2015 15:42:21 GMT -5
Very impressed.
I'm a little worried at the combination of slightly hard-to-hear dialogue and the un-subtitled Belter slang: might put audiences off. But it's stunning, well-cast and pretty damn faithful to the book so far.
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Nov 25, 2015 19:39:02 GMT -5
Very impressed. I'm a little worried at the combination of slightly hard-to-hear dialogue and the un-subtitled Belter slang: might put audiences off. But it's stunning, well-cast and pretty damn faithful to the book so far. If I'm considering watching this show, should I read the book first? |
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Post by Post-Lupin on Nov 26, 2015 5:45:34 GMT -5
Very impressed. I'm a little worried at the combination of slightly hard-to-hear dialogue and the un-subtitled Belter slang: might put audiences off. But it's stunning, well-cast and pretty damn faithful to the book so far. If I'm considering watching this show, should I read the book first? Always a tricky call: I'd say watch the show and allow for the fact that, like Blade Runner, bits of slang have to be understood by context for a while. That way, you can then go on and binge on the rest of the series (several novels and novellas). Or, read and then enjoy the pretty pictures, whatever floats your spaceship. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Nov 26, 2015 7:04:00 GMT -5
Roy Batty's Pet Dove The books don't really explain the slang either; like, not during the books. You basically wing it from context (or this glossary of Belter Creole words.) But on the subject of the books: This pilot episode mostly takes its story from Leviathan Wakes, the first Expanse novel, and this season will probably mostly use that book for its context. One major difference is that the series has Chrisjen Avasarala (the UN undersecretary and grandmother in the pilot) as a main character; she doesn't appear until the next book. It's probably still possible to read the first book before the series' proper premiere next month - it's not a long book - but I wouldn't say it's required.
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Nov 26, 2015 10:31:16 GMT -5
Very impressed. I'm a little worried at the combination of slightly hard-to-hear dialogue and the un-subtitled Belter slang: might put audiences off. But it's stunning, well-cast and pretty damn faithful to the book so far. Re: dialogue, what was up with that? On the Canterbury it was less of an issue, but I could barely hear what anyone was saying in the Belt, the dialogue was mixed so low. I read the book so it didn't bother me that much, but I can't imagine they're going to attract many new viewers if Tom Jane's inaudible exposition needs to be subtitled. The FX are top notch, though, it's absolutely gorgeous. Not sure how I feel about Holden looking like a poor man's Kit Harington. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Nov 26, 2015 11:10:45 GMT -5
rimjobflashmob Holden always kinda struck me as the sort of guy who probably does have movie star good looks; it apparently gets him past a lot of his other issues. And nobody can beat Alexander Dreymon for 'poor man's Kit Harrington':  ...on the other hand, I imagined that Amos Burton would be significantly heavier than the guy we got. But we barely saw him act yet, so I guess we'll see how he shakes out.
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Nov 26, 2015 12:21:37 GMT -5
And nobody can beat Alexander Dreymon for 'poor man's Kit Harrington' Oh wow. That's... that's worse than Billy Burke's turn as the poor man's Josh Brolin in Twilight. I always pictured Holden as a Firefly-era Nathan Fillion-type, but my imagination tends to skew towards wishful thinking when filling in characters' blanks. |
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Post by Lemminkainen on Nov 26, 2015 13:02:08 GMT -5
...on the other hand, I imagined that Amos Burton would be significantly heavier than the guy we got. But we barely saw him act yet, so I guess we'll see how he shakes out. I do recall a line in the books where one of the Rocinante gang called him a microcephalic dwarf compared to the rest of them, which I suppose was meant as some kind of perspective on the physiological differences between a guy born on Earth and people born on lower-grav locations. |
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Post-Lupin
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Post by Post-Lupin on Nov 26, 2015 13:48:51 GMT -5
...on the other hand, I imagined that Amos Burton would be significantly heavier than the guy we got. But we barely saw him act yet, so I guess we'll see how he shakes out. I do recall a line in the books where one of the Rocinante gang called him a microcephalic dwarf compared to the rest of them, which I suppose was meant as some kind of perspective on the physiological differences between a guy born on Earth and people born on lower-grav locations. See, the guy I think was described as actually being heavy build was Alex Kamal: the guy playing him seems significantly slimmer. He is, however, gorgeous, so I give them some slack. |
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Post by Lemminkainen on Nov 26, 2015 22:52:41 GMT -5
I do recall a line in the books where one of the Rocinante gang called him a microcephalic dwarf compared to the rest of them, which I suppose was meant as some kind of perspective on the physiological differences between a guy born on Earth and people born on lower-grav locations. See, the guy I think was described as actually being heavy build was Alex Kamal: the guy playing him seems significantly slimmer. He is, however, gorgeous, so I give them some slack. I remember him being described as early 40's, a little paunchy and balding, with a Texas-like accent. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Nov 27, 2015 13:38:38 GMT -5
...on the other hand, I imagined that Amos Burton would be significantly heavier than the guy we got. But we barely saw him act yet, so I guess we'll see how he shakes out. I do recall a line in the books where one of the Rocinante gang called him a microcephalic dwarf compared to the rest of them, which I suppose was meant as some kind of perspective on the physiological differences between a guy born on Earth and people born on lower-grav locations. Is Rocinante meant as a Don Quixote reference, or are The Expanse novels a very elaborate literary adaptation of Rush's embarrassingly heavy-handed late 70s epic prog rock space-travel/Greek-Mythology-themed songs "Cygnus X-1 Books 1 and 2"? |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Nov 27, 2015 13:42:10 GMT -5
Thanks, Post-Lupin and Douay-Rheims-Challoner. I've gone ahead and requested the first book from the library. Should come in soon enough for me to read the first book before the premiere. |
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Post by Post-Lupin on Nov 27, 2015 13:46:38 GMT -5
I do recall a line in the books where one of the Rocinante gang called him a microcephalic dwarf compared to the rest of them, which I suppose was meant as some kind of perspective on the physiological differences between a guy born on Earth and people born on lower-grav locations. Is Rocinante meant as a Don Quixote reference, or are The Expanse novels a very elaborate literary adaptation of Rush's embarrassingly heavy-handed late 70s epic prog rock space-travel/Greek-Mythology-themed songs "Cygnus X-1 Books 1 and 2"? Explicitly a Don Quixote reference. And I adore Cygnus X-1. |
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Post by Post-Lupin on Dec 1, 2015 5:35:24 GMT -5
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Post by Post-Lupin on Dec 16, 2015 20:45:19 GMT -5
Watched the first four: first 2 take their time and some patience is needed - accept half the Ceres scenes are in Belther creole, you'll pick it up as you go. Then eps 3 and 4 just come in and blew my tits off. I had to rewatch the last 10 minutes of ep. 4 just for.. the launch of the Tachi/birth of the Rocinante was something so good, it rivalled the first sight of The Serenity, Liberator or any classic SF ship. and they got it so right that it ranks with any first ship appearance in the canon and I had to rewatch just to cum again. And the scoring was perfect. Always a pleasure to see Greg Bryk (a favourite back from ReGenesis), here as the Martian officer. I am very hopeful for the rest of the season now. They got that bit right. |
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Post by MrsLangdonAlger on Dec 16, 2015 21:50:03 GMT -5
I really like it, but Thomas Jane's hair is distractingly bad.
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Post by Post-Lupin on Dec 17, 2015 12:31:23 GMT -5
I really like it, but Thomas Jane's hair is distractingly bad. He just wants his kid back! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2015 16:00:03 GMT -5
I'm trying hard to hold out and wait to watch episode 3&4 until they air rather than watching them online.
I've never read the books and am enjoying it quite a bit. I do appreciate that they have taken a no hand-holding approach and make you figure a lot of stuff out on your own.
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Post by Sanziana on Dec 19, 2015 12:49:06 GMT -5
I like the design of the Belters, and it's pretty fun so far, but for the life of me I can't understand a single word Avasarala is saying.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2015 19:06:03 GMT -5
I'm trying hard to hold out and wait to watch episode 3&4 until they air rather than watching them online. I've never read the books and am enjoying it quite a bit. I do appreciate that they have taken a no hand-holding approach and make you figure a lot of stuff out on your own. I was going to try to hold out, too; that lasted, I dunno, two days. Didn't read the book, but I'm loving this so far. (But ditto on trying to figure out what Shoreh Aghdashloo is saying.) |
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Post by Post-Lupin on Dec 20, 2015 6:46:18 GMT -5
I'm trying hard to hold out and wait to watch episode 3&4 until they air rather than watching them online. I've never read the books and am enjoying it quite a bit. I do appreciate that they have taken a no hand-holding approach and make you figure a lot of stuff out on your own. I was going to try to hold out, too; that lasted, I dunno, two days. Didn't read the book, but I'm loving this so far. (But ditto on trying to figure out what Shoreh Aghdashloo is saying.) I felt the same about Mads in S1 Hannibal... but yes, it's a problem. Not as big a problem as the fact that she hasn't used vicious swear words even once, though. |
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Dec 20, 2015 20:45:50 GMT -5
I gave in and watched all four episodes on the Siffy website. I really loved episode 3, and episode 4 was very nearly as good. This is becoming my most anticipated show to see more of since The Leftovers went on break. It's just thrilling, and the production value is unbelievable. Aghdashloo didn't get much to do in episodes 1 and 2 but she knocks it out of the park in the other two, probably my favorite character right now. |
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Post by Post-Lupin on Dec 21, 2015 8:24:09 GMT -5
I gave in and watched all four episodes on the Siffy website. I really loved episode 3, and episode 4 was very nearly as good. This is becoming my most anticipated show to see more of since The Leftovers went on break. It's just thrilling, and the production value is unbelievable. Aghdashloo didn't get much to do in episodes 1 and 2 but she knocks it out of the park in the other two, probably my favorite character right now. Can't quite agree about Chrisjen until she calls the Secretary General of the United Nations a cocksucker... but I love her so far anyway. |
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on Dec 25, 2015 21:07:18 GMT -5
I just watched the first episode - not loving it so far but will continue. I really don't picture Holden like that at all in my head!
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Dec 27, 2015 20:47:41 GMT -5
Saw the next three episodes. I was shocked when Havelock got speared - I thought the series might have killed him off, which would change some things. I also note that not only is the show incorporating stuff from the second novel (where Avasarala is introduced) there's hints of stuff from even later books; readers will know what I mean by that.
Of all the stuff I'm most surprised to see incorporated I might put first place on the Mormons; I figured the show would have to grapple with the idea of the Mormon worldship but didn't expect it would be this amusing (the casting of that stiff-necked representative was perfect - also, interesting pick on Chad Coleman as Fred Johnson, a cannier operator than his Wire or Walking Dead characters - first impressions are he got it out of the park.) I'm still not really feeling Amos, as I'm so attached to him being this big lug of a man who looks like he's rolled out of too many bar fights, as opposed to this mellow fellow, but the rest of the casting is on point, from Yao of the Donnager down to nervous, panicky Shed. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Dec 28, 2015 0:26:41 GMT -5
I've put stuff related to the books in spoiler tags, so don't click on those unless you've read at least the first book in the series or haven't but don't care about major plot points. I decided to read Leviathan Wakes before I got around to watching the show, so I only got to the pilot yesterday. Like MDT, I was a little surprised at the way Holden is characterized as well, although I think maybe adding a bit of depth to putative-stock-hero-character-Holden-as-written-in-the-book might be good, as I think the thing that might have annoyed me most about the book is that this fucking idiotic asshole who's responsible for causing a war because his thought process is so absurdly unnuanced, who at one point idly hopes for an opportunity to rape his XO, is unironically held up as a morally virtuous man, so maybe dialing down on Holden's hero complex will make for a nice change . The Jonathan Banks as XO scene was pretty cool, although Banks honestly seems a bit of a better fit for the Canterbury's captain as he's written in the books (iirc in the book the Cant's captain wasn't exactly a super-ethical guy but wasn't a completely horrible human being the way that the asshole in the show is, and also I imagined the captain as maybe being a bit older than like 35, so Banks seems like he would have been perfect for that role, and it wouldn't have been a much bigger time commitment from him to play the part). UN Person is an interesting character, who, as DRC alluded to upthread, does not appear in Leviathan Wakes, so I'm intrigued to see more of her beyond the "she's a loving grandmother but also she's totes cool with torturing that OPA dude" juxtaposition. The special effects are indeed pretty good for a SyFy show, and it's all well executed enough that even though I had kind of mixed feelings on the book, I certainly plan to keep watching. Also, as pertains to the reveal at the end of that opening scene this was a thing that really did not interest me all that much about the book, like I was thinking, based off of the blurb on the back of the book, that it was going to be some sort of new energy source that feeds on organic matter and enables interstellar travel or something, and the guy reaching out of the mass of flesh and screaming for help just seemed really B-movieish to me. And then when it turned into a zombie story midway through I became even more enthusiastic for this plot to hopefully get mostly ditched by the end of the first book (although by all appearances that does not appear to be the case). And then, the book turns into some Arthur C. Clarke technology-so-advanced-that-it's-basically-"magic" story, and I was like "hold on, I thought that this book was about the political tensions between factions of humanity as they colonize the universe and those tensions boiling over into war, whatever happened to that story?" I came around to the protomolecule-zombies-Clarkemagic stuff a bit in the end, but I guess what I'm saying is that it's possible that this series isn't going to really be my thing, and one of the reasons for that was apparent from the opening passage/scene of the books/show. Also, that now I better understand why the people who don't like the White Walkers in GoT are so unenthusiastic about them. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2015 22:13:53 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2016 4:23:37 GMT -5
Definitely not trying to steer anyone away from the conversation on the TI but there is some great discussion on Reddit, including from the people who are making the show which lends a lot of insight into all aspects of the show. The episode 4 review is littered with comments from them and they are extremely proud of how well the series has turned out. www.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/I just finished episode 4 and this show seems to get better and better each episode. Even compared to the earlier episodes, I am completely blown away by the visuals in this episode. I have no idea how they were able to afford this on a TV budget. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2016 10:59:04 GMT -5
I think this is the best show on TV right now, certainly the one that I look most forward to each week. The first two episodes might have been a little harder to get into due to the show not handholding the viewer but from episode 3 on, it has been great.
We are getting a 2 hour season finale next week. This season has flown by quickly when you consider they showed the first two episodes on consecutive nights and are having a 2 hour/episode finale. I can't wait a year for season two so it looks like I will be picking up the books after the finale.
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