ecgordon
Star's Hero
I would encourage you to give it another chance.
THE EXPANSE --it's premise, plot and socio-political implications
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Sure. But the basics are way way off IMO. Not enough science, too much skin and concentrating on drama. The visuals are STUNNING. Oh, and I bet that 5 minutes of zero-G sex took some special effects hours and cost a pretty penny.
But the story is not my cuppa at all. Heiresses? Profiteering? Mars is a military outpost? This future would have us believe that Humanity just doubles down on everything wrong with it today. We don't become explorers or have adventures, we just push out into space expanding capitalism and greed? How do they fix that?
The show is very dark. Both literally and figuratively. It drops you in a messed up dark future like the one in 5th Element, Blade Runner, etc. But it lacks any upbeat other than jokes smattered here and there.
Perhaps the books give it some depth beyond what I saw in that episode? I could hardly watch it after 30 min.
I found the original discussion and merged the threads. This is now a featured article as well, and it appears on the front page of the site.
Jim of WVa
Well Known GateFan
Sure. But the basics are way way off IMO. Not enough science, too much skin and concentrating on drama. The visuals are STUNNING. Oh, and I bet that 5 minutes of zero-G sex took some special effects hours and cost a pretty penny.
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The show is very dark. Both literally and figuratively. It drops you in a messed up dark future like the one in 5th Element, Blade Runner, etc. But it lacks any upbeat other than jokes smattered here and there.
Perhaps the books give it some depth beyond what I saw in that episode? I could hardly watch it after 30 min.
A future without cultural Marxists. Sounds good to me.
Did you watch the episode?
Jim of WVa
Well Known GateFan
Yes, I just finished watching the episode on YouTube. I saw a couple of regular Marxists. I did not see any cultural Marxists.
Greed is good. The desire to improve one's own wealth via the delay of gratification is the cornerstone of capitalism.
The right won the cold war against communism. It should start acting as if it did win.
Interesting perspective. I disagree with it, but I am curious why you see it as being a good thing. Our present world is capitalistic, but I do not see how that system can last into the future. It is unbalanced and unsustainable. Could the writers of some of these sagas imagine something other than capitalism for the future? It is unlikely that any aliens which might be encountered would understand capitalism. It has no basis other than agreement.
ecgordon
Star's Hero
Overmind, IIRC there have been some other shows you originally wrote off but then went back to them and decided they were at least okay. If you got through the first season of Dark Matter and thought it was good, I can't imagine why you would give up on The Expanse after one episode.
I am not saying it will be great, but that it has potential and I want it to succeed. A lot of the surface details you object to should drop away once you get familiar with the characters and the situations they're dealing with. If it is even half as good as the books it will be the best thing Syfy has had since Farscape.
I am not saying it will be great, but that it has potential and I want it to succeed. A lot of the surface details you object to should drop away once you get familiar with the characters and the situations they're dealing with. If it is even half as good as the books it will be the best thing Syfy has had since Farscape.
ecgordon
Star's Hero
One last point: I watched Firefly from the beginning of the TV broadcasts. I wasn't thrilled with the first two episodes, but I stuck with it and now it's one of my favorite shows of all time. I'm not expecting The Expanse to exceed it, but I'll give it the opportunity to prove itself. I know how you and a lot of other people acquire your entertainment, so it's not going to cost you anything except a little bit of time. Give it a few more episodes and then if you still thinks it's crap you can stop. The pilot will be broadcast Dec. 14, and the second episode with be the following day.
You make a great point.
I will watch two more episodes. I will say without a doubt that the visuals in this thing are AWESOME. Feature film quality. I remember how Dark Matter went too...I hated it from the first episode. Then, after watching three of them it became suddenly awesome. PLUS, you highly recommend it. So, I will watch a couple more episodes. Granted, when I watched Dark Matter again, I watched the three episodes one right after the other.
Jim of WVa
Well Known GateFan
Capitalism is sustainable because it is adaptable to changing situations. Socialism is not adaptable.
Capitalism is unsustainable because it requires growth of the debt base. And those who have accumulated unearned wealth by manipulating the weaknesses of capitalism have unbalanced the society. We are closer to dumping capitalism than we are to expanding it. Money has no value. Those who control the construct will become powerless the moment nations stop agreeing to accept the US dollar as payment for products, services and labor. Capitalism will collapse. It has happened several times before, most notably with the Roman Empire, and more recently with the Confederate Dollar. In a heartbeat, every Confederate bill became worthless. When capitalism enslaves the masses, they revolt. When the dollar falls, capitalism will follow.
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ecgordon
Star's Hero
I've watched it quite a few times already, plus had it playing in the background while I did other stuff. I'm hoping to see it on every available service over the next couple of weeks. I've seen it through YouTube, Facebook, Syfy.com (twice) and Amazon so far. The picture quality was poorest on Amazon, which doesn't make sense, because I watched an episode of The Man in the High Castle right after that and it was very sharp. My first viewing left me less than satisfied, but that's mainly due to a couple of characters looking and acting different than the way I had pictured. Amos Burton should be older, huskier, with a low, gruff voice. Not to say that Wes Chatham won't grow into the part. The best casting is Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala, Cas Anvar as Alex Kamal, and Dominique Tipper as Naomi Nagata, but I'm also thinking Thomas Jane will turn out to be a good choice too. The later exchanges between him and Holden are ripe with sarcastic banter.
Due to the short episode order, plus all the plot they'll have to work through, every detail, every bit of dialogue, will be important. I wish the pilot was longer, written for at least a 90 min. time slot instead of an hour. On my second watch I thought there were a couple of scenes they could have eliminated to speed things up, for instance with Holden and Ade in his quarters after they purged the distress call from the log. Also, maybe the one where Miller sees the little girl affected by the bad air filters. He could have confronted the man responsible earlier, after the scene in the corridors with all the people coughing and receiving medical treatment. Then again, they illuminate the characters. Holden is used to getting his way, but also wants the least responsibility, so it irks him that Ade would be okay with ending their relationship. Miller is burned-out and cynical, but we find out it's because at his core he cares a lot but has been frustrated by the system for too long. But he'll only let things go so far before he has to react. Now I'm thinking the only scene that should have been cut was the one with Jonathan Banks. They should have started with Holden already the XO.
The main reason I want this show to succeed is that there is a wealth of story for them to tell. The books are written in a very visual style, maybe because the idea was originally conceived for a video game. I can't wait for Season 4 and find out who they cast as Elvi. My choice would be Mireille Enos.
Due to the short episode order, plus all the plot they'll have to work through, every detail, every bit of dialogue, will be important. I wish the pilot was longer, written for at least a 90 min. time slot instead of an hour. On my second watch I thought there were a couple of scenes they could have eliminated to speed things up, for instance with Holden and Ade in his quarters after they purged the distress call from the log. Also, maybe the one where Miller sees the little girl affected by the bad air filters. He could have confronted the man responsible earlier, after the scene in the corridors with all the people coughing and receiving medical treatment. Then again, they illuminate the characters. Holden is used to getting his way, but also wants the least responsibility, so it irks him that Ade would be okay with ending their relationship. Miller is burned-out and cynical, but we find out it's because at his core he cares a lot but has been frustrated by the system for too long. But he'll only let things go so far before he has to react. Now I'm thinking the only scene that should have been cut was the one with Jonathan Banks. They should have started with Holden already the XO.
The main reason I want this show to succeed is that there is a wealth of story for them to tell. The books are written in a very visual style, maybe because the idea was originally conceived for a video game. I can't wait for Season 4 and find out who they cast as Elvi. My choice would be Mireille Enos.
I downloaded this from eztv and it is in full HD so the quality is great. But the story....I just tried to do a rewatch of it and I could not make it after 15 minutes.
I will eat some more and perhaps take a few puffs and then try again? I have not read any of the books so I don't know the story how it was meant to be. I am going by the world they live in. Earth run by the United Nations, Mars is an independent military power, and the Belters living in the Asteroid belt control most of the available resources. And even after we manage to colonize the solar system, we are on the brink of war with.....ourselves? I don't like that. It takes the interest out of the show for me because of the premise it is built on. BUT, I will watch it thoroughly sometime tonight, and I will watch two more episodes.
I will have to watch the full episode before I know what you are referring to here
You obviously find the show to be interesting, so I am willing to see if I have a similar experience with it like I had with Sense8 and Dark Matter. They do have my interest viusually though. I think this show has the most impressive graphics I have EVER seen done for a Syfy TV series or any other regular TV series for that matter. But that sort of impression fades with time as the technology for effects gets better. Two years from now it will seem standard. The story needs to grab me. I am really hoping it will. How many seasons are there? The TV show is just this one episode, right? What day of the week do they air it? Do you know how many episodes are planned in this season?
Actually this type of "early exploration" premise goes way back in Science Fiction. For example, an almost identical structure (only missing Mars being independent) was the base for Larry Niven's Known Space universe which eventually turned into Ringworld. CJ Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe had a similar start in the novel "Downbelow Station". Gene Roddenberry's concept of the future is more the outlier in Science Fiction than the norm.
Have you watched this first episode yet? I think your objective review of it would be interesting. You tend to have pretty unbiased opinions on things. I would like to know what you think of this.
It won against communism, but is becoming Socialist. Socialism IS sustainable and will most likely replace capitalism. Communism is still capitalist at the top. Socialism is different.
Have you watched this first episode yet? I think your objective review of it would be interesting. You tend to have pretty unbiased opinions on things. I would like to know what you think of this.
I have not yet had the Opportunity. Hopefully I will soon.
