THE EXPANSE --it's premise, plot and socio-political implications

[shavedape]

The round in a gunpowder weapon would travel very fast in a straight line from the barrel. No outside oxidizer is needed because the cartridge has oxidizer in it. In fact with no air resistance muzzle velocity would be higher and only gravity would affect trajectory. The only downside would be the shooter needs to be anchored or have a thruster pack in zero gravity or they will go spinning backwards courtesy of Newton's Third Law of Motion.

There would be relatively no sound from the shot in such a scenario, correct?

 

[Joelist]

There would be relatively no sound from the shot in such a scenario, correct?

Correct.

Actually the Firefly episode with Saffron as Mal's wife had a highly accurate depiction of firing a gun in a vacuum.

 

[YJ02]

The round in a gunpowder weapon would travel very fast in a straight line from the barrel. No outside oxidizer is needed because the cartridge has oxidizer in it. In fact with no air resistance muzzle velocity would be higher and only gravity would affect trajectory. The only downside would be the shooter needs to be anchored or have a thruster pack in zero gravity or they will go spinning backwards courtesy of Newton's Third Law of Motion.

so it would travel much like the current rockets do(the ones used for current space travel)?

but by this time in the future, given the other advances shown, wouldn't there be some other type of weapon by then?

 

[ecgordon]

when was the book(s) written? Was the first book written before or after nuBSG?

The first book was published in 2011, but the idea originated with plans for a video game about 10 years before that.

 

[YJ02]

writers and other TPTB's need to shake their heads and clear them out of all of this nuBSG stuff and the shows that followed that attempted to recreate the dark and broody and 'edgy' that nuBSG had--all by mistake and seat of the pants.

I have wrote elsewhere about this and my opinions on why I liked nuBSG despite admitting that TPTB had no plan and just made shit up as they went

others after it have tried and failed to catch the 'BSG-ness'--a stupid idea to try and recreate a happy accident

anyhow--I would like to see some sci fi or future fiction on TV that comes from another place. that is, stuff whose creator does not reference (consciously or unconsciously) anything from the last 15 yrs of tv.

Off the top, the only show can think of that does well so far, as been 12 MONKEYS--WAYWARD PINES was pretty good as well

I am really hoping that EXPANSE and the other shows SYFY has coming out will be free of this bsg past and come from a place of new ideas

but now I am beginning to ramble...

 

[ecgordon]

If the show is going to be anything like the books it will be dark and gritty, whether or not they were influenced by BSG.

 

[Joelist]

so it would travel much like the current rockets do(the ones used for current space travel)?

but by this time in the future, given the other advances shown, wouldn't there be some other type of weapon by then?

Yes it would. The cartridge is simply providing the thrust instead of a rocket engine.

As to future weapons, it all depends on where they are with high release low mass energy storage. If they are far enough along then you could see gauss guns that are hand held. The issue would be the need to recharge the weapon and whether or not it is more efficient to use chemical propellant for the bullets.

 

[ecgordon]

I don't know much about weapons, but in the books they do talk about gauss guns, but I think they were limited to ship equipment, not hand-held.

 

[Quetesh]

I watch a show if it entertains me. Part of entertaining is science for me, but it also needs an interesting storyline. I feel like most of Expanse's cool storyline has yet to be told to me. I think they want us to learn more naturally about the backstory of the characters, and I will give them a few eps to do it, like I had to in Sense8, but if it is not grabbing me by ep 4, I think that would be it for me.

I am not one of those...."too much drama, I abhor it" folks either, I just found myself left very much out in the dark in much of this first episode, with a bang in space thrown in for shock and awwwwwwwww... (pun intended). This episode felt very disjointed too. Just as one part of the story was starting to flow, it jumped to another, again much as Sense8 did in first eps, and it ruined both storylines for me.

Now, I do love Sense8 now, but their first eps really did kinda suck not having seen any of the rest of the show, but I grew to love it. Ironically if I were to go back and watch Sense8 again (which I did) I really enjoyed first eps much more. I am thinking perhaps Expanse can be the same way. Still, there is a limit of how much time before you give up. I hope next 3 eps can get me to the point where I need to get to, so far, mainly, I just don't give a rats ass about any of the characters, and for me, if I ultimately don't care about any of them, I don't care about the show. I can watch Neil Degrasse if I just want cool techno talk and nifty scientific gadgets and theories. A show needs more, so I hope Expanse can bring me this, but this ep was really lacking in it, and I watched it twice now.

 

[Jim of WVa]

I watch a show if it entertains me. Part of entertaining is science for me, but it also needs an interesting storyline. I feel like most of Expanse's cool storyline has yet to be told to me. I think they want us to learn more naturally about the backstory of the characters, and I will give them a few eps to do it, like I had to in Sense8, but if it is not grabbing me by ep 4, I think that would be it for me.

I am not one of those...."too much drama, I abhor it" folks either, I just found myself let very much out in the dark in much of this first episode, with a bang in space thrown in for shock and awwwwwwwww... (pun intended). This episode felt very disjointed too. Just as one part of the story was starting to flow, it jumped to another, again much as Sense8 did in first eps, and it ruined both storylines for me.

Now, I do love Sense8 now, but their first eps really did kinda suck not having seen any of the rest of the show, but I grew to love it. Ironically if I were to go back and watch Sense8 again (which I did) I really enjoyed first eps much more. I am thinking perhaps Expanse can be the same way. Still, there is a limit of how much time before you give up. I hope next 3 eps can get me to the point where I need to get to, so far, mainly, I just don't give a rats ass about any of the characters, and for me, if I ultimately don't care about any of them, I don't care about the show. I can watch Neil Degrasse if I just want cool techno talk and nifty scientific gadgets and theories. A show needs more, so I hope Expanse can bring me this, but this ep was really lacking in it, and I watched it twice now.

Yes, newer shows are not cramming all of the backstory in the pilot episode like the old shows used to. Just so long as a majority of the backstory comes in the first few shows, then I will be happy.

 

[Joelist]

I would think the proper standard for backstory reveal is to always reveal at least enough to put character actions into context. Otherwise viewers are left unable to follow the show and tune out.

 

[Quetesh]

Yes, newer shows are not cramming all of the backstory in the pilot episode like the old shows used to. Just so long as a majority of the backstory comes in the first few shows, then I will be happy.

Yes, they all want to be LOSTish, but Lost had one story with backstories weaved in and some newer shows miss the mark by keeping us too much out of the loop for a future big reveal and/or jump around too much with storylines not connected yet. I think Dark Matter did a much better job of it and it's first eps still made sense enough for me to care about characters.

 

[Quetesh]

I would think the proper standard for backstory reveal is to always reveal at least enough to put character actions into context. Otherwise viewers are left unable to follow the show and tune out.

Yes, this is my point exactly. I feel they missed this mark. They can possibly bounce back if they fix this. Humans had a problem with this but to a lesser extent and by 3rd show I was hooked. I also cared for some characters on Humans in first ep since it did not jump around as much.

 

[ecgordon]

If they use the pattern from the books you might be disappointed. After four novels and four short stories, they've given backstories for just two of the characters, only one of which was in the pilot, the other won't show up for several more episodes. If you recall, the captain of the Canterbury said, "Everyone on the Cant is hiding from something," but we still don't know how or why Holden, Naomi or Alex ended up there.

On the other hand, the plot and action should make up for that lack, at least if the writers do a good job.

 

[YJ02]

I watch a show if it entertains me. Part of entertaining is science for me, but it also needs an interesting storyline. I feel like most of Expanse's cool storyline has yet to be told to me. I think they want us to learn more naturally about the backstory of the characters, and I will give them a few eps to do it, like I had to in Sense8, but if it is not grabbing me by ep 4, I think that would be it for me.

I am not one of those...."too much drama, I abhor it" folks either, I just found myself left very much out in the dark in much of this first episode, with a bang in space thrown in for shock and awwwwwwwww... (pun intended). This episode felt very disjointed too. Just as one part of the story was starting to flow, it jumped to another, again much as Sense8 did in first eps, and it ruined both storylines for me.

Now, I do love Sense8 now, but their first eps really did kinda suck not having seen any of the rest of the show, but I grew to love it. Ironically if I were to go back and watch Sense8 again (which I did) I really enjoyed first eps much more. I am thinking perhaps Expanse can be the same way. Still, there is a limit of how much time before you give up. I hope next 3 eps can get me to the point where I need to get to, so far, mainly, I just don't give a rats ass about any of the characters, and for me, if I ultimately don't care about any of them, I don't care about the show. I can watch Neil Degrasse if I just want cool techno talk and nifty scientific gadgets and theories. A show needs more, so I hope Expanse can bring me this, but this ep was really lacking in it, and I watched it twice now.

If you watched it on SYFY site, did you see at the top where it has a "read the prequel" link?

the whole book is there-or seems so.

I am thinking that many TPTBS ar moving to a all tech used format for delivering the full experience

DEFIANCE did this with having so much of the needed backstory on a online site

TWD does it -just a little-with its webisodes/ during commercial time mini eps

Thats ok with me, so long as just watching it on TV is sufficient enough for coherence

 

[Quetesh]

If you watched it on SYFY site, did you see at the top where it has a "read the prequel" link?

the whole book is there-or seems so.

I am thinking that many TPTBS ar moving to a all tech used format for delivering the full experience

DEFIANCE did this with having so much of the needed backstory on a online site

TWD does it -just a little-with its webisodes/ during commercial time mini eps

Thats ok with me, so long as just watching it on TV is sufficient enough for coherence

I did not watch on Syfy site. The VPN I would need to do that makes buffering horrendous. I also don't want to have to do homework before I watch a show. If I want to read, I read. If I want to watch a TV show, it should be able to stand on its own. This first ep did not do that for me.

 

[YJ02]

I did not watch on Syfy site. The VPN I would need to do that makes buffering horrendous. I also don't want to have to do homework before I watch a show. If I want to read, I read. If I want to watch a TV show, it should be able to stand on its own. This first ep did not do that for me.

totally agree-have it all on screen

other info is cool, but should not be necessary to understanding the show

just saying it seems to be a developing trend--an attempt to merge entertainment platforms within a storyline

((Are they going to "air" ep 1 on tv prior to ep 2-the first scheduled ep to "air"?))

imagine a show where one ep you see on tv, the next-on internet only and the next still-on it's facebook page?

i say "bullshit" but I'd bet there are a lot of millennials out there who'd say "freaking awesome!"

--------------
oh and syfy's buffering sucks here as well-i am sure not as bad though

 

[ecgordon]

The prequel short story on Syfy's site is called "Drive." It is set about 150 years before the main action in the first novel and the first episode of the show. It tells the story of Solomon Epstein, the developer of the fusion engines that made the colonization of the solar system possible. It's okay as a stand-alone story, but it is not essential to read it before watching the show.

They will air the pilot on Dec. 14, and the second episode on the 15th, then others will air on Tuesdays at 10pm Eastern. This pre-release of the pilot was just to get exposure with both fans and reviewers.

 

[YJ02]

The prequel short story on Syfy's site is called "Drive." It is set about 150 years before the main action in the first novel and the first episode of the show. It tells the story of Solomon Epstein, the developer of the fusion engines that made the colonization of the solar system possible. It's okay as a stand-alone story, but it is not essential to read it before watching the show.

They will air the pilot on Dec. 14, and the second episode on the 15th, then others will air on Tuesdays at 10pm Eastern. This pre-release of the pilot was just to get exposure with both fans and reviewers.

yes-but on the SYFY "player" it says "watch ep 2 on Dec 15th". no mention of when ep 1 "really" airs

I agree on the prequel reading NOT being needed (in any show-no webisodes, background info, bio's ,etc) for the understanding of the show

It is just that it SEEMS that there is a slight stir of a movement to make a new "viewing experience" out of multi platform/media methods

Did you see the link to the "vr app" on the top of the player? Is that what it sounds like-yet another 'experience platform' that could or could not have some bit of plot detail not revealed in the traditional manner (for future series')

 

[shavedape]

The prequel short story on Syfy's site is called "Drive." It is set about 150 years before the main action in the first novel and the first episode of the show. It tells the story of Solomon Epstein, the developer of the fusion engines that made the colonization of the solar system possible. It's okay as a stand-alone story, but it is not essential to read it before watching the show.

Do they explain how artificial gravity was invented? Just curious.