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Author Topic: "The Expanse" by Amazon [Formerly by Syfy]  (Read 94358 times)
Khaldun
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Reply #35 on: January 08, 2016, 05:47:05 AM

That's true enough. I think it's mostly the level of contrivance required to keep the central characters involved in every major event in the solar system starts to become strained.
Tebonas
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Reply #36 on: January 08, 2016, 05:56:15 AM

I didn't read the books but I'm willing to endure a bit of Forest Gumping for the sake of a good story. I like the TV series, its the best thing that came out of SyFy since BSG, and calling them out on plot contrivances seems a bit petty to me.
kaid
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Reply #37 on: January 08, 2016, 06:30:59 AM

Also the show is in the build up to the crap storm really errupting phase as well. I am sure a lot of people who never read the book are looking at the miller stuff and wondering what the hell does this have to do with anything.
Ghambit
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Reply #38 on: January 08, 2016, 07:17:39 AM

Godammit fine.  I will get into this. (on the premise it's not completely GoT-plodding)  swamp poop

"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom."  -Samwise
apocrypha
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Reply #39 on: January 08, 2016, 07:24:55 AM

I am sure a lot of people who never read the book are looking at the miller stuff and wondering what the hell does this have to do with anything.

That's exactly the position I am in. Starting to see some connections now though.

"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
kaid
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Reply #40 on: January 08, 2016, 09:57:57 AM

I am sure a lot of people who never read the book are looking at the miller stuff and wondering what the hell does this have to do with anything.

That's exactly the position I am in. Starting to see some connections now though.

At the rate they are going it should start getting clearer and clearer in the next episode or two and then shit gets really real. And while it seems like the whole julie mao thing is a weird side story it really is not.
apocrypha
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Reply #41 on: January 08, 2016, 01:44:18 PM

I totally get that, this clearly isn't the kind of show where they show you things to pad out the 45 minutes. That awareness alone makes me try and pay attention to everything.

"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
Hayduke
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Reply #42 on: January 08, 2016, 05:47:55 PM

There's way less moving parts than GoT. But there's a lot to set up the world I guess and the episodes are kind of short compared to GoT. And since it's basic cable they can't just shoot porn scenes and have a monologue in the foreground as an info dump. It shouldn't sprawl into a gigantic ensemble cast like GoT where you go chapters or episodes without seeing your favorite character. The main cast is probably going to remain a lot smaller than BSG. Things will clear up.
Slayerik
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Reply #43 on: January 15, 2016, 09:09:06 AM

Not much more to say than I'm liking this. Go Syfy channel!

"I have more qualifications than Jesus and earn more than this whole board put together.  My ego is huge and my modesty non-existant." -Ironwood
Tannhauser
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Reply #44 on: January 15, 2016, 02:27:44 PM

Didn't care for the torture scenes.  Boring.  Enjoyed the Rocinate crew and Fred Johnson. God I love that name for some reason. 
Shannow
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Reply #45 on: January 15, 2016, 03:13:12 PM

Personally I like his other name

Someone liked something? Who the fuzzy fuck was this heretic? You don't come to this website and enjoy something. Fuck that. ~ The Walrus
Venkman
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Reply #46 on: January 15, 2016, 06:22:13 PM

I think I'm now finally beginning to understand what it felt like for GoT book fans (which I was) when people who never read the books started watching the HBO series (which I've never seen).

Like Hayduke said, this doesn't have nearly as much going on as GoT did. The story is way more linear with clear resolution points at the end of each book, and there's never more than four long concurrent storylines going on, which all converge by each book's end.
 
It's space opera in that Corey spends a lot of time setting the stage. But it's not so opera that each character is a whole series unto themselves like GoT became in later books.

I don't agree with Khaldun though: this never really gets overplotted outsiide of a half of one of the books.

I want this to be successful mostly because as cool as the first season could be when it ends (assuming it aligns with the end of the first book), the end of Cibola Burn is even better (though that was the book which included the overplotted portion).
jgsugden
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Reply #47 on: January 31, 2016, 02:18:52 PM

Binged the first 8 over the past 2 days. I think it works better as a binge. I won't be calling it Got in space, but I am enjoying it.  Filters and sound are bad, some of the acting is not up to snuff, and some of the science seems odd ... but there is a lot I am really enjoying.  I have a feeling I'll have forgotten everything important when season 2 breaks. A lot to hold onto for 9 months.

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
Margalis
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Reply #48 on: January 31, 2016, 08:02:06 PM

So far only two things really rub me the wrong way:

Holden's acting and character - just super bland. It's like he's playing "generic guy" character. Some interesting things have happened to him but none of that really comes through in the script or the performance. I mean, him reporting the derelict got all his friends killed, you figure that would make some impact on his character beyond just casually mentioning it once or twice.

The idea that hidden codes would be printed on a fucking scroll in a safe - just lol.

I really love Jane in this - his accent, his beaten-down body language, etc.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
MahrinSkel
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When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was bullshit!


Reply #49 on: January 31, 2016, 08:14:58 PM

The codes thing isn't so weird, something similar is used for nuclear codes to this day (there is a safe containing pieces of paper with the challenge authenticators on them). Hardcopy can't be hacked, there's an assumption that the safe won't be accessible to unfriendlies long enough to non-destructively open it.

As for Holden, he had the same problem in the book. It gets worse.

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Slayerik
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Reply #50 on: February 01, 2016, 09:28:10 AM

I really don't like the UN Deputy ambassador or whatever lady. Her voice just pisses me off.

"I have more qualifications than Jesus and earn more than this whole board put together.  My ego is huge and my modesty non-existant." -Ironwood
jgsugden
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Reply #51 on: February 01, 2016, 09:50:56 AM

I really don't like the UN Deputy ambassador or whatever lady. Her voice just pisses me off.
She gave the best performance of the series in one of the last two episodes -

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
Raph
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WWW
Reply #52 on: February 01, 2016, 04:40:01 PM

She's an excellent actress... first popped up on my radar in 24 I think?

Get used to her or give up, her character is pivotal to the entire series... in some ways in the real heroine.
Margalis
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Reply #53 on: February 01, 2016, 07:03:46 PM

I really don't like the UN Deputy ambassador or whatever lady. Her voice just pisses me off.

It feels like she's supposed to be a morally grey character in terms of actions (maybe even generally good but with a bunch of realpolitik), but the way she is played makes it seem like we're supposed to dislike her. The accent is certainly part of that - she comes across as very upper-caste.

In the scene where she was sharing details about her son's death it felt like manipulation to me. Not sure if that is intentional or not. I don't mind the performance at all though. Though I also wouldn't mind if her character is eventually shot into space.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
apocrypha
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Reply #54 on: February 01, 2016, 10:35:49 PM

Her voice is certainly very deep. In my head she's called Bari White. Is that racist? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
apocrypha
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Reply #55 on: February 04, 2016, 12:55:20 AM

Watched episode 9 last night. Shit got crazy fast.

Also the telescope in the dead ambassador's office was pointed the wrong way round.  awesome, for real

"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
Shannow
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Reply #56 on: February 04, 2016, 04:22:02 AM

I like her, if nothing else for the gorgeous threads they put her in each episode (she must be the costume designer's fantasy). Holden is usually pretty annoying but I enjoyed his interaction with Jane in the finale.

Season 2 is confirmed but looks like we'll have to wait a year to see it. Bummer. Might have to try 12 monkeys.

Someone liked something? Who the fuzzy fuck was this heretic? You don't come to this website and enjoy something. Fuck that. ~ The Walrus
kaid
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Reply #57 on: February 04, 2016, 11:51:53 AM

If you have not seen it deffinately give 12 monkies a shot. I was pretty dubious when I heard about it but the production values are really high and it wound up being way more interesting than I had any right to expect it to be.
Margalis
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Reply #58 on: February 05, 2016, 02:12:03 AM

I wasn't a big fan of the finale. The first 20 minutes or so, showing old events from a new perspective, didn't really introduce new information or advance the plot, and was more "hmm our plot is pretty complicated let's do an extended recap." (To be fair which one is the Anubis and which one the Scopuli I did find pretty confusing)

The wandering around in the tunnels felt bit uncharacteristically cheap, and the whole thing just felt dragged out. It was enough content for 1.5 episodes, stretched into 2.

That said still looking forward to a season 2.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
Viin
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Reply #59 on: February 05, 2016, 09:27:10 AM

I didn't mind the finale. When fast-forwarding through commercials it was pretty much exactly an hour long, so only a little longer than the traditional 40mins.

I still get confused about what ship they are on/talking about, even though I try to pay attention to that since it's somewhat important. Reading the books doesn't seem to help with that when watching the show, though I generally know where to *expect* people to be in various time frames.

- Viin
Phildo
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Reply #60 on: February 05, 2016, 09:39:25 AM

Was anyone else bothered by how expansive the Roci's deck was?  Spaced is supposed to be at a premium in spaceships and it feels wasteful, especially on a military ship.
Mandella
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Reply #61 on: February 05, 2016, 12:34:02 PM

Was anyone else bothered by how expansive the Roci's deck was?  Spaced is supposed to be at a premium in spaceships and it feels wasteful, especially on a military ship.

Not really, as there is plenty of space in space, so to speak.

The reason we see cramped spaceships in modern times is due to the horrible thrust to fuel to mass ratio we're trapped in with chemical rockets. It costs so much fuel to move a mass, then you have to have even more fuel to move the mass of the fuel you added to move the original mass -- it hits a hard limit pretty soon. The ships of The Expanse don't seem to have that problem, as they have found some way to get enough energy out of the tube to keep constant g thrusting going for days at a time. Cuts solar system travel time down to weeks instead of years and plus means you don't have to care as much about each and every little gram. Also means you can pretend to have gravity for the trip.

But while we're talking about how things appear-- Have we maybe finally crossed the threshold to where enough of the mainstream audience doesn't expect to see WWII style combat in space that we can finally move ahead to what things might actually look like? I mean, I love me some Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, but each one of those and more supposedly set-in-space shows feed right into the common visualization of WWII era fighter planes and battleships duking it out on and over the high seas. Maybe, just maybe enough people have been raised watching real live people operate real live spaceships in space (I count robots probes in that too) that we can expect at least better settings in future set-in-space shows, if not better stories.

Anyhoo. Loved the show, can't wait for next season.
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Reply #62 on: February 05, 2016, 01:40:19 PM

The space battles in early B5 were some of the best for that shit. The fighters in particular carried out newtonian physics and on-point turns really awesomely. It wasn't until later seasons when it became closer to swoopy WW2 fighting but still maintained a lot of the earlier concepts.

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Mandella
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Reply #63 on: February 05, 2016, 06:59:33 PM

The space battles in early B5 were some of the best for that shit. The fighters in particular carried out newtonian physics and on-point turns really awesomely. It wasn't until later seasons when it became closer to swoopy WW2 fighting but still maintained a lot of the earlier concepts.

I'm going to lose a lot of nerd cred for this, but I never watched Babylon 5. No good reason, just "never got around to it."

Looks like I've been missing out.
Margalis
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Reply #64 on: February 05, 2016, 07:22:14 PM

Only the first 2 seasons are worth watching.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
MahrinSkel
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When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was bullshit!


Reply #65 on: February 05, 2016, 08:58:59 PM

The books go into a bit more detail on the Epstein drive, although it's still a bit of a handwaving Macguffin: It's an extremely efficient form of fusion drive, developed as an advance on an ordinary fusion torch drive by a man who wanted to reach another star (so he needed more efficiency in order to get up to relativistic speeds). But he left behind the plans, and it became the standard space drive  (this had various economic effects, for example the Canterbury was a first-generation slowboat colony ship that was refitted and used for an ice-hauler).

A lot of what has dictated the tight confines of our spaceships has also been the problem of re-entry, the more surface area that has to be protected from the heat of re-entry aero-braking the higher the risk (the shuttle might seem like an exception...but is it really?). Ships that can bring themselves to an orbital halt and ease into the atmosphere (or that will never enter atmosphere at all) don't have that concern. Cube-square law, if you double the radius of a solid you square the amount of surface but cube the amount of volume, so if you're not trimming down to the absolute minimum, you may as well give yourself room to move around.

--Dave

EDIT: The Rocinante/Tachi is also a gunship with a monster drive for its size (the book notes that it is capable of acclerations that would kill the crew even with drugs and high-tech acceleration couches). It was designed for a much larger crew (20 plus a contingent of Marines), so with 4 people they have a little spare space.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2016, 09:02:28 PM by MahrinSkel »

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apocrypha
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Reply #66 on: February 05, 2016, 10:50:32 PM

Another point about the size of the Rocinante - we make space vehicles small and light today because we have to launch them from a planet. Getting out of gravity wells requires a LOT of delta v. Every kilogram you have to push into orbit needs at least 10 times it's weight in fuel. If you're building ships in space that aren't intended to ever land on anything bigger than small moons and asteroids then you can be a lot more liberal with the mass.

"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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Reply #67 on: February 06, 2016, 08:02:54 PM

It was designed for a much larger crew (20 plus a contingent of Marines), so with 4 people they have a little spare space.

This is the best point, I think.  I had forgotten about the originally intended crew compliment.  Otherwise, despite not needing to worry about atmospheric flight, it's still a combat ship in a universe where they are lobbing torpedoes at each other across vast distances, so presenting a slimmer target would seem like one of the most important things.
MahrinSkel
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When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was bullshit!


Reply #68 on: February 06, 2016, 10:16:05 PM

It was designed for a much larger crew (20 plus a contingent of Marines), so with 4 people they have a little spare space.

This is the best point, I think.  I had forgotten about the originally intended crew compliment.  Otherwise, despite not needing to worry about atmospheric flight, it's still a combat ship in a universe where they are lobbing torpedoes at each other across vast distances, so presenting a slimmer target would seem like one of the most important things.
They're lobbing *nukes* at each other across vast distances. "CQB", Close Quarters Battle where the gatlings and railguns come into play, is supposed to be an extremely rare event (the gatlings are primarily for point defense, the railguns for attacking unarmed or nearly unarmed ships that won't surrender and you don't want to nuke).

--Dave

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Reply #69 on: February 07, 2016, 02:34:19 PM

Just binged it the last two days. Liked it quite a bit and good adaptation considering its SyFy and TV.  I agree that some of the casting is off to my mind (mostly on the too young side for Holden and Amos, who in particular should be much more grizzled but I actually do like this guy's performance). Lots of other good choices though, particular Cutty from The Wire and Johnson and Jared Harris as Dawes (who knew Lane could be such a badass brute).

I must be seriously mis-remembering the book or accelerating some events from the second half that they didn't cover because

Book spoiler, don't click unless you want a major spoiler:


I think Caliban's War is actually the better book and they can do some really interesting stuff with it.  So good work SyFy building a good base to move forward.

Someone up thread mentioned that there are 4 books. There are actually 5 (6th one comes out in August). I have the newest one on my shelf but haven't cracked it yet.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

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