Highest Recommendation: The Expanse
It is no secret that I am a massive fan of television and cinema. These days, sad to say, it is almost impossible to find a new movie or series that is well written. My husband and I constantly lament this tragedy since we have a tradition of watching TV together every night. After the disgraceful fiasco that was the final seasons of Game of Thrones, we despaired of ever finding a decent series to follow. Indeed, we have veered to older shows which may be cheesy and cinematically dated, but aren’t pushing a political agenda, penned by lousy writers, and starring terrible actors. So intense was our despair and confidence in being disappointed, when we decided to give the critically acclaimed and high viewer rated The Expanse a try, we didn’t trust it not to eventually disappoint.
The Expanse is awesome!
The TV series is based on a series of books by James S. A. Corey, a pen name for fantasy author Daniel Abraham and writer Ty Franck. Now, I got about a third of the way through the first book and decided not to read further because I wanted to enjoy the TV series in full first. What I read was fantastic, absolutely top-notch writing, so I have no doubt all the novels are superb. I will read them eventually.
Season 1 debuted in 2015, the first three seasons on the SyFy channel. I have no idea what happened, but Amazon Prime Video took over production for seasons 4 and 5. The reportedly final season, #6, is in the final stages of production now. I say “reportedly” as this has not been confirmed and there are rumors the series will continue. Amazon has not revealed a release date for season 6, however the previous two seasons aired in December so speculation is for a December 2021 release.
We have watched all 5 seasons and it is simply astounding. Honestly, I personally didn’t think I’d ever love a Sci-Fi TV show more than Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Enterprise. The Expanse blows them both out of the water. Seriously.
But no need to take my word for it. Below is a video from my personal favorite movie reviewer, The Critical Drinker. As an aside, if interested in movie reviews and pop culture news in general, I highly recommend The Drinker. He is very funny, for one thing, but his commentary is always insightful and comprehensive. WARNING: He is Scottish and the “Drinker” part of his moniker isn’t a complete joke, so there are the occasional swear words and such. His “The Drinker Recommends” review video for The Expanse says it far better than I ever could.
On the off chance The Drinker and I haven’t convinced you~
- Rotten Tomatoes critic and viewer rating 93%
- IMDB rating 8.5
- Nominated (so far) for 22 major Sci-Fi awards; winner of 2017 Hugo Award and three others
- Amazon rating 4.5-5 for each season, over 5000 reviews for season 5
Synopsis of Season One~
Hundreds of years in the future, things are different than what we are used to after humans have colonized the solar system and Mars has become an independent military power. Rising tensions between Earth and Mars have put them on the brink of war. Against this backdrop, a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain come together to investigate the case of a missing young woman. The investigation leads them on a race across the solar system that could expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.
The cast is enormous, so the following list is of the major players. It is a shame to truncate since every last actor is phenomenal.
Steven Strait as Jim Holden
Dominique Tipper as Naomi Nagata
Wes Chatham as Amos Burton
Cas Anvar as Alex Kamal
Thomas Jane as Detective Joe Miller
Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala
Frankie Adams as Bobbie Draper
Cara Gee as Camina Drummer
David Strathairn as Commander Klaes Ashford
Florence Faivre as Julie Mao
Keon Alexander as Marco Inaros
Francois Chau as Jules-Pierre Mao
Above are the three of the official poster releases as the seasons have progressed. Below are links for further reading. I have watched The Expanse on Amazon Prime, but I believe it is also airing on Netflix.
Have you watched The Expanse? I’d love to hear your thoughts and share in the enthusiasm over this incredible series.
The Expanse on IMDB
The Expanse on Wikipedia
The Expanse on Amazon Prime
The Expanse Fandom Wiki
I love The Expanse! Unfortunately, I discovered Pride and Prejudice variations while I was still watching season 5 and haven’t gone back to it. I’m even more addicted to JAFF than I was to The Expanse! By the way, I’m very glad you are blogging again…just in time for me to discover you and your works.
Addicted to Austen fan-fic is good! LOL! So lovely to welcome you to the fold, Heather. I hope you love my novels!
We are anxiously waiting for the next season of The Expanse, and I hope the rumors of it not being the last are true. Of course, some series do need to stop while they are ahead but considering there are so many books and this one is done extraordinarily well, I have faith it could continue past 6 seasons. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for viewing suggestion. My husband and I are finding enjoyable viewing increasing difficult to find.
It is really slim pickings out there to be sure. Let me know how you like The Expanse!
Battlestar Galatica is my favorite sci-fi show so you grabbed my attention when you mentioned that this show is even better. Definitely one I’ll need to check out. Thanks for the recommendation.
I still love Battlestar Galactica, don’t get me wrong! An awesome show. In fact, after The Expanse, hubby and I watched BG. He had never seen the series, and it had been several years since I’d watched it all. After The Expanse, it paled a bit (well, more than a bit to be honest) although I still love it. But there is just something so special about The Expanse, a world building that is unique. Be sure to come back and let me know what you think, Darcy!