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Naldoman's Replies
It's nice that they mention many of these concerns, and do attempt to show some consequences of messing up - so that it's clear that getting from here to there isn't "easy".
But often they let it all fall to the wayside and plot overrules everything. Asteroids are ALWAYS right where they need to be to make pit stops or intercept missiles or whatever - they seem to ignore that planets and asteroids MOVE and what's close last month isn't close this month.
Any long story takes a while to fill in the gaps. I would say that this show is very slow in filling in the gaps, and also is very reluctant to fill in those gaps. You may be frustrated to find that things are not explained to your satisfaction even in the second season.
I just realized that they foreshadowed the season finale in the Italy wedding episode.
The personal and relationship issues of this show are no different than any other generation. The scenes where they text/conversation simply would have been phone conversations 20+ years ago.
I liked the first season, but the second is awesome. I didn't remember S1 being in widescreen format, but I noticed it right away in Season 2. I think it gives a dramatic weight to what's going on - makes each episode feel more like a Woody Allen movie. The directing is amazing...I love how they take time to let emotions of the characters sink in -- like the lonely cab ride home, the art park sequence where the long shot shows that they are the only people in the world - they are living in a private space.
I like how they get around and they're not confined to just a few apartment and studio sets. The whole series just has a big feel to it. Sometimes Aziz's corny singing and mugging bug me, but overall he's good.
Season 3 the aliens will have even more magic powers. I gotta say the only character I've liked so far is Miller. The rest I don't care if they get spaced any day of the week. The series has not really "grabbed" me - but I like that it's watchable and not god-awful like most of the stuff from SyFy the last 10 years.
I have much the same opinion for Dark Matter, Kill Joys, and Z-Nation, except that I like the characters much more on those other shows.
Yes - but I had the feeling there was some sort of pre-game communication between contestants and producers to find the best matches to run in the show.
The worst starts ever was when they had 12 sets, and the last people to finish the first task NEVER got to leave the USA and join the race. That really sucked.
I think this is just another case of where what WE see on the screen doesn't quite match "the story" as described by characters. Also, the visual effects staff may not have been told that the soldiers should appear to be very close to the domes. TV/Movie worlds just don't operate like real life, leaving us screaming again and again. Maybe it's time for an unrealistic car chase...?
That escape concerned me a bit as there would be a difficulty in perception of what is "safe" to do. I'm glad they mentioned the issues of balance, finding the horizon, feeling vulnerable under the sky, etc. On Mars a person could jump down 15ft. without harm, but on Earth, you could easily break a leg. I thought they handled it okay.
Bobby on Earth was in the preview for next week. Obviously she didn't get back on the shuttle, she went for a swim.
They would use their laser cutters to bisect "4 Corners" 2 more times, to make it "8 corners" and look like a Sicilian pizza. Fiends!!!!!
Resting Bitch Face ( it's a thing ); except she's never at rest.
...as opposed to sending snail mail?
Radio is real-time, too. It's just not INSTANT across the vast distances between planets.
The first few episodes made this point clear - they probably think they don't need to repeat it.
Of course, casting could have made a startling difference, but they didn't go to that extent, unfortunately.
Confuse, Obfuscate, then Reveal = Dramatic Series Gameplan
In a good story, we get answers to these questions that are consistent with the Universe and character traits shown previously.
In a lousy story, we get crappy answers, inconsistent History, Characters, and then more questions that lead nowhere.
In a passable story we get some of both. I'd rate The Expanse as passable, thus far. Frankly, I'm not vested in any character enough to care why they are vag or butt humping each other.
I thought the History tale of the "magic" drive was annoying. Sure...another physics-defying story element. Why not? Magic aliens popping up near and far. They have already crossed a threshold of BS...at this point the only satisfactory conclusion is for Earth to become lifeless, Mars, without power, and the Belters praying for magic alien intervention to save them.
Galactica (2003) did the same thing - took a great premise first season and then muddied it up until it was a befuddled worthless mess.
Sure, I'll keep watching, because I like to see spaceships explode on TV.
The "problem" is the excessive grunting of "We are Martian (space) Marines!" which has been cornball in cinema since the movie "Aliens" (1986), ramped up in "Starship Troopers" (1997), "Avatar" (2009), ...and here we go...sigh...again...
There was a show called Defying Gravity (2009) that you'd probably enjoy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1319690/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_38
It was about an international team of astronauts making a long-term voyage around the sun and planned to do fly-bys of the major planets. Some degree of cheeseball romance that's a little too-inbred ( soap opera ), but as the mission unfolds it holds interest - due to the presence of something alien stowed onboard. Unfortunately cancelled after 13 eps when it was picking up steam.
I would also recommend Space:Above and Beyond (1995). It only lasted one season, and the first few episodes are really weak, but it grew very strong characters before the unfortunate series finale.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112173/?ref_=nv_sr_1
~ As far as live-action shows, you will find nothing else that's really similar to The Expanse. Many, many, terrible movies with similar elements, and a few badly-written and short-lived TV shows that did not live up to promises. (Terra Nova, Earth2, et.al.)
~ You would have to turn to ANIME to get a well-written character-driven space adventure. There are tons of them.
My biggest issue is not how fast the aliens can make the asteroid travel. Already it came from beyond Mars orbit to Earth proximity in mere hours. It's ludicrous to think that ships from Ganymede could catch up and nudge it out of orbit in a breezy afternoon. Saturn is 80 light-minutes away from the sun. Since WHEN do these human ships move at even a quarter the speed of light? THAT IS WHAT BOTHERS ME.
Every ship action in this series seems to be determined by plot convenience over series consistency.
Okay - I guess I was wrong, and Eros hit Venus instead of Earth. WTF? This show fiddles with ships and speeds every episode with no continuity at all. It takes a ship months to get to the construction base near Saturn, but when they need to bump an asteroid, it's an afternoon trip with no need to pack a lunch. In the space of one episode Eros goes from leaping a few hundred meters to leaping at the very least 30 million miles. Well, heck, if you can leap that far, why bother hitting a planet at all? Why not just angle out of the elliptic and be gone from our solar system altogether? R.I.P. in your cold blue sleep.