# Late comer: The Expanse is the best sci-fi series ever made. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729 "2020-01-20T23:58:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/1 "2020-01-20T23:58:53Z")
Okay, I know I’m late to the party. I tried this show when it first aired and just wasn’t feeling it. A few weeks ago, I decided to give it another go. I finished the latest episode today. Man what a great show! Love the writing and the “science” in the show feels as close to realistic as I’ve ever seen. It makes me wonder how many aeronautics engineers they have consulting with them on this show. Anyway, can’t wait for season 5! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/2 "2020-01-21T01:49:26Z")
We just started watching it, on EP 4 of Season 2. I really like it, and appreciate how the author must have read a lot of Niven as a kid. I think the production values are pretty high, and the acting is B or better, but there are some serious science flaws, even as they try to be accurate. I also think that there are some plot points that never got addressed (maybe they were in the books) - e.g. - Why was the Scopuli set up as a trap, and why did the stealth ships destroy the Canterbury? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/3 "2020-01-21T02:35:25Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I really like it, and appreciate how the author must have read a lot of Niven as a kid. [The author is two guys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_S._A._Corey). > [@beowulff](#): > > there are some serious science flaws, even as they try to be accurate. Yes–let’s say the science rises to the level of three-quarter-assed instead of the normal half-assed or less for the vast majority of TV/movie SF. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/4 "2020-01-21T02:46:06Z")
I loved the first few books. Cibola Burn though is a plodding labor so far (up to chapter 40). I guess it doesn’t help that I’m audio-booking it and the guy has some kind of reading disorder and doesn’t know names. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/5 "2020-01-21T03:13:25Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I loved the first few books. Cibola Burn though is a plodding labor so far The next one is even duller IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/6 "2020-01-21T03:24:44Z")
Okay, I am hooked. Where is it showing? My Mexican Netflix doesn’t have it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/7 "2020-01-21T03:53:37Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > We just started watching it, on EP 4 of Season 2. > I really like it, and appreciate how the author must have read a lot of Niven as a kid. > I think the production values are pretty high, and the acting is B or better, but there are some serious science flaws, even as they try to be accurate. > I also think that there are some plot points that never got addressed (maybe they were in the books) - e.g. - Why was the Scopuli set up as a trap, and why did the stealth ships destroy the Canterbury? Photogen was trying to spark a war between Earth and Mars by making it look like the Martians ambushed the UN registered Canterbury. (The OPA Scopuli was Mars-built and used a Martian distress signal). This was intended to distract Mars and Earth from what Protogen were up to on Eros. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/8 "2020-01-21T04:06:59Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Okay, I am hooked. Where is it showing? My Mexican Netflix doesn’t have it. > > Thanks. Exclusively on Amazon Prime. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/9 "2020-01-21T05:31:39Z")
Thanks Grrr!. I hate that word exclusively. Especially when I am not a member. But maybe I should trade in Netflix for the Prime? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/10 "2020-01-21T14:19:20Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Okay, I am hooked. Where is it showing? My Mexican Netflix doesn’t have it Isn’t “Mexican Netflix” a sex act? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/11 "2020-01-21T14:23:15Z")
It is a great show. I would have to rank it among the best SF TV shows ever. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/12 "2020-01-21T14:27:21Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Isn’t “Mexican Netflix” a sex act? “Mexican Netflix and chili” ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/13 "2020-01-21T15:04:04Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Thanks Grrr!. > > I hate that word exclusively. Especially when I am not a member… I hear you. But in this case, the show was canceled by SyFy after season 3, and would have ended there if Amazon hadn’t stepped in and saved it. As for it being the best sci-fi TV series ever… Only if we disqualify Firefly as being space opera rather than sci-fi. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/14 "2020-01-21T15:04:41Z")
Apparently somewhere along the way, engines started making sound in space. They do in Season 4, but I thought for sure they didn’t earlier in the series. This bugs me since they used to get it right! ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/15 "2020-01-21T16:11:29Z")
OP is entirely correct. Enough said. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/16 "2020-01-21T16:17:40Z")
> [@ski](#): > > Apparently somewhere along the way, engines started making sound in space. They do in Season 4, but I thought for sure they didn’t earlier in the series. This bugs me since they used to get it right! The other thing that irritated me was how at one point (in 3rd season, I think) they started panning over the spaceship in such a way as to make it look like it’s decelerating with the thrusters pointed and firing in the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/17 "2020-01-21T17:30:27Z")
BTW, for everyone who enjoys this show- I think that the short-lived “Dark Matters” is as good or better. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/18 "2020-01-21T17:36:54Z")
Speaking of others shows that might possibly be as enjoyable, I DO NOT recommend the YouTube “ORIGIN” series. Feel free to give it a wide birth. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/19 "2020-01-21T18:09:11Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > BTW, for everyone who enjoys this show- > I think that the short-lived “Dark Matters” is as good or better. You probably don’t mean\* [Dark Matters](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2014554/)\*. [_Dark Matter_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matter_(TV_series)) ran for 3 seasons. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729/20 "2020-01-21T19:00:54Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You probably don’t mean\* [Dark Matters](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2014554/)\*. [_Dark Matter_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matter_(TV_series)) ran for 3 seasons. Yes. I could never remember if it was singular or plural. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-comer-the-expanse-is-the-best-sci-fi-series-ever-made/846729.md?page=2)