The Expanse season 2 episode discussion (spoilers as it airs)

[Sam_Stone]

@Kinthalis

Couple of niggles though:

• Not enough of reaction to aliens I thought. That’s some fucking huge news.

Good point. It did seem to get hand-waved away a bit too easily.

Also, I kind of agreed with the scientist fellow. Not with his methods, but yeah it does look like something has designs on our solar system. We need to find out what those designs are somehow.

Well, there’s a big difference between, “Let’s try and understand what’s going on”, and “Hey, let’s infect thousands of people with this virus that the aliens were obviously trying to infect us with, just to see what happens!”

I mean, the scientist says that it appears that the proto-molecule was sent here by aliens with the specific purpose of finding life and mutating it into something - something that we have no clue about. You would think the very first rule of studying this would be, “Make sure it doesn’t mutate anything!”. Because that would be bad.

And assuming that Eros was completely isolated and therefore would be a ‘safe’ experiment was also daft. What if the mutations make infected people decide to take a ship and head for Earth to spread it there? What if the mutated molecules can survive vacuum and just blow themselves off Eros like spores, to eventually land on earth and every other planet? If you don’t know even roughly what that molecule is and what it will do, you don’t do something incredibly stupid like that. You keep it highly contained and study it very, very carefully.

[TroutMan]

@Kinthalis

on what day do the new episodes actually air?

Episodes are broadcast on Wednesday night and generally available to stream the next day.

[scabpicker]

@Kinthalis

Couple of niggles though:

• Not enough of reaction to aliens I thought. That’s some fucking huge news.

I generally agree, but it has been a big few weeks for them. Plus, it’s not like they have any proof it’s intelligent alien life.

@Kinthalis

• Why was the ship designated a stealth ship? The crew didn’t seem to have any problem spotting it. I guess it’s it’s radar profile that’s stealthed? Not visible in long range? But if that’s the case how did they know the ship was at the station?

Well, you can plainly see current stealth aircraft, they’re not cloaked. So it’s hard to spot at a distance, but not impossible to see once you know where it’s at. In this case, it was hanging around something they could image visually, and it was nearby, so they noticed it. It was still difficult to spot when they were attacking the station, and it was aware of them before they were aware of it.

@Kinthalis

Also, I kind of agreed with the scientist fellow. Not with his methods, but yeah it does look like something has designs on our solar system. We need to find out what those designs are somehow.

That was the hardest part of this for me to swallow. If it ended up in Saturn’s gravity well, then they either missed or it was a wild shot that accidentally ended up there. That it would be unintentional, not from anywhere and still catastrophic seems as likely a hypothesis as it being a weapon from an alien civilization.

[MHaas]

@Kinthalis

• Why was the ship designated a stealth ship? The crew didn’t seem to have any problem spotting it. I guess it’s it’s radar profile that’s stealthed? Not visible in long range? But if that’s the case how did they know the ship was at the station?

Book explanation:

Stealth ships in the books are only only stealthy when they are sitting dark. They’re designed to absorb radar energy and radiate as little heat and ‘radio’/EM as possible. Once they start moving engine radiation becomes detectable, once they start targeting their targeting lasers are detectable. This is evidenced in season 1 in the Donager battle. The Donager could see the stealth ships that destroyed it just fine as they were burning towards it. When the Roci crew finds the Anubis a couple episodes later though, they don’t see it until they’re right on top of it because it’s sitting dark on an asteroid. Naomi even comments that she’s ‘pouring radar into it and the Roci doesn’t see a thing’.

As far as how they knew it would be at that station, I thought they made mention of tracking it based on transmissions it made as they were both fleeing Eros in the season 1 finale.

[Kinthalis]

@MHaas

Book explanation:

Stealth ships in the books are only only stealthy when they are sitting dark. They’re designed to absorb radar energy and radiate as little heat and ‘radio’/EM as possible. Once they start moving engine radiation becomes detectable, once they start targeting their targeting lasers are detectable. This is evidenced in season 1 in the Donager battle. The Donager could see the stealth ships that destroyed it just fine as they were burning towards it. When the Roci crew finds the Anubis a couple episodes later though, they don’t see it until they’re right on top of it because it’s sitting dark on an asteroid. Naomi even comments that she’s ‘pouring radar into it and the Roci doesn’t see a thing’.

As far as how they knew it would be at that station, I thought they made mention of tracking it based on transmissions it made as they were both fleeing Eros in the season 1 finale.

Interesting, makes since. Though I thought that’s how they tracked the station, not the stealth ship. Also not explained is - these things were brand new, right? How did they have enough info to create a simulation for battle training?

Nitpicking here for sure, but it’s fun to do that too

[MHaas]

@Kinthalis

Interesting, makes since. Though I thought that’s how they tracked the station, not the stealth ship.

You’re right on this. Maybe they just expected it to be there based on the transmissions? Not sure…

Also not explained is - these things were brand new, right? How did they have enough info to create a simulation for battle training?

The only thing i have here is that in season 1 Fred Johnson orders the Navou’s sensors to be pointed at the Donager battle. Perhaps they gathered enough data on tactics and capabilites to build a simulation.

Nitpicking here for sure, but it’s fun to do that too

Agree…

[MeanJoe]

Good episode last night. I think they could have done a better job explaining the “static” coming from Eros. It was a bit more clear what it was and more chilling as explained/described in the books. Considering “Static” was the episode title, they didn’t really present it in a significant way IMHO.

MeanJoe

[ISiddiqui]

I did like that they let Miller explain himself at the end. Showing that what he did was necessary, before he made too much sense.

[zwede]

@Sam_Stone

And assuming that Eros was completely isolated and therefore would be a ‘safe’ experiment was also daft. What if the mutations make infected people decide to take a ship and head for Earth to spread it there?

That’s why they dosed all the people on Eros with enough gamma radiation that they’d all be dead within hours. The protomolecule just needs biomass, doesn’t have to be alive.

Side note: Audio was much better this episode

[by-tor]

I got a Matrix 3 vibe during the techno dance scene. Other than that it was a good, if slower episode.

[alphaboi867]

How does Martian Marines training in full G workout? :dubious: I mean I get it must involve space stations spun up to provide 1G, but in the Belt .33G is standard and Belters can barely survive on Earth outside of special tanks. Martian gravity is only about .4G so physiological Martians shouldn’t be much different than Belters. Even with training & powered armor I doubt they’d be much of a match in ground combat with Earth Marines (who likely also have powered armor). Also I wasn’t expecting them to blow up Deimos; I thought they were just bombing an outpost on it. :eek: The Martian government is showing amazing restraint given the circumstances.

[zwede]

There are drugs that hold off the low-G effects. But they are expensive and many belters take low quality versions or skip them all together. Those are the ones that can not survive on earth and look really skinny.

The marines would have access to the high quality stuff and so be able to stand 1G.

[Dr.Strangelove]

@alphaboi867

How does Martian Marines training in full G workout?

The ships accelerate at one gee, and they spend long periods of time at that acceleration.

The Belters get ~1/3 gee at most. That’s if you live in the nicer area of Ceres–close to the surface. But if you live closer to the core, or on one of the lesser rocks, or on one of the crappier ships that can’t sustain that acceleration, then you make do with less.

[scabpicker]

@zwede

Side note: Audio was much better this episode

It was, but I still rewound (heh, archaic, but convenient) to catch a few things I missed, mostly due to accents. I’m pretty good at getting past them, but the variety in this show can be daunting. I don’t want them to stop at all, it gives a depth to the show, but I still find myself rewinding to catch stuff

Speaking of accents, private Travis (the Martian transplant who is supposed to be originally from Texas) sounds accurate to contemporary accents. His “whaddayoucallme?” was perfect. Almost every utterance from him has the drawl and mush mouth that I associate with my home state. I imagine he could pronounce my two-syllable name as a single syllable just like my mother did. The actor, Mpho Koaho, is from fucking Toronto, and is probably an accent genius.

Alex, who is supposed to speak with an exaggerated Texas accent due to being from the Mariner Valley, sounds like he’s from New Orleans, to me. I only looked it up because I wondered if he was supposed to be from Louisiana. It’s not exactly exaggerated, but it’s close geographically, I guess. It’s got a drawl to it, but the vowels are, for lack of a better word, wrong. Ehh, it’s been transplanted to Mars. I’ll live.

Plus, I hope the Mariner Valley’s lasagna isn’t inspired by what you’re likely to be offered in some historical Texas settings as lasagna. You can get good homemade lasagna here, but the experience in my childhood was informed by Better Homes and Gardens. The internet has thankfully killed that excuse.
It was a nice, chilling opening sequence, down to the prognostications of how the opening actions might play out by various parties.

The more I experience Amos’ character, the more I like and understand him. He may see the world in more simplistic terms than I do, but he has an understanding of how the world works. All of the characters in this story have depth, but he seems to be the one who’s realism is done surprisingly well. I’ve known people who within an hour of knowing them, you get the sense that “This person has killed people and saw it as part of the job to be done. So, on some level, that’s never actually off the table”, no matter how smart and well-reasoned they are. Amos rings very true to that.

Really, the show is so well written, that I will read the books afterward. But I don’t want to spoil the story, even if they do deviate significantly.

[Horatius]

@scabpicker

Alex, who is supposed to speak with an exaggerated Texas accent due to being from the Mariner Valley, sounds like he’s from New Orleans, to me. I only looked it up because I wondered if he was supposed to be from Louisiana. It’s not exactly exaggerated, but it’s close geographically, I guess. It’s got a drawl to it, but the vowels are, for lack of a better word, wrong. Ehh, it’s been transplanted to Mars. I’ll live.

From the books, I always got the impression that the “Martian Drawl” was more of an affectation than a real accent, something they put on to tweak the Earthers. Kind of like Canadians doing a Bob&Doug McKenzie bit. So it makes sense that it isn’t actually a real accent so much as a bad fake accent.

The more I experience Amos’ character, the more I like and understand him. He may see the world in more simplistic terms than I do, but he has an understanding of how the world works. All of the characters in this story have depth, but he seems to be the one who’s realism is done surprisingly well.

Yeah, he’s really starting to shine in this season. Last year he was pretty much a cipher, but now he’s getting more to do, and the actor’s work is making that even better. I liked the little touches like when he was drinking with Miller - that full-eye squint after taking a shot sort of conveys the feeling that Miller isn’t drinking the Good Stuff.

[lazybratsche]

After the last episode, I’ve got to walk back my complaint about the Roci being unreasonably effective in combat. Alex clearly knows that they were stupid lucky, even with the element of surprise, and should have been blown to pieces by the stealth warship. But he’s not happy with that, and is continually reviewing recordings of the battle, and repeating simulations.

I’ll take that as a reasonable transition from “transport pilot with a long but unremarkable career” to “bestest pilot EVAR!!1!”

[lazybratsche]

@Horatius

From the books, I always got the impression that the “Martian Drawl” was more of an affectation than a real accent, something they put on to tweak the Earthers. Kind of like Canadians doing a Bob&Doug McKenzie bit. So it makes sense that it isn’t actually a real accent so much as a bad fake accent.

My impression was that the accent may have started as an affectation, but after a few generations of the Wild West mythos getting baked into the culture, and more than a few Texan immigrants, it’s as “real” an accent as any other. Just one that happens to sound more like a bad impression of Spaghetti Westerns.

[MeanJoe]

@zwede

That’s why they dosed all the people on Eros with enough gamma radiation that they’d all be dead within hours. The protomolecule just needs biomass, doesn’t have to be alive.

True but the radiation is a catalyst to the protomolecule. It is why it massed on the reactor of the martial ship in Season 1. When the reactor was off, it was sitting fairly dormant but once it was turned on it became very active again. It is also why Julie Mao was smashing all the various lights/monitors in her room on Eros, to try and slow down or prevent the reaction from spreading.

MeanJoe

[alphaboi867]

What exactly is Chrisjen Avasarala’s role in the UN government? I know she’s the “Assistant Undersecretary of Executive Administration” and immediate boss is, logically enough, the “Undersecretary of Executive Administration”. So is she basically the Secretary-General’s deputy chief of staff, or the 2nd or 3rd highest official if the government? One would think there would be a Secretary rank in between Secretary-General and Undersecretary (& presumable other departments besides Executive Administration). It sure seems like her and Sadavir are in charge of homeworld security and/or the military.

[scabpicker]

Best line in the series so far, possibly the best line in Sci-Fi:

“Man, the Mormons are gonna be pissed.”