Reason to be stoked :
a. The original authors are involved heavily in the script writing and production
b. The SyFy network says they are spending more money than on anything else they have ever done
c. It’s supposed to have production values similar to the BSG mini-series
d. People have seen the pilot and say it’s awesome
The best part : unlike the BSG mini series, The Expanse is based on a series of novels that are both intelligently written and lack stupid stuff. BSG, on the other hand, ultimately had a busload of stupid things in it, and by the end it was apparent that the scriptwriters for the show never actually had a good story. They had a bunch of visual effects, a bunch of good dramatic scenes, a bunch of good characters. But, they did not have an intelligent story to tell with a beginning, middle and end. The Cylons never had a plan and were quite negligent in not having any kind of coordination between them or a backup resurrection ship, the ending to the show was pants on head retarded, and certain big shock reveals were ultimately pretty dumb.
The Expanse isn’t over but it has a solid story to tell so far. If the TV show stopped where the books currently are at, it would have been one epic tale.
I’m drawing parallels to Game of Thrones here. As a reader of the books, I knew that the show’s story was going to be awesome, and I suspected the show would be as well, so long as they…stuck to the books.
Reviving this now that the first episode is available on demand, will air on Dec. 14.
There are some changes from the books, but so far minor and consistent with the overall story. A character that doesn’t appear until the second book appears in the first episode, but she has been in the commercials so it is no surprise. Always encouraging when the authors of the source material are heavily involved in the production of the film/tv but also seem to understand the needed changes from one format to another.
And yes, the first episode at least is fantastic. My wife listened to the audiobook version of Leviathan Awakes and has not followed it up, just not her type of SF, but was distressed to find out she has to wait until Dec 15 for the next episode of the tv show.
The first episode is available at the link in charmstr’s post.
I’d give the 1st episode a “mostly excellent” rating. Great attention to detail, good cinematography, decent acting. The worst aspect of the show was the audio; people don’t seem to know how to mix so that the dialogue is discernible anymore. I hope the show is available online after 15 December.
I would agree that the biggest problem with the show is the audio, compounded by the inclusion of the belter patois. Almost impossible to make out the dialog in a few spots.
Which is a shame, because the visuals are well thought out and done with a lot of care. I am hoping the broadcast audio is better, maybe?
So… I should have asked this earlier, but I kept trying to puzzle it out: how is the 1st episode available online before the broadcast premier? Is this a new thing? Why would a network do this?
I watched the premiere episode this evening on YouTube. There were no ads.
My initial impressions are:
– I’m sorry, but this feels like a SyFy program to me (yes, I know it is); I was expecting something better and less 1990s space opera-y.
– The zero-g lovemaking scene screamed bad CGI until the actors were close-up. Weak. Honorable mention for the glaringly CGI bird…sigh.
– The audio was definitely poorly mixed, making a lot of the dialog difficult to discern. Increasing the volume didn’t help.
– The dialog itself is typical for this type of program. Do science fiction program scriptwriters all take the same course in smarmy pretentious banter? And no, throwing in some profanity every 5 minutes doesn’t make it seem any more realistic.
Overall, I give the episode a 6 out of 10, and that only because of the storyline. I didn’t hate it, but I was not blown away by it as some of you seem to have been. I will give the next episode a chance on December 15.
Yeah the CGI was especially obvious during the sex scene (& wouldn’t they need some kind of harness), but this looks really good and I can’t wait until December 15th.
Watched the first episode on youtube and it’s promising. I love the books and so far they’re sticking to the story. Naomi & Holden are well-cast. Not sure about Alex, always saw him more like Washburne (from Firefly) than a white rasta dude. And Amos is supposed to be big and bald.
Too bad Avasarala can’t use the language she does in the books. It added some flavor.