The Expanse

[SeijiSensei]

I've watched all four seasons on Amazon twice now. What really makes this show work is the writing and the excellent cast. Season five is just about done with shooting and will probably appear late this year or early next.

Spoiler:

Looks like Bobbie will be joining the Roci crew. Yes, Frankie Adams, we can see you hiding there.
Where's Holden's cup of coffee?

https://twitter.com/Breck_Eisner/sta...94756081172480

Star Trek Picard is also very much worth watching. It's far superior to Discovery. Even Michelle Yeoh can't save that show.

[thundrakkon]

Yep, Expanse has been awesome. I'm looking forward to the next season, as it seems it will be more action packed than season 4.


Also, yes, Picard has been a nice watch. The story telling is calm, and the build up is good. Discovery has nice special effects, but the characters get on my nerves at times. The story for Discovery, while entertaining, does seem to go all over the place. I'm not even sure how Michelle Yeoh will get back in "time" to star in the next Star Trek spin off series, focusing on Section 31.

[SeijiSensei]

Season Five has generally been a disappointment so far. Splitting the crew into separate stories might work better on the printed page, but it doesn't work so well on the screen. Today's episode nine was one of the better of the bunch. However if there really is only one more episode left, as in previous seasons, there will be a lot of loose ends.

I'm rather annoyed that the Ring has hardly made an appearance in this season.

[thundrakkon]

Yeah, it looks like this season is following exactly like the novel volume. Next season, the final TV season, is going to be based on the next novel, which I think serves as a conclusion to this whole war.

I thought I read somewhere years back that the Expanse actually explored beyond the Ring, meeting

Spoilers

Spoiler for possible spoilers

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. But then again, I'm beginning to feel like that was in my alternate universe, as the current series really didn't even touch much beyond the ring.


Oh, FYI, Alex (Cas Anvar), will not be in the final season due to some scandal. The producers decided not to include him in the final season due to pending allegations.

[SeijiSensei]

"sexual misconduct"

https://deadline.com/2020/06/the-exp...ns-1202971689/

He's had a very limited role this season. Whether the allegations played a role in limiting his screen time, who can say. If it did, I'd be pissed if I were Frankie Adams who plays Bobbie Draper. Collateral damage.

[Kanon]

Currently watching season 5 (on episode 8) and I like it a lot more than season 4, which was kind of a slog. That said, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn't known beforehand that season 6 will be the last one. That means the Protomolecule plot, which had been the focus of the show since, like, the beginning, will never be resolved. And that sucks.

[SeijiSensei]

I mentioned to my daughter how Alex

Spoiler:

died off-screen, and she said it looked like a late production decision.

Glad to see the Ring return to its rightful place in the story. Hope the protomolecule follows in season six.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I mentioned to my daughter how Alex

Spoiler:

died off-screen, and she said it looked like a late production decision.

Glad to see the Ring return to its rightful place in the story. Hope the protomolecule follows in season six.

Spoiler for Season 5 episode 10:

It was really obvious he was fired pretty suddenly and they had to re-shoot some scenes. Avasarala's speech about what Marco is afraid of? Yeah, Bobbie was definitely not the Martian that was supposed to be there. They could have still send off the character better by including a funeral, but that would have required more effort and time. I guess Clarissa/Peaches will be the new pilot? Loved how Amos bamboozled Holden into accepting her onboard.

I have to say I didn't see the ending coming, and it makes me really hopeful for the next season.

[AC-Phoenix]

Oh yeah... The Expanse... The thing I really liked, and then totally forgot about it when it was off Netflix :/

[SeijiSensei]

It was never on Netflix. It started on SyFy and was going to be cancelled after season two. The story I read was that Jeff Bezos is a sci-fi buff so he picked up the show for Amazon Prime where it is now.

[thundrakkon]

Quote

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

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It actually was a pretty much longer story than that. Jess Bezos is a The Expanse fan, and when Amazon originally lost out on getting the series to SyFy, Bezos was pretty upset.


SyFy decided to cancel The Expanse because it wasn't their original programming, and they only had TV rights. A good portion of fans actually watch The Expanse on streaming services like Hulu, so SyFy was not making enough money from The Expanse. After the cancellation, the producers asked Netflix to save it, and Bezos made sure his Amazon Prime Video division picked it up this time.


Which does make me wonder... Since Bezos just stepped down as CEO of Amazon, they must have known it for months now. Does The Expanse only getting one more season have any correlation with Bezos stepping down?


Edit:
As for Alex, instead of killing him off, I would have gone with the approach that he had some accident, maybe the other ship exploding, which messed up his face. Then he would have needed reconstructive face surgery and put in a new actor as Alex. It's not an easy character to replace, and that was a bit weird to not have him when Avasarala talked about how the Rocinte's crew encompasses the 3 factions of Earth, Mars, and the Belt.

[AC-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

It was never on Netflix. It started on SyFy and was going to be cancelled after season two. The story I read was that Jeff Bezos is a sci-fi buff so he picked up the show for Amazon Prime where it is now.

It very much was on Netflix... Only the first few seasons though. If you google it, you can even still get the page where you can set a reminder for when it becomes available.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I guess Clarissa/Peaches will be the new pilot?

As I recall,Clarissa's sister Julie, the one who ended up on Venus, was the ace pilot in the Mao family. I think Clarissa may have had some talent as well, but she was never acknowledged by her father.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

As I recall,Clarissa's sister Julie, the one who ended up on Venus, was the ace pilot in the Mao family. I think Clarissa may have had some talent as well, but she was never acknowledged by her father.

You remember right, but she's the only current member of the crew who can fly a ship. Of course they can always just introduce a new character.

[Kanon]

After reading the synopsis for book 7, I get why they're ending the show with season 6 (though they've stated they see it as a pause).

Spoiler for Book 7 spoilers:

There's a 28 year timeskip, which obviously causes a lot of problem for a live action series. The cast would have to spend the entire time in make-up or digitally aged, and that doesn't seem feasible. Can work for a movie, but not a TV show.

I think a good alternative would be to animate the rest. That way they can keep the cast as voice actors.

[Kanon]

The first episode is out. Given that this final season is only six episodes long, I found it extremely slow paced. Pretty much nothing happened. Who gives a shit about Filip, seriously?

[EroKing]

The crew of Rocinante looks tired as hell fighting for months. Hope they get Bobbie as a permanent member to join them sooner than later.

[SeijiSensei]

Definite decline in production values. Little on film; most on videotape.

I expected Bobbie to join the crew with Alex until they had to write Cas Anvar out of the script. It's clear her role as majordomo to Avasarola isn't working out. But with Mao on the Roci it's hard to see a role there for Bobbie as well.

Like Kanon I found this episode surprisingly slow-paced given how short this season is.

[Kanon]

Spoiler for Season 6 episode 2:

Well, Bobbie joined, but apparently not as a permanent member. Instead, it's Clarissa who became acknowledged as a member of the crew.

Given how slowly this is progressing, I'm pretty sure the protomolecule plotline will go nowhere. I'm surprised they're even trying to make it a thing at all in this season.

[SeijiSensei]

Looks like they switched back to film for this episode. Like Kanon I don't care much about Filip either. Drummer, on the other hand, .... Cara Gee appeared in a promo for this season. As a person she seemed the opposite of her on-screen persona. No accent and seemingly light-hearted and care free.