The Expanse: Series Review

The Expanse is a sci-fi TV series that used to air on the ScyFy channel before it started being streamed on Amazon Prime. A total of 5 seasons and with the 6^th season likely to be the last of the series, it is one of those shows that I would recommend watching. Adapted from the series of science fiction novels James S. A. Corey, the joint pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the show has its highs in terms of the story and complexity. Its lows exist in the latest season which I didn’t find too appealing and have some issues with as well as a few characters I was unhappy with. The show has some scope to improve before its final hurrah but overall, the show is watchable and fun to enjoy.

Story

The story begins in a futuristic world wherein Earth has expanded its reach and humans have colonised the Moon as well as Mars and are further expanding into other planets and moons. Mars has its own independent government and military while Earth is under the control of the United Nations (UN). Now let’s be honest here, the United Nations is an organization that can never become its own government for multiple reasons. I highly doubt any single country or even continent would like to come under the rule of one organization even if it could be democratically achieved. But for the sake of the story, let’s just go along with it. The humans who are born in the Asteroid Belt or the Moons of the outer planets are referred to as Belters who work for corporations mining asteroids, farming on the moons and supplying Earth as well as Mars with resources that are obtained by the Belters.

The Belters who have been mistreated and oppressed by Earth and Mars have organized their own faction called the Outer Planet Alliance (OPA) that are constantly resisting the powers of both the planets. The series begins with a set of events wherein the Belters have not been getting their fair ration of vital supplies. This in turn triggers a set of events that has further boiled the tensions between Earth and Mars as well as the Belters joining the OPA who have their own agendas and plans for both planets.

It’s the complexity of the story that makes the show unique compared to other sci-fi series that are currently available such as The 100, Lost in Space, Altered Carbon and Westworld among others. While the pilot episode of the show isn’t far too appealing and could mislead the viewers into a false sense of disbelief, the rest of show does pick up the pace and builds it towards the story it intended to present. Among all the sci-fi shows I have watched so far, The Expanse is the only show that I felt captures the complexity of human lives aptly. Whether it is about how wars begin on misleading information, how alien technology or materials could still be used for upmanship instead of destroying it and despite an impending apocalypse or ill fate, divisions amongst humans can still exist. The show captures these intricacies beautifully and balances the narrative along with character build-up at least in the first 4 seasons of the show.

 Cinematography and editing

The first season of the show has a dark and gritty look to it, but the CGI is still on point and doesn’t feel out of place throughout all the seasons. The sci-fi element of the show is brought out well and it also uplifts the story telling as well as the acting. But from the second season onwards, the show does shift to more brighter colours and I believe the gritty look of the show wouldn’t have appealed to a lot of audiences. But then again, it does not hamper the narrative in any manner. I also appreciate the sound as well as video editing that was done as it brought an in-depth look into the characters as well as help build the suspense for the show.

In Season 4, the show also transitions from cinematic look to full screen from time to time but it doesn't feel jarring to the eyes at any point of time like how Michael Bay did for the last Transformer movie. There is a reason for doing that and if noticed more observantly, viewers will also understand the reasoning behind it.

Appealing points

The appeal of the show for many viewers as well as me would lie in the story that The Expanse presents. As mentioned earlier, it’s the complexity of human lives that is captured in the show. Although it has been adapted from a novel series, most shows aren’t able to easily present it on-screen. One of my favourite characters of the show was Amos Burton who is portrayed by Wes Chatham. His backstory and past were one of the stories I was looking forward to the most, but it wasn’t shown clearly or justified in the 5^th season. His presence on-screen also overshadowed the main protagonists like James Holden (portrayed by Steven Strait), Naomi Nagata (portrayed by Dominique Tipper) and Alex Kamal (portrayed by Cas Anvar). One of the best seasons of the show would be the 3^rd season wherein the build-up from the first 2 seasons on what the story could lead to finally shows its true colours in the 3^rd season. I also felt that the first 3 seasons were the only ones where there is no mid-season lull present in it and every episode is providing better view and clarity on the direction of the next.

 

Unappealing

This is where I would give a spoiler alert warning as there are certain aspects of the show that I didn’t like including the story for the 5^th season. If you would like to have a spoiler free viewing experience, you could skip reading this and go watch the show for yourself as well (smiles and chuckles).

 

As mentioned earlier, the pilot episode of the show can very easily mislead viewers and audiences about the show and drive away potential fans. Besides this, I didn’t like how Detective Josephus Miller (portrayed by Thomas Jane) was written. Although I understood how Jane wanted to act, it made me want to skip some of the scenes where his character was present. But his role was written better and acted out well in the follow-up seasons of the show. Even James Holden’s character wasn’t entertaining enough in the first few episodes but evolves as the show progresses.

Amos Burton’s backstory and past was something I was looking forward to and felt that it would be shown in the 5^th season. But, as the show progressed, I was disappointed that the creators didn’t give a complete clarity on his past and left it vague for the viewers. The reason for my disappointment also stems from the fact that the main protagonists like James Holden, Naomi Nagata and Alex Kamal were given a fair presentation about their past. There were even supporting characters whose backstories were made abundantly clear. It is thereby surprising for me that the writers decided to keep Amos’ past a mystery.

Another factor of the show that I didn’t like were the mid-season lulls in the story that I could clearly see in the 4^th and 5^th season of the show. Although the writers wanted to show some character growth and different aspects of the protagonists, it didn’t contribute much towards the progress of the story (which was achieved in the first 3 seasons) and I felt that is where the show lost its balance as well.

For the 5^th season, one of the main storylines which was continued from the 4^th season’s ending was how a rogue faction of the OPA launches asteroids towards Earth using stolen technology from Mars. While I understand that this was adapted from the novels, there is an inherent flaw to this logic.

Firstly, it was clearly portrayed since the first season of the show that Earth and Mars had stealth technology as well as the counter measures in place against such advancements. It was even made abundantly clear in the first 2 seasons of the show that there were rogue elements from Earth who were trying to start a war between both planets. In my opinion, any military for that matter would have considered an outcome wherein stealth technology could be used to launch asteroids by either planet. In fact, both planets had defense systems against asteroids in place thus the build-up for the 5^th season and the story that plays out post that would be moot. The creators should have at least explained why the stealth tech could have possibly overcome these defense measures instead of taking the conventional route that no one would have thought about such a scenario.

 

What can be done better?

One of the things that the showrunners need to avoid is the misbalance between character growth and progress of the story narrative. They would need to revisit the first 3 seasons of the show wherein this was achieved. It would help in keeping the pace of the story going smoothly as I felt in the 4^th and 5^th season, the narrative almost came to a grinding halt just to build the characters. While the 6^th season would likely be the final one for the show, the creators need to introspect on what factors about the book could be avoided or changed given by how the 5^th season’s storyline has turned out. But at the same time, I would recommend the creators of the show to not skip the novel narrative and they should leave an open-ended finale for the show as the final book is the original novel series is yet to be published. After all, we know how the Game of Thrones final season turned out to be.