The Expanse - 1.01: Dulcinea

[REBerg]

1.01 Dulcinea

Impressive.

Dark Matter done right. Even reminded me a bit of Battlestar Galactica.

Exciting to see the Human Race had colonized the solar system all the way out to Ceres. Disappointing to see that greed and war had not been left behind on Earth, but what's a plot without conflict?

The characters are great -- hard-nosed detective with a heart, reluctant ship's executive officer, nasty UN deputy undersecretary. The special effects are believable, from tiny details like how birds might fly on a low-gravity dwarf planet to exterior scenes in deep space. The plot, with its world-building and political intrigue, makes me look forward to learning more in the next episode.

Spoiler

I was shocked when the Canterbury was nuked at the end of this episode. Characters who had just begun to be fleshed out, including "acting XO" Holden's love interest, were all wiped out.

Syfy has pulled out all the stops in its online supplements to The Expanse, including this page:

The Expanse

It's almost as impressive as the premiere.

 

[Cli-Fi]

I just saw the pilot episode. Very intriguing pilot. It kept my attention and of course I loved the political undertones. The rather lack of technology left me with some questions which they attempted to explain in the arm scene. Although I will never understand this obsession with Anti-Grav sex. Seems to be portrayed in a lot of things lately.

The thing that worked for me was the diverse cast and how the show has already dealt with biology. Since this is supposed to take place in the 23rd century I was happy to see more cast members that weren't white than were. I assume the Ceres residents are pale due to their harsh tunnel-like living conditions not necessarily because of their Caucasian ancestors. Regarding the show's unique take on biology. I feel that it's about time a smart well written scifi show has finally attempted to discuss some of these issues like gravity and how that affects bones or lungs. I really hope to see more of this from future episodes.

Spoiler: Biology Spoilers

Two scenes that were really interesting to me:
1. The scene where the long limbed person was being tortured by breathing Earth Air by that Indian women. That's one I will remember.

2. The scene with Jonathan Banks walking around in soil in his room and drawing crazy things on the walls with the soil. Poor man seems to want to go home and to feel the sun on his face one more time!! Shows how space can really affect us, and therein lies a bunch of problems.

It's a topic that most space-operas NEVER touch, so even if The Expanse may not perfectly explain what prolonged space-living does to human bodies. It seems to address it quite often enough. We are still learning this ourselves. I suspect that if someone didn't like The Expanse they may not have been expecting such complexity from SYFY Channel. As this was the channel that gave us Sharknado...

 

[ralphkern]

Just got into this. I found the first episode quite dull. Decided to give the second a chance... and been hooked since!

 

[Brian G Turner]

I wasn't sure what to expect with this, but I've see enough people raving about it to dare to take a look.

The opening credits were very promising, not least the great soundtrack, which was very Two Steps from Hell, one of my favourite groups.

As it continued, I had little idea of what was happening. But I loved the atmosphere. The effects and worlds are immerse and really give a sense not just of a future reality, but of a real big screen production.

The limited nudity and simulated sex was a little annoying - it's not required to sell a series - but it was expected (it showed a clip in the trailer), and could have been worse. More focus on story instead, please!

The sequence at the end was thrilling - when the shuttle tried to dodge around the asteroid after the stealth attack and nuclear torpedoes launched in its direction. The outcome of that was a nice surprise.

Overall, definitely looking forward to seeing more. And the family enjoyed it, which is a definite plus.

 

[ctg]

And the family enjoyed it, which is a definite plus.

There are going to be scenes that might not be suitable for the small ones as they show blood and carnage. But if you'll watch this with older ones they might like and understand it.