Why should I watch The Expanse?

[Boaz]

Let me state up front that my intent is not to troll fans of The Expanse.

I watched the first episode and was not intrigued. I've heard people praise it, but I did not find the story nor the characters engaging. I want a character to surprise me, or to leap off the screen, or be mesmerising, sympathetic, or irresistable. I want a story to grab my attention because of a situation with which I can resonate or because of a mystery that is compelling. I am not the most intellectual guy around, so I can be captured by pretty lights, pretty people, and great action, byut I did not see any.

I am looking for a new sci-fi series. Why should I give The Expanse a chance?

 

[Elckerlyc]

Other: Does a series need to be any of the above? A series produced by SyFy isn't likely to have a budget to hire great producers or actors. But is was fun and not cringing bad.

I want a story to grab my attention because of a situation with which I can resonate or because of a mystery that is compelling.

Don't we all? The chances that you'll getting that are slim. But The Expanse was realistic and pretty unique in its setting and approach. A slow starter, granted, it took me a few episodes to get into it. But it deserved it.
So, adjust your expectations and just enjoy

 

[psikeyhackr]

The protomolecule will get you if you don't.

 

[Boaz]

I'm guessing that saying more of the protomolecule will spoil the story.

 

[psikeyhackr]

I'm guessing that saying more of the protomolecule will spoil the story.

SHShshhh!

I have endangered myself by mentioning the word.

 

[Boaz]

The first rule of protomolecule is that you don't talk about protomolecule.

 

[psikeyhackr]

To be more serious I started reading the first book long before the TV series was made. I was tempted to throw the book against the wall when it got to the Vomit Zombies. The ability of the asteroid to just jump out of the way to avoid collision with the interstellar ship with no explanation of how it was even detected smacks of fantasy to me. I stopped after the first book.

But I think the show is better than the books. The visual texture and interplanetary politics is better than the silly protomolecule.

 

[Swank]

There has never been a more realistic SF TV show. It definitely gets better as it goes, and the effects improve as well. The acting is reasonably solid.

It is much, much, much better than any Trek or the usual bunch of TV jetsom.

 

[Parson]

I think The Expanse was a sleeper. I felt it didn't really start finding its legs until season 2. It is by no means a perfect series. But compared to your other choices, SF or not, it is one of the better and more memorable TV series I've ever watched. Some of the later special effects are absolutely first rate. I don't think you'll find it a waste of time, or at least not for the most part.

 

[elvet]

I came to it as the book reader, which I consider equal in merit to the TV adaptation. Both are the same story, but told differently. The books (and novellas) are way better if you are a detail person, and I would recommend reading them first if you intend to. But the TV series brings everything to life, in a condensed format. Slow to start, it picks up as you begin to understand what is going on at the same time the main characters do. I loved it.

 

[Phyrebrat]

It’s phenomenally good. A slow, complex burn.

 

[Harpo]

I’ve never watched it and probably never will, because it (apparently) copied much of my epic space opera novel that I spent several years on.
The Expanse did it before me though, so all I can do is grumble and pretend I don’t have 300k+ words sitting on a shelf

 

[Brian G Turner]

We watched the first 4 episodes as a family then gave up. I watched episode 5 by myself and was hooked.

There are a lot of good and bad things about the show. The leading characters can be quite weak, and sometimes the plot seems made up on the spot. However, it is an immersive and consistent world, characterization improves later on, and some of the moments in it can be totally unexpected. An epic setting and with production values that are second to none.

So, I would suggest it's worth continuing on just to see how it goes.

Actually, I would have made the same comments about GOT actually - the first couple of episodes were hideously slow.

 

[Droflet]

As most people said it's a slow burn but it's great right to the last episode. Highly recommended.

 

[Vertigo]

To be more serious I started reading the first book long before the TV series was made. I was tempted to throw the book against the wall when it got to the Vomit Zombies. The ability of the asteroid to just jump out of the way to avoid collision with the interstellar ship with no explanation of how it was even detected smacks of fantasy to me. I stopped after the first book.

But I think the show is better than the books. The visual texture and interplanetary politics is better than the silly protomolecule.

I'm with you; I read the first book and only managed to not throw it against the wall because it was on my eReader . My biggest problem was the cliched/plagiarised main characters all of whom I could identify the film(s)/book(s) that they had been lifted from. Starting with the main character who was Jimmy Doyle, played by Gene Hackman, in the French connection, I mean he even had the hat for goodness sake. So he was the hard done by, washed out cop on drugs, then there was the hard done by, washed out space force officer who is really a square-jawed hero, the female engineer who can fix anything etc. etc. I watched enough of the series to realise it was still full of the same cliched characters and quickly gave up.

So I didn't vote as there's no "don't do it" option!

 

[psikeyhackr]

Moid in England

 

[Boaz]

Actually, I would have made the same comments about GOT actually - the first couple of episodes were hideously slow.

Agreed.

 

[Boaz]

Okay.....

I decided to rewatch the first episode and give it a second chance.

And it turns out that I did not see the first episode last week.... I watched episode nine of the first season....

So it was no wonder that it did not make much sense. There was no story beginning, nor explanation of the setting, nor character introduction... I thought it was the worst starting point for anything I'd ever seen.

I do not know how I started with episode nine... but you can now understand my disbelief at how people liked this show.

 

[Swank]

Okay.....

I decided to rewatch the first episode and give it a second chance.

And it turns out that I did not see the first episode last week.... I watched episode nine of the first season....

So it was no wonder that it did not make much sense. There was no story beginning, nor explanation of the setting, nor character introduction... I thought it was the worst starting point for anything I'd ever seen.

I do not know how I started with episode nine... but you can now understand my disbelief at how people liked this show.

Hey, it happens. The first time I tried reading The Hobbit it didn't make sense, but I had the book upside down.

 

[therapist]

I think The Expanse was a sleeper. I felt it didn't really start finding its legs until season 2. It is by no means a perfect series. But compared to your other choices, SF or not, it is one of the better and more memorable TV series I've ever watched. Some of the later special effects are absolutely first rate. I don't think you'll find it a waste of time, or at least not for the most part.

I agree with this. I found my interesting waned alot with Miller's detective plot in S1. And feel like the show really picks up after that. Also the ratings seem to agree with this as S1 was the lowest ranked season.