[Khellendros]

So I've just binge-watched the first series of this on Netflix. I enjoyed it, though it seemed to have all sorts of eye-rolling little and large plot holes (how did the woman cop know Miller was being shoved in an airlock and about to be killed when she rescued him? No way Johnson would actually let Holden and co go off on their own. Miller makes some huge leaps of logic (correct guesses, but how he got there...) to link the Anubis, Scopuli, and other things that have been going on in space. People also seem to run into each other a lot in the vastness of space, which seems quite implausible. And how do they travel so fast from one place to another?).

Other criticisms:

The woman who plays Naomi is a terrible actor. I don't know if it's made worse to me by her British accent (being a fellow Brit), but her lines always sound so poorly delivered to me.

Earth and Mars are really two-dimensional cookie cutter Cold War stereotypes at the moment. Earth is America, looking great on the outside, all corruption and wastefulness on the inside. Mars is the USSR, all military-focused and we're all in it together as one working for the nation, no individuality allowed.


However, as I said, I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to watching season 2. I really liked the slowly-unravelling mystery and how they took their time doling out little pieces of info - the audience basically finding out things at the same time as the characters actually did. I thought Thomas Jane was great. And I thought the culture, society and lifestyles and hardships of the Belters were really well-realised.

[Abyss]

Watched the S2 premiere, all good.

SPOILERS

TV SHOW AND ALL BOOKS

SPOILERS


Liked Miller's interactions with the crew, they were actually a bit better developped than in the books. His bonding with Naomi over both being belters, clashing with Amos over Amos' taking out his friend last season and working that out, even the sort of quiet bonding with Holden over the shared trauma from Eros. Made the shooting at the end that much more abrupt even if it was expected to a book reader.

Jane is utterly nailing the Miller role. if they do follow the books and let him die at the end of the Eros plot, i hope they bring him back sooner.

The CGI on the fight at the end was a bit cluttered but still awesome, and Alex losing his shit in training and then sorting it out to take out the gun and the stealth ship was AWESOME.

Need more Bobbi. Need so much more Bobbi shooting all the things. I do like how they intro'd her with her squad here tho'... gives what's likely to happen to them that much more impact.

Avasarala... still awesome. Am enjoying the game she is playing with the UN, even if she isn't cursing nearly as much.



Meanwhile, io9 had some S2ep5 spoilers....

Quote

New pictures and a very brief official synopsis for episode five of the second season, "Home," have been released:
The Rocinate chases an asteroid as it hurtles toward Earth.

...thats kind of fucked if they're jumping to that particular plot point from NEMESIS so quickly and then trowing the Roci into the mix.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Yep, the back-to-back episodes were a solid start to the season. I'm planning to get into episode 3 soon (maybe on the plane this weekend).

[amphibian]

Cas Anvar is pretty much Alex as described in the books.

Dom Tipper looks like Naomi, although 5'5" to book Naomi's 6'6". It's incredibly hard to get actresses that tall though. Actors too. I think the Expanse is literally creating a mini run on the market for tall and skinny extras right now.

I don't think you're basing your criticisms in the realm of what's possible on TV.

[amphibian]

 Briar King, on 10 February 2017 - 02:46 AM, said:

Alex is a red head in bks correct?

Nah, Bangladeshi/East Indian type with balding black hair.

Arjun Gupta from Magicians probably fits that image more, but Cas is fine.

[Abyss]

I think Alex is pretty much perfect. I like that they skipped the balding/fat/older of the book character in favor of someone who looks 'normal', doesn't scream 'heroic' but nails it when he does something awesome like showing up in a Mars uniform, hauling Amos through gunfire or piloting the fuck out of the Roci and screaming at the top of his lungs the whole time (aside: just watched the end of the premiere again... damn that was good).


Amos is growing on me... the actor was less physically intimidating than i saw the character but he's got the look and attitude and... tone.. of 'i am seconds away from ugly moist violence at any time'.

I vacillate on Naomi but that has nothing to do with the actress' height... the book character has these moments where she quietly dominates the scene and i haven't seen that from the actress yet. Her look works tho'. I still wish they had just stayed away from the Belters-are-tall-and-skinny thing since there was no way they would cast that. Precisely none of the raiding party in the premiere fit the description.

I'm fine with Holden. He doesn't blow me away but he works in the part.

Miller is perfectly cast.

Ava even moreso.

[D'rek]

 Abyss, on 09 February 2017 - 04:12 PM, said:

Meanwhile, io9 had some S2ep5 spoilers....

Quote

New pictures and a very brief official synopsis for episode five of the second season, "Home," have been released:

Spoiler

The Rocinate chases an asteroid as it hurtles toward Earth.

...thats kind of fucked if they're jumping to that particular plot point from NEMESIS so quickly and then trowing the Roci into the mix.

They're not jumping to Nemesis. That happens in Book 1, as well.

[Abyss]

 D, on 10 February 2017 - 04:20 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 09 February 2017 - 04:12 PM, said:

Meanwhile, io9 had some S2ep5 spoilers....

Quote

New pictures and a very brief official synopsis for episode five of the second season, "Home," have been released:

Spoiler

The Rocinate chases an asteroid as it hurtles toward Earth.

...thats kind of fucked if they're jumping to that particular plot point from NEMESIS so quickly and then trowing the Roci into the mix.

They're not jumping to Nemesis. That happens in Book 1, as well.

Do you mean Eros, or am i forgetting something?

[D'rek]

 Abyss, on 10 February 2017 - 04:24 PM, said:

 D, on 10 February 2017 - 04:20 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 09 February 2017 - 04:12 PM, said:

Meanwhile, io9 had some S2ep5 spoilers....

Quote

New pictures and a very brief official synopsis for episode five of the second season, "Home," have been released:

Spoiler

The Rocinate chases an asteroid as it hurtles toward Earth.

...thats kind of fucked if they're jumping to that particular plot point from NEMESIS so quickly and then trowing the Roci into the mix.

They're not jumping to Nemesis. That happens in Book 1, as well.

Do you mean Eros, or am i forgetting something?

Spoiler

Yes, Eros. It dodges the Nauvoo and then heads towards Earth before they convince it to divert to Venus.

[Abyss]

 D, on 10 February 2017 - 05:06 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 10 February 2017 - 04:24 PM, said:

 D, on 10 February 2017 - 04:20 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 09 February 2017 - 04:12 PM, said:

Meanwhile, io9 had some S2ep5 spoilers....

Quote

New pictures and a very brief official synopsis for episode five of the second season, "Home," have been released:

Spoiler

The Rocinate chases an asteroid as it hurtles toward Earth.

...thats kind of fucked if they're jumping to that particular plot point from NEMESIS so quickly and then trowing the Roci into the mix.

They're not jumping to Nemesis. That happens in Book 1, as well.

Do you mean Eros, or am i forgetting something?

Spoiler

Yes, Eros. It dodges the Nauvoo and then heads towards Earth before they convince it to divert to Venus.

Makes sense. My brain jumped ahead a few books to a different event.

[Abyss]

 Briar King, on 26 February 2017 - 12:52 AM, said:

Well last weeks ep didn't disappoint me one fucking bit! I believe that took us to the end of bk1?

I think so but there are a few loose ends we may yet see. The way they meshed books 1 and 2 they can really play around with how the next few events play out.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

My guess is they'll shown up again at the end of the season.

[Abyss]

Agreed. Done right it will be a great surprise for non reader viewers.
I expect will get some heavy Bobbie and the Martian marines action next, culminating with everyone but Bobbie dead at the finale.

[Abyss]

Yeah they didn't even wait for the finale. Nice!

[Abyss]

Third season of tv series confirmed, no surprise.

[WinterPhoenix]

Only started watching this a couple of weeks ago, already caught up, soooooo good. I had heard of the books before somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm thinking of getting them after I've read Bakker's Aspect-Emperor, wich I will be starting soon. At least I know (or think I know I guess) from the show that there'll be some characters I actually like, unlike the Prince of Nothing where I hate everybody lol

[Werthead]

 Briar King, on 20 April 2017 - 04:50 AM, said:

Nice finale tonight. Whole season was better then 1st and 1st was fantastic. I forgot to save and replay for credits. Was one of the guys studying Venus the Co Host of Mythbusters? Idk his name it's either Adam or Jaime.

Yup. He filmed a whole preview behind-the-scenes thing before Season 2 aired and filmed a cameo.

[Cause]

Great Show but I need the book readers to explain this to me. The universe in some ways seems odd to me.

We have Belters living in space for so long that they can never return to earth! The gravity will literally crush them! They don't grow right in zero G. Yet I now learn that over 51% of earth is jobless and living on basic assistance (which is more like being homeless than living in cheap government housing like I thought). Would't it make more sense to train more miners or something of the sort and do rotations with people working in space for 6 months to say even 3 years in space and then rotating home for a rest to reaclimate to 1 G?

How can so many people be jobless? I dont want to sound like Hitler here but if over half the population is essentially doomed to be forever jobless and wretchedly poor surely its time for some serious birth control policies or something?

Than there is a character on Mars whose parents have 40 kids? Or is that supposed to be a joke? Why can Mars which has people living in domes afford to breed like that? What does Mars do with unproductive people on their planet? People must be born mentally defective or disabled in some way to make them unproductive?

The belt corporations are in actuality owned by earth or Mars citizens right? Why are the belter workers not citizens of either mars or earth then? Why is the belt treated like a third government when its just a bunch of companies in space? Tycho station is not a OPA owned station but owned by an earth company?

How can the UN have the bigger fleet and be taxing the company that built the stealth ships but not be able to afford a stealth programme of their own?

[Abyss]

 Cause, on 26 April 2017 - 01:07 PM, said:

Great Show but I need the book readers to explain this to me. The universe in some ways seems odd to me.

We have Belters living in space for so long that they can never return to earth! The gravity will literally crush them! They don't grow right in zero G. Yet I now learn that over 51% of earth is jobless and living on basic assistance (which is more like being homeless than living in cheap government housing like I thought). Would't it make more sense to train more miners or something of the sort and do rotations with people working in space for 6 months to say even 3 years in space and then rotating home for a rest to reaclimate to 1 G?

You're trying to apply logic and reasoning to an SF series...? Hee...

You're missing a part of the history.... a large work force moved out to the Belt and by choice or circumstance. never left. Entire generations were born in the Belt and never lived in gravity. They couldn't now.
What you're suggesting would be to force a few billion people to learn the necessary skills to go work complicated jobs in an insanely hostile environment. Not gonna work.

Quote

How can so many people be jobless? I dont want to sound like Hitler here but if over half the population is essentially doomed to be forever jobless and wretchedly poor surely its time for some serious birth control policies or something?

The UN is not a totalitarian dictatorship.

Quote

Than there is a character on Mars whose parents have 40 kids? Or is that supposed to be a joke? Why can Mars which has people living in domes afford to breed like that? What does Mars do with unproductive people on their planet? People must be born mentally defective or disabled in some way to make them unproductive?

That was a joke. Martians tend to be very nationalistic and pro-Mars and the terraforming efforts. Don't know what they do with unproductive people, don't think it's ever been addressed, likely because it isn't much of a thing.

Quote

The belt corporations are in actuality owned by earth or Mars citizens right? Why are the belter workers not citizens of either mars or earth then? Why is the belt treated like a third government when its just a bunch of companies in space? Tycho station is not a OPA owned station but owned by an earth company?

Corporations are corporations... where the shareholders are located is secondary to where the corp wants to be.
Belters don't want to be citizens of Earth or Mars. In their own way they are as nationalistic as Martians, without all the cool tech and dim lighting.
You can have Belters working for a corp or living on a corp or Earth or Mars owned station who have no other connection to the corp or planet.

Quote

How can the UN have the bigger fleet and be taxing the company that built the stealth ships but not be able to afford a stealth programme of their own?

tax breaks.

[D'rek]

"Basic" on Earth isn't supposed to be like being homeless (maybe the show didn't depict this very well), it is supposed to be like you say - cheap government-provided minimalist housing and a universal income that is enough to live on but not afford much in the way of luxuries. People can still work small, simple jobs (e.g. barrista) to supplement their income, and can apply for higher education and higher-level jobs if they want to, but there is competition to get into these limited spaces.

Why are so many people unable to get jobs? https://www.youtube....h?v=7Pq-S557XQU

There's no incentive for the government or companies to send untrained/uneducated Earthers out to the Belt and back as basic labour, because there's no shortage of Belters (and Earthers/Martians working in the Belt) who will do that same labour.

As for Earth/Mars citizenship in the Belt, imagine someone taking a boat to the Palmyra Atoll and having having a baby there today. Technically they should be a US citizen, right? But do you think the US would recognize it? I imagine the first kids born on Ganymede, Ceres, etc were similar, and even more legally complicated due to the whole "space belongs to all mankind" laws we have on the books today. By the time the legal aspects were even halfway figured out and any laws changed, there was already a generation of "Outies" that had spent their entire lives on a ship, moon or asteroid without ever going to Earth or Mars, and they themselves didn't want to be considered a citizen of Earth or Mars (because then they'd have to pay taxes on this piece of Ganymede they think they "own").