The Expanse (TV series)

The Expanse
Genre Space opera
Mystery
Science fiction
Based on The Expanse series of novels 
by James S. A. Corey
Developed by Mark Fergus
Hawk Ostby
Starring
Composer(s) Clinton Shorter
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s) Lynn Baynor
Location(s) Toronto, Canada
Running time 42–44 mins.
Production company(s)
Distributor
Release
Original network Syfy
Picture format
Audio format Stereo
Original release November 23, 2015 (2015-11-23) – present
External links
Website

The Expanse is an American space opera / mystery science fiction drama television series on Syfy, based on the series of novels by James S. A. Corey. Set in a future where humanity has colonized the Solar System, it follows United Nations under secretary Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), police detective Miller (Thomas Jane), and ship's officer Jim Holden (Steven Strait) and his crew as they unravel a conspiracy that threatens peace across the System and the survival of humanity. The series premiered on demand on November 23, 2015, and on Syfy on December 14, 2015.[1] A 13-episode second season is to air in early 2017.[2]

Plot

Two hundred years in the future, in a fully colonized Solar System, police detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane), born in the asteroid belt, is given the assignment to find a missing young woman, Julie Andromeda Mao (Florence Faivre). Meanwhile, James Holden (Steven Strait), the Executive Officer of the ice trawler Canterbury, is involved in a tragic incident that threatens to destabilize Earth, Mars and the Belt. Far away from their struggles in space, Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), a United Nations executive, works to prevent war between Earth and Mars by any means necessary. Soon, the three find out that the missing woman and the ice trawler's fate are part of a vast conspiracy that threatens all humanity.

Cast and characters

Main

* ^ Doyle was added to the main cast bill, beginning with "The Big Empty" and onwards.

Recurring

Thomas Jane Steven Strait Dominique Tipper Cas Anvar Shohreh Aghdashloo Chad Coleman Florence Faivre

Episodes

No.  Title  Directed by  Written by  Original air date  Prod.
code 		 U.S. viewers
(millions) 
1"Dulcinea"Terry McDonoughMark Fergus & Hawk OstbyDecember 14, 2015 (2015-12-14)[note 1]1030.68[8]
Holden's broadcast triggers protests on Ceres, with the OPA blaming Mars for the destruction of the Canterbury. In the course of violent riots, Miller's partner Havelock is injured and a man with the handle "Nightbandit31", with whom Mao was in contact, is killed. On Earth, Avasarala tests her theory that Mars was behind the attack by leaking to Mars information about the transfer of Martian stealth technology to the OPA. She deduces from the panicked Martian reaction that Mars was not responsible – but that somebody else wants to start a war. Aboard the Martian warship Donnager, the Canterbury's survivors are detained and questioned, with Nagata in particular being suspected of being part of an OPA sleeper cell. But then an unidentified ship flies towards the Donnager.
4"CQB"Jeff WoolnoughNaren ShankarDecember 29, 2015 (2015-12-29)[note 2]1040.63[9]
On Ceres, Miller identifies the dead "Nightbandit31" as a data broker with an implanted, encrypted memory storage. In the asteroid belt, the Donnager's pursuer reveals itself as six ships of the type that had attacked the Canterbury, and begin firing torpedoes. Unexpectedly at a technological disadvantage, the Martian ship takes heavy damage, and Shed Garvey is killed by a railgun shot. As the Donnager is being boarded, the surviving Canterbury crew are evacuated on the Martian captain's orders, narrowly escaping aboard a small corvette immediately before the Donnager self-destructs to avoid capture. Far out at Tycho Station, where a massive generation ship, the Nauvoo, is being built on behalf of the Mormon Church, station manager Fred Johnson turns the Nauvoo's sensors towards the battle.
5"Back to the Butcher"Rob LiebermanDan NowakJanuary 5, 2016 (2016-01-05)1050.63[10]
For lack of options, the Canterbury's survivors accept a proposal by OPA leader Fred Johnson to join him at Tycho Station, and they rename their salvaged ship the Rocinante. A flashback shows how Johnson became the "Butcher of Anderson Station" ten years ago: as a UN Marines colonel, he led an assault on a station occupied by protesting miners, killing all despite their attempts at surrender. On Ceres, Miller finds evidence linking Julie Mao to the OPA, who try to recruit him through their local agent Anderson Dawes. Then Miller is abducted by unknown people.
6"Rock Bottom"Rob LiebermanJason NingJanuary 12, 2016 (2016-01-12)1060.71[11]
Miller discovers revealing information on a hidden data cube, a major secret. Miller's boss proceeds to fire him from his job; Miller is now a civilian. Holden and crew arrive at Tycho Station, with Fred Johnson planning to leverage Holden's testimony for legitimacy with the UN. Holden makes an uneasy alliance, sharing everything he knows about the destruction of the Canterbury and MCRN Donnager. Johnson seems fairly convinced neither Earth nor Mars was behind the attacks. Avasarala wants a spy on Tycho Station, and once again, makes things personal in order to get her way.
7"Windmills"Bill JohnsonDaniel Abraham & Ty FranckJanuary 19, 2016 (2016-01-19)1070.50[12]
During a visit to Holden's co-op parents' house in Montana, Avasarala learns of Holden's troubled childhood and gains some insight into his recent decisions (with the windmills and the printed copy of Cervantes in that scene being yet two more of the show's nods to Don Quixote). On their way to Eros, the crew of the Rocinante only too late realize they are carrying quite a loose end (in Amos's words), and the timing turns out to be highly inconvenient when they are approached by a Martian patrol. Miller leaves Ceres and moves ahead, equipped with a new piece to the mysterious puzzle surrounding Julie Mao.
8"Salvage"Bill JohnsonRobin VeithJanuary 26, 2016 (2016-01-26)1080.72[13]
The Rocinante examines the asteroid at the coordinates given by Fred Johnson before moving to Eros to find a survivor of the Scopuli codenamed Lionel Polanski. Independently, Miller is also tracking down Polanski, identifying her as Julie Mao. Holden and his team are ambushed at the hotel where Polanski is staying by a UN black ops team (signaled by the spy Kenzo, and authorized by Errinwright), but are saved by the arriving Miller. After joining up, Holden's team and Miller go to meet Julie Mao only to find her dead.
9"Critical Mass"Terry McDonoughRobin Veith & Dan Nowak and Naren ShankarFebruary 2, 2016 (2016-02-02)1090.55[14]
The events leading up to Julie Mao's infection by the unknown biohazard on the Anubis and gruesome death in her hotel room on Eros are revealed in a flashback. Fred Johnson broadcasts evidence that the stealth ships were built on Earth. After Miller and the Rocinante crew flee the hotel, Julie's body is found and studied by Dresden, a scientist working for Julie's father Jules-Pierre Mao, who harvests her infected blood. Under the guise of a ship explosion and radiation leak, mercenaries loyal to Julie's father and Dresden place Eros into lockdown and seal the poverty stricken citizens into radiation shelters after infecting them with Julie's blood. As the Rocinante crew and Miller try to reach their ship, Miller and Holden discover the shelters' true purpose as growth accelerators for the infection and receive a lethal dose of radiation.
10"Leviathan Wakes"Terry McDonoughMark Fergus & Hawk OstbyFebruary 2, 2016 (2016-02-02)1100.55[14]
The Rocinante crew and Miller and Holden (suffering from the effects of radiation sickness) make their separate ways through the increasingly horrific situation on Eros toward the ship. They theorise that whoever is behind the stealth ships (Mao) is purposefully using the impoverished population as food for the 'Protomolecule' infection. Miller begins to see hallucinations of Julie Mao. Amos kills Miller's friend Semi after he holds Nagata at gunpoint when she refuses to launch the Rocinante without Holden. They make it to the ship and are treated for their advanced radiation sickness as the conspirators remotely activate a device that accelerates the unique Protomolecule crystals in Julie's corpse. Analysis of a liquid from her corpse shows a triple-stranded DNA with a third unknown additional chain. On Earth, Avasarala presents evidence to Errinwright that Earth did indeed manufacture the stealth ships but for a civilian corporation - he terminates her investigation while praising her good work and assuring her that his own research has shown the OPA to be the mysterious corporation. It is revealed that the UN is involved with Jules-Pierre Mao's conspiracy. Avasarala resolves to fight the corruption within her government and uncover the truth. On Eros, Kenzo, who failed to escape, finds himself trapped with a highly advanced form of the Protomolecule. Firefly-like airborne motes of light study him and mimic his form before grabbing him with a tentacle and absorbing him into the massive growth on Eros.

Notes

  1. ↑ The first episode was released online on November 23, 2015.[1]</ref>1011.19[6] The series opens with Julie Mao alone aboard a spaceship in a Scopuli suit. On the dwarf planet Ceres, police detective Miller is tasked with finding Mao and returning her to her rich parents on Luna. In New York, UN executive Chrisjen Avasarala interrogates a captured operative of the OPA, a Belter militant group, about contraband stealth technology. Underway to Ceres, the ice trawler Canterbury receives a distress signal from the freighter Scopuli, and executive officer Jim Holden is ordered to lead a rescue mission with the ship's engineer Naomi Nagata, the mechanic Amos Burton, the pilot Alex Kamal, and the medic Shed Garvey. They find the ship empty but for a distress transmitter, but as their shuttle heads back to the Canterbury, a stealthed ship destroys the ice carrier with nuclear torpedoes. 2"The Big Empty"Terry McDonoughMark Fergus & Hawk OstbyDecember 15, 20151020.85[7] On Ceres, Miller investigates the theft of water, now rationed because of the Canterbury's failure to arrive. In Julie Mao's apartment, he finds clues placing her aboard the Scopuli. On Earth, Avasarala sends the suspected OPA captive to Luna after her superior, Undersecretary-General Sadavir Errinwright, disapproves of "gravity torture", but the captive commits suicide underway. In the asteroid belt, the Canterbury's shuttle is damaged by debris from the ice carrier's destruction. Using their last air, the survivors jury-rig an antenna to place a distress call, which is responded to by the Martian navy's flagship, MCRN Donnager. After Nagata identifies the distress transponder aboard the Scopuli as using Martian military technology, Holden broadcasts a message to that effect to the Solar System, as insurance against being killed as inconvenient witnesses. 3"Remember the Cant"Jeff WoolnoughRobin VeithDecember 22, 2015[note 2]
  2. 1 2 The third and fourth episodes were released online after the second episode aired on December 15, 2015.<ref>Petski, Denise (December 16, 2015). "Syfy’s ‘The Expanse’ First Four Episodes Available Online & On Demand".

Production

Development

The Expanse is based on the novel series by James S. A. Corey, a pen name of the authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The first novel, Leviathan Wakes (2011), was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. On April 11, 2014, Syfy announced a straight-to-series commitment to a television adaptation of the book series, and ordered the production of 10 one hour-long episodes for the first season. On that date Syfy President Dave Howe commented: "The Expanse is epic in scale and scope and promises to be Syfy's most ambitious series to date".[15]

Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby wrote the pilot, directed by Terry McDonough, and serve as writers and showrunners alongside Naren Shankar.[16] Produced by Alcon Television and The Sean Daniel Company, principal photography started on October 29, 2014, in Toronto.[16] The pilot episode was screened at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2015.

In May 2015, before the first season aired, writing commenced for a second season,[17] which was ordered in December 2015.[18]

Season 2 of The Expanse will air in 2017.[19]

Reception

The show has overall been critically well received, with a rating of 65 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews",[20] and a rating of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, which summarized critics' consensus as follows: "The Expanse blends sci-fi elements and detective noir into a visually compelling whole, though it takes a few episodes for the story to capture viewers' intrigue."[21]

Reporting on the pilot screening, io9's Lauren Davis declared herself "blown away" by The Expanse, appreciating its "incredible sense of scale" and its "deeply thought out future world that reflects on our present one, with high production values and characters who speak and act like real people".[22] Max Nicholson of IGN characterized the pilot as "grim and dramatic", and a "very dense hour of television", with the terminology and large cast sometimes difficult to follow for viewers unfamiliar with the novels, but highlighted the pilot's "gorgeous" visuals and effects reminiscent of Battlestar Galactica, Dune and Firefly.[23]

Writing for Variety, Maureen Ryan was unimpressed by the first four episodes "awkwardly linking a series of somewhat muddled stories" and the series' stereotypical characters, but credited it with tackling "issues of class, representation and exploitation", and a convincing design.[24] At Tor.com, Justin Landon highlighted The Expanse's "bold and unique cinematography" and its claustrophobic, discomforting set designs, as well as the "extremely faithful" characterization, but remarked that the patois spoken by the Belters, the natives of the asteroid belt, made the series difficult to follow.[25]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Syfy will premiere 'The Expanse' online before it hits cable". Engadget. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (December 31, 2015). "‘The Expanse’ Renewed For Season 2 By Syfy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Weinstein, Shelli (August 21, 2014). "Steven Strait, Shohreh Aghdashloo to Star in Syfy's 'The Expanse'". Variety. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Petski, Denise (October 29, 2014). "Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham, More, Round Out 'The Expanse'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Noonan, Kevin (November 20, 2014). "Syfy’s ‘The Expanse’ Adds ‘Walking Dead,’ ‘Mad Men’ Alums". Variety. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ Porter, Rick (December 15, 2015). "Monday cable ratings: ‘The Expanse’ premiere not that expansive, ‘Monday Night Football’ leads". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  7. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (December 16, 2015). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 12.15.2015". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  8. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (December 23, 2015). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 12.22.2015". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (December 31, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 12.29.2015". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  10. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (January 6, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 1.5.2016". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (January 13, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 1.12.2016". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  12. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (January 21, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 1.19.2016". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (January 27, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 1.26.2016". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (February 3, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.2.2016". Showbuzzdaily. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  15. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (April 11, 2014). "Syfy Gives Straight-to-Series Greenlight to 'The Expanse'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  16. 1 2 Bibel, Sara (October 29, 2014). "Syfy and Alcon TV Announce Start of Production on The Expanse, New 10-episode Epic Space Drama". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ "The Expanse Renewed For Season 2 By Syfy!". Seriable. May 15, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  18. ↑ Moore, Trent. "Space opera The Expanse officially picked up for second season at Syfy". Blastr. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  19. ↑ http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-expanse-season-2-syfy-1201670368/
  20. ↑ "The Expanse on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  21. ↑ "The Expanse on Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  22. ↑ Davis, Lauren (July 11, 2015). "The Expanse Is the Show We’ve Been Wanting Since Battlestar Galactica". i09. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  23. ↑ Nicholson, Max (July 11, 2015). "COMIC-CON 2015: SYFY DEBUTS THOMAS JANE'S NEW SERIES THE EXPANSE". IGN. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  24. ↑ Ryan, Maureen (November 23, 2015). "TV Review: ‘The Expanse’". Variety. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  25. ↑ Landon, Justin (November 11, 2015). "A Risky Adaptation: Syfy’s The Expanse". Tor.com. Retrieved November 23, 2015.

External links

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