The Expanse

The Expanse as a TV show may not be as revolutionary and nuanced as top-tier golden-age TV, but it makes a big, bold crater in the category it falls in. That of actual, hard science fiction, where the repercussions for high-gravitational environments are tangible and the simple act of redirecting a space ship is its own set-piece; within that genre, it’s essentially perfect.

Expanse’s look is typical Syfy. The lighting is used to bathe the sets in shadows to hide the lack of money in the budget. The cast and the sheer complexity and depth of story, however, are worthy of premium cable.

The show overexplains here and there--especially in the first episode--but after some early jitters, it settles in and simply lets its world be.

But where “Battlestar Galactica’s” story engine ran almost entirely on mystery, The Expanse is a little more like “Game of Thrones,” with its intensely detailed and ever-broadening world inhabited by very recognizable characters.

Though you may note the myriad references in its many-chambered plot, it's just a house to live in finally--well-constructed, artfully furnished, with good feng shui.

It's a demanding show that really requires your full attention--but stick with it and you will delight in its clever writing, dark humor, and wonderfully perverse depiction of the Machiavellian power struggles that make the solar system go round.

The Expanse has enough well-wrought plot to keep things moving swiftly without confusing those of us who aren’t hardcore sci-fi fans.

Like Amazon’s similarly good-looking but unsteady The Man In The High Castle, The Expanse has a compelling story to tell, but is somewhat unwilling to play to the strengths of its format. But unlike that series, Syfy’s latest picks up steam as it pushes forward, gaining confidence that the audience will be along for the interplanetary ride. By the fourth episode, it’s firing on (mostly) all thrusters, with thrilling heroics, shocking deaths, and a sense of urgency building across the various narrative threads.

The Expanse is pure space opera with political and cultural undertones that aren’t always communicated well, but there are compelling enough stories in the foreground that perhaps in time the detailed universe the series attempts to build will become clearer.

There’s some goofy dialogue that holds it back, but I like that it doesn’t hold your hand in terms of its narrative or themes. I’m curious to see where it goes.

The Expanse manages to take familiar sci-fi elements and synthesize them into something that looks and feels distinctive.

Hard to say where it's all going, but anyone with an interest in serious sci-fi should strap in for the long ride. [7-20 Dec 2015, p.17]

Expanse is so expansive, it’s hard to pin down--well, anything.

Its uneven but intriguing first four episodes.... It hints at a compelling future, with various factions vying for control. But it isn’t out to wow you early on, taking its time to develop its characters and the relationships. If your expectations aren’t too high--and it’s not “Battlestar Galactica” yet--The Expanse could just be what you’re looking in.

The Expanse is indeed expansive with the universe it sets up within the pilot and through the characters presented. Unfortunately though there’s so much going on in the pilot that it quickly becomes a convoluted romp through space that’s more about showcasing the wasteland that humans have become than developing characters viewers will remember, let alone invest in watching.

There are enough lifelines to keep you going through the first four episodes, but Fergus and Ostby are mostly in over their heads. They probably could have used a few traffic cops as consultants to keep the story lines from becoming the entangled, confusing and plodding mess they often are.

The Expanse cuts viewers no slack. It plunges so quickly into its world that you may think, as I did, that you accidentally failed to watch the first episode.... Colorful characters, banter and some zero-gravity sex are more selling points.

It’s all a little too smooth and unexceptional, though--nothing in the central performances, the writing, the action or the computer effects goes beyond proficient, and nothing has the stark, strange, sometimes brutal feeling that made “Battlestar Galactica” compelling. For Syfy, the search goes on.

The problem isn’t with the overall look of Syfy’s The Expanse. Production values are first-rate through and through. But having little or no earthly idea of what’s going on can be a problem, even with the lengthy printed preamble greeting viewers of the Monday, Dec. 14th premiere episode

Much of The Expanse will feel familiar because, at least for four episodes, the writers are struggling to maintain momentum across at least three sci-fi-trope-heavy storylines that eventually could coalesce into something unique.

It tries to do too much at once in its opening episodes, which ultimately undercuts their overall effectiveness. Storylines about rogue elements, terrorist machinations, a missing woman and political gamesmanship are all crammed into hours that have very little room to breathe.