Watercooler Pick
The Expanse
- Where to Find It: Amazon Prime Video
- Rating: TV-14
- Release Date: 2015-2018
- Seasons: 3 seasons
- Episodes : 36 episodes
- Length: ~45 minute episodes
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos knows a good space opera deserves a long shelf life, so when The Expanse was canceled on Syfy, the longtime fan picked it up for Amazon Prime and ordered two new seasons (the first one premiering December 2019). From the first episode, viewers are taken 200 years into the future where humans have colonized the solar system. An ensemble cast (including a hardball detective, a young and conflicted captain, an austere U.N. executive) in various, intergalactic locations unravel the mystery to a threat that could start a planetary war. The space drama is riveting, thought-provoking and visually compelling, with great actors to boot. What makes the series come to life is the imaginative and plausible worldbuilding, and all the careful attention to details within. The show is as inspiring as it is haunting, especially with humanity on the line.
You’re not only transported to space but also the future, and both imaginatively merge for a story that yearns to be told. The Expanse threads a wonderful tapestry of love, loss, hope and bravery, allowing viewers to consider what makes humans human, and how war, politics and power define entire civilizations.
Anyone who enjoys quality sci-fi. The Expanse panders to hard-core sci-fi geeks who thrive on space operas, though the boundary-pushing, visionary directing, complex characters and smart writing can make anyone a fan, the same way Game of Thrones amassed mainstream viewers outside the fantasy genre.
The Expanse is adapted from the sci-fi book series by novelist James S.A. Corey (which is actually two writers). The first book debuted in 2011.
Jimmy Im
