The Expanse Season 2

[Crowley]

We also discussed a lack of "transhumans" in this show but, now that I remember that robot you mentioned, I seem to recall they met this one guy who had some kind of augmentation. It was like he had an "augmented reality" display built into his eyeballs. I'll hafta go back and re-watch the first season but I think I'm remembering that right.

Yeah, that's a guy who did some spying for the UN who was told to keep tabs on Holden and he stowed away on Roscinante at Tycho when they headed to Eros. I think his name was Kenzo. Then there was that cadaver on Ceres who we're told had about a dozen different implants and Miller pulled out an implanted data storage from him. There was also the brief talk of advanced prosthetics to replace lost limbs on the ice hauler where Holden and co. worked.

[ORCACommander]

its more cyberpunk than transhumanism. the key tenant of immortality and body swapping has not taken place

[lsgreg]

I've watched the first season. It's a decent show. I enjoy watching it. And yet something stops me from getting fully on board with the hype. I found some of the characters to be fairly aggravating, although most of them improved somewhat as the season went along. I'm trying to avoid book and future season spoilers, but I'm not sure what people see in Amos. Not a fan.

My biggest issue was that there's sort of a directionless feel to the first season. I can approve of a lack of long, clunky exposition and the "show don't tell" method of story building, but the show could have used a better sense of place and weight to the story. Maybe all that will improve in future seasons, I'm holding off on watching more until season 2 is free on Amazon Prime (which I assume will happen at some point after the whole season airs)

I quite agree with the first season. I felt a little let down with the big reveal from the first season being a corporation with nefarious intentions. Kinda an overdone sci-fi trope. The season finale was disappointing also because it seemed to create more questions than answers though which is why I kinda soured on Dark Matters. The second season is much more streamlined and characters are more fleshed out. You find more about the Martians Navy and Marines, which is quite interesting.

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

My biggest issue was that there's sort of a directionless feel to the first season. I can approve of a lack of long, clunky exposition and the "show don't tell" method of story building, but the show could have used a better sense of place and weight to the story. Maybe all that will improve in future seasons, I'm holding off on watching more until season 2 is free on Amazon Prime (which I assume will happen at some point after the whole season airs)

I do hope you'll give second season a chance. I definitely think it's better than the first.

I definitely plan on continuing. A lot has been made of the mainstreaming of "nerdy" genres/subgenres, and that's obviously true in some cases. And yet, there still seems to be a dearth of serious, hard (relative to other sci-fi shows) sci-fi in the Star Trek vein. The sci-fi shows that have taken off owe a lot more to Twin Peaks or The X-Files than Star Trek or other space operas.

Despite my problems with the first season, The Expanse fills that gap very nicely. And I've gathered that most here and elsewhere think the show improves a lot in the second season, so I'll take that as a good sign.

[MadAmosMalone]

I love that you plan to watch season2 but I'm a little at a loss for what to do now. I've got friends in your situation who have seen season 1 but not caught up yet. I don't wanna spoil anything for them so I don't talk about the show with them. I'm not on Twitter so I can't talk about the new stuff there. Here was one of the few places I could talk about the show but since you season 1 guys are here I dunno if I wanna comment on last night's episode.

[lsgreg]

We could just use Season 2 Spoilers ahead! That is why I created the thread to talk about season 2.

Season 2 Spoilers ahead!

Okay. This was a show of redemption for me for Holden and Niami. I felt it pushed those characters forward after a small rift came between the two. They are headed for Europa right? I wonder what awaits them there. Looks like a protosapien hitched a ride according to the previews.

What is gonna happen to Chrisjan? I love how she didn't look surprised at all when Sadivar made a power play and chewed her out. Does this mean she is on the run now? Hopefully they resolve this in the next episode. She has to have a plan B to this. Maybe she takes refuge on Tycos station?

Ok, being former military, why do they bleep out the f-word? Who really cares? We know what they are saying, and it isn't like you can't hear it on any other medium. It just annoys me......

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

I love that you plan to watch season2 but I'm a little at a loss for what to do now. I've got friends in your situation who have seen season 1 but not caught up yet. I don't wanna spoil anything for them so I don't talk about the show with them. I'm not on Twitter so I can't talk about the new stuff there. Here was one of the few places I could talk about the show but since you season 1 guys are here I dunno if I wanna comment on last night's episode.

Well for my part, feel free to say whatever you want. This is a season 2 thread, after all. I've managed to control myself and ignore 95% of this thread so far.

[Crowley]

Also on the subject of transhumanism, there's the bit that Holden's DNA is a combination from eleven parents. It's pretty weird they can do that but apparently there's been no concerted effort to genetically engineer humans with improved physical attributes.

And relating to biotech, I recognized two actors from a wonderful very hard science fiction series called ReGenesis. I recommend that to anyone interested in the subject. Not only is the science sound (apart from the last season), the characters and plots are well made.

[ORCACommander]

those complaining about season one? well its because the show creators are not beholding themselves to a traditional season structure. Each season is not going to be a book. The first book ends somewhere around the first quarter mark of S2.

EDIT: the amazon version is uncensored. not sure what venue you are getting your episodes from

[MadAmosMalone]

I'm glad youz guyz are so casual about the potential spoiler stuff. Many thanks because I have a lot to say about it and I don't wanna ruin it for anyone. First off, lemme warn ya, this is gonna be a wall-O-text kinda post so don't feel obligated to read the whole thing before replying. I'll try to make each point concise and self contained in its own paragraph.

Profanity doesn't bother me. In fact lack of profanity does bug me. When I watch a movie on television and they substitute profanity for more acceptable wording, I turn it off or change the channel because it offends me so. If they can't air it, just bleep it out.

I honestly dunno why Avasarala gets to use profanity uncensored in some eps and is blanked out in others. A couple of weeks ago, she used full-on F-bombs without a trace of blanking or bleeping. This week she's been blanked at least a couple of times that I noticed. So why the inconsistency? My best guess is that SyFy still has to adhere to certain broadcast standards (standards that may be more lax than in times past but still enforced to a degree) that allow a certain number of instances of profanity uncensored with the remaining instances either substituted or blanked out. Notice the operative word here is "broadcast" standards which is why, as others have pointed out, there is no censorship when viewed online.

This show is lauded for its emphasis on the science in "science fiction" and, even though I'm not a scientist, this is definitely something I really appreciate. Even though there is some contention about just how "hard" sci this show is at least they're making a visible effort to get it right. And from what little I know of the subject they do get it right way more often than not. The show also gets high marks from lots of people vastly more knowledgeable than I on the subject. I just wanted to get this out there that I hate shows that shrug off the science altogether, often claiming something like "hey, it's science fiction." To people like that, I respond, "then try to put at least a little science in it before calling it 'science fiction.'"

All that said, I understand that sometimes getting it wrong is just dramatic license which is often excused in other shows far "softer" in their science than this one. You can have flawless science but without a good story, good concept and good characters, it might as well be a documentary. Not that that's a bad thing. I'd rather watch a documentary than most of what passes for "entertainment" these days anyway. Arthur C. Clarke is my all time favorite author. I almost always learn something new about science from his fiction because of the entertaining way he brings it all together. Even I hafta admit, though, that often Clarke's characters are a little "flat." This show has a real Clarke-novel vibe to it but with engaging characters and a solid storyline.

Last night's ep was a chance for the characters to really shine. There were some great character moments from all of them. Naomi's situation reminded me much of why I liked the Doctor Who companion, Donna Noble, so much. "Help me save that many" from Naomi sounded a lot like Donna's plea to the Doctor to "save someone" from the Fires of Pompeii. While Amos was sent to be Naomi's protection, it seemed to me that she served as his conscience. I was glad to see Naomi get to do something for a change. Much lip service is given to her being a "strong female character" when, honestly, I never really saw it until last night. Side note - Amos is apparently the toughest thing in the Belt, since it took (what?) four tranqs to bring him down?

Even that unnamed "big guy" belter had a moment to really step up. It was hearbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Reminded me of the best of Babylon 5.

Speaking of B5, Erinwright and his story was a lot like Londo. Londo poisoned his "frienemy" Lord Refa in much the same way Erinwright poisoned his Martian counterpart. The motivations for the two characters are very similar. Londo did everything he did because of his love for Centauri Prime, yet led it to ruin. Londo could also be seen as a villain because he was directly responsible for countless deaths in the Narn Centauri War and it could even be argued during the Shadow War too. But Londo was a tragic figure and his arc was one of redemption. Vir was his conscience but who serves as that for Erinwright? Will he have a path to redemption like Londo? Erinwright utterly owned the room with his circumvention of Avasarala's mission. Can a villain have a "crowning moment of awesome?" Why not? Londo did when he blew up the island of Selini and executed Morden. Will this moment be Erinwright's moment of awesome or the beginning of an even bigger fall to come? Maybe someone who has read the books knows.

Prax tried to be Holden's conscience but it simply wasn't working. "Don't talk down to me, plant guy!" he roared as he stormed off. He only promised he would find Prax's daughter, he never said he wouldn't blast her into bits of chunky kibble when he did so. Alex, as it happens, was more Holden's voice of reason than anyone else. "Our family needs our help." I almost choked up at that line. Alex is my favorite character in the show. Starbuck to Holden's Ahab maybe? If it seemed obvious to me, I'm sure it was overwhelmingly so for others. Despite trying to make it seem like Holden wouldn't do the right thing in the end, honestly who didn't see the Roci's nick-of-time rescue of the Somnambulist coming an AU away? Didn't detract one iota from the pure, unmitigated awesomeness of it though.

Speaking of 99 and 44/100ths percent pure awesome, Holden's speech to the Martians just out-Ivanova-ed Ivanova's "I am death incarnate" speech from B5. Mag-phucking-nificent.

Avasarala seemed, somehow weaker and maybe more vulnerable in this episode. While she is one of my favorite characters, this was welcome to see because it shows she's not a caricature. She does have at least some weaknesses. Her aversion to leaving Earth was enlightening but not nearly so much as her reaction to Erinwright's "coup." You could almost see it in her eyes that she knew she had made a mistake with this guy. You could also see it in her eyes how she was already planning to tear his playhouse down. Gawd help this man when she gets back to Earth.

We got some more character insights with Draper and Avasarala's "henchman" (sorry I don't think I ever got the character's name) and their banter. Jeez you two, get a room already. Their scenes did also provide for a little comic relief in this episode. "Cucumber sandwiches, anyone?" lol When the fecal matter contacted the rotary cooling system, I noticed the henchman threw Draper behind him as well as Avasarala.

Some character interactions also seemed to lead to greater insights into the world(s) of this story. Erinwright's conversation with the Martian he murdered seemed to reveal a generational divide among Martians echoing similar remarks by Draper's boss at the MCRN Embassy on Earth. They also spoke of Mutally Assured Destruction, or "MAD" doctrine. Do you think these two guys knew what was happening on Venus?

I totally loved last week's episode and this week's topped even that. I'm not sure I'm ready for the season to be over next week especially since we know it's gonna be a cliffhanger. Can't tell ya how glad I am the series has been picked up for another season. If you've read this novelette this far then I salute you. Thank you for giving me this space to unload some brain baggage about the show.