Expanse #5 Game done changed.

[Larry of the Lawn]

This first episode is visually amazing, the no-grav shitanare insane, the Tycho lead in shot was so fucking cool.  Can't remember being this excited about a tv show in a long time.

[Larry of the Lawn]

Would have loved if the Amos/Avasarala convo clove closer to the books, missed out on

 

Avasarala calling Amos Holden's pet killer and Amos thinking it was 'awesome' that that's what she thought he was, and her saying that didn't convince her that she was mistaken. 

[Corvinus85]

4 hours ago, Werthead said:

Interesting observation:

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Based on the read-out at the start of Ep 3, the rocks seem smaller than in the book but more numerous (there's six, I think, including the one that was destroyed near Venus), so instead of massive climate-wrecking impacts it looks like Earth is going to get multiple sub-10 megaton hits instead. Damaging, especially along coastal areas, but not as world-shatteringly apocalyptic.

I don't think they showed the tonnage of all the rocks though, so maybe the last one is much bigger.

 

Spoiler

The one that broke up was called Rock #9, so I would assume there were at least 9. Its impact yield was 21 megatons.

And judging by the one that hit, they will likely be devastating.

 

[karaddin]

Yeah I think

Spoiler

They're deliberately giving the impression it's smaller than it is for people going into the first week break. I've seen it called space 9/11 x100 because that's the expectation set by the scientists estimate. That this is a horrific attack with major loss of life, but localised to some extent. What we'll get in 4 is the realization that it's a global catastrophe and near extinction event.

Book spoilers

Spoiler

I'm now convinced they definitely aren't skipping some form of Laconia. The lecture from the Martian admiral just laid out simultaneously the rationale for "Patriots" to abandon Mars to carry on what they see as it's vision, and the strategy they will use to take over. It's directly telling the audience what's going to happen in a way they can't recognise at the time.

Alex also just gave them the info they need for the experiments Elvi winds up running which is pretty core to their future too.

 

[mcbigski]

So, the first three eps were solid overall. 

Spoiler

But damn little Alex rules that roost.  The Holden stuff was OK but seems like busy work for the sake of episodic TV.  The Naomi stuff seemed like just moving pieces around for a bigger payoff later though the first scene with her and Filip was solid.  I lurve me some Bobby but she happened to show up at just precisely the right second--which was mostly hokey because she was the only possible deus ex and I knew that as soon as Alex got injected that Bobby would either show up there or smash whoever came for her.   

Spoiler

Shed is still dead.

 

[SpaceChampion]

This is a really great interview.

 

[SpaceChampion]

Took me watching the episode two aftershow to realize Tycho's security chief is Bull, who had been removed from season 3's adaptation of book 3, and replaced by Drummer.

[karaddin]

9 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Took me watching the episode two aftershow to realize Tycho's security chief is Bull, who had been removed from season 3's adaptation of book 3, and replaced by Drummer.

Without having substitles on (to help make it out over the noise of a fan) we wouldn't have realised he was Bull, or that Drummer's gf is Michio

[Corvinus85]

3 hours ago, karaddin said:

Without having substitles on (to help make it out over the noise of a fan) we wouldn't have realised he was Bull, or that Drummer's gf is Michio

WHAT? Well, that is interesting.

[SpaceChampion]

4 hours ago, karaddin said:

Without having substitles on (to help make it out over the noise of a fan) we wouldn't have realised he was Bull, or that Drummer's gf is Michio

Whoa.

[Maithanet]

On 12/17/2020 at 10:36 PM, mcbigski said:

So, the first three eps were solid overall. 

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I lurve me some Bobby but she happened to show up at just precisely the right second--which was mostly hokey because she was the only possible deus ex and I knew that as soon as Alex got injected that Bobby would either show up there or smash whoever came for her.   

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Shed is still dead.

 

I just assumed that Bobby was tailing Alex and that's why she was there to save the day.  She was aware of the kind of people she was dealing with and that she was putting Alex in danger.

[DaveSumm]

Just watched the first episode. I’m not sure I fully understand the rocks and where they’re going; so Marco Inaros fired a rock at Earth (I thought it was one anyway) ... 173 days later or whatever, there’s a bunch of rocks, and one of them flies near the sun and gets broken up, and then some scientists are studying it? But then Inaros silences them to make sure they don’t figure out it’s a terrorist rock? But how many are actually headed for Earth? How did they figure those trajectories out? Doesn’t Earth have a bunch of other means of figuring out there’s rocks headed their way? Basically, I’d assumed we’d open moments later on one big rock, and we’re months later (OK if that’s how long it takes) and there’s loads and they’re all over the place but still all hitting Earth? I missed something somewhere.

Cool that the series is back though, interesting that the crew are immediately scattered across the solar system. Also with the news on the first page; has ‘paused’ ever really meant that? Is there a realistic chance the series returns after a break for more seasons?

[Corvinus85]

11 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

Just watched the first episode. I’m not sure I fully understand the rocks and where they’re going; so Marco Inaros fired a rock at Earth (I thought it was one anyway) ... 173 days later or whatever, there’s a bunch of rocks, and one of them flies near the sun and gets broken up, and then some scientists are studying it? But then Inaros silences them to make sure they don’t figure out it’s a terrorist rock? But how many are actually headed for Earth? How did they figure those trajectories out? Doesn’t Earth have a bunch of other means of figuring out there’s rocks headed their way? Basically, I’d assumed we’d open moments later on one big rock, and we’re months later (OK if that’s how long it takes) and there’s loads and they’re all over the place but still all hitting Earth? I missed something somewhere.

Cool that the series is back though, interesting that the crew are immediately scattered across the solar system. Also with the news on the first page; has ‘paused’ ever really meant that? Is there a realistic chance the series returns after a break for more seasons?

We don't know exactly how many rocks were thrown by Marco, but judging by the numbering, at least 9. The breaking event was what was detected by observatories on Luna. I guess they messed up its trajectory and it flew too close to the Sun. So a science ship was dispatched which intercepted the cloud of rocks near Venus. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how Marco is tracking the rocks, unless they planted some beacons to which only he knows the frequencies. I'm no orbital mechanics expert, but slinging the rocks around the Sun would speed them up, much like how they do the slingshot travel, but getting the trajectories right so they end up in Earth's orbit on a collision course is certainly the tricky part. But then again this is a couple of centuries into the future, so orbital mechanics is basic math to them.

Earth has asteroid spotters, which was mentioned in the previous season, but that's what the stealth coating is for. Marco even tested their response when he sent that dummy ship.

There was a definite time jump between Filip's attack on the scientists, and the rest of the episode. He was near Venus, then Fred informs Naomi he was spotted on Pallas, which is in the Belt.

Episode 3 I think clarifies things more.

[karaddin]

I'm pretty sure they also mentioned that he'd done slingshot racing when he was younger which is all about plotting routes through the solar system that build speed from slingshots so he's practiced in doing it.

All the different rocks have different routes which requires throwing them at different times but is coordinated to have them all hit earth from different directions so it's even harder to predict and defend against. 

This is entirely speculation but I'd also assume they're timed to hit within a short window. So yeah a lot of calculations and work and they fucked up with the one we saw.

 

 

[Sharpes]

6 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

We don't know exactly how many rocks were thrown by Marco, but judging by the numbering, at least 9. The breaking event was what was detected by observatories on Luna. I guess they messed up its trajectory and it flew too close to the Sun. So a science ship was dispatched which intercepted the cloud of rocks near Venus. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how Marco is tracking the rocks, unless they planted some beacons to which only he knows the frequencies. I'm no orbital mechanics expert, but slinging the rocks around the Sun would speed them up, much like how they do the slingshot travel, but getting the trajectories right so they end up in Earth's orbit on a collision course is certainly the tricky part. But then again this is a couple of centuries into the future, so orbital mechanics is basic math to them.

 

Oh, so the rock breaking up around the Sun wasn't intentional? I assumed it was to break them up into small enough 'rocks' so the Sentinel Satellites couldn't pick them up. The part with the Venus station was a little confusing. It was mentioned that Marco Inaros used to be a slingshot pilot, he just needed the Martian stealth tech to make his plan successful.

Apparently Cas Anvar, who plays Alex, is not returning for season 6 on account of sexual harassment and assault claims made against him.

[briantw]

3 minutes ago, Sharpes said:

Oh, so the rock breaking up around the Sun wasn't intentional? I assumed it was to break them up into small enough 'rocks' so the Sentinel Satellites couldn't pick them up. The part with the Venus station was a little confusing. It was mentioned that Marco Inaros used to be a slingshot pilot, he just needed the Martian stealth tech to make his plan successful.

Definitely not intentional. 

[Corvinus85]

52 minutes ago, Sharpes said:

Oh, so the rock breaking up around the Sun wasn't intentional? I assumed it was to break them up into small enough 'rocks' so the Sentinel Satellites couldn't pick them up. The part with the Venus station was a little confusing. It was mentioned that Marco Inaros used to be a slingshot pilot, he just needed the Martian stealth tech to make his plan successful.

Apparently Cas Anvar, who plays Alex, is not returning for season 6 on account of sexual harassment and assault claims made against him.

The smaller rocks stopped being a threat. At that size, they would burn up in the atmosphere. Plus, they were now more detectable.

It's upsetting about Cas Anvar. Amazon/Alcon conducted an investigation after the allegations surfaced a few months ago, so that probably settles it. I doubt they'll recast for the final season, even if more Expanse happens later. So I don't know how they'll change the story to take Alex out.

On 12/19/2020 at 4:23 AM, karaddin said:

Without having substitles on (to help make it out over the noise of a fan) we wouldn't have realised he was Bull, or that Drummer's gf is Michio

I've re-watched episode 3, and Michio is the short redhead. I had assumed it was the taller woman, played by Sadrine Holt, who is more known, but she plays Oksana. Maybe they're reversing roles.

Book spoilers

Spoiler

Apparently Drummer's crew is Michio Pa's group marriage. There were a couple of other names from the books there. Considering what Oksana tells Drummer about family and what we see, I wonder if Drummer is now part of that group, or she is separate, just the captain.

 

[Maithanet]

On 12/20/2020 at 11:48 PM, Corvinus85 said:

Book spoilers

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Apparently Drummer's crew is Michio Pa's group marriage. There were a couple of other names from the books there. Considering what Oksana tells Drummer about family and what we see, I wonder if Drummer is now part of that group, or she is separate, just the captain.

 

Seemed pretty clear that she was part of the group, she is seen in bed with a man in the first scene, and then with Oksana later, and they have those glass walls so everyone can see who you are with and you couldn't hide anything. 

I agree with everyone that the one rock breaking up was a mistake, and I suppose they did the science vessel scene to replace the raid on the martian shipyard because it was easier/cheaper to film?  Because otherwise it seems like a fairly unneeded change.  Not a big deal, obvs. 

[Maltaran]

2 hours ago, Maithanet said:

Seemed pretty clear that she was part of the group, she is seen in bed with a man in the first scene, and then with Oksana later, and they have those glass walls so everyone can see who you are with and you couldn't hide anything. 

I agree with everyone that the one rock breaking up was a mistake, and I suppose they did the science vessel scene to replace the raid on the martian shipyard because it was easier/cheaper to film?  Because otherwise it seems like a fairly unneeded change.  Not a big deal, obvs. 

Also, they set up with Bobbie's storyline last season that corrupt Martian officials were selling military supplies to the Belters so they don't need the shipyard raid to explain how Marco got the stealth tech.

[mcbigski]

I didn't catch it, but a friend pointed out that Amos's bag has Murtry's name on it with "Amos" over written.  Awesomesauce.