The Expanse #6: better to go down swinging than rolling over

[Kalbear]

33 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

I havent read the books, so I am just going by how it felt to a viewer who has that perspective, coupled with the rushed nature of the season.

It did feel a bit weird that way, I agree. Amos in the books says something like "well, that's fuckin creepy".

The thing that bugs me is that no one was in crash couches or in suits on the Pella. They're heading into combat, for sure! And I get it was for dramatic effect but it annoyed. It also annoyed me for Marco to be at all cautious too - I would have much preferred an underling to tell him something was weird and for him to arrogantly dismiss it.

[Arakasi]

Yeah I didn’t love that last episode either. Tbh the season felt disjointed and that they were both simultaneously rushing to close things off at a good point while at the same time trying to be open ended like with the Laconia stuff. Was just a weird mishmash I felt. Maybe the Inaros stuff ended up the same way in the book but that part felt way too rushed. I also didn’t love the Holden to Drummer part but maybe that was because I had just seen the same thing in The Last Kingdom season four.

For me the high parts of the show were 1-3 and especially 1-2. I guess once Miller left it lost some diversity to the show and it mostly became the Rocinate and Avasarala show. Now I love Avasarala and what she went through but I started buying less and less that the Rocinate and crew could keep getting through all these challenges. Even my wife was during the last couple episodes having some doubt the main characters could keep getting through things unscathed.

Still a good show but more like 7.5/10 while for me 1-2 were 9.5/10 with a number of perfect 10s.

[mcbigski]

7 hours ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Caught the finale, and I'll go against the grain by saying it seemed a bit too rushed for me, and included some contrived plot points that seemed out of character with the nuanced nature of the show thus far.

I think I am most annoyed by how quickly the 'final battle' was done with. No spoilers, but it was essentially some off screen stuff followed by a push of the button.

There was a button, I pushed it.

[Scott_N]

Marco's end is one of the few things that annoyed me in both book and show. Too quick, too easy. No time for the fact he has lost to sink in. Most unsatisfying.

[Underfoot]

If anyone is a member of Am*z*n Pr*vi*w you should check to see if you have a survey to fill out 

(Not gonna say more because NDA but ...)

[WarGalley]

I'm reading Leviathan Falls right now and all of Amos's dialogue is in Wes Chatham's voice. For some reason that doesn't happen with any of the other characters and I cannot undo it for Amos.

[Corvinus85]

I haven't gotten to Leviathan Falls yet, but I've reread books 6 and 7 and I am two thirds into 8. Almost all the characters now have the faces of the actors, or at least a combination between their looks and my previous imaginings, but definitely all the voices. Even Holden I see Steven Strait now. With Amos it's always Chatham's voice and crazy eyes but in the body of a big, bald man.

[Darryk]

I was thinking the other day that The Expanse may be the best sci-fi / fantasy series I've seen, mainly because it maintained the same serious tone and atmosphere throughout the series without ever descending into schlock.

The Mandalorian, I feel, is starting to descend into schlock, I can see the signs. Hopefully they turn it around in the third season, but Book of Boba Fett showed signs of the inevitable slide into cheesiness and schlock that besets Star Wars in general.

Game of Thrones, obviously, got so caught up in its own popularity and became very smug and self-indulgent near the end, with gross fan service (the bad kind) and the cringeworthy Ed Sheeran cameo.

The Expanse never lost direction or descended into schlock. That makes it unique amongst sci fi / fantasy series.

[Lady Anna]

I don't know if I should have posted this in the Literature thread but. Can someone who read the books spoil something for me, I'm so curious:

Spoiler

Does Naomi, Holden or anyone else of the Roci crew ever found out that Filip lived?

 

[3CityApache]

35 minutes ago, Lady Anna said:

I don't know if I should have posted this in the Literature thread but. Can someone who read the books spoil something for me, I'm so curious:

  Hide contents

Does Naomi, Holden or anyone else of the Roci crew ever found out that Filip lived?

 

Spoiler

Nope. Even though there was an easy way to do it in the final book.

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by 3CityApache

[HexMachina]

I am 7 months late but finally managed to get around to the final season. Well worth the wait and I will absolutely miss this show, its been such a delight from beginning to end. Standout for this final season was definitely Drummer

[mcbigski]

The show was very well cast.  As great as Drummer was from start to finish in the show, I still give the nod to Ashford as the most improved book to show character.  But damn, I hope they are planning on picking this back up in few years.

[karaddin]

Ashford was coming from a much lower starting point, so more room to improve. Drummer was made up of multiple book characters but none of them were "bad", book Ashford was just a bad character.

[Caligula_K3]

In general, the show did a really nice job taking flat or one dimensional characters from the books and turning them into interesting and well rounded ones. Ashford is definitely the biggest improvement, and I loved Drummer in the show much more than any of the characters she was based on in the books, but even someone like Errinwright had much more depth in the show than books.

[HexMachina]

I don't have the comparison point of the books but now the show is done(? I'll stay hopeful) I'll be giving them a try. Looking forward to seeing the changes and hopefully getting further info on some things the show didn't have time for.

I agree that the show did a great job with casting actors who gave a lot of life to these roles Aside from Drummer, who I just mentioned, and Avasarala who I've praised before, I very much enjoyed Amos and Bobby. For two characters on the quieter and more emotionally reserved side I thought each of them brought a lot to to their roles, especially Amos (Wes Chatham). I should dive into the bonus stuff while my Amazon is still active

[Ran]

Long look at it, for those curious, but obviously some spoilers for the game.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Ran

[Ran]

The Carina Drummer-focused first episode comes out on the 27th, with four additional episodes every two weeks. I just saw RPS reporting that Telltale also revealed they were releasing a bonus episode to wrap things up, titled "Archangel" and featuring Avasarala with Shohreh Aghdashloo voicing her. There's a trailer: