The Drinker Recommends… The Expanse

[geektalk]

It turns out The Expanse is absolutely fantastic, so what else can I do except give it a Drinker Recommends?

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The Critical Drinker

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the thing about being a youtube critic

is that every new day brings more

recommendations and requests to review

someone’s favorite movie

or tv show or video game or book series

one guy even asked me to review american

politics

there’s literally not enough beer in the

world mates but one thing that’s been

dog in my recommendations list from

basically the moment my channel took off

is the expanse a show that i have to

admit i knew almost

nothing about at the time i didn’t even

know anyone that had seen it and i was

kind of reluctant to invest dozens of

hours of my life

into something that i might not even

enjoy but it turns out that peer

pressure is a surprisingly effective

tool given enough time

and [ __ ] man if someone managed to get

me to watch quigly down under

i suppose it was time i gave the expanse

a try

and a few weeks later here i am now

it pains me to say this because i know a

lot of people really like and support

this show

but i was a [ __ ] [ __ ] for not

watching it sooner

the expanse is quite simply one of the

best sci-fi shows in recent memory

it’s smart mature complex well-written

brilliantly shot and perfectly portrayed

by a cast of extremely talented actors

who invest their characters with genuine

depth emotion and gravitas

it basically sets the benchmark for what

i expect from sci-fi shows today

and it makes an absolute mockery out of

shallow pretentious garbage like star

trek discovery

[Laughter]

i don’t want to [ __ ] around and waste

time with this one so let’s begin the

next installment of

the drinker recommends

the expanse is set a couple of hundred

years in the future

where humanity has managed to spread out

and colonize the solar system

we’re not exactly into warp drive

territory yet but we have fleets of

ships plying their trade between major

colonies and outposts the beginnings of

terraforming on mars

and colony ships preparing to venture

out into deep space

that’s all great but it’s also a time of

heightened tension and danger

earth and mars the two major superpowers

in the system

are stuck in a kind of interplanetary

cold war

as they vie for resources and

influencing the

belts a collection of moons and

asteroids in the outer solar system

that provide most of the raw materials

for the inner planets

life out in the belt is hard and usually

very short

a bit like growing up in any city in

scotland then

people toil away in terrible working

conditions only for most of their wealth

to get shipped off somewhere else

needless to say the belters are getting

kind of tired of this [ __ ]

leading to the rise of the outer

planet’s alliance

better known as the opa the opa want to

see the belt become an independent

nation on par with earth and mars

and the more radical elements within the

movement are willing to do almost

anything to achieve their aim

the series kicks off when a civilian

freighter stops to investigate a

derelict ship

only to come under attack by an unknown

enemy the only survivors are a small

group of crew men that happen to be

aboard the salvage vessel

there’s naomi an engineer from the

asteroid belt who sympathizes with the

opa

amos a big beefy dude with a dark past

who acts as her enforcer

alex a former martian naval pilot and

last

of all holden the ranking officer from

earth who eventually takes command

straight away you can see that this is a

mixed group of people from different

planets and cultures

whose loyalties and goals may not line

up with each other

in fact there’s actually plenty of

occasions where they come into open

conflict

but they’re forced to work together for

their mutual survival

and eventually they form a close-knit

friendship their paths eventually cross

with miller

a jaded detective on the hunt for a

decent [ __ ] haircut

miller’s been hired to locate a missing

rich girl who happened to be on board

the derelict ship that holden’s group

discovered

meanwhile on earth un diplomat christian

begins to suspect that a third party is

trying to manipulate them into going to

war

wait isn’t that admiral chainsmoker from

star trek beyond

anyway the destruction of holden’s ship

triggers a rapid escalation of tensions

between earth and mars

both sides blame the other for what

happened and mobilize their militaries

for war

while the opa uses the chaos to stir up

resentment and support for their cause

but as holden and the others run for

their lives they begin to uncover a

deeper conspiracy

to turn a newly discovered alien life

form into a weapon

powerful enough to wipe out the human

race as i think you’ve gathered from my

brief summary there

there’s an awful lot going on in this

show and honestly

if i try to describe every major event

and character that comes into play

i’d probably still be talking about it

this time next week

also it would spoil the [ __ ] out of

things for you and i really don’t want

to do that

because this is a show that you

definitely ought to watch the thing i

really love about the expanse is that it

actually feels like a show written by

adults

for adults instead of mentally deficient

hyperactive children the world in which

its characters exist

is complex mature and often morally gray

there are groups and individuals within

each major faction

vying for power and influence some

trying to instigate a war

and others to avert it some people are

compassionate and moralistic

doing everything in their power to avoid

unnecessary loss of life

while others see the end as very much

justifying the means

some are idealistic and dedicated to

their cause others are jaded and cynical

while some just want to be left alone

but no matter what their outlook is

the writing is so strong and well

balanced that you can empathize with

almost anyone’s position

even antagonists who do bad things are

self-aware enough to recognize the

impact of their actions but justify them

with the knowledge that they’re serving

a higher purpose

it’s smart and thought-provoking and at

times it actually

causes you to question whether or not

they might be right

naomi starts out overbearing and

mistrustful towards holden but gradually

opens up as their relationship

develops only to be plunged into doubt

once again

when she goes behind her companion’s

backs to assist the belts

christian comes across as a hard-nosed

diplomat willing to charm

threaten or blackmail people into doing

whatever she wants

but slowly she emerges as a valuable

ally determined to expose the misdeeds

of her co-workers

even if it means putting her own life on

the line miller begins the story as a

jaded cop

willing to take bribes and overlook

misdeeds if it means an easier life for

himself

but his search for the missing girl

gradually rekindles the compassionate

protective side of his character

changing him into a decent caring man

willing to sacrifice his own life for

the good of others

even characters like amos who seems like

a big dumb bruiser stranded deep in

naomi’s friend zone

turns out to have more layers to his

personality and backstory than the

entire cast of disney star wars combined

the expanse is also a perfect example of

diverse casting done

right there are people of every sex and

ethnic group imaginable

represented in virtually every episode

and it absolutely never feels forced

preachy or contrived unlike the

ham-fisted attempts of lesser shows that

always come across as smug

disingenuous and mean-spirited

characters are allowed to be smart

resourceful and dangerous regardless of

their demographic makeup

no one group is elevated at the expense

of another and the writers never use it

as a stick to beat you over the head

with present-day social issues

god damn it why can’t we have more shows

like this

the world of the expanse also feels

believable and well thought out

in a way that so few others managed to

achieve the problems of travelling and

communicating over vast distances

are a key component of many story lines

instead of being glossed over with some

[ __ ] technobabble for the sake of

dramatic convenience

battles taking place on one side of the

solar system are over

long before people on the other side are

even aware of them gravity can vary

wildly between different worlds

and so do the humans born and raised

there for example

people from mars struggle just to walk

in earth’s heavy gravity while those

from the asteroid belt literally can’t

survive its

ships maneuvering at high speed can

easily kill their passengers with the

g-force if they’re not careful

while space debris can punch clean

through the hull and human bodies

it all adds up to a setting that feels

grounded and realistic

like this is how humanity really could

be a hundred years from now

space is depicted as a vast cold

dangerous place

where it’s very easy to get yourself

killed each faction and location has its

own unique culture

language technology and shapes mars is a

rising power and everything about them

is sleek

clinical and futuristic earth’s the

dominant force in the solar system but

there are civilization in decline

their navy is powerful but ageing and

neglected their people arrogant and

corrupt

the belters on the other hand are

scrappy and resourceful

getting around and cobbled together rust

buckets that barely run

it’s also a world where life is often

hard and unforgiving

death can come without warning and

people are forced to make tough choices

just to survive

like an evacuation ship that doesn’t

have enough space to get everyone out of

a dying settlement

so what do you do do you open your doors

and risk being overrun to save a

fraction of the population

or do you cut and run to protect your

own people these are the kind of

difficult choices that characters often

face in the expanse

and needless to say sometimes there is

no right answer for them

ultimately the expanse is a show that

really demonstrates what good science

fiction can and should be

it’s proof that there are still smart

talented and passionate writers working

in hollywood

and when they’re just left alone to

concentrate on telling a tight

gripping and mature story without

ulterior motives

great things can still happen and my

only question is

why can’t more shows be like this anyway

that’s all i’ve got for today go away

now

[Author]

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