The Expanse
I haven't been great at adding updates to what I'm reading or watching here. I'm going to put some more love and attention on my blog, and I wanted to share something I've been watching and reading.
In 2016 I saw some chatter on Twitter about how great The Expanse was on SyFy. As a completist, I didn't bother to start watching it because I'd missed the first couple of episodes. Then the entire season went on sale on iTunes for $20, so I picked it up.
Then immediately watched the four available episodes.
I was hooked.
The series is based on a book series, and when the season ended, I picked up the first book. The first season covers about half of the material in Leviathan Wakes, which made for a pleasant surprise when the season-ending cliffhanger resolved as I finished reading it.
Here's the quick pitch for the series — Earth colonized Mars, then the Martian colonists got tired of people on the other side of the solar system giving them marching orders and Mars went all 'Murica on Earth. Earth and Mars jointly colonized the asteroid belt, where they jointly shit on the Belters (people who were born and live in the asteroid belt).
All of these facts set the stage for the story as it kicks off. These three factions are bickering and fighting, trying to get ahead when something new happens. If you want to know more, you'll need to start the series.
There are fights in space. Fights in space stations. Humor. Sedition.
If Star Wars is classic rock, The Expanse is punk as fuck. I love them both.
As soon as an episode comes out I've got to watch it and I'm caught up on the book series as well.
The third season of the show aired in early 2018, and mid-way through the season, SyFy announced they were canceling the show. Then fans did what fans of genre shows do these days, started a campaign on Twitter to save a show they love.
Skipping to the end of the Twitter campaign, Amazon picked up the rights to create on-going seasons of the show with season four set to premiere in 2019.