Is anybody else watching The Expanse?

yes

huge improvement over s4 so far

were talking about different characters but it still works

I could imagine S4 not being as good as S3 but I have enjoyed the first 3 eps so far

just the most dire moment of this part of the series

imo the most wrenching twist in the books is that (redacted) is just a useful idiot for the next phase where (redacted) is the real bad

I think the thing about the series that makes it interestingly cohesive is that the books really did characterize role playing game style. in some ways, Marco is like Amos in that he has no conscientious objection to killing, but his moral compass is nearly 180 degrees from Amos. Amos would kill a single person with no remorse when it protects the few good or reasonable people, but Marco has no problem killing millions for a cause

wait what’s the most dire moment?

i really, really liked s4 tbh

dire for the characters, not writing

now that it’s “aired”: Marco’s attack on earth succeeding

are drummer's eyelids tattooed or is she just a magical super-goth

I assume 24th century makeup is more durable and less smeary.

We had that conversation and decided it was part of her tats. Drummer is the best.

So I’m forcing myself through S1 for promises of things to come but shit it seems so full of stock characters and pew-pew that I’m bored to tears

christ this is grim

What happened to no firearms on space stations and ships?

I think in the books when they have them they tend to be non-piercing plastic bullets?

Calstars, it's an ensemble piece. There's at least a dozen characters that have some depth, the recurring ones still being fleshed out in S5. It's worth the ride, and vs any sci-fi since Farscape, its a relative masterpiece.

Thanks, I’ll keep pushing

wiah they'd keep characters I find interesting alive.
BUt I guess they wouldn't get anywhere if they did.
Still goshdarnit.
Maybe that is a nice touch that recognisable actors aren't necessarily going to survive.

I feel like they stumbled on having a VEEP in space dynamic and wished someone actually did VEEP in space but apparently the recent Iannucci space comedy is terrible.
It's bizarre for a series to have their main protagonists be so void of charisma, though.

Obv it's terrible - it's Veep in space!

I'm fully caught up with this now. Damn, the death of **** ***** was not what I wanted to happen.

I was on my phone and deliberately used the wrong amount of asterisks to be not too spoilerific, but that was a big death I wasn't expecting

me too.

also that robot was cray cray. really excellent and unexpected and frightening as fuck

jesus yeah that was one grim ass machine!

There was a dancer on set portraying the robot. I want to see that pre-vis.

I suppose one element that is frightening about the robot, other than in a horribly scary industrial visual sense. Was the compact violent physicality of it without any guns. The way it smashes everything in its path and can't be put down very easily. The fear of getting shot is much less than getting bludgeoned to death. Like if its instructions were to kill everyone in the room rather than pick up the payload, it would have succeeded with flying colours. But when it twats Holden it just gives him a little tap rather than a the fatal blow!

well also it looked like a fuckin spider

wish it had given holden a fatal blow, tho -- he and alex are corny as fuc

this was GRIM

see as a corny fuc myself i can relate to them

xpost

sci-fi without corny as fuck is like fish 'n' chips without vinegar!

lol with some practice you could be nearly as corny as holden, but never alex

the fate of the galaxy is ultimately going to come down to holden's mysterious ~connection~ to protomolecule/aliens/'miller' and him persuading it/them to chill, isn't it

will the protomolecule also be his dad y/n

not so much a mysterious connection as an explicit infection/rewriting

How do series map to books. Did people get killed off because we were entering a new volume or something?
I'm not 100% up on chronology either is this all supposed to be happening consecutively or are there supposed to be major intervals anywhere.

B1: first 1.5 seasons. B2: 2nd half S2+1st half S3. B3: 2nd half S3. B4: S4. B5: S5, with backstory in B plots of S4.

Some characters that have died in the series didn't get resolutions in the books.

So far, everything in the series is chronological. By season 5, years have passed since Julie Mao disappeared. In the books, Rocinante is a working ship, not wholly dependent on Fred Johnson's charity. It's glossed in the books that it's taken on other jobs between books 2 & 3, and between books 3 & 4, like anti-piracy patrol for the Belt and high-value transport, that keep the crew in fuel & kibble.

Cool, thanks

some of the series characters are composites (kinda) of book characters (e.g. Drummer) - though I think this was covered upthread. I was watching Season 4 when Covid hit (9 months ago lol) and stopped because too close for comfort ... I finished it the other night and started on Season 5.

I liked the futuristic DeWalt product placement

yeah I like a bit of DeWalt. The unstoppable robot spider had a brand name on it as well I think.

disappointed it wasn't DeWalt trademark yellow

it would be a bugger if you forgot to fully charge it before tasking it with such an important cargo!

lmao

Wouldn't be surprised if Frederick W. Smith (founder of FedEx and Alcon Entertainment) had some ownership interest in Spectrum Brands to smooth the brand placement.

more than anything else I'm watching right now, this season just has such a compelling STORY

what a concept

unstoppable robot spider said "Savage" on it iirc -- was disappointed it wasn't a Hilti as the colors were right

the amos scenes in this ep have Cube energy

this last episode was a fuckin cracker

inaros really turning into a very enjoyably hatable villain

this is the first time in years I'm eagerly waiting for a new ep of a series to drop - it's so good right now.

it really is. however i’ve completely forgotten the basis for amos’ tender connection with “peaches” i.e. melba i.e. julie mao’s sister clarissa. didn’t she frame holden for a previous opa bombing??

whoa was that who that was?! that makes more sense, I thought it was some random new plot element from his criminal past but you are right. I assume he was seeing her for reasons yet unknown.

that episode totally fucking ruled, obviously, the shock wave taking out UN1 was A++

In the book they transport her back to earth from the ring gate for trial. It’s takes months to cover the distance and at some point they let her out and Amos and her form a bond repairing stuff on the rocinante, which is beat up after the slow zone incident.

Everything is a bit foreshortened in the tv series but the better pacing suits it. The inaros stuff is a bit turgid in the book.

ah, thanks for context