Is anybody else watching The Expanse?

veg that's my ranking too

and Holden last bc he’s such a goob

agreed but 'there was a button and i pushed it' was great

i'd move bobbi down to 4th but thats just coz love chrisjen and drummer so much
cara gee really has been so good on this, anyone ever seen anything else she's been in?

she was in one episode of LETTERKENNY, eh?

almost didn’t recognize her without the eyelids

agreed but 'there was a button and i pushed it' was great

― mookieproof, Saturday, February 27, 2021 11:50 PM (yesterday

lol yeah!

Although the authors have stated that they edit each other's chapters several times, Franck is the main writer on the chapters with Holden, Amos, Bobbie, and Anna as viewpoint characters, and Abraham writes Miller, Melba, Avasarala, Bull, Prax, Naomi, and Alex

I'm guessing Holden is a better character in the books -- in the TV show, all of Franck's other characters > all of Abraham's characters.

They're not very different (I don't care much for the book Holden or show Holden thus far) but I don't think Steven Strait is a great actor, which hurts the show character

Strait has grown, or grown on me, a lot over the years tbh

to put it another way, he's much easier for me to watch than Jon Snow despite essentially being Jon Space

it's always sort of helped for me that he looks practically identical to one of my top HTFAC footballing heroes of the last decade, the German centre-back Christopher Schindler. So I just let it go that he's a pisspoor actor with zero charisma.

Jon Space is a perfect description

the Zeppo of the stars, if you will

He's the blank slate handsome male lead who just knows how to do things, possible audience insert character. I think the writers know that is all he is and give him the material he's fated to have. That was probably the misstep with the alien technology planet -- they had this kind of interesting self-contained plot arc that added lore to the main story, but having it so Holden-centric on the ground was just kind of blah. The space stuff got short shrift in the show but it honestly was a lot of technical maneuvering and material shortages so there wasn't a lot for the screen there, either.

I guess his main bonus aspect is everyone can say "oh, it's so nice you're here to keep our forward momentum going, buddy!" while every other character is less boring

honestly, Alex was the second-most boring to me in the books, just this old-timey former military guy who was dodging his family and doing scutwork because he'd rather be on a job. not a huge loss as far as the show goes?

I think the fact the show was fairly gamed-out as a rpg-style exercise makes a lot of the choices make sense. Each character is a different class, and differing faction alliances and backstories. Holden has points allocated to leadership and pluckiness and his backstory is "hey I'm from the future and my family is some sort of collective child-raising/polycule thing" but not a lot beyond that

I actually quite like Strait, he has a weary glumness that rings true for someone who has been through all that shit.

he's a bimbo who unexpectedly got involved in an intergalactic power struggle and is just tryina do good, and within those parameters he knocks it outta the park imo

sorry, interplanetary

he does do the glumness well

imagine, you’ve fucked off to an ice hauler gig and the galaxy finally gives you purpose in life and it’s just this never-ending series of bullshit

imagine, you’ve fucked off to an ice hauler gig and the galaxy finally gives you purpose in life and it’s just this never-ending series of bullshit

― mh, Wednesday, March 3, 2021 7:40 AM (twenty-four minutes ago)

honestly this is super relatable to me ... I do miss the Holden/Miller interplay

imagine, you’ve fucked off to an ice hauler gig and the galaxy finally gives you purpose in life and it’s just this never-ending series of bullshit

and also everyone in the galaxy knows who you are and mostly just finds you annoying

when you make the Right decisions that benefit the common good and no one group in particular, no one group will be your friends

and combine that with being the first one to tell people something they really don't want to hear. I do feel that he could be written better though -- there are some more interesting/funny bits in the books that the show doesn't use. It's like they're thinking, "isn't being the cute white guy in charge enough?"

I was sort of hoping the show would do more with his weird family/origins situation but it would pull attention from too many other characters I like better. This is the rare show that would actually benefit from longer seasons.

yeah, i don't really have a problem with with strait, holden was boring in books as well, so strait at least pretty when furrows brow
the books don't really give anyone deep characterization so not much lost by portrayal and think show done great and better job of providing emotions and motivation to all

think someone posted above re show but i think just comes from books they were set up as RPG to begin with

also he furrows his brow and frowns stoically so much of the time that when he does have occasion to crack a genuine smile it feels like a major moment, lol

every time holden smiles i genuinely think "wow that guy has such a nice, warm, inviting smile! i love this guy!"

He's the straight man, his name is literally Strait. He's my least favorite of the major characters, but as an inert mass that the rest of the characters orbit around I guess he does the job. I don't know how much more a better actor could do with the part. Though Timothy Olyphant, e.g., might make it more interesting.

Recast everyone with it's always sunny players. Jimmi Simpson already played the same kind of mopey character in Westworld and Perpetual Grace.

The Gang Opens an Intergalactic Alien Portal

Fred Johnson may stay.
https://i.redd.it/mqsgtpj4kql01.jpg

how the fuck did I not make the connection that Fred Johnson is Cutty from The Wire

i.... dk!

dude

his range in acting is such that he was completely incognito

what makes little sense is when he showed up on Always Sunny, I said "that's Cutty" immediately, yet no reaction when I saw him on the Expanse

the game wasn't in him anymore

in the books he survives the assassination

Drummer wasn't a fan favorite by then. There's certainly some influence of the show on the later books.

Cara Gee deserves immense credit for what she's done with that role. She rules.

Yeah the show is playing out a bit differently than the books, moreso in the later seasons. I was surprised that some chunks of book 6 (which I just finished) were pulled into season 5 - I feel they'll have to add quite a bit of new or future material to season 6 to compensate. Incidentally book 6 was my least favorite thus far, didn't have enough to it, too many POVs

started this up recently, about 6 episodes in, still on the fence

noooo keep going it's so good. but honestly if those first 6 don't hook you it might just not be for you. by the time they escaped the Martian ship I was hooked.

I'm convinced that the Rocinante is a sly reference to "Cygnus X-1" and "Hemispheres" by Rush

Heh I knew of the Don Quixote reference but not the Rush one, seems likely to have inspired the books

I saw the Fred Jackson/Cutty guy in Walking Dead back when I was watching that. Think I've seen him elsewhere too.

Used to be a time when it seemed that there was only a small pool of black actors that were used at any one time. Like there were only 5 black actors permitted in Hollywood. So hope that is becoming a thing of the past.

He's also in The Orville but you're unlikely to recognise him from that

yeah he's under prosthetics but I think he can be recognised a bit. Have managed to do that before. Did know who he was when you said taht. but may have looked it up before.
THink he has been in a few things anyway.

OH & probably nice that Expanse does seem to be using a pretty diverse array of ethnicities. Not read teh boooks yet so not sure to what extent that reflects teh source material.
BUt does seem that there are diverse people in authority roles and things doesn't it.
Which I hope more projects do

I don't recall the books specifying any ethnicities but things like Avasarala's saris and last name give some hints

The main weakness in terms of representation on the show is that everyone is apparently cis, which is extra glaring cause, yknow, it's the future? I remember when Spartacus' showrunner announced that he was going to make an extremely horny and gay sci-fi series for Starz, but they pulled the plug at seemingly the last minute...someone still needs to make that show

everyone is apparently cis

Except for Drummer and at least half her crew, sure.