The Best Thing on TV This Year Was: ‘The Expanse’
Credit to Author: Nicole Clark| Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2018 13:19:04 +0000
There are levels of loving a TV show. There’s “I love this show” in the moment you watch it, well knowing you’ll forget it as soon as it’s replaced by another great one. And then there’s the show that knocks you on your ass, becomes an all-time top favourite almost immediately—an “I love this show so much my friends and family have put a moratorium on talking about it, because we love you, honey, but we’re sick of hearing about deep space.”
The Expanse belongs in that celebrated last category—anyone who has breathed air next to me knows that I love it to the point of annoyance. It’s a space opera set in a future where Mars has been colonized into a militant, technologically powerful state, and the asteroids have been converted into a working class series of ports. These two powers teeter on the brink of war with Earth. Conflict between Martians, Earthers, and Belters (asteroid dwellers) comes to a head when an extraterrestrial pathogen called the “protomolecule,” is unleashed. The show unfolds like a sci fi noir mystery-thriller, taking us across the expanse of the universe to figure out where it came from and how it impacts everyone. It’s been called Game of Thrones in space.
Even if you haven’t watched this show, you might have heard of it from its wildly loyal fans who launched a “save The Expanse” campaign after Syfy dropped the show earlier this year. They raised money to fly an airplane banner over Amazon Studios in Santa Monica, and to send a small model of the Rocinante—the show’s main spaceship—into space. This fandom is part of the reason Amazon picked up the show and is currently producing its fourth season (seasons 1-3 can be streamed). I count myself as one of those fans, and would happily throw money at sending another Rocinante (or maybe a Razorback) into space if it ever comes to it. But I would much rather you all watch it, so I won’t have to do that.
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This article originally appeared on VICE US.