The Expanse- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review
“The Expanse” is a top tier space opera.
Based on the book series by James S.A. Corey (AKA Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck who also worked on this TV series), “The Expanse” is a 6 season sci-fi series that focuses on the conflict between Earth, Mars, and the Outer Planets Alliance (AKA the OPA or Belters). From the get go there is tension between the 3 and those tensions only ratchet up. The story primarily focuses on a group of ice haulers (James Holden, Alex Kamal, Naomi Nagata, and Amos Burton) who become embroiled in a galactic conflict. After they answer a distress call, their lives take a dramatic turn amid ship destruction, murder, and the revelation of the protomolecule (no spoilers as to what that is). A Detective (Joe Miller) winds up crossing paths with the ice haulers upon investigating a missing persons case (which turns out to be tied into their own ordeal). From there on out, the story continues forward and contains plots about Chrisjen Avasarala of the UN Security Council, a Martian marine (Bobbie Draper), Tycho Station, an incident on Ganymede, a botanist (Prax) searching for his daughter, war, Venus, wormholes, the planet Ilus, settlers, Belter rebels led by Marco Inaros, and alien life.
For those that have been missing a space opera in the vein of “Battlestar Galactica” or “Babylon 5,” you needn’t look any further. “The Expanse” is your next obsession. It’s a big, intelligent, adult sci-fi saga about politics, conspiracies, mystery, division, cover-ups, and conflicts. It’s very novelistic in its approach which makes sense given that it’s based on novels. Some fans of the book series may scoff at the show deviating from the source material, but the show doesn’t suffer for any changes. It helps that the book series creators are heavily involved with the series as well.
What really grabs you about “The Expanse” is the rich world building. Admittedly, season 1 has a lot of ground to cover and even then it feels like you’re only scraping the surface. Stick with it though because, thankfully, from season 2 on out the show hits the ground running in its exploration of the world of the Expanse. Seeing how the story unfolds and learning more about the universe the characters inhabit is nothing short of rewarding. If the show has any real downsides it’s that the truncated season 6 feels rushed. You really want the show to keep going as there’s more story to tell.
Cast wise, there’s a lot of highlights here. Thomas Jane was born to play Joe Miller. He embodies the Detective so well. Steven Strait does a fine job leading the show. Academy Award nominated Shoreh Aghdashloo classes up the show as the clever and calculating Chrisjen. Cara Gee is a fan favorite as Camina Drummer for a reason. Wes Chatham brings depth to the frequently violent Amos. Dominique Tipper’s career has rightly taken off with her performance as Naomi. Veteran actors Jared Harris and David Strathairn also make a big impression in their supporting roles.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p for the first 4 seasons and 2.00:1 1080p for seasons 5 and 6. How do the episodes look? Simply put, this is the best way to watch the series.
Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? Viewers can expect a layered and immersive 5.1 track.
Extras:
* Season 1- Deleted scenes for “Dulcinea.”
* Season 2- Trailer and previews, “The Powerful Women Of The Expanse” (on the female cast members), “We Love Our Fans” (about the fandom), “Top 9 Job Requirements” (the cast talks about working on the show), and commentaries on “Safe” (Breck Eisner, Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Mark Fergus and Naren Shankar), “Doors And Corners” (Cas Anvar, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), “Home” (Bob Munroe and Mark Fergus), “Paradigm Shift” (Daniel Abraham and Naren Shankar), “The Seventh Man” (Frankie Adams and Mark Fergus), “Pyre” (Wes Chatham and Naren Shankar), “The Monster And The Rocket” (Steven Strait, Mark Fergus and Shohreh Aghdashloo), and “Caliban’s War” (Dominique Tipper, Ty Franck and Naren Shankar)
* Season 3- Preview, teasers, and trailer, “Twitter Segment” (Q&A), “Avasarala’s Closet” (costume featurette), “Flight Of The Razorback” (about the ship), and “Klaes Ashford: Building A Character” (about David Strathairn’s character).
* Season 4- Roundtable Talks after shows for all 10 episodes with various cast members, “Art Meets Science At Blue Origin” (about the company), “A New World On Mars” (about the Mars visuals and interpretation), “Script To Screen: The Rocinant’s Landing” (a look at the visual effects evolution of the sequence) and “It Reaches Out: ProtoMiller’s Point Of View” (about the protomolecule).
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