SeaSon 2 The expanse
Deserves an expanded audience
UK Broadcast Netflix, TBC US Broadcast Syfy, finished Episodes Reviewed 2.01-2.13
It’s a crime that The expanse isn’t being lauded from the rooftops in the same way that other genre shows, such as
Battlestar Galactica or Game Of Thrones, have been. It desperately needs to cross over into the mainstream and become a watercooler series, just like they did. It should have more viewers, too (even though, thankfully, season three has already been greenlit). It needs all of the above for no other reason than that The Expanse is fantastic television, and the thought of people missing out on watching it is just... well, tragic.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the show: season one followed a cop, Josephus “Joe” Miller (Thomas Jane), tracking a missing woman, Julie Mao (Florence Faivre), across the solar system. Elsewhere, a ship filled with conflicted do-gooders tried to stop a war between Earth and Mars. Along the way a mysterious and deadly “protomolecule” started threatening to reproduce.
Season two – warning: here be spoilers – picks up with this weird alien organism becoming a major issue: not only to our cast of disparate heroes, but to planet Earth itself. Someone has been experimenting with hybrid protomolecule soldiers, too, which really throws the cat among the pigeons. Alas, the silly creature is this season’s only flaw: The
Expanse’s effects are usually flawless, so when they expose the show’s non-movie budget, unfortunately it really jars.
This season also brings us mardy-faced Martian soldier Bobbie (Frankie Adams, above), which means we get a welcome look at the Red Planet mindset; action sequences and effects that will drop jaws (aforementioned creature aside); and the loss of one of the show’s best characters.
It’s this departure, which happens in the fifth episode, that brings home precisely why The
Expanse is just so praiseworthy: it’s a perfect juxtaposition of a character moment with a staggering, effects-filled action sequence. It needed subtle handling, and it got it. In fact, you could argue it’s the TV highlight of 2017 to date. You may even cry when it’s over.
The fact that the show pulled this off so brilliantly left you wanting to discuss it with the world... but the world wasn’t listening. So we need to make it listen. The Expanse is essential television. Tell everybody, and immediately. Jayne Nelson