the other recent new SyFy show The Magicians (which is imo better than The Expanse) ALSO had gravity-defying midair sex in the pilot
― some dude, Saturday, 27 February 2016 23:40 (eight years ago) link
I like both shows a lot, nice to see SyFy step it up
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Sunday, 28 February 2016 00:41 (eight years ago) link
I've read all the Magicians books too and whilst I'm enjoying the show, I think The Expanse is much better.
Do they go out at different times in the States? It's noticeable that whilst Avasarala is very foul mouthed in the books, on the show she's not whereas The Magicians seems to have no problems dropping in the f-word several times each episode.
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 2 March 2016 13:20 (eight years ago) link
There's been a recent trend towards series that air on non-sweary networks to throw in curses they can't actually air and just blank them out. (This is especially glaring on American Crime, where - I assume as a deliberate aesthetic choice - every "fuck" is announced with a few frames of completely blacked-out screen.)
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 2 March 2016 15:52 (eight years ago) link
I assume it's because they know/hope the unedited versions will be available on DVD
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 2 March 2016 17:07 (eight years ago) link
They announced to book fans that TV Avasarala would be very different in her first scene (water balloon assault punished by tickling). When combined with the 20 hour gravity torture she becomes a complex character in just two scenes. The comic relief has been redistributed to Alex & Amos. I expect Avasarala will provide profane fan service once removed from family and immediate superiors, and with her progressive exasperation.
Upon reading the books, there's some remarkably efficient screenwriting going on, particularly in episodes 1, 3, and 9. There's also so much background detail to catch in reviewings: the 90 second tracking shot at 4 minutes into the premiere encompasses 40 pages of descriptive text.
― Assault Mime (Sanpaku), Wednesday, 2 March 2016 20:08 (eight years ago) link
the pilot of the Canterbury / Rocinante is one of the worst actors I have ever seen in anything, pro or amateur - it is astonishing to watch the man work
I like how certain bits of the world-building they just sort of gave up on, like, yeah, everyone's basically got phones they look at all the time, and bars will probably be playing Basic Channel style techno, good enough
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 3 March 2016 22:50 (eight years ago) link
ugh hate the pilot sooooo much
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 4 March 2016 00:23 (eight years ago) link
Cas Anvar (who plays the Alex, pilot) has [a career of hamming it up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKvSt69Whr8), but to be fair Alex in the books has the Texas drawl adopted by Indian and Chinese immigrants to the Mariner Valley, and in the books the accent disappears during stressful events (MCRN conditioning). The authors also view Alex as the dumb one who blurts what's on his surface.
When we have Oscar winners most notable for squinting meaningfully, its hard for me to kvetch about acting according to some weird marionette strings.
― Assault Mime (Sanpaku), Friday, 4 March 2016 03:55 (eight years ago) link
xp: A few have gone ahead and gotten the full cybernetic implants, but for baseline humans, the smartphone, or as they call it in the books, datacube, is a pretty optimal format. It also allowed them to shorthand the pathos of Miller with his perpetually cracked phone.
― Assault Mime (Sanpaku), Friday, 4 March 2016 03:59 (eight years ago) link
It's not his accent - most of the accents are weird in this show - and I don't think he's actually that hammy - Thomas Jane is way hammier. It's like he literally doesn't know what speech rhythms humans use to communicate with each other.
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 4 March 2016 10:24 (eight years ago) link
P sure he thinks he's in Firefly
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 4 March 2016 16:42 (eight years ago) link
Before/after reels from Spin VFX and Rocket Science VFX. Spoilers to Season 1, obv.
― Assault Mime (Sanpaku), Saturday, 5 March 2016 06:51 (eight years ago) link
the guy who plays Amos is awesome, probably my favorite actor in the whole thing.
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 5 March 2016 10:39 (eight years ago) link
Yep. I'd rank em (Why? its ILX):
Wes Chatham - Amos BurtonShohreh Aghdashloo - Chrisjen AvasaralaThomas Jane - Joe MillerChad L. Coleman - Col. Frederick Lucius Johnson (shone in The Wire, utterly wasted in The Walking Dead)Dominique Tipper - Naomi Nagata (sometimes a bit too inscrutable)Florence Faivre - Julie Mao (impressive, considering she's a model with a few walkons)Steven Strait - Jim Holden (too young, not enough gravitas for this role)Shawn Doyle - Sadavir Errinwright (a Paul Reiser for our time)Cas Anvar - Alex Kamal (I defended him above, but he's got the worst script)
― Assault Mime (Sanpaku), Sunday, 6 March 2016 02:15 (eight years ago) link
Special mention:
Greg Bryk - Lopez (the Martian intel officer who went from creepy to heroic in 2 episodes)Elias Toufexis - Kenzo (the stowaway spy. Stayed creepy, and convincingly played unconvincing)
― Assault Mime (Sanpaku), Sunday, 6 March 2016 02:19 (eight years ago) link
how can you be forgetting Jared Harris as Anderson Dawes, leader of the OPA on Ceres?? He'd be #2 on my list. Despite having to say some of the most ludicrous lines in the series, which is saying something, and despite having to adopt this weirdo Belter Afrikaans/Carib patois
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 6 March 2016 12:13 (eight years ago) link
For all of Thomas Jane's quirks & corniness, when he finally finds the girl (spoilers etc) it was genuinely sad & v moving
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 6 March 2016 16:05 (eight years ago) link
Halfway through this, after recommendation on the Netflix thread. So fun!
I'm ashamed to say I only really started getting into it after the ((spoiler)) headsplodey incident in episode 4. But I'm totally hooked now. The characters are super blank, but the plot and FX are fun enough that it doesn't matter. They've done an amazing job of making it look expensive, even though you know it's really cheap. I don't think I've ever seen a TV show shot in Toronto that looks expensive.
Jared Harris's accent though, bloody hell. He sounds like Adam Buxton doing a voice.
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 20 October 2016 16:24 (seven years ago) link
yeah it's kind of a slow burn at first, but it ramps up to be v enjoyable
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 20 October 2016 16:29 (seven years ago) link
Good grief that accent! Maybe JH is such a nice guy that nobody had the heart to tell him to stop doing it.
― calzino, Thursday, 20 October 2016 17:50 (seven years ago) link
it's v upsetting
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 20 October 2016 17:53 (seven years ago) link
Was hoping that revival of thread might be a sign that there was a season 2 imminent. Was really getting into this when the series ended.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 20 October 2016 18:09 (seven years ago) link
season 2 is slated for spring iirc?
― ciderpress, Thursday, 20 October 2016 18:10 (seven years ago) link
Hope so. Would like some more
― Stevolende, Thursday, 20 October 2016 18:23 (seven years ago) link
17 Jan!
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 20 October 2016 20:03 (seven years ago) link
boooooo
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 20 October 2016 22:06 (seven years ago) link
JAN not JUN!
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 20 October 2016 22:07 (seven years ago) link
Shame it ain't sooner nonetheless. It went over the winter last year according to IMDB. Started in November.But great that there is a concrete date for its return. Looking forward to seeing it.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 20 October 2016 22:23 (seven years ago) link
Yes. Almost as excited for this as I am for the new Nintendo
― El Tomboto, Friday, 21 October 2016 00:56 (seven years ago) link
That finale was REALLY good. Some Caves of Androzani vibes. Definitely a "grim 80s Doctor Who" thing going on.
Has anyone read the books - could I pick up the 2nd book where this leaves off?
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 25 October 2016 22:30 (seven years ago) link
yeah otm re the dark Whovian vibe.
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 26 October 2016 05:13 (seven years ago) link
Weird how critical I was on this thread - in my memory this ruled unconditionally
Maybe a year of attempting to fill the void with garbage like Killjoys has done this
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 26 October 2016 08:40 (seven years ago) link
I've just started this. E2 was a bit slow but let's see what happens.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Wednesday, 26 October 2016 09:17 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, the first three episodes are a slog, but it hits a groove with the 4th and keeps getting better.
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 26 October 2016 09:27 (seven years ago) link
That finale was REALLY good. Some Caves of Androzani vibes. Definitely a "grim 80s Doctor Who" thing going on. Has anyone read the books - could I pick up the 2nd book where this leaves off?
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 26 October 2016 10:25 (seven years ago) link
Just checked. Chapter 31 of the first book is basically the last one covered in season one.
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 26 October 2016 10:34 (seven years ago) link
Thanks! Think I'll read from the start. Seems readable enough from the excerpt.
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 26 October 2016 11:45 (seven years ago) link
@ Chuck
I've listened to all the audiobooks. Season 1 ended about 2/3 of the way through the first book Leviathan Wakes, while including elements of the novella The Butcher of Anderson Station. The rest are fairly good, with the exception of book 4 Cibola Burn, which is a chore one could skip, excepting a few moments of exposition about the makers of the protomolecule.
― publicity hungry, opportunistic, disgruntled former employee (Sanpaku), Thursday, 27 October 2016 01:29 (seven years ago) link
Just binge watched this, didn't realise it ended on a cliffhanger! Hope season 2 comes to netflix uk quickly. Agreed that episode 4 is where it got good, after that I was prepared to forgive its faults - such as the entire earth government apparently consisting of two people, or the fortunate existence of bulletproof sofas.
― quis gropes ipsos gropiuses? (ledge), Sunday, 13 November 2016 22:24 (seven years ago) link
Hope season 2 comes to netflix uk quickly
I was about to bump this thread and complain that February can't come soon enough
― El Tomboto, Sunday, 13 November 2016 22:32 (seven years ago) link
In print, Avasarala doesn't appear until book 2 (which we might see covered mid-season 2). Having read the series, I think the screenwriters did a great job pulling an Earth perspective into the exposition.
I love Shohreh Aghdashloo's voice so much I want to d/l some of the handful of audiobooks she's narrated for sleepytime.
― Distribution of all possible outcomes (Sanpaku), Sunday, 13 November 2016 22:43 (seven years ago) link
some of the accents in this show. it's really offputting.
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Monday, 14 November 2016 01:16 (seven years ago) link
Jared Harris especially.. what is going on?
― Lennon, Elvis, Hendrix etc (dog latin), Monday, 14 November 2016 01:18 (seven years ago) link
red herring designed to throw you off - !stay the course!
― Flamenco Drop (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 14 November 2016 04:14 (seven years ago) link
Scuttlebutt on the subreddit earlier this year was that the 2nd season cuts way back on Belter language. Somewhat disappointing, as that added to the sense of place, but to be fair, they did a lousy job emphasizing that everyone on Ceres spoke the creole.
― Distribution of all possible outcomes (Sanpaku), Monday, 14 November 2016 06:10 (seven years ago) link
it's funny how many of the characters in Ep 1 I just assumed were going to be around for awhile!
lol @ hunkademus cap'n jim having such good zero-g sex he has to literally wipe away a tear after descending to full-g
"here comes the juice" indeed
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 7 January 2017 23:44 (seven years ago) link
also i, er, forgot that shohreh aghdashloo runs an earth-based torture camp where rubber-limbed belters wilt until they talk, or die
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 7 January 2017 23:45 (seven years ago) link
fuck! I can't wait for this.
― calzino, Sunday, 8 January 2017 00:14 (seven years ago) link
Hint from Book 6: both are safe.
― not because roaches like to party (Sanpaku), Sunday, 8 January 2017 01:40 (seven years ago) link
Oh shiiiiitttt!!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 12 April 2024 00:03 (three weeks ago) link
It's cool that it focuses on Drummer
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Friday, 12 April 2024 00:06 (three weeks ago) link
S2 E6 - Holy shit.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 13:46 (one week ago) link
For the Telltale game, I love the focus on Drummer but I hate how high the bar is for choosing correctly in order to avoid very unpleasant story line turns. I love hearing that actor play that character again, but right now I'm trying to decide whether to start over on the game or abandon it.
― fajita seas, Wednesday, 24 April 2024 19:36 (one week ago) link
Cara Gee’s real accent is very confusing in interviews IIRC.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, 25 April 2024 02:54 (one week ago) link