The Small Fries

In late December 2015, The Expanse premiered on Syfy. Set hundreds of years in the future, we see the human race colonizing in the solar system and Mars becoming a very independent military power. Eight episodes in and I’m completely obsessed. The show is based on a series of books written by James S. A. Corey but was marketed as “Game of Thrones in Space.” So, naturally I was interested. Right from the start, The Expanse draws viewers in when the Cantebury, a Belter salvaging ship, is attacked by the mysterious stealth ship, The Anubis. Only four survived the attack and immediately broadcast a cry for help with Jim Holden (Steven Strait) accusing the Mars Navy of attacking the “Cant.” This causes a major uproar on Earth, Mars, and “The Belt,” bringing everyone on the verge of war. The Outer Planets Alliance (OPA) is a group of advocates for human rights in The Belt, and their extremists see the attack as an act of war on “Belters.” Earth thinks it was Mars, and Mars thinks it was Earth trying to frame them. The Solar System is in a very fragile state, and uncovering any sort of conspiracy could cause it to break.

Survivors of The Cantebury

With that being said, Detective Joe Miller (Thomas Jane) is on a missing persons case, looking for Julie Mau. He slowly learns that she was on a ship, run by OPA, called the Scopuli. This ship had been at the center of the enter plot; that and Phoebe Station. Everyone has been looking for an answer as to what happened at Phoebe Station and where the crew of the Scopuli is. Little does everyone know that the stealth ship that blew up the Cant connects everything together. However, at the end of the newest episode, we see Julie Mau dead - infected by the same thing that killed everyone on the Scopuli, Phoebe Station, and the Anubis. It is safe to assume that the conspiracy someone is trying to cover up is attached to whatever originally began at Phoebe Station.

Detective Joe Miller

Confused? So was I until last week’s episode aired and some of the loose ends started to come together. My advise to you is to watch the show for yourself. There so much I’ve left out that digs even deeper into these incidents and the characters’ backgrounds; for example, Jim Holden being from a piece of farmland in Montana and is basically a pool of 9 different people’s genetics, created so he could inherit the land and keep it out of the government’s hands. And it only starts there.

United Nations Assistant Undersecretary of Executive Administrations, Chrisjen Avasarala

Now, as I watched this, the idea of The Expanse being “Game of Thrones in Space” was always in the back of my mind. Aside from being a mess of political backstabbing and hidden agendas, I didn’t see many similarities. The multi-storylines make the show compelling and interesting. So far our main storylines are from the point of views of Jim Holden, Detective Miller, Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) - UN Representative of Earth, and OPA extremist Fred Johnson (Chad L. Colemen). Each of these stories gives us insight to what is happening to the survivors of the Cant, The Belters, Earth, and Tycho Station (respectively). On top of each captivating stories, the characters all have dark and mysterious pasts slowly being revealed that cause you to ask even more questions at the end of each episode.

OPA Leader, Fred Johnson (The Butcher)

This show is well written and well cast. The Expanse doesn’t feel like many of the other sci-fi shows that have graced television. It is clearly a character driven plot that focuses more on the situations and backgrounds of characters as opposed to the tech and alien races. The theme of survival is a focal point of the whole show: trying to stop a war and save millions of people; fighting for fresh air and water; running to the OPA for knowing too much.

Sadly, the season finale of The Expanse airs tonight, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get caught up on this fascinating show that has been signed on for a second season.

Catch up on The Expanse at syfy.com!

--Kasey