Syfy is billing The Expanse as the most ambitious series in its history, and from what we’ve seen, that shows. It has a look and feel that combines good old space opera with sleek science fiction, reminding us of Guardians of the Galaxy at times in its fun yet thrilling depiction of a future that — despite being set 200 years away from our time, when humanity has colonized the solar system — still has a lived-in look. There’s nothing tidy about this future, or its characters, especially rogue ship’s captain Jim Holden (Steven Strait, pictured).
“We have the technology and stuff, but it’s character-driven,” says Strait, who is also a fan of the books The Expanse is adapting. “It’s based on the stories of these people, and that’s what drew me in. You have the incredible scope and size of what we’ve done, but at the end of the day it’s a character-driven drama revolving around three people. If that’s not grounded, none of the rest means anything.”
Those three people are Holden, Detective Miller (Thomas Jane) and Deputy Undersecretary for the United Nations Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who we first see in separate arcs but who will increasingly have their stories brought together over 10 episodes as the case of a missing young woman evolves into a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.
Much of Holden’s story, at least initially, takes place as he and the remnants of his crew are stranded aboard their ship, with some scenes (including a sex scene) taking place in zero gravity. That called for some expert wirework.
“We had a choreographer on set to keep us honest about how people move in space,” Strait says, “because it’s not like flying or like swimming. It’s not that. It’s something else. There’s an elegance to it. … I have a cousin who’s in the Navy, who’s on a submarine, and [I was] just kind of learning what it’s like to be confined for so long with this small group of people, without natural light, without breathing fresh air, what that does to the mind.”
The Expanse should have a thrilling effect on the minds of viewers, and we can’t wait to see the rest of the series.
The Expanse premieres over two nights, Dec. 14 & 15, at 10pm ET. It airs regularly Tuesdays at 10pm ET beginning Dec. 22 on Syfy.
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Steven Strait in The Expanse: Rafy/Syfy
Not as good as yesterday’s (which I loved) due to less moving parts, and those there were were generally less interesting than the pilot.
Still fun though. I kinda want to take a crack at episodes 3 and 4 (available at syfy.com) but that would then mean three weeks until I got a new episode.
Decisions, decisions…