The Expanse – An Isolation Binge Review

Over the past few weeks, I have taken to singing a demented version of The Expanse theme song every time it plays. It goes something like:

The Expanse / With my ‘spansey-pants / I only had one chance / To do my ‘spansey-dance

I have also taken to using the word “spanse” to mean any number of things in my everyday life, usually when my partner asks me a question and too much of my brain power is spent on musings about The Expanse.

All this to say that I am not the right man to be reviewing this series—I am clearly too far gone. I am a ‘spansey man.

I am, however, the right man to tell you why you should binge The Expanse and become a hideous, cave-dwelling ‘spansey man and/or woman yourself. Strap yourself in and embrace your injection of the good juice, because we’re about to enter high G.

Worldbuilding out the Wahoo

The Expanse is set in a simple but highly-strung near future. Earth remains a hub of political power and influence, but its former colony Mars has emerged as a looming independent superpower. Earth and Mars spread their influence over handful of colonies on nearby moons and resource rich asteroids in the asteroid belt. However, the working class who mine the resources from these asteroids have become a people unto themselves—the Belters—complete with their own physiology and language.

The series’ solar system scope means there’s no hyper-jumping to different galaxies from the get-go. Instead, every character is subject to the harsh political ecosystem of Earth, Mars and the Belt. Earth’s insatiable hunger for resources and control is all too recognisable, which drives Mars’ fierce nationalism and military protection of their independence. Meanwhile, the Belters on the outer ring suffer poor living conditions and oppression from their planet-bound progenitors, and any prospective leaders are divided into feuding (often criminal) factions.

This setting was originally conceived as the world for a potential MMORPG by Ty Franck, who would later be convinced by his author friend Daniel Abraham to turn the rich seeds of conflict built into his world into a fully-fledged book series. Together, they developed the book series under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey—essentially, playing Franck’s MMORPG by themselves… and boy is it fun watching these men play with themselves.

Realism and Detail

Have you ever felt betrayed by a promising sci-fi series that waves away the laws of physics with an airy explanation that makes no sense? If so, you can damn well bet The Expanse will treat you right. The Expanse’s spaceflight follows the fascinating laws of gravity and orbit, a refreshing departure from the usual Top-Gun-in-space approach.

I know that The Expanse’s Alex Kamal is a good pilot, and not just because everyone says he is (looking at you, Star Wars). I know this because I have attempted the same manoeuvres in Kerbal Space Program—a spaceflight simulator so realistic that NASA gave it their stamp of approval—and killed hundreds of innocent Kerbals. Only once you have tasted the full horror of catastrophic failure in space can you appreciate what a mad lad Alex is in the pilot’s seat.

Exciting Narratives Driven By Classic Sci-Fi Bullshit

Happily, the series’ sci-fi scope isn’t limited to the constraints of its premise. From the series’ opening sequence, we are made privy to some Ominous Blue Shit, and we get the sense that even with a world far more expansive than our own, our characters still grapple with an incomprehensibly large and complex universe.

This fun element of unknown drives the series through deep layers of mystery to moments of legitimate eldritch horror, through narrative atmospheres ranging from tense war drama to apocalyptic survival to frontier western.

Compelling Characters

If compelling characters are the currency of a good sci-fi series, The Expanse is making it rain. Thomas Jane turns grime into gold as burnt-out noir detective Josephus Miller, balancing the archetypal investigator with raw, believable humanity. Steven Strait’s James Holden is a chiselled but still relatable coffee-loving everyman (literally; he has five dads). Shohreh Aghdashloo was born to play U.N. politician and shit-stirrer Chrisjen Avasarala—I’m quite certain the character was written with the actress’ unmistakeable presence in mind. There’s a strange poetry to her lilting, foul-mouthed tirades.

Even its villains tend to have some good sense behind their plans and philosophies, even when they’re batshit crazy—a testament to the rich worldbuilding and sensible character development of the books.

And, of course, Amos Burton is the hero I never knew space needed. You’ll know it when you see it.

There Is Plenty More to Come

The Expanse just completed its fourth season on Prime after surviving cancellation on the Sy Fy network, and a fifth season is already on the way—luckily, filming was confirmed to be completed before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Hollywood productions. You may still ask, however, if The Expanse has the future prospects to be a worthy time investment. Could it end up disappointing us all like another certain large-scale book series adaptation?

Well, so far, the TV series has covered one book per season on average. There are currently eight books in The Expanse series that have released roughly once a year since 2011, with a final ninth instalment slated for release this year. And that’s not George R. R. Martin-style slated for release either—the entire nine-book series may be done and dusted in the time it takes GRRM to write The Winds of Winter. Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham get shit done.

This means that if all goes well, there are five more seasons of The Expanse to look forward to. And even if the final book isn’t released in the next five years? No problem: the book authors are also writers on the show. So even in the worst-case scenario, the last season should still feel authentic.

Well There You Have It.

Don’t let me keep you any longer. You and I both know that you are going to binge The Expanse. Just be sure to hydrate, and don’t touch the blue stuff.