abigail phoebe

you should watch the expanse

you should really watch the expanse.

it's my favorite tv show of all time, hell, favorite piece of media ever made.

this note will not contain any spoilers beyond the world building shown 30 seconds into the first episode. there are 62 episodes spread across 6 seasons.

the entire series kicks off with the following text appearing on the screen:

IN THE 23RD CENTURY,
HUMANS HAVE COLONIZED THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

THE U.N. CONTROLS EARTH.
MARS IS AN INDEPENDENT MILITARY POWER.

THE INNER PLANETS DEPEND ON THE RESOURCES OF THE ASTEROID BELT.
BELTERS LIVE AND WORK IN SPACE.

IN THE BELT, AIR & WATER ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD.
FOR DECADES, TENSIONS HAVE BEEN RISING.
EARTH, MARS & THE BELT ARE NOW ON THE BRINK OF WAR.

ALL IT WILL TAKE IS A SINGLE SPARK.

the expanse is not your typical sci-fi show, nor is it one i can easily talk about without spoiling.

its world building is immense but is distinctly not entirely implausible. minus the █████████████, i could see this as a very possible future of humanity.

belters have their own fully developed language, belter creole. there are a few people who can speak it fluently, its a mix between several languages. it's fun. i wish it were more widely known and spoken as it has some fun quirks.

a fun fact about the expanse is that it was cancelled after its third season due to high production costs (which, i can see how given the amount of high quality fully cgi scenes). in response, the expanse community- including me! -ran a very, very active fan campaign to push for someone (specifically amazon) to buy the rights to the show and renew it for several more seasons. we flew planes with banners with #SaveTheExpanse trailing behind over amazon studios headquarters, and also had a petition that gained over 100,000 signatures.

it was finally confirmed and renewed for three more seasons, currently the expanse is on season six, its "final season" - though this is not due to missing lore, as there is much more content the books.

there is however a very large time skip, and as of right now, there are no plans for a seventh season; nor any indication of what such a season could look like (does it have the time skip? does it make new content to carry on from the end of the sixth season? etc). i expect we will get one sometime, but i don't think it will be all that soon.

any review written about the expanse is a failure of a review if it fails to mention chrisjen avasarala - she is my favorite character, not just in the expanse but in all media. she is introduced in episode 1 season 1, and while not technically a "main character", she does get a significant amount of screen time throughout the show with a few episodes almost entirely dedicated to her. she is iconic, and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong.

some of her best quotes include, but are not limited to (some of these are from the tv show, others from the books - it is up to you to watch and find out):

"if it makes you feel any better, you're the best at rolling over."

"my life has become a single, ongoing revelation that I haven't been cynical enough."

"a whisper will do, if it's all that you can manage."

"try not to stick your dick in this"

"meow meow cry meow meow. that's all I heard you say."

"i'm a smug old bitch who enjoys playing with life and death with a big chess board, a snake in a sari."

i would tell you more about this show, but that would be spoiling, and this show is too good to spoil. go and watch it. i need someone to talk to about it.