Notices tagged with scifi, page 2

Now that season 5 of The Expanse is about halfway done, I have a few thoughts:

The show is more beautifully shot than ever. It seriously looks major motion-picture quality, in both the real and digital aspects. The overall quality of the writing and acting is good. However, overall it feels too busy to me, with a lot of switching/juggling plotlines that seems to mess with the pacing. They're not entirely to blame for this as book 5 splits all of the main characters into separate stories, but as a viewer I'd rather they spend more time with 2 or 3 of the stronger elements rather than having each one pushed forward by 10 minutes per episode. For instance, I think it would have worked amazingly to make one whole hour that was Amos' entire journey on Earth rather than getting it parcelled out in tiny bits.

Since season 4, one of the things that's worked the least for me are the places where they've added/padded material just to keep certain characters in the story. For example, Bobbie's whole Mars adventure fell kind of flat for me, as did Avasarala's re-election. While Bobbie's was sort of lifted from one of the novellas they both seemed like they were just put there to keep the actors on the payroll, as book 4 sidelines pretty much everyone except the core Roci crew. While there's less of this in season 5 (because the source material gives everyone more to do) I'm similarly underwhelmed with whatever they're doing with Drummer. Like some of the season 4 stuff, so far it really just feels like they're keeping the actor on screen/under contract in an already overcrowded story.

Finally, I wouldn't be fully honest if I didn't admit that knowing we're not getting books 7-9 brought to television has somewhat dimmed my enthusiasm for the show a bit. There's so much I would be looking forward to seeing that isn't going to materialize, which is a drag.

Amazon hasn't done anything wrong with the show under their run, per se, and they've definitely put a lot on money behind it, but I feel like for a variety of reasons the first three SyFy seasons packed a better punch. I guess we'll see what the back half brings.

#theexpanse #jamessacorey #scifi

EXPANSE SPOILERS:

Episode 4 was great overall. I have a couple of comments/observations though.

First, is it just me or have they pretty majorly nerfed Inaros' attack on Earth compared to the books? I'm not sure I understand why. They took a giant "holy shit" event from the books and made it, I don't know, less intense. Seems antithetical to TV writing.

Second, I wish they had decided to spend the VFX money they've clearly laid out for season 5 when the shot season 4. One of my big disappointments in season 4 is that the robo-Miller on screen was super lame compared to the books. That droid thing in this episode looked fucking awesome.

#theexpanse #jamessacorey #scifi #television

I watched the first three espisodes of The Expanse season 5, and it has me pretty curious about where Camina Drummer is going. Minor book spoilers ahead.

Drummer is a character in the books, and an important one, but the Drummer on the TV show is sort of an amalgam between book Drummer and another character named Carlos "Bull" de Baca. Book Drummer is indeed Fred Johnson's security chief on Tycho as we see on the show, and she comes back much later in an important role, but she never captains the Nauvoo through the ring (that was always Asheford), and most of what happens to her in season 3 (like breaking her spine) actually happens to de Baca.

I'm not complaining, at all, because I love the character as presented on the show, (and TBH never really missed de Baca) but it's interesting now because they've brought in de Baca in season 5 as Tycho's new security chief (see what they did there?), and seem to have merged Drummer's new trajectory into another book character named Michio Pa. Interestingly, Pa was on the Behemoth as Asheford's XO. In the books, though, she also ends up joining with Marco Inaros' Free Navy. It's an odd change to put Drummer in her place as the way they've set things up, she seems to have a serious hate on for Inaros. Is she going to have a change of heart, or will something completely new happen? I have no idea.

Unlike a lot of adaptations of books, I more or less really enjoy the changes the show has made. For the most part they're good, if not for the better, and they keep things interesting as a viewer because of things like this. It probably helps that the writers of the books have been writing the screenplays all along as well. The only potential change I'm dreading is however they end up wrapping up the story three book too soon when the show ends in season 6.

#theexpanse #scifi #jamessacorey #television #books

I watched the first two episodes of The Expanse. It looks like a movie. They spent a lot of money. No wonder it's been cancelled 🙄

It's great so far though.

#theexpanse #jamessacorey #scifi #television

YAY!

https://trekmovie.com/2020/11/09/exclusive-the-orville-season-3-is-returning-to-production-in-december/

#theorville #scifi #television

Found on an Expanse reddit thread about whether Sadavir Errinwright was really such a bad guy:

You might disagree with some of his decisions, but I personally think he was more of a nationalist than an evil guy as some fans seem to present him as.

Just for context, if you haven't read the books, the character in question who is more of a "nationalist" than an "evil guy" did the following:

• Consented to and abetted the mass murder of thousands of civilians
• Ordered multiple political assassinations
• Personally murdered someone
• Conducted/funded a covert, extra-legal bio-weapons program using unwilling/unwitting human subjects
• Engineered a false-flag operation (which also murdered several hundred civilians) to start a war as a cover/distraction for his illegal bio-weapons program
• Ordered the use of the resultant bio-weapons on a population of millions

So yeah, just a misunderstood patriot. What's the big deal? 🙄

#theexpanse #scifi #fiction #reddit #wtf

https://youtu.be/K3W61Ae0M9g

#exurb1a #scifi #shortfiction #quantumphysics #manyworldshypothesis

More words about the best Earther in The Expanse.

https://youtu.be/ULflUzkIzxw

#theexpanse #jamessacorey #scifi

Today was the first I've heard of the allegations against Cas Anvar and his expulsion from the cast of The Expanse. His portrayal of Alex Kamal has been incredible, and a big part of making the show as good as it is. It's a real shame that he's a turd in real life. I hope the final season of the show doesn't suffer for his shitbaggery.

In different but related news, I found this blog post. While being horribly organizted/written, it puts forward a pretty interesting explanation about Amos' unique psychology by attributing it to a combination of autism and C-PTSD. I'm not an expert in either of those things, but it tracks well with what I know of the character's backstory from the books and novellas, and certainly fits the facts better than sociopathy.

The most disappointing thing for me about the news that the series will be cut short at 6 seasons is we'll most likely miss seeing Amos' final evolution, which was one of the most surprising developments in the latter part of the series. Book readers will know what I'm talking about.

#theexpanse #jamessacorey #scifi #television #books #casanvar

The good news: The Expanse was renewed for season 6. The bad news: It's going to be the last season. So, we get 2/3rds of the story. WTF?

#theexpanse #jamessacorey #scifi #television

I'd say in terms of the TV adaptation, Drummer comes in at a solid number 2 for me. It's hard to predict exactly where her arc is going, as she's kind of a blend of (book) Drummer, Michio Pa, and a dash of Bull de Baca, and at least two of those people go in fairly different directions in the books. Regardless, I think she's a joy to watch and Cara Gee does a great job with the role.

https://youtu.be/EWNuBjG4LKg

#theexpanse #scifi #television

I'm getting excited for Season 5, now less than a month out. I might actually get to see it before the world collapses. Anyway, Amos is my favorite character (from a cast of really good characters) and while I don't agree 100% with this analysis, I think it mostly tracks.

https://youtu.be/ZzgP6i4knhE

#theexpanse #scifi #television

Watching The Expanse again, it occurred to me, shouldn't the comm laser on the Nauvoo/Behemoth be on the back of the ship, not the front. I assume the point is to communicate with Earth, which the ship would be pointing directly away from on its intended route. No?

#theexpanse #scifi #lasers #pewpew

I'm re-watching The Expanse, in part because the new season is coming out in December, in part because there's not much new out right now that appeals to me, and in part because I never really tire of watching it (this is perhaps my 4th run-through). One character I really love, and I'm sad will (probably) not be back is Prax Meng. His relationship with Amos is one of my favorite in the series.

#theexpanse #jamessacorey #scifi

I watched Terminator: Dark Fate. Arnold plays the last Cyberdyne/Skynet terminator, who after successfully killing John Connor, I shit you not, becomes an interior decorator named Carl.

#terminator #scifi #jamescameron #carl

I've been waiting for this for a long time. I liked season 4, but in a lot of ways it was just moving pieces around the board. This one should be pretty big, and should have a lot of good character moments.

https://youtu.be/uFajKH9RK0k

#theexpanse #scifi #jamessacorey

I just finished Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis. It's not a fantastically well written book (but that's OK, I love a lot of books that aren't exactly literature), and I almost gave up on it as the story wasn't grabbing me. However, about 1/3rd of the way through, the story reached an inflection point and suddenly became really interesting. I'm glad I finished it. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the ending made me feel something, which is what good fiction does.

Also, the book literally rickrolled me. That was a first.

#axiomsend #lindsayellis #scifi #fiction #books

I've been reading Lindsay Ellis' new book, Axiom's End, and this happened...

#lindsayellis #axiomsend #scifi #fiction #novel #bettercallsaul