Science fiction has evolved on television over the years, and Amazon Prime Video’s underrated masterpiece,The Expanse, is a must-watch for any fan of the genre. Running for six seasons,The Expansefeatured an impressive cast of charactersand complex storytelling that made it one of the best science fiction shows of all time.
Despite an impressive 95% onRotten Tomatoes,The Expanselargely goes under the radar when it comes to science fiction, which is a shame given just how great it is. With expansive world-building, beautiful production design, and heaps of political intrigue,The Expansedeserves its flowers and needs to be watched by anyone who loves the sci-fi genre.
Every Sci-Fi Fan Should Watch The Expanse At Least Once
The Expanse Is A Six-Season Science Fiction Epic
Television has always attempted to put out great science fiction shows for decades, and with the streaming era, the production values have allowed the genre to fully realize the incredible worlds and epic storytelling that sci-fi is so great at.The Expanseis the perfect example of modern science fiction done right, and is one of Amazon Prime Video’s best shows.
The Expanse’s six spectacular seasonsare must-watch science fiction television,starting out as a gritty noir story before expanding into an epic space opera, with a number of intricately moving parts. Despite its humble beginnings as a SyFy Channel series,The Expansewas eventually picked up by Amazon, which allowed the series to fully realize its storytelling scope.
The show is exciting from start to finish, never losing the momentum it continues to build as the stakes get higher and the narrative gets more complex.
The show is exciting from start to finish, never losing the momentum it continues to build as the stakes get higher and the narrative gets more complex. Each season continues to build upon what came before it, making it the perfect show to watch now, especially for anyone looking for some of TV’s best science fiction.
How The Expanse Show Compares To The Books
Each Season Of The Show Essentially Adapts One Book
ThoughThe Expanseis one of the most original science fiction shows of the modern era,it was actually based on the book series by author James S. A. Corey, the joint pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.The Expansebook series features nine novels, focusing primarily on the gunship Rocinante and its crew over several decades.
WhileThe Expansecan be a faithful adaptation of its source material in a lot of ways,there are still differences between the show and the books, which is always inevitable for any sort of adaptation. Characters are introduced at different points in the story compared to the novels, but the core of what makes the books so great remains.
The first season ofThe Expansecovers most of the first book,Leviathan Wakes, while Season 2 finishes that book and adapts much of the second,Caliban’s War. Season 3 completes the second book and the entire third,Abaddon’s Gate, although some early scenes were cut to fit the story into fewer episodes. Starting with Season 4, each season adapts a full book.
Despite ending its sixth and final season in a satisfying way,The Expansenever actually adapted every book in the series, televising only the first six. The final episode of each season was named after the respective book it adapted, withBabylon’s Ashesbeing the last book the show attempted to adapt.
What Makes The Expanse One Of The Best Sci-Fi Shows Of All Time
The Expanse’s Complex Storytelling And Political Focus Is One Of Its Biggest Strengths
Shows likeStar Trek,Doctor Who, andBattlestar Galacticaset the bar high for science fiction on television over the years, butThe Expanseabsolutely deserves a place as one ofthe best sci-fi shows of all time. It might not be as popular as some other science fiction shows, but it reaches the same heights in terms of quality.
The show is beautifully realized, with incredible production values all around, making its science fiction setting feel tangible in the same ways that the best of genre television is able to do. Even withspace battles that are better than most sci-fi moviesand an amazing setting,The Expanse’s intricate storytelling and characters are the true highlight.
In a lot of ways,The ExpanseisGame of Thronesin space, which is one of the show’s biggest strengths, though it does a lot to make itself distinct enough. Its exploration of several factions of people from Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt, andthe complex political maneuvering sets it apart from most other science fiction shows.
The Expanse Is Still An Underrated Show
It Never Became As Popular As It Deserved
Despite being one of the best sci-fi shows of all time,The Expanseis still incredibly underrated, never finding itself breaking out in the way that it should have. The series always struggled to continue, initially being cancelled by SyFy after only three seasons, which led to fan support online to have the show picked up by another company.
Amazon Prime Video ended up producing three more seasons ofThe Expanse, with the sixth and final season being released in 2021. Since then,The Expansehas continued growing a passionate cult following, but it never reached the same heights in terms of popularity as other top-tier science fiction television shows, even though it is arguably the best modern sci-fi around.
9.4
9.3
Abaddon’s Gate
The series will likely never be mentioned in the same breath as shows likeStar Trek, Lost, Doctor Who, and other science fiction television shows will continue to overshadow its legacy. ButThe Expanseis some of the best the genre has to offer, and is a must-watch for anyone who loves science fiction and good television in general.
