General / Off-Topic The Expanse - Babylon 5 for grown-ups!

Sonof Hibachi

Sonof Hibachi
I have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century by signing up for a free month on Netflix.

Initially it was for the new Star Trek series (Hello to Jason Isaacs) but I've not seen an episode of that yet because of The Expanse. I had heard it mentioned on this forum but hadn't really paid attention until I saw it a couple of rows below Star Trek on the Netflix menu (and the menu is flippin' awful btw). Thought I'd give it a chance before settling down for some pre-Kirk action.

I'm a bottle of red and four episodes into it and will not be stopping until either the wine runs out (I have another bottle in the house) or the episodes do. I'm only here now as I had to google what the hell OPA stood for and thought I'd swing by the forum and share the love for this show. There have been one or two dodgy moments of sfx/cgi/whatever its called these days, but I'm really getting into the characters. Got to work out how turn on subtitles though, because as with a lot of shows these days (I'm looking at you BBC) the dialogue sometimes gets lost in the background.

So far 9/10 (dropped a point for the sound).

Hibachi, red wine, Sci-Fi and a couple of days off. Must remember to eat.
 

Polygonal Spaceship

P
I've been told that it's as good as Firefly and I am looking forward to sampling it soon.

Can't say I am too enthused about the new Star Trek, which has been hyped to death and (IMHO, after Voyager, Enterprise, and JJ Abrams) seems like another round of flogging a dead horse, but at least their super-duper fungi-powered engines mean I can make jokes about Jason Isaacs taking a trip fuelled by mushrooms. If I want a Trek fix - which is kind of rare these days, even though I grew up on repeats of the original and first-run TNG on BBC2 - I'll watch a fan film.

(I should add that I was a big B5 fan back in the day, and went to an amazing convention in '97 - some great memories, including one of the cast being at his first event and obsessively filming it!)
 
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_trent_

Volunteer Moderator
_trent_
It's a good show, I watched both seasons over the course of about a month recently.

I wouldn't really compare it to either Babylon 5 or Firefly as both of those were quite optimistic shows, whereas The Expanse is unrelentingly bleak.

I would recommend all three. (Well, except for the 5th Series of Bablyon 5, that did suck quite a lot)
 

Polygonal Spaceship

P
_trent_ said:
I would recommend all three. (Well, except for the 5th Series of Bablyon 5, that did suck quite a lot)
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That was really the network's fault, IIRC - Joe had to condense two years' story into one season because of long-term uncertainty over the fifth year. (And Claudia Christian's agent didn't help, either.)

But then, if not for that little kerfuffle, we may never have got Neil Gaiman's episode, and that was one of the better ones that year.
 

_trent_

Volunteer Moderator
_trent_
Polygonal Spaceship said:
That was really the network's fault, IIRC - Joe had to condense two years' story into one season because of long-term uncertainty over the fifth year. (And Claudia Christian's agent didn't help, either.)

But then, if not for that little kerfuffle, we may never have got Neil Gaiman's episode, and that was one of the better ones that year.
Click to expand...

Entirely the fault of the network, but it does have to be said that the second half of Season 4 was rushed and Season 5 was effectively an extended epilogue.

Babylon 5 was an excellent show, I own the DVD box collection. [yesnod]
 

Polygonal Spaceship

P
_trent_ said:
Babylon 5 was an excellent show, I own the DVD box collection. [yesnod]
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#jealous

I remember being utterly amazed by the CGI, which was actually better (in terms of scale and dynamic motion) than Star Trek's modelwork. One of the Amiga magazines at the time wrote a piece about the Amiga render farm, the Video Toaster card, and the art of the late Ron Thornton. It printed one of his pieces of fan art, a render of Thunderbird 3, with the caption "Ron's waiting for your call, Gerry" - and it warmed my heart a few years later that he got to work for Gerry Anderson on the revived Captain Scarlet.

Yeah, I know, offtopic. :) Long and short, B5 was a great show, with an amazing bunch of talent behind the camera, and some wonderful folks in front of it too, both the guest cast and the regulars. The ones I met were generous with their time and loved being amongst fans, and it's quite sad (20 years later) to look at my autograph book and think of the names we've lost. I don't think the modern Comic-Con-type events are the same at all.

Kind of makes me wonder - is B5 due for a revival? (Not a reboot, but it's a big enough universe that surely Netflix can do a series. Miniseries?) I noticed that Pick TV - one of Sky's free-to-air offerings on UK digital Freeview - had The Gathering on last night...
 

metatheurgist

metatheurgist
Babylon 5 is Babylon 5 for adults. Expanse is a completely different flavour.

_trent_ said:
I would recommend all three. (Well, except for the 5th Series of Bablyon 5, that did suck quite a lot)
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On rewatch S5 is not as bad as it seems.

It's amazing the show ran 5 seasons giving how much crap went on behind the scenes.
 

znôrt

znôrt
Polygonal Spaceship said:
I've been told that it's as good as Firefly
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i don't think it is comparable to firefly. it is far broader in scope, story and depth, and lacks the comedy moments (not that it hasn't any). op's comparing it to b5 is actually very apt.

it does hook you just like firefly, that's true. just watch it, you will like it :)
 
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ChiefRedCloud

ChiefRedCloud
I enjoy it a lot ... as you've said, it's about the only grown up SF to find. There are others I enjoy but would fall in this category.

Chief
 

clivewil

clivewil
Polygonal Spaceship said:
I've been told that it's as good as Firefly and I am looking forward to sampling it soon.
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i haven't seen either Firefly or The Expanse and i could use some new DVD fodder. i just added them to my watch list and will grab them in a couple of weeks, after 'The Great Cash Shortage of 2017' loses some of its intensity...
 

the100thmonkey

the100thmonkey
It's very good, yes.

I thought Season 2 was a little weaker, overall, than S1, but it has its moments. The look of surprise on the guy's face at the end of the last episode of S2 is worth it!

Season 3 is coming, I think, in February next year. Let's hope it gets renewed for a fourth.
 

lysan

lysan
the100thmonkey said:
It's very good, yes.

I thought Season 2 was a little weaker, overall, than S1, but it has its moments. The look of surprise on the guy's face at the end of the last episode of S2 is worth it!

Season 3 is coming, I think, in February next year. Let's hope it gets renewed for a fourth.
Click to expand...

My TV is ready....
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
Polygonal Spaceship said:
I've been told that it's as good as Firefly and I am looking forward to sampling it soon.

Can't say I am too enthused about the new Star Trek, which has been hyped to death and (IMHO, after Voyager, Enterprise, and JJ Abrams) seems like another round of flogging a dead horse, but at least their super-duper fungi-powered engines mean I can make jokes about Jason Isaacs taking a trip fuelled by mushrooms. If I want a Trek fix - which is kind of rare these days, even though I grew up on repeats of the original and first-run TNG on BBC2 - I'll watch a fan film.

(I should add that I was a big B5 fan back in the day, and went to an amazing convention in '97 - some great memories, including one of the cast being at his first event and obsessively filming it!)
Click to expand...

Don't look at any Babylon 5 where are they now things, it's like the curse of Tutankhamun.
 
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