The Expanse | Amazon Prime | Season 4 | 13 December

[DeeCee]

4 hours ago, Plain Old Tele said:

Not just the planet shots and space VFX. The Mars cities are quite spacious and detailed — a lot of sets to build and populate (even with digital set extension).

Yes, it was great to actually finally have detailed sets and action on Mars. 

[James]

Gosh, this was so good, even if they deviated a bit from the books. But since book 4 ws my least favorite I am glad they cut some part of it and decided to cover some parts of book 5. Also amazing that they gave Avasarala more screen time than in the books. Gosh I love her.

[Plain Old Tele]

No matter how they deviate from the books, it’s hard to argue against it since the authors are part of the show’s writing staff. 

[Plain Old Tele]

More thoughts now that I’m chugging through the season. In addition to the increased budget (which continues to deliver great visuals), the freedom to curse is a huge boon. There’s been several laugh-out-loud moments due to profanity — and I don’t think they would’ve worked as well without. 

Introducing tendrils of book 5 material is a masterstroke — it all fits, keeps everyone involved, and the whole thing just feels tighter and more streamlined. 
 

The show is shining and it’s probably the weakest of the books. I’m impressed.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Plain Old Tele

[4815162342]

Halfway through the season. The stuff on Ilus is a bit slow but the event at the close of Episode 5 is where the Ilus stuff in the book starts chugging.

 

I'm curious how they will handle some of the orbital stuff in the back half of the book since Havelock has been cut from the season, along with Lucia now being the Belter prisoner.

 

I quite like the stuff with Drummer/Ashford so far. Introducing Marco Inaros in Season 4 is a great idea since Books 4-6 form their own trilogy of sorts and introducing Marco, his history with Naomi, and the origin of the Free Navy was a great idea.

 

The stuff on Mars is fine so far, but also a bit slow. I like the references to Martian military material disappearing/being sold on the black market, since it also is necessary setup for Season 5 and a presumed Season 6. Hopefully it picks up a little more. I wonder if we'll get any references to Duarte in the back half, based on what occurs in Book 5 for example.

[4815162342]

Finished

 

Spoiler

 

I didn't realize how much I needed Zero-G Dual-Wielding David Straithairn until the finale.

 

I actually think they revealed too much with the Stealth Asteroid Gambit reveal. That was big shock that occurs a good ways into the fifth book so I think it was too early to reveal that gamechanger.

 

 

[BoxOfficeZ]

8 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

Finished

 

  Hide contents

 

I didn't realize how much I needed Zero-G Dual-Wielding David Straithairn until the finale.

 

I actually think they revealed too much with the Stealth Asteroid Gambit reveal. That was big shock that occurs a good ways into the fifth book so I think it was too early to reveal that gamechanger.

 

 

 

Book 5 spoilers

I get why they're doing it. I think it gives way for more speculation for the show watchers. They don't know if they're going to hit or not. They might assume Rocinante would swoop in to the save Earth again. 

 

The recast for Arjun I found weird, he seems too wooden and more like an assistant than her husband.

[4815162342]

3 hours ago, BoxOfficeZ said:

 

Book 5 spoilers

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I get why they're doing it. I think it gives way for more speculation for the show watchers. They don't know if they're going to hit or not. They might assume Rocinante would swoop in to the save Earth again. 

 

 

The recast for Arjun I found weird, he seems too wooden and more like an assistant than her husband.

 

 

 

It feels a little off since Book 5 takes place a couple years after Book 4 ends, so it feels like certain aspects have been accelerated a bit too quickly in relation to others.

[Plain Old Tele]

11 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

 

It feels a little off since Book 5 takes place a couple years after Book 4 ends, so it feels like certain aspects have been accelerated a bit too quickly in relation to others.

But the show might address Book 5 differently, in terms of timeline. 
 

I agree about Arjun, I missed the original guy. 

[4815162342]

12 hours ago, Plain Old Tele said:

But the show might address Book 5 differently, in terms of timeline. 
 

I agree about Arjun, I missed the original guy. 

 

I mean more that it seems like the Free Navy plot is somewhat ahead of everything else and I think they maybe showed a bit too much at the end

[DeeCee]

 

[Plain Old Tele]

Fuckin’ Eros, man. That shit was heavy. 

[BoxOfficeZ]

 

Going to have the same weekly format as The Boys. 3 episodes first day then the rest released weekly. 

 

Hyped for this season since Book 5 is probably my favorite of the series (besides Book 😎

[DeeCee]

I’m going to resist watching the trailer. 

[DeeCee]

Damn. Only 2 more seasons. 

[4815162342]

First three episodes dropped last night.

 

Naturally I watched them all immediately.

[BoxOfficeZ]

You can tell the budget got another bump, or they're just utilizing Amazon's rendering farms better. 

[Inceptionzq]

On 12/19/2020 at 12:33 AM, BoxOfficeZ said:

You can tell the budget got another bump, or they're just utilizing Amazon's rendering farms better. 

Pretty sure it was confirmed there was a budget bump

[Plain Old Tele]

On 12/18/2020 at 11:33 PM, BoxOfficeZ said:

You can tell the budget got another bump, or they're just utilizing Amazon's rendering farms better. 

 

1 hour ago, Inceptionzq said:

Pretty sure it was confirmed there was a budget bump

 

 

[Plain Old Tele]

Episode 4 was very rad. Shit got real and I loved it.