Comments
Its kinda funny that basicly 100% of their confusen comes from not reading the text in the middle of the screen xD (and maybe that josh sees jupiter and isnt sure if its mars or venus) xD But maybe both need to relearn our solar system xD
Florian Hoyer
2025-08-25 22:34:28 +0000 UTCI wasn’t annoyed I was more imagining some people losing their mind.
AzoriusMage
2025-03-27 08:22:39 +0000 UTCI've stopped being "annoyed" at them missing details. They're making an effort and they're having fun, which I think is great. I like the TA reactions because they're not afraid to say when they didn't like an episode or an aspect of an episode. Too many reaction channels are all 100% positive, because they don't want to offend their viewers. Yes, I've been annoyed with them, yes, I've disagreed with them, yes, their views have even offended me on occasion, but they're HONEST and I can't fault them for that, whatever I may say in the heat of the moment. The key for me is that they're TRYING with the Expanse. It's a harder show than TNG. You benefit MASSIVELY from having read the novels going in, which I did, so I knew what was going on with the advantage of foreknowledge. They haven't, and they will occasionally miss things, but that's okay, because they're getting the CORE of it. It also helps that they evolved (and quicker than most) on Amos from least favorite character to most favorite character. One of the main reasons I want them to react to Season 3 is for a moment they have already unknowingly quoted, which probably made every fan of the show quiver. (Certainly made me do it.) So yeah... I love/like the Star Trek reactions, and I'm there for them when I have the free time, but this is appointment viewing for me.
John
2025-03-27 01:15:14 +0000 UTCIt's great fun to hear your expanding vocabulary. The word "protomolecule" is the big one that everyone who watched the show learned. The Epstein drive story was an Expanse short story, not part of the nine volume core universe, but important to understand. At its core, the "Epstein Drive" is the fast sublight drive that allows ships to move fast enough to get from Earth to Mars or the Belt fast enough for deep range colonies to be feasible. His "accidental" invention allowed Mars to gain its independence from Earth by trading the tech for it. Also, he's still out there, dead in the deepest space a human has ever reached. (He was traveling at over 1300 kilometers per second in the last scene and his fuel still wasn't close to gone; he was accelerating at over ten gravities.) I also think it's great that you don't know what's happening. Things WILL get cleared up eventually. This is also the start of Book 2, and it's not until Book 2 that you get Bobbie and Avasarala. Believe it or not, Avasarala in particular didn't appear until Book 2. Also... worth keeping in mind, James SA Corey (the author of The Expanse Series) are two people. One of whom was the personal assistant to George R.R. Martin before the two banded together to form a cohesive unit. One of them was an executive producer on the show and got script approval. The show fairly closely follows the books, although there are some key differences given the different media. We've got one major divergence coming up, which I will talk about once we get there. The difference is there because books and tv shows are different, so the story has to be somewhat different. I still think it's great that you guys are watching and enjoying this... and I hope it continues. I hope the Bridge Crew votes for you to watch Season 3. (And 4, 5, and 6. I'd particularly like to hear your thoughts on the improved production value once the show moved to Amazon in Season 4.)
John
2025-03-27 01:07:37 +0000 UTCThose 50 better get it right and vote for S3 or you two are going to be brutally missing out. If you think this season has been nice, S3 is on an entirely different that S1 and 2 and I mean radically different level.
Shawn Anomaly
2025-03-26 23:50:50 +0000 UTCThis here! While their story was rather short they did pretty good in representing soldiers/marines in such a situation. They're inches from all out war that's going to be the ultimate war. This is going to be the way such folks act. Even more so since these are the elite Marines to boot!
Shawn Anomaly
2025-03-26 23:48:46 +0000 UTCI'm in my first read through, currently in the beginning of book 5 (and I've also listened to 7-9) I personally love their writing style. Their, because James S. A. Corey is actually the pen name for Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham.
Jason Dokos
2025-03-26 23:47:17 +0000 UTCTalking about this being based on a TTRPG, 'Fred Johnson' is 100% one of those off the cuff NPCs that was never supposed to feature in more than one session, but then all the players started asking about him and his back story, and immediately became a favourite. I'd bet serious money
Worf and Riker Ride Again
2025-03-26 23:44:55 +0000 UTCThank you for this.
Aaron Wells
2025-03-26 22:56:42 +0000 UTCScott Manley never misses. A steely-eyed missile man.
Aaron Wells
2025-03-26 22:54:52 +0000 UTCWell, it's official. Epstein did in fact kill himself.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2025-03-26 17:26:08 +0000 UTCTonight’s viewing sorted!
Worf and Riker Ride Again
2025-03-26 11:43:53 +0000 UTCI can imagine people screaming at the screen about the Epstein Drive. He literally said his name and talked about his drive and it showed a closeup of one with the name on it.
AzoriusMage
2025-03-26 09:49:50 +0000 UTCThanks for that context Dor. Knowing that is infuriating then.
#MaxwellDidNothingWrong
2025-03-26 07:37:37 +0000 UTCIndeed, if aliens come, three pages is too much. "Find God" is roughly the only advice that makes sense. I remember how haunting that line hit me when I first saw this show.
Paul
2025-03-26 06:31:35 +0000 UTCIf you ever want to understand the physics from The Expanse, I suggest two YouTube video that are great explainer, without any spoiler. For a more in-depth explanation: "The Rocket Science of 'The Expanse'" By Scott Manley https://youtu.be/JWZqp0QoXcw For a more 'explain like I'm five' explanation: "The Speed of Constant-Thrust Space Travel" By The Overview Effekt https://youtu.be/AojKy1iDloQ It would really help you understand why they fly their ships the way they do instead of Star Trek's more naval type of navigation. edit: fixed links
EmptyDice
2025-03-26 02:35:04 +0000 UTCOthers have basically covered it already, but the Epstein Drive is the propulsion technology used. I love this snippet from the first book: "A hundred and fifty years before, when the parochial disagreements between Earth and Mars had been on the verge of war, the Belt had been a far horizon of tremendous mineral wealth beyond viable economic reach, and the outer planets had been beyond even the most unrealistic corporate dream. Then Solomon Epstein had built his little modified fusion drive, popped it on the back of his three-man yacht, and turned it on. With a good scope, you could still see his ship going at a marginal percentage of the speed of light, heading out into the big empty. The best, longest funeral in the history of mankind. Fortunately, he’d left the plans on his home computer. The Epstein Drive hadn’t given humanity the stars, but it had delivered the planets."
Jason Dokos
2025-03-25 21:11:08 +0000 UTC"Uhura in ST:5" for the intro is goated. So glad you guys are enjoying this as much as so many of us have. Peak achievement for a TV show that looks cinematic.
Ross Townsend
2025-03-25 18:46:22 +0000 UTClol, Thursday
Josh (Target Audience)
2025-03-25 18:43:38 +0000 UTCHey. Does the next reaction to TNG come out today, Tuesday? Or is it Thursday? I don’t remember. And I can’t look at last week right now.
Tom Occhipinti
2025-03-25 18:33:59 +0000 UTCThe whole Epstein flashback is from a short story the novel authors wrote called 'Drive.' You'll probably notice this when you go back through in editing, but there are a ton of references all through the episode to 'the Epstein drive' - in the early presentation to the UN heads, for example, Janus calls Eros 'the biggest technological advancement since the Epstein drive.' Since the name of this episode was 'Paradigm Shift,' I think they included it here to draw a thematic parallel between the last major tech advancement and how it changed the solar system for generations and this new change represented by the protomolecule - a paradigm shift that will have a lasting impact on humanity.
Dor
2025-03-25 18:26:59 +0000 UTCThe funny thing is that this is not, in fact, how the books are written. In the books, information flows much more freely much earlier in the story, which creates a whole different set of more complex tensions. The emphasis on lack of communication between groups and individuals is purely for the TV format to generate drama, ostensibly because exploring those more complex tensions doesn't fit into the format. It actually doesn't have anything to do with the first book being partially based on an RPG campaign.
Dor
2025-03-25 18:21:51 +0000 UTCGanymede is a joint Mars/Earth development. They actually show the border between UN and Martian territory on the screen. Draper's fire team was patrolling the border, same as the UN marines.
Aaron Wells
2025-03-25 18:19:18 +0000 UTCStill a few episodes to go before we start messing with the shifts. :)
Aaron Wells
2025-03-25 18:17:35 +0000 UTCAlso, don't be too hard on the Marines. You can be sure the UN Marines are exactly the same. Their entire purpose is to blow away their enemies, and being enthusiastic about it simply means they are effective and doing their job. You want Marines to be serious about violence for the same reason you want bus drivers to pay serious attention to the road: Its their job.
Aaron Wells
2025-03-25 18:15:43 +0000 UTCIts not that ridiculous. Take the Iron Curtain for example. We didn't have a clue what was happening in the Soviet Block in any detail for DECADES. There are plenty of historical parallels. You might be underestimating the stupidity and stubbornness of people, to say nothing of amplifying it through organizations.
Aaron Wells
2025-03-25 18:12:36 +0000 UTCThe inclusion of the story of Solomon Epstein is wonderful. In the book, the story was spread out and framed as a brief prologue. Its very much a love letter to the books and the world building to include it...and to try to explain to the viewer how critically important the Epstein Drive is...how it makes this entire universe possible...how fundamental to everything else this technological leap was, and how it allowed Mars the leverage to be able to break away from Earth and become an independent power. Did you never wonder how they are able to be under enough thrust to be able to just stand there with gravity on their ships for days, weeks, or months on end without running out of fuel? Its amazing. The Epstein Drive is the thing that makes this entire story possible, and its awesome that they took the time to try to get it through to the audience how important it is.
Aaron Wells
2025-03-25 18:05:37 +0000 UTCIt's plausible enough to me. It's basically a version of the Prisoners' Dilemma. Everyone would be better off if they all shared information, but any one faction is better off if they keep their own information to themselves as an advantage. Consequently, it's hard to trust the other factions to share information, so there's that much less incentive to be the first one to volunteer it.
Jeff Cornell
2025-03-25 17:56:32 +0000 UTC4 shifts
Jason Lallathin
2025-03-25 17:32:37 +0000 UTCThey aren’t all on duty at the same time, you should know that Timothy
Josh (Target Audience)
2025-03-25 15:51:47 +0000 UTCReally big
Jason Lallathin
2025-03-25 15:49:07 +0000 UTCHow big is that bridge? The D's bridge is huge and there's like 8 people working there.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2025-03-25 15:26:38 +0000 UTCI mean, as far as watching a D&D campaign goes, this is def one of the better ones to give a CGI budget to
#MaxwellDidNothingWrong
2025-03-25 14:57:31 +0000 UTCExactly ;)
Jason Lallathin
2025-03-25 14:40:00 +0000 UTCWell it’s not up to us Jason, it’s up to you and about 50 others
Josh (Target Audience)
2025-03-25 14:38:06 +0000 UTCNot the DM railroading 😭💀
Josh (Target Audience)
2025-03-25 14:37:33 +0000 UTCALL will be explained... well almost all
Jason Lallathin
2025-03-25 14:37:31 +0000 UTCSeason three looking highly possible?... Heh heh heh
Jason Lallathin
2025-03-25 14:35:13 +0000 UTCGee, it sure is a good thing that no side is talking with any of of the others still. Otherwise the individual factions might put all the pieces together. The writers keep feeding us pessimistic lines on reaching out like, "Don't be so naive" or, "That's a neat future, hope we live to see it" but it's ridiculous at this point. The fact that this series is based on a TTRPG campaign makes a lot of sense, particularly with the railroading. Plot doesn't work if Holden, Earth, and Mars ever shared any of what they know so the DM throws all sorts of obstacles to prevent that. The players pick up on that and acquiesce because when the DM soft locks you you know not to press and leave well enough alone. But you have to do better when transforming into a non-participatory audience driven narrative. This continues to be my primary issue as a first time watcher.
#MaxwellDidNothingWrong
2025-03-25 14:20:45 +0000 UTCThe Epstein scenes were just to explain how the Epstein drives were created, a huge breakthrough, with which Mars could break free from Earth and colonize the belt. Just some backstory/worldbuilding here. The huge things in orbit of Ganymede that got shot in the crossfire were Solarmirrors. Since the sunlight is very weak so far away from the sun they used mirrors to focus the light down to Ganymede, to help with plantgrowth. Ganymede station provides most of the food in the system (aside from Earth and Mars ofc).
Florian
2025-03-25 14:14:56 +0000 UTCIt's the largest moon in the solar system and has it's own magnetic field. One of the most interesting planetary bodies in our system to colonize, sadly it's very very far away.
Florian
2025-03-25 14:08:56 +0000 UTCThat battle at the end was on Ganymede, one of the moons of Jupiter. From the dialog, Mars has a farming station there, and the marines have no idea why anyone would attack.
Jeff Cornell
2025-03-25 13:26:49 +0000 UTCHere's where this series starts to get really good.
Collin Freeman
2025-03-25 12:33:31 +0000 UTC
