Tam and I finished up The Expanse on Sunday, and we're sorry it's over (for now. The book series continues past the TV series and there may be a follow-on). It was a trip worth taking and they managed to bring the story to a satisfying stopping-place, This has set the bar for subsequent TV SF efforts, and set it high. (There are a half-dozen bonus vignettes, though you'll need to watch on something other than a TV to see them.) I panned the first episode of the series (and I still think it's a bit rocky) but the sets and acting were first-rate from the start and the physics and storytelling caught up rapidly. (I still think the writers cheated on the Belter water shortage: the Solar System is lousy with the stuff. But, hey, I'll give them that to make it work.)
Closer to Earth, we started watching the TV-series version of The Right Stuff. I read and enjoyed the Tom Wolfe book not long after it was published; the series is very close to the book, well-produced and the casting was remarkably good. While the actors are a little better-looking than their real-life counterparts, their appearance and mannerisms are so close that we had no difficulty telling who was who. --And then it ended abruptly. I hadn't looked it up and assumed they'd shot the whole thing. Nope. National Geographic/Disney+ pulled the plug after one season. The show is owned by Warner Brothers Television and they're said to be looking for a new home. A companion documentary, The Real Right Stuff, is also worth watching.
I wear my MCRN baseball cap to the coffee shop. The waves of recognition are rare. Hope that improves 'cause, yes, it's a top-notch production. But it needs more proto-molecule, vacuum-tolerant, rad-hungry critters, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteEd: Well, there is the loose end of the "doggies" and little brother what's-his-name and the fate of Filip.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for more episodes.
MCRN ballcap? I'd be tempted but I'm too cheap and there would be ZERO recognition hereabouts. Sigh.