Episodes
We did it, everybody. The entire team reunites to celebrate a solid end (for now) to a great series. We check in on family dinners, missing (or not missing) pilots, when it’s time to turn down a job, and our hopes for the video future of the franchise. Chip makes one last Babylon 5 comparison (spoilers for a quarter-decade-old series). And, oh, yeah, we make plans to read some books....
Published 01/20/22
Just in time for (Chip looks at his calendar) the last episode to air, we check in for the penultimate episode, the calm before the storm, as Chip, Jen, and Warren dread the prospect of life without The Expanse or, worse, life without proper closure to The Expanse. Will we have to—gasp—read the books…?...
Published 01/14/22
Yo ho ho, a pirate’s life for Drummer! Manager of the Year Marco Inaros has a series of bad days, James Holden has a series of tough conversations, stuff is happening on Laconia—and we’ve only got TWO episodes left to resolve everything and get to a satisfying TV conclusion…?...
Published 01/06/22
“Marco, a narcissist says what?” After unexpectedly invoking the reappearance of two old characters, your hosts engage in a second Cavalcade of Cameos, explore the bro-nemies relationship between Amos and Bobbie, examine Chekhov’s Vegetable, and evaluate whether the season’s heading for a properly impactful conclusion to the series....
Published 12/29/21
Over six seasons of protomolecular weirdness, intrasystem politics, and character conflict, it’s possible that The Expanse’s bread and butter has remained “pew pew pew” space combat. “Azure Dragon” returns to the show’s roots. Your hosts think about privateers, piracy, and whether the newest member of the Roci crew is Peaches or Poochie....
Published 12/24/21
We’re back, and Warren’s in rare form: “[Marco’s] totally that guy who works for a startup in crypto.” Hear your cohosts come to terms with the shortness of the series, unpack the new Roci team structure, and contemplate the Belters’ monstrous new status quo....
Published 12/18/21
The end of the season signals a shift back to ancient protomoleculish weirdness in Season 6, but before that a character walks into an open elevator shaft, Naomi’s story has the best possible payoff and the best sequence of the season, and we celebrate “beautiful purple ribbons of death.” And, yes, The Expanse IS feminist media....
Published 02/15/21
As we gear up for the finale, Episode 9 features some of the most enthusiastic nitpicking your panel has indulged in for quite a while—and we still LIKED this one! But which character do we compare to Dr. Pulaski? What do we think of Marco’s 1980s Thriller look? How about one of the fastest political transitions in TV history? Who coins the regrettable phrases “tready-watery-ish” and “emotional manipulation bellgrande”? Seriously, we liked this one....
Published 02/05/21
Being a discussion of the collective genius of Dominique Tipper and Cara Gee, a rumination of the finer points of Flock of Seagulls hair, a meditation on a fast apocalypse vs. a slow breakdown of society, and an exploration of the intersection of The Expanse and Kim’s Convenience....
Published 01/30/21
We will mince no words in this podcast description: welcome to our favorite episode of the season....
Published 01/21/21
Two Expanse episodes for the price of one podcast, as your reviewers get back on track. Have we started caring about Clarissa Mao? Why didn’t Marco go all Khan Noonian Singh on Cyn and Filip? Is there nothing more perfect than Bobbie in armor? And are we getting closer to Holden doing something? Just…something???...
Published 01/16/21
As we continue to butcher the pronunciation of Gaugamela, Warren Frey rejoins the team as we debate whether it’s reassuring or depressing that The Expanse’s future is just as screwed up as 2020! We debate Season 5’s special effects, marvel at Amos Burton the Nurturer, indulge in yet another Babylon 5 reference, and come to terms with the fact that the legs have been kicked out from under the solar system’s status quo....
Published 12/31/20
We’re back with a comparatively fast, character-focused overview of the first three episodes that dropped on Dec. 16, including a couple of characters who can’t help being who they are, a couple that react to a loss of positions of prestige and influence VERY differently, and the show’s return to the early seasons’ three-way political struggle now under a new context: the land rush through the Ring Gate. We’ll be back soon with Season 5 Episode 4!...
Published 12/27/20
Despite all of the pandemic’s distractions—we made it, everybody! Join the full crew as we celebrate Ashford’s blaze of glory; consider a season finale that is 10 percent resolution, 50 percent complication, 40 percent setup for Season 5; and spend a disproportionate time lovingly nitpicking Season 4 to death. We love The Expanse, but what worked and didn’t this time around? We’ll be back occasionally between seasons, probably taking our first steps into the printed universe…....
Published 05/14/20
Triangle Man, Triangle Man, doing the things Miller can…. It’s a packed action-movie penultimate episode for Season 4, where The Expanse’s theme of interdependence is brilliantly illustrated with gunfights, railguns, last-minute rescues, and an Eye of Sauron. We compare “Saeculum” to PROMETHEUS and of course find the latter wanting, and Kayti gets her Majel Barrett on....
Published 04/27/20
We’re back after a long absence and set for the home stretch for Season 4. In an episode recorded just as New York’s governor announced a stay-at-home order due to COVID-19, your loyal podcasters reflected on just how CATHARTIC it was to see the disasters on Ilus and in orbit solved with SCIENCE and HOPE. Also: there was a hell of a lot of plot in this episode!...
Published 04/15/20
How would you rather die on Ilus: green microbes to the eyeballs or green murder slugs falling from the sky? (Sorry, we only have options in green.) Jen, Kayti, and Warren also discuss the elegance of Chrisjen’s loungewear, Murtry’s wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing act, and whether or not we can relate to Okoye’s The Investigator Envy (also green). Oh, and Amos might just be Jen’s favorite TV character OF ALL TIME....
Published 03/19/20
Maybe recording an episode at a Doctor Who convention made it inevitable: there are SO many accidental parallels drawn between British TV and The Expanse! Kayti reveals the secret connection between Ilus and Narnia. Chip reveals the secret connection between Holden and Harry Potter. Warren and Kayti GO TO A DARK PLACE when it comes to a Tiny Tim character and the tsunami. Kayti pitches a new Call the Midwife series. Also: Has the protomolecule’s mastery over the laws of physics leaped into...
Published 03/03/20
We discuss Holden’s terrible mediation skills, Avasarala’s equally bad campaigning skills, and Alex’s audition for an episode of Space ER. And, left to their own devices, Warren and Jen question how does universal basic income work in this show?...
Published 02/11/20
This “beginning an episode in the aftermath of a Murtry killing” thing seems to be recurring, no? We establish D&D alignments for a few of our characters (some of us are sorrier than others), explore the limits of OPA governance, and see just how much mileage Shohreh Aghdashloo can get out of a bare few minutes of blistering cussing....
Published 01/24/20
A tabletop showdown “from one killer to another,” followed by one of those killers leaning into the title. Holden reverting to form in dealing with the Protomolecule: “Blow it up real good.” Electoral troubles on Earth. Messing with Aunt Bobbie when messing with Aunt Bobbie is STRICTLY PROHIBITED by the A Legitimate Salvage Bobbie Draper Appreciation Society. There’s not a lot of idealism to be found in the third episode of Season 4!...
Published 01/19/20
We call this meeting of the Bobbie Draper Appreciation Society to order (club motto: “Don’t Mess With Aunt Bobbie”), compare Earth and Mars to Athens and Sparta, question whether Naomi’s operating on stoicism or denial, and debate the Second Coming of Diogo....
Published 01/03/20
We’re starting our walk through Season 4! Which Expanse characters sound like they ought to be an R&B duo, and does that mean it’s time for a BUFFY-like musical episode? We talk about what a difference it makes to spend so much time on not one, not two, but three planets in a single episode, and so little on spaceships. Also on the docket: the dangerous animal magnetism of Burn Gorman, Steven Strait’s plus-10 modifiers to smiling, a couch-surfing former gunnery sergeant, and a couple of...
Published 12/23/19
We made it! Just in time for Season 4! The whole band is together to evaluate the season finale and look back on the last three seasons. FUN FACT: Diogo Harari embodies the ethos and consequences of The Expanse’s universe. FUN FACT: It all comes down to screwing in a light bulb backwards. FUN FACT: We still can’t hate Ashford. FUN FACT: A Legitimate Salvage will continue through Season 4 (with weekly recaps because we can’t record 13 episodes in one day). Be seeing you!...
Published 12/09/19