Expanse 1x1 Reaction | Dulcinea | Series Premier Review & Breakdown

[@Mu77ley]

Oh, this is going to be fun. The Expanse is one of the greatest science fiction shows ever made.

[@scambammer6102]

best show ever

[@Mu77ley]

@@scambammer6102 true

[@alabamahellbilly6731]

one of? you mean the best period

[@cinedelasestrellas]

Not just best sci-fi show. Best TV show.

[@professorhelmling6059]

I'm sorry...one of?

[@daxeah8472]

Imo this is the best show ever. The first season and specifically the first few episodes are all worldbuilding heavy so that by season 2, they can really start to delve into the characters, which are amazing! I'll try not to gush about my favorites. I find this show unique in its storytelling and all the different nuances it has. Nothing and no one is a basic stario type. There is a lot of detail, and all of them are important, but not on a first watch through. This show puts details in to blow your mind once you already know the whole story, which is kinda crazy imo. Fun fact: the show is based on a 9 book bookseries. The 6 seasons cover the first 6 books. James S.A. Corey is a pen name for two dudes, Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham. They were heavily involved in the creation of the show and became core writers on the show. They see this as a second draft of their books and are very proud of the finished product. The books and TV show do differ, but only in the best of ways, creating two stories that add to each other while still being surprising regardless of which meadium you consume first. I find this show unique in its ability to manipulate your emotions even after rewatching this show 20+ times. I think it has something to do with the music coupled with acting, writing, and editing. Whatever it is, I still cry every time. You might want to turn on subtitles, the Belter Creole can be hard to understand, and it will help you learn names. Note-taking may help, but reactors often miss stuff because they are taking notes. Sorry this is so long-winded, but this show just amazes me, and I'm looking forward to watching more with you.

[@SciFiCatGuy]

A other fun fact: The original concept was for an MMPRPG, but Ty and Daniel realized that it was unfeasible at that time both financially and logistically. So they turned it into a tabletop RPG. After playing that for a while (with George R.R. Martin joining them in play), they had a good story started, so they turned that into the novel series. That was so good it was turned into the show, which was so good Telltale Games just released it as an MMPRPG.... and the circle was completed. 😉

[@Brownyman]

"The Expanse" isn't a television show. It's a time machine, and will leave you simultaneously both hopeful and terrified for our future.

[@VoodooMcVee]

Yeah. Hopeful: We're still there. Terrified: We didn't change.

[@BrunoBarata78]

Hi, I want to add a little exposition. The strapping down and taking "the juice" was not to flip the ship around, that was the smooth part. Ships in the Expanse travel with Newtonian physics using a type of engine (drive) that has enough fuel efficiency that it can be on for the whole trip (now how things usually work in space, because you wouldn't have enough fuel for that), without wanting to get too complicated, you are probably used to things stopping in space when the engine stops, but that's not how things really work, nothing ever really stops in space, and movement is measured in relation to something else. So Because the ships on the expanse can accelerate continuously they actually have to accelerate towards their target until the trip half way point and then flip about and lose speed for the other half. In that scene the Canterbury was already on its way to Ceres, it had already picked up quite a bit of speed on it's way there, In order to get to the distress signal they had to radically change their speed. So the "Burn" had to be preformed at much greater thrust giving a much higher G of acceleration and for quite a long time (in the book this is described to take a few days of them strapped to their couches under that high G burn. Hope that made some sense.

[@arqHHM]

One of the great things about this show is that not only does it not shy away from just throwing the audience into the deep end, it leans into it. It treats its audience like intelligent adults who will pick up on what they need to know as the show goes on. For at least the first half of the first season you will be a bit overwhelmed. This is intentional. It sorta puts you into boots of how the main characters are feeling as they have to deal with all this chaos happening to and around them. Rest assured, you will get settled into the world eventually but that chaotic, stress inducing feeling never really leaves you lol.

[@billbabcock1833]

Well put. This show is extremely intricate.

[@mikecarson8601]

This is a hard sci fi show. The flip and burn is accurate. You will see a lot of stuff that is strange that is scientifically accurate. This episode is pretty good. Next one is really slow. 3rd is Ok. Then the 4th episode, CQB, excellent. That is the episode that hooks most people. Just hold on and enjoy the ride. It all starts to fit together.

[@scambammer6102]

The dialogue in Ep 3 is when I got hooked. We will see what she thinks as a writer.

[@kristinawrites238]

The Hard science is what really grabbed me. I’m a physics nerd so it was great. CQB is incredible.

[@matthewt1772]

@@kristinawrites238 There's a scene in episode 4 that I use to teach Newton's laws to my students.

[@elroysez8333]

This is smart Sci-Fi for smart adults. First season is a slow burn with LOTS of world building. Pay attention to all that is said. It will be important.

[@rnkelly36]

There are actually some KZbin videos with cast and crew and also with scientist going over the science of The Expanse. They are trying to keep to reality as close as possible and one of the things is space travel. The maneuver you were questioning was a bit dramatic but it would be really close to reality if space travel between the planets was possible. Basically you are traveling at constant acceleration in the Expanse. So you generate gravity by going forward at an increasing rate of speed. You do that and at some point after halfway you have to turn around and slow down. Each time you switch you change the direction of acceleration so from the point of view of the crew gravity is the same but in a different direction inside the ship. There are medical reasons for the juice and they try to explain the life process of Belters which would be different because they live in either micro gravity or 0 gravity. In the book they explain how they have to return to gravity to procreate. The science is very important in this show. I would read a little about the creator because what he was doing was trying to create a video game story but ended up doing a book. There was also work done with RR Martin via Ty Franck who was his assistant and Daniel Abraham that used the pen name James S.A. Corey to write the books. I like the books. Much better than the show but the show is very very entertaining.

[@joelwillis2043]

I studied biological development at the cellular and molecular levels. When you are at these very small levels the electrostatic force is what really drives how things work. Think of this as the charge on a molecule, the plus and minuses you remember from chemistry. The interaction of these charges at small distances is so much more powerful than the effect of gravity. This cannot be overstated. Yet, there is strong evidence that shows when you tweak gravity a little bit of development of complex life forms is greatly altered, think severe birth defects. Development is so complicated we are still in the infancy of understanding it. Developing a baby in the womb while in zero gravity or even low or high gravity would not lead to a good outcome

[@dennistomsen5822]

The Expanse is all about characters.....and world-building....and cliffhangers 😁 Just relax and enjoy the wild ride, Anna 🥳

[@keithnphx63]

Yes! Always happy to find another reactor for The Expanse. Enjoy the ride.

[@philipturner9087]

For me this is the best Sci-Fi show ever on TV.

[@LeeCarlson]

Rats go anywhere that humans go as long as supplies are not being stored in vacuum.

[@lynnjohanssen6552]

It's going to be several episodes of world building, but the payoff is worth it. There are details in this first episode that come into play much later on, but that is more of a fun "looking back" and making connections than anything you actually need to remember. The female characters in this show are very well written. The guys, too, but it can be hard to not get trope-y with female characters and this show excels at writing them well. By mid season 2 and especially going into season 3, it was simply some of the best television I've ever seen.

[@promcheg]

"Captain, captain, why are we turning around? We are only halfway there." Imagine a ship flying through space from A to B. Inertia is preserved, so accelerating for a while brings you to a certain speed, which stays... forever (ignoring the highly unlikely case it comes close to big celestial bodies). So if you want to intercept another object, you must reduce your relative speed by turning engines in the opposite direction and decelerating. You will often see ships flying with engines towards their destination in this show. The show is incredibly complex and doesn't hold your hand. Complexity is not just in the scientific context but also characters and plot.

[@scottbull7378]

Subbed for this journey :) The scope does quickly narrow to a manageable amount of characters so I think the hook will set shortly. This is very Hard Sci Fi so everything is based in our current knowledge of physics. You'll see things here that don't appear in other Sci Fi shows because the reality of space is a main character. Speaking of characters, you will love these. Some of the best written TV characters I've seen. Amos in particular. It's an adaptation and a darn good one at that. I recommend reading the books after the show. I really appreciated the adaptation process and the great work done. Stick with it. If you love good characters and good writing, you will not be disappointed.

[@andrewcharles459]

Also subbed just for this one. I like reliving it through someone else's eyes.

[@quegs]

Highly highly recommend watching with subtitles. The Expanse is dead set on not holding the viewer's hands regarding worldbuilding (which pays off fantastically) - the downside is that the dialogue is full of slang and terminology that's just not easy to pick up without having pre-existing context. That goes double for lang belta (Belter Creole).

[@Hapsard]

😊😁☺️ .... One of my favorite shows? My favorite show? So happy you're giving it a try! Only advice is don't give up until you've watched 3-4 episodes because they kind of drop you into the deep end with no floaties. As far as the situation ... Earthers - people from Earth. Dusters - people from Mars. Belters - people born on asteroids, moons (not Earth's moon ... Jupiter and Saturn), etc. Used to much lower gravity and most actually could never travel to Earth without suffering greatly. The flip and burn - all the 'gravity' you see here on the ships is created by thrust (sorry - one exception but see that later). The ships are built like buildings with the engines at the bottom and each deck built up from there. As the engines fire and you're accelerating you are pushed 'down' to the floor and you feel more or less gravity depending on how fast you're accelerating. The fiction in the science fiction of this part is that they have really efficient engines that burn so little fuel they can accelerate half way to their destination, flip the ship around and decelarate the other half of the journey and only lose gravity during the flip. If, on the other hand, they want to have an emergency stop like to check out a ship in distress they have to burn really hard to slow down fast and that creates a lot of gravity ... Thus being strapped into their seats having the mouth guards and getting drugs pumped into their body that helps mitigate the effects of the strain your body is being put under. 😅 ... Sorry for the essay. I just love this stuff so very much!

[@iDuckman]

Re: the burn maneuver - _All the space flight in this show is REAL_ The maneuver is demanded by inertia and gravity. Oh, they could do it more gently and take months instead of days to get to the distressed ship, but it is an emergency. The ~only~ science fiction in the show is the efficiency of the engines, explained in the novelette The Drive. Otherwise the tech is ours currently, projected into the future. The Miller and Avasarala (Indian grandma) substories are independent and parallel, The threads won't join for a while. BTW, I finished watching *1883.* It was _really_ good, and very accurate. How the Yellowstone Ranch was established - that backstory you wanted.

[@Rancorous_Ryan]

Happy to see this on your channel, it's an absolutely phenomenal show!

[@LeeCarlson]

Holden puts sulfur from matchheads in his coffee in an attempt to make it taste less like fungus (the primary foodstuff in the Belt) because he is from Earth and has tasted actual coffee from beans.

[@Vegasbill80]

The Expanse is based on a book series by James S.A Corey. The first book is called Leviathan Wakes

[@snarflcat6187]

Leviathan is wot Hold On calls his little space man. 😷

[@SciFiCatGuy]

Fun fact: The original concept for The Expanse was for an MMPRPG, but Ty and Daniel realized that it was unfeasible at that time both financially and logistically. So they turned it into a tabletop RPG. After playing that for a while (with George R.R. Martin joining them in play), they had a good story started, so they turned that into the novel series. That was so good it was turned into the show, which was so good Telltale Games just released it as an MMPRPG.... and the circle was completed. 😉

[@quegs]

"Belters" does refer primarily to the asteroid belt, but as a people, they're spread out through the entire solar system. OPA = Outer Planets alliance - there are many space stations and colonies on or near other planets in the Sol System. Phoebe Station, for example, orbits Saturn.

[@elroysez8333]

Subtitles will help you better understand the mixed creole language of the Belters. There is very little "pseudo science" in this show. They go to great pains to try to adhere to real space physics. Alt Shift X has a really good intro video for The Expanse that helps you understand the tech, space physics and politics of the show.

[@animaldude01]

The maneuver is just based off inertia they are traveling very fast and so if they want to go a different direction you gotta slow down/ thrust in that direction, making whatever inside experience. high g forces (ex. 3 g's is 3 times the force of gravity you feel on earth). It's like what fighter jet pilots feel or what you feel when you are in a car and brake (except in space there is no road for tires to use to accelerate so the acceleration comes from the thrusters). The drugs are to keep them alive through higher g's than they can naturally withstand.

[@AlexSwanson-rw7cv]

The couches and g-juice etc weren't for turning around (changing the direction the ship is pointing in) so much as the hard burn (use of main engines to change velocity) to intercept the distress signal vessel. They could do it with a lower-g burn but it would take much longer and delay the rest of their journey even more.

[@hawkthorn33]

oh lets go! 72 episodes.. yeah, you are gonna want more. post watch edit. The flip and burn was a hard breaking maneuver. Normally a ship would push off with engines at a lower speed, for a good duration to get up to speed, then "be on the float" coasting at that speed. (also being at 0 G force) Reaching near the destination, a ship would flip, and run the main engines longer at a lower power to ease to a stop. In this instance they had to slam on the breaks to come to a relative stop. The show will do a nice job of filling in the gaps, short version, the "Inner" planets, Earth and Mars need the resource from the belt, but treat the belt like a third world country. Mars is smaller population, but has high tech base.

[@donrichards271]

I remember from somewhere in the dim past reading a definition of "hard" Science Fiction as a story with one thing different from what we know. Everything else tries to remain faithful to science and logic. Could be set in a future with faster than light travel, could be having time travel or aliens or almost anything. This show is far and away the best at respecting the physics of space travel and the challenges os surviving off the Earth I can remember seeing. Top tier hard scifi.

[@kirkdarling4120]

Yes, that's the general rule for hard SF, although generally faster-than-light travel is a freebie. In this case, they don't take really advantage of that freebie because we don't know that the Epstein drive isn't somehow possible. It's not FTL, it's just really, really efficient.

[@rrcollier]

Yay, a new expanse reactor. Subscribed.

[@detrix42]

if your not going to have a notebook, you may want to turn on closed captions. Every episode gets better and better. Every season is better than the last. This show is my all time favorite sci-ft TV series.

[@Yesquire0]

This is the best TV show, ever, any genre. The first season is noir detective in a sci-fi setting, which may not have been what you were expecting from a show labelled as sci-fi. Like any good detective story, solving the mystery won't happen for many episodes, but it makes The Expanse fabulous for a reactor to present her thoughts and speculations about what is ongoing and how the story will end, or the next episode unfold. A bit prescient, I must say, when you offered up the idea that everybody was going to die. You stated that you won't be saying much while the episode is underway because you are set on carefully observing what is happening on the screen. That is precisely the way to watch The Expanse, and I'm confident you will eventually come around to share my opinion about The Expanse. It helps if you are already familiar with how NASA, and sci-fi authors, handle some of the problems faced by people traversing the solar system. If you are not a prodigious reader of classic sci-fi, a few things may be new and a bit cnfusing to you. The "flip-and-burn" maneuver is necessary because spaceships have no brakes. The only way they have to either speed up or slow down is to use their engines. Fire the engines if you want to go faster. Fire the engines if you want to slow down, but you first have to flip the ship 180 degrees beforehand so that the engine thrust will then slow you down. Any trip you take will require acceleration, then a 180 flip, followed by equal deceleration so you will come to a halt at your destination. The matrix-style juice injected into the crew was to help protect them from suffering strokes and other problems related to high G-forces. A normal human can't tolerate more tha 9 Gs, and then only for a few seconds. We are not advised how quickly the Canterbury was decelerated and what the G-forces might have been during that maneuver, but pumping the juice implies they were quite high, as did the shaking of the ship once the engines fired up. Shows like Star Wars and Star Trek just tell us that starships have "artificial gravity" and "inertial dampeners" and gravity effects are never part of their visuals

[@LeeCarlson]

The use of unnatural camera angles is to reinforce the idea that if a ship is not under drive there is NO sensation of "down" because there is only microgravity, and what is holding the characters to the "floor" is the magnetic boots that they are wearing (with heels that light up when they are active).

[@billbabcock1833]

First off, we have 71 more episodes. I'm excited. Yes the world building is detailed, but after a few episodes it'll make sense. One thing that might help is figuring out the Belter Creole. The slang the Belters use. You can find lists of slang and the meanings online. I love Firefly, but this is hands down the best sci-fi show ever.

[@invaderliz]

Oh heck yes, get ready for a masterclass in storytelling! Every department; writing, acting, costumes, set design: master story tellers! They even invented new methods for moving the cameras around.

[@m.bennett]

Don't worry about notes and such like that, just relax and take the world in as it comes, you will be on top of the situation as the story unfolds; there's so much density that no one can "catch all the little bits" on the first watch. That's what the rewatch is for.

[@calicocat7377]

I just watched your reaction to episode one of my favorite show. Caution: don’t try to put things together too fast. Let the storytellers do it for you. They know what they’re doing. I hope you enjoy.

[@Marzipanilla]

All the space manuvering and what not is based heavily in actual science, so this is a 'hard' sci-fi show (mostly). There aren't a lot of handwaved things about being in space. Ships only have 'gravity' when they are moving for instance, when the force is great enough to generate it. There are no star trek transporter beams here. Space is also big. The show has to downplay it, but the books are pretty good about explaining just how long it takes for people to get anywhere. The chair juice keeps them from blacking out/having a stroke when being subjected to a lot of G force. Space is dangerous. This show doesn't let you forget it.

[@jimquillin8351]

The world building lasts 4 episodes. The story doesn't really take off until episode 5. Get ready for a lot of info. I am going to enjoy watching you enjoy this journey. Buckle up.

[@jamesholland5761]

Welcome to The Expanse! The first season is a mystery! This is by far my favorite TV show EVER!! You find another show that has better writers, directing, acting, special effects and music score! Character building on a different level! It just gets better and better and better! Looking forward to the next one!

[@ducktape160]

The expanse fans are the most loyal you will ever find, when you watch our show we watch you, guide you but never spoil you, it kind the expanse creed

[@cinedelasestrellas]

It is actually the whole solar system involved in The Expanse; it’ll take a while to see all of it. Remember, the Canterbury was on its way back to Ceres from Saturn. That’s how Ceres gets water: Saturn’s rings are made mostly of ice so ships fly out to Saturn to collect it, then return the ice to Ceres. It helps to Google some of the locations in the show, such as Ceres. It’s a real asteroid. Fun fact: Ceres is the Roman God of grain and the harvest; this is the origin of the word “cereal.”

[@LeeCarlson]

There are also a couple of good sites for Lang Belta, the creole spoken by the people of the Belt. The Belt is all of the asteroids, plus the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

[@peadarruane6582]

Havelock... Miller's partner is a bit of literary device, Miller explaining to him. how the belt works, also tells the audience how things are. There is a fair bit of world building over the first few episodes, and it can feel a bit overwhelming, b ut don't worry answers are coming. As far as what details are important... they all are. there is no filler in this show. But don't worry if you miss some things, I am still catching little details and I've seen the show a massive number of times at this stage.

[@ronb6152]

I wasn't hooked until episode 4. Season one is mostly world building. The story starts to take over about episode 7-8. New subscriber here to watch you take this journey. The writing and character development is unmatched by any series I've ever watched. Once the story takes over, it literally gets better with each episode.

[@sigzil1985]

The Flip n Burn manoeuvre: In order to simulate gravity, the ships in the Expanse accelerate at a constant 1G (Earth gravity). In order to get to their destination, half way through the trip they flip the ship around and accelerate backwards at 1G, which keeps the gravity at 1G and slows the ship down perfectly in time to stop at the destination. Because they were changing their destination in the middle of a trip, the flip and burn would have been at a higher acceleration than 1G, causing all kinds of pressure on the ship and the crew's bodies (hence the drugs pumped into their necks).

[@nicoleb1581]

Omg I love this show❤ I’m so glad you picked such a great show. Can’t wait to see what you think of these wonderful characters

[@patrick42h]

I'm so excited to see you react to this show. It's one of my favorites!

[@neospock5034]

Oh boy, you're in for it now!! The writing, the characters, the scope of the conflict- welcome to an epic sci-fi show!

[@NigelSmith72]

You won't regret this one :) Although the first two episodes are *very* dense on the worldbuilding lore... One thing you will note the first season is rougher than all the others - because they were still learning how to do this very different style of sci-fi. Once it get going though... it's incredible!

[@StuartGreenley]

This series is said to have excellent story writing, and as you are an author I am excited to see your reactions. For a bunch of ease take a look at our solar system to have a map.

[@TerryNationB7]

Here's a useful map that shows our solar system and who owns/runs what at the beginning of the show: i.redd.it/cnb9um8blf651.png

[@DrEsky914]

Its a great pilot! The show is based on a series of 9 novels by James SA Corey, two authors using this as a pen name. The authors are in the writers room for the entirety of the show which is absolutely amazing. You will fall in love with this world that seems very real and organic. The show runner and writers don't spoon feed you, you do have to pay attention as you mentioned. Because the show is so rich and dense it is fantastic to rewatch which makes it way better than 99.9% of all the rest of the shows out there. I subbed for The Expanse and am so happy more people are getting to experience this fantastic show!

[@mintjulius275]

This show is so good! Excited for you watching this

[@LeeCarlson]

Holden's "perceived leverage" is that he is an Earther, and Pur-Kleen water (the company employing the Canterbury) is an Earth-based company.

[@TrashWerewolf]

Sooooo glad to see you getting into this!!! Easily one of the BEST true sci-fi series, EVER! I think you're definitely going to enjoy it!

[@rdevries3852]

Since there's nothing in space that might cause drag, an object in motion in space will keep going in that direction unless and until you provide a counteracting force. When the Canterbury was responding to the distress call, they had to change direction nearly 180 degrees. To do so, they had to flip the entire ship and then burn the engines to first halt their momentum going in the original direction and then start accelerating in the new direction. Since they were responding to a _distress_ call, they also couldn't afford to take the time to slowly and gradually reduce their speed and change their direction, which is why they had to make a hard burn, resulting in some pretty high g forces working on the ship and crew. The "juice" the crew got injected with is a cocktail designed to keep people alive and conscious during such high g manoeuvres.

[@TArnoldFerguson]

Yes, they do "drop a lot of flavor in the dialog. Basically, EVERYTHING is important.

[@MacAisling]

The series remains complex and the puzzle plays out over time, so don’t feel discouraged if you can’t put it together all in one go. If you remember anything about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, I like to use that as a comparison for getting a grip on the political overview of the world building. Here Earth is like the British Empire, Mars is America, the Belt is Northern Ireland and the OPA is like the IRA. This is definitely serial story telling and not episodic at all.

[@ThePharaz]

Hope you like cliffhangers. You only need about 95% of the character information. The world building basically is like the game board and rules on how to play. Don't worry once you wrap your mind around the world building they'll add the next level. In someways you could think of this as the Game of Thrones in space if you've seen or read it. I look at the Expanse as what Firefly could have been if allowed to go 6 seasons.

[@kristinawrites238]

This show throws you into the deep end & treats it’s audience with the assumption that you are smart enough to keep up. Every detail does matter, even if it feels unimportant in the moment. It is very much a puzzle, and eventually the pieces fit together. Trust the writers 😎

[@janmortensen9314]

Rats in space why not?! they are everywhere. Not without reason there are official cats on Royal Navy ships and even in no 10 Downing Street

[@GeorgeEugeneBarrett]

An obligation to respond to a distress signal is not a “convenient plot device.” That is also the law of the sea for a ship is distress, and any nearby vessels must respond and render aid.

[@westcoast7429]

"I can't take notes with a drink in my hand" i'm bout to enjoy this reaction series

[@TomCat777]

This show is amazing. I cannot wait to see how it plays with your mind. LOL

[@kyronmcallister4643]

Welcome to The Expanse family!

[@pxjones63]

The first three episodes are very dense with world building. If you make it to episode 4, it really takes off. My favorite sci-fi series

[@LeeCarlson]

The Canterbury runs a simple route from Ceres to Saturn where they collect ice from the rings and return it back to Ceres.

[@EvilAnomaly]

YES YES YES...another new Expanse Reactor!!! My week is getting filled up again with various new reactors! Welcome aboard to the best SciFi show ever created and IMHO the greatest show ever made! Hold in their as others have stated as S1 is rough but good in building this awesome world!

[@lockstocknl]

Ooww yes, a new reactor on The Expanse! Let's goooo

[@silencedogood7922]

Subbed for this ride along with you. Books are great and this show follows it pretty well. This show received so much praise for it’s scientific accuracy and how they nailed the physics in space. Like you’ll see shots of ships that look like they’re going backwards but they’ve flipped and started their engine burn way before they reach their destination to start slowing down. There’s tons of KZbin channels that talk about all the little physics details this how gets right. Even some astrophysicists reviewed this show.

[@evilvolts]

The Expanse for the first 3 seasons started on scifi channel but they cancelled the show and after a huge outcry from fans Amazon picked up the show and continued it with an even better funding project.

[@mcjp1562]

The Expanse is great, enjoy the ride! Don‘t know if somebody else already recommended it but I highly recommend to watch the show with subtitles on.

[@axlm.808]

It's a hard sci fi show, most of the fancy tech are based (mostly) on real physics No gravity generators, no force shield, no hyperdrive For instance, the "flip and burn" the Canterbury did is basically an emergency braking The ship, which was in its acceleration phase, flip 180° and go full thrusters to stop as short as possible Hence the mouth guard and the "juice" which is a cocktail of painkillers and stimulants for the crew can handle the heavy deceleration without passing out

[@braedenmousseau8032]

The flip and burn is how it would work scientifically... They are going very fast towards Ceres Station, and accelerating towards it (creating artifical gravity due to the acceleration, like getting pushed back into seat when car speeds up). To change direction requires an acceleration in the new direction, to get there quickly it will be a very hard acceleration (like an elephant is standing on your chest). To accelerate quickly and not die they created "The Juice" which helps prevent strokes

[@Amtrakblue]

Definitely watch with subtitles 👍

[@golfr-kg9ss]

I hope you like this series. It's based on a book series and the authors were heavily involved in the writing of the episodes. The first few series are very much world building. The really takes off in episode 4 CQB.

[@SciFiCatGuy]

Fun fact: The original concept for The Expanse was for an MMPRPG, but Ty and Daniel realized that it was unfeasible at that time both financially and logistically. So they turned it into a tabletop RPG. After playing that for a while (with George R.R. Martin joining them in play), they had a good story started, so they turned that into the novel series. That was so good it was turned into the show, which was so good Telltale Games just released it as an MMPRPG.... and the circle was completed. 😉

[@shrike-]

The "flip and burn" maneuver is the expected real way ships would decelerate while in space. This show has most of its technology grounded in real science: the ships do not have artificial gravity. So if a ship is already at high velocity in one direction, changing that direction requires the ship to fire its engines pointed in a different direction. If that has to happen FAST, like the Canterbury stopping to check on the derelict freighter, it will produce a high-gravity equivalent effect. The characters use the 'juice' to help their bodies resist the stress of high-g maneuvers. You also mentioned the camera rotation/upside down shots on the freighter. This is an intentional choice, meant to make space without gravity feel disorienting.

[@pwph8361]

So excited to watch your first reaction.... You won me at cocktail!! This is gonna be fun ❤❤

[@thomashiggins9320]

Turn on the subtitles. It'll help you climb the learning curve more quickly. The world-building is complex; it has many characters; the Belter Creole can be hard to follow; and it's a mystery story, too. So, the subtitles help. (Bad coffee is usually that way because it's too alkaline/base. Sulphur from a match is acidic.) Also, you did grasp that the Julie Mao person that Miller is supposed to find is the woman in the closet we saw at the very beginning of the episode, right?

[@swhaw]

Im sure it's been explained in another comment but this is the period of space travel that is equivalent to the period in history when we traveled everywhere in ships before we invented planes. No hyperdrive, no "inertial dampeners", no artificial gravity, travel still takes weeks/months. Their gravity comes from the thrust the ship is undergoing, its why when there was a thrust correction during the sex scene they smacked into the ground. Their ships are laid out like office buildings rather than cruise liners, the engines being in the basement. They use the thrust of the engine by accelerating to 1/3 g or 1g depending on the crew (belters can only really handle long periods in 1/3 or lower). The constant acceleration brings them up to crazy speeds, so fast that in order not to kill the crew but subjecting them to the G forces, they accelerate for the first half of the trip then "flip and burn", flipping the ship and burning in the opposite direction so slow down before they reach their destination. That is why the flip and burn was so dramatic, to show that any significant course alteration is extremely dangerous and if the Gs are too much they lock themselves into their "crash couches" and have to take the "juice" (the white liquid) to keep them conscious. It is probably the most realistic depiction of space ever on television. It is a lot to take in at first but just keep in mind that the depiction of space is pretty much real. The world building is also extremely dense but you are done with it by the end of the first season, not the finale but I don't wanna spoil exactly when. Just keep in mind that it seems intimidating at first but that also comes from the fact that the first season is basically a detective mystery and you learn stuff as the characters learn stuff versus having any info up front. I love the way they handled it and it is exactly how a mystery should be handled. I hope you keep up with it because it is 100% worth it. It literally just keeps getting better and better as season 1 is the weakest season.

[@hebijirik]

To your question about turning the ship around: The Expanse tries to stay true to known laws of physics as much as possible. There are some gray areas as to how long some travel from somewhere to somewhere would actually take for the sake of story telling but other than that Sir Isaac Newton is in control of the situation. Ships are built as skyscrapers, the decks intersect the ship perpendicular to the axis of the main engines. With engines off you have no gravity inside. With engines at low power you can maintain for example 0.3g light gravity inside - comfortable for all the belters who grew up in low g - and accelerating at 0.3g half way there and decelerating the second half of the route still gets you there pretty quickly (on solar system scale of how long things take). For emergency maneuvers like responding to that call for help you can run your engines at much higher power and the crew needs to survive high g for prolong periods. Both for the machinery but mainly for the humans this is not sustainable for very long - minutes to hours depending on the level of acceleration. Lying on your back like real astronauts already do during launch helps a lot. In Expanse they also have a drug cocktail that can help the human body deal with that - the juice the seat can inject into you. In case of a decades old rust bucket like the Cantebury this comes with risk as the age of the ship means it might no longer be able to withstand what it was designed to withstand so you get things breaking under the high g acceleration. Also very old engines cheaply maintained get you a shaky ride on high power. I think the authors of the books said somewhere that they treat gravity as one of the characters, not as an obstacle the author has to get around somehow. This dedication to making scenes believable even to us with interest in technical things and a level of understanding of physics is one of the reasons I like this show. Not only is the development of all the characters great but I also do not get pulled out of it by a ridiculously stupid "magic" scenes and get to enjoy greatly thought out details instead.

[@exray9044]

You are in for a treat. I hope you will enjoy it as much me.

[@kirkdarling4120]

Oh, there is a KZbin video of scenes deleted from this episode. Inasmuch as they're from this episode, they aren't spoilers. They just did a bit more exposition than they decided was appropriate for the way they're pushing the story along, so these "telling" scenes were deleted. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZzJfoqFo7Kcq7s

[@raymondamador1487]

07:08 How do they have sex in space? Hold each other's shoulders, one person pushes down while the other pushes up. Since it's zero gravity, minimal effort is needed.

[@alanhembra2565]

I read the books the show is based on and I love how they interpreted it for the show.

[@macmcleod1188]

Looking forward to this! I bounced off this twice. Then hurt myself binging it so hard. It gets super addictive as of season 2.

[@danbadd]

There are no magic gravity machines on this show. Most of the ships are built like towers and use acceleration to create 'thrust' gravity (think like an elevator going up pushing into the soles of your feet). Ships will accelerate constantly at 1/3 Earth's gravity until halfway to their destination and then flip `80 degrees and decelerate at 1/3 g the 2nd half of the voyage (now traveling backwards) to maintain gravity. When a ship isn't accelerating or decelerating there is no gravity. In this case, the Cantebury was changing course but didn't want to lose much time so they performed a 'flip and burn' towards their new direction but as Holden announced it was a high-g maneuver, several times higher than the gravity on earth. People on board were injected with 'juice' to manage the g-force, reducing risk of feinting and stroke.

[@LeeCarlson]

The mirrors in wealthy households are not made of glass, which would break, but of much more durable materials.

[@adamwells9352]

Enjoyed your Firefly reactions, looking forward to these. Hope you enjoy the show.

[@tucmakukla]

It's not really to simply turn the ship around, but to turn it around quickly - otherwise the flip and burn would go at much less acceleration (or even just with maneuver thrusters)

[@jimdunville2843]

I've subscribed for this, enjoy the ride. This is top tier TV. The flip N burn the ship does is based in reality, not like most other Sci-fi shows. The Expanse does the best it can to stay grounded in our reality. With technology and machines extrapolated from our current level of advancement for a few hundred years. If you want to change direction in space you have to stop your forward momentum. Which requires opposite directional thrust, and massive gravitational forces on any ship and her crew. The juice they take is a chemical cocktail to keep human organs from shutting down or collapsing during high G maneuvering. It's very risky so it's only done in extreme situations. I hope you enjoy this show, taking notes would not be a bad idea. :)

[@geoffgreen2105]

14:20 - They could turn the ship around without going through all that, but it would take much longer, and therefore they'd have more distance to make up. Physics always gets a say in The Expanse. Nothing really stops moving, it just stops accelerating in any given direction. Issac Newton remains the deadliest son-of-a-bitch in space.

[@matthewt1772]

Always a follow for Expanse reactions! Welcome to a great show. As some other people have mentioned, there's a lot of world building in the first few episodes, but it pays off. And it's also a mystery, so a lot of the unexplained things will eventually be explained. And yes, the flip and burn is a realistic maneuver = the Cant had to shed a lot of velocity quickly to be able to not just go flying past the distress call. Final note, not a spoiler: just about every episode of the Expanse could be titled, Friends style, "The One Where Space is Terrifying and Is Probably Going to Kill Our Heroes."

[@matthewt1772]

Follow up after watching your comments at the end (note to self; wait to comment till you've watched!) - though there is lots of world building, the show is first and foremost character-driven. The writing and acting of the characters is excellent. Just be careful of assumptions - some characters seem at first to be very cliche, but if you pay attention, you realize there's a lot more going on. One character in particular says things that are easy to interpret as threats when, if you watch carefully, you realize they're just statements of fact.

[@reverance_pavane]

Don't worry overmuch about trying to work out what is going on at the moment. Nobody in the show really knows what they have all stumbled into at the moment. It's a mystery. There is no "magical" technology in this universe, apart from very efficient reaction drives (which is pretty much required to enable the space-based Belter civilisation). There is no artificial gravity, shields, strange sensors, phasers, hyperdrives or warp drives. Although a ship under thrust will appear to have gravity (as the deck pushes up against the passenger), and the permanent belt habitats make use of spin gravity (much the same effect). They are not only very fuel efficient but are capable of providing significant thrust. High thrust burns generally require you to be seated in an acceleration couch and use IV drugs to prevent medical problems from the stress. The Canterbury had to decelerate aggressively to launch the lifeboat to allow it to rendezvous with the distress signal (which was done by flipping the ship so it was facing in the opposite direction and firing the main engines). Especially if they hoped to recover the lifeboat afterwards. The Canterbury was harvesting water ice from near Saturn to take back to Ceres (a very small dwarf planet in the asteroid belt). Unlike most SF shows the asteroid belt is mostly empty space. Saturn is pretty much the outer limit of non-scientific space missions. The asteroid belt, Jupiter and Saturn are outside the orbit of Mars, so Mars and Earth are the Inner Planets and these others are considered the Outer Planets. [Venus and Mercury are utterly uninhabitable so pretty much ignored.] Places in the Outer Planets are a long way away from each other, even with the very efficient space drives

[@Aegolius]

Although Ceres is the smallest known 'dwarf planet' (the others being Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects), it still is the largest object in the asteroid belt roughly 1K km in diameter, comprising about 1/4 of the belt's mass.

[@hackbyte]

Wandering around yt looking for scifi re-watches .... erm, looking for ppl watching for their first time. You got me there. 13:44 This flip and burn maneuver is based - as most of this series - on pure science. To effectively slow down the full mass of the ship to zero and then start accelerating right back from where you come ....... you need a lot of kinetic energy/thrust.. And there are two ways to get there .... steadily and slowly -- we're talking hours if not days. Or with a lot of force - and g-forces - which obviously is what you prefer in a emergency ;)

[@rodentnolastname6612]

The Rat in space. The showrunners and the authors freely admit that they stole the shows' asthetic from the movie "Alien". The rat was a nod and an explanation to the movie having a cat on board the spaceship 😲😀

[@troywilliams2777]

Subscribed for the Expanse. One of the best (maybe the best?) shows I've ever watched and easily some of the best (possibly the best) books I've ever read.

[@dapeach06]

Best show of all time IMO, definitely the best sci fi show.

[@davidbergfors6820]

"only" earth and Mars? please, what else is there to colonize? yes, the belt, we haven't seen it yet, but there is stations and colonies on many different rocks, including many of the moons around Jupiter and Saturn. the reason we only talk about three areas is that that's the separation of "culture". Earth is one nation, Mars is one nation, and the People around all those other rocks band together and call themselves "Belters"

[@billross7245]

Ceres is an artificially spun asteroid in this future, and all the residents live inside in a kind of upside down world relative to Earth, that's why the airlock was on the floor which leads out to the surface. Gravity is achieved by the spin and the gravity is different depending on how deep into the asteroid they go.

[@Oinodaemon]

The series strives to have realistic physics and tech. It's a long journey, where story elements are intertwined/connected and may not make sense now, but will later... so buckle up.

[@aartsst3227]

Woo Hoo!! Glad you is starting this great show! Gonna watch this reaction as soon as i get home form work tonight!!! A couple helpful tips a friend gave me when i started this amazing show - You're supposed to be confused - the answers are coming - but they will just result in more questions!! Having the subtitles on can really help - especially in the beginning - The Belter language is a kind of Creole made up of many different cultures / languages from Earth mixed together with their own words there are VERY FEW throw away lines or situations in this show - the payoff may be a couple seasons away - but its on its way.... - Keep an eye on the screens in the background - lots of good "whats happening elsewhere in the system" info can be found there... Hang on & Enjoy the Ride!! 🚀🚀🚀🚀