The Expanse Season 1 Recap | Full Season Breakdown

The Expanse season 1 recap. Deep dive into the first season of the TV adaptation of the James S.A. Corey series. Please subscribe! - bit.ly/PetePeppers
A full breakdown of The Expanse’s first season that originally aired on SyFy in 2015. The first ten episodes introduce you to the 24th-century world the characters live in. Humanity has colonized the Solar System with large populations inhabiting Mars and the Asteroid Belt. The Expanse focuses on the harsh conditions of living in the Belt, and the main crew comes together working on a long-distance Ice Hauler between Saturn and Ceres.
Earthers James Holden (Steven Strait) and Amos Burton (Wes Chatham) team up with the Martian Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar), and the Belter Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper). The Canterbury is destroyed and they find themselves as the only witnesses to what may be a conspiracy to start a war between Earth, Mars, and the Belt.
On Earth Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) is an “Earth First” politician. She tries to discover who would have access or the motive to try to provoke the superpowers. In the Belt, Fred Johnson (Chad Coleman) reaches out to the survivors of the Cant and offers them safe harbor after they survive the destruction of the Donnager.
In season 1 we follow Detective Miller’s (Thomas Jane) investigation into the missing daughter of a wealthy Earther family. Julie Mao (Florence Faivre) becomes an obsession with the weathered detective, and he’ll stop at nothing to solve her case.
All the first season storylines come together on Eros Station. Protegen appears to be testing a bio-weapon that it developed on Phoebe Station on humans. The entire population has been infected, and the crew of the Rocinante barely make it out.
This Expanse season 1 recap video explains everything you need to know about the premiere season and explains the ending. It explains what we learn about the characters and the near-future world they live in.
The Expanse stuff:
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Babylon’s Ashes - amzn.to/37GjFOl
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Tiamat’s Wrath - amzn.to/2IsbjBu
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The disappearance of rich-girl-turned-political-activist Julie Mao links the lives of Ceres detective Joe Miller (Thomas Jane), accidental ship captain James Holden (Steven Strait), and U.N. politician Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo). Amidst political tension between Earth, Mars, and the Belt, they unravel the single greatest conspiracy of all time.
0:00 Intro/Julie Mao
1:05 Ceres/Detective Miller
3:38 Earth/Chrisjen Avasarala
4:37 The Canterbury/Holden, Naomi, Amos, Alex, & Shed
8:15 Investigations of Earth & Ceres/The Donnager
12:28 Miller and Anderson Dawes/The Rocinante Legitimate Salvage
18:11 The Anubis & Eros
20:24 The Eros Incident
23:58 The New Crew
#TheExpanse #TheExpanseSeason6 #ExpanseOnPrime

[@edwardr8226]

As someone who just watched season 1 for the first time and felt lost through most of this, I thank you very much for this well organised recap

[@AndiBraun93]

Never actually felt lost watching it, but god damn if I didn't miss an insane amount of little details.

[@abdulrehmanbaber2104]

Same here.

[@pijcab]

I watched this 5-6 years ago, I feel like I'm learning about this season for the first time...

[@atasteofreality609]

@@pijcab this is a great show once you get past season one, but damn is that actor terrible that plays James Holden

[@pijcab]

What made me give up on season 3+ was the constant switching between Prime Video and Netflix and Paramount+ and wherever else this show ended on (At least where I live). Made me tired to chase around a show I wasn't fully into already... @@atasteofreality609

[@johannesdolch]

Thank you so much. I attempted to watch this series multiple times. It would have taken me hours and hours to suffer through "WTF is this". Instead you managed to get me to the point where i am actually invested in the story in 25 minutes. This series gets convoluted waaaaayyyyyy too soon, before the audience is actually hooked.

[@jasonwadkins7410]

I remember the first time I watched season 1. I almost gave up and my sister (who is not a sci-fi fan but loves The Expanse.) encouraged me to keep watching. Now I have read all the books, watched all the seasons several times and I am dying to read book 9. Please do a recap of all the seasons and books (and short stories too.) Thank you. Love your videos.

[@PetePeppers1]

I can't believe book 9 is almost here. Kind of don't want it to end.

[@porche6466]

I started watching twice before it caught my attention.

[@TurkeyDart]

I feel like im in the same position. I finished season 1 and I wanted to find something to recap and explain everything. Ill give season 2 a go before I Tap out

[@TomOostenrijk]

If it´s about the Expanse, if you make it, I will watch it.

[@PetePeppers1]

Thanks

[@PetePeppers1]

I was doing a reread of the series to do some book videos leading up to the release of Leviathan Wakes. Wanting to compare things between the books and show I went back and watched season 1 and decided I might as well put this together. Not sure how much interest there is for something like this now, but I might continue with seasons 2 and 3. Definitely will doing book videos though, I’m so excited to finally read the final installment.

[@mikeus69]

Sounds great to me

[@ronondechek14]

Great idea! Always enjoy your content. Top notch!

[@espalier]

Leviathan Falls?

[@m.e.3862]

There's a bunch of new reactors watching the show from the beginning so maybe they might find it interesting

[@tikeyike]

I just recently rewatched all season of The Expanse - good timing! 😁

[@Jonesy_Ripley]

"Your pretty messed up... The machine keep tryin' to switch to hospice."

[@subliminalvibes]

*you're

[@Cacicacique]

Miller and Holden's relationship was my fav part of the show "why is it whenever there's a cluster fuxk in the universe there's James Holden holding a clipboard asking how'd I get here" paraphrasing obviously but that unc type relationship was the best part of the show

[@296jacqi]

“Prepare for ‘flip and burn’” and “Doors and corners, kid. That’s how they get ya!” are two things that replay in my head over and over. 😆

[@jerzbouy1]

I have re-watched season 1 when season 2 aired, 1 & 2 when season 3 aired and so on. I can't remember everything so there is always something new. I will be re-watching this series many times; it is addictive. That being said, I will be watching your videos to catch the things I missed even with all the re-watching.

[@NoOne-sq4et]

I watched this show 4 months ago and already feeling nostalgic

[@lmamakos]

This is a great recap of the first season. I appreciate the level of detail and it's great to be able to revisit this. I'd certainly watch similar videos for subsequent seasons if you them. Thanks for the time and effort you've put in doing these; I've always enjoyed your videos on The Expanse and your insightful commentary. You might consider just having these be full of spoilers, especially pointing out the foreshadowing that runs through the stories. Even in the early episodes you see stealth technology thefts going on, and how that pays off much later in season 5!

[@PetePeppers1]

There is a ton of foreshadowing for season 5 in season 1. All started to popping out at me after I read Nemesis Games for the first time.

[@benwilliams5837]

Dude, this is seriously uncanny timing!! I just finished reading book 1 and am now rewatching season 1!

[@PetePeppers1]

The countdown is on for Leviathan Falls. Will be working on a book 1 video.

[@benwilliams5837]

@@PetePeppers1 nice! I watched the whole series first and then discovered you through Dark and then kept on for the Expanse videos. You definitely inspired me to read the books! I have so many thoughts after 3 episodes haha

[@MrSharpshot]

Really enjoy your breakdowns and recaps of The Expanse. Please keep them coming.

[@ProjectXH]

This is an awesome recap! The part where the Cant, Anubus, Scopuli, and Donnager get tangled with each other in story was very very confusing to me. So many details, and the show did a poor job explaining these intricacies. This video cleared things up for me, thanks Pete.

[@PetePeppers1]

Glad it was helpful

[@harveycotton5185]

You sure got that right buddy very poor job of explaining.

[@JoePolvino]

I'll be honest: I have a real hard time keeping all the threads straight between characters, events, and places. I've read the first 2 books and it helped a little. The role of the data broker puzzled me, as did the paths Julie Mao took, and who was engaged with the Phoebe experiments. I'm re-watching season 1 and will likely use this guide and my rewind button a lot until I have a better understanding.

[@kandimba]

@@JoePolvino True. I'm now rewatching season 1 and I'm a bit lost, even though they do a recap on the last episode. Hence how I found this video.

[@andreaharz5264]

I’ve just discovered The Expanse and have only watched season 1 so far. Thank you so much for this recap as I really needed to understand everything before watching season 2 or else I’d be lost for sure. I’ve even made notes about the different vessels and their stories using this recap. Such a great series, I’d dishonour it by watching series 2 without understanding series 1.

[@TheWolfsnack]

Nicely done...I await Season 2

[@Justin_Hikes]

Thanks Pete Peppers for some of the best recaps on YT. Found your channel because of Foundation and you inspired me to give The Expanse a try. Glad I did.

[@bsweat9230]

I have not read the books, but this was an excellent video about the series! I have had a hard time explaining why my friends should binge watch Expanse. Sleep deprived me did not catch all the details, but I understand more having watched this. Thank you...keep up the good work! 👍

[@philrandall7788]

Thanks Pete. A very good summary of the first series. Keep up the good work as I am also following you on the Foundation series.

[@robertrobbins1367]

Gone through the TV series twice and over the years read the books several times... I am just on here to say I enjoy your videos Pete Peppers!!

[@Gator5000e]

Great summary. Hope you do more seasons.

[@WeGameHard]

I watch all your Expanse videos! Keep them Coming!

[@wetteryan]

I remember the first time i started to watch this series. They already had 3 season air and we're about to start the 4th. I can pin point the exact moment I realized that this series was something special. It was the "flip and burn" maneuver and how they depicted the effects of high g forces on the ship and the people on it. I was blown away. Now 6 seasons and 7 books later this is hands down my favorite work of science fiction. Period. I was always a fan of BSG and what I loved so much about it was that it was far more grounded to reality than other sci-fi. Especially when it comes to combat and battle tactics. But I always thought it would be cool for a show to go even further with the realism. Mainly a show with no FTL travel that could realistically depict the true vast scale and emptyness of space. Something that accounted for the truly mind boggling distances between objects in space.

[@PeterHamiltonz]

Yay! Thank you for doing this! 😍

[@Hochspitz]

Once again you make a thorough and succinct recap. Sadly I have not read the books.

[@dreamingrightnow1174]

Such a great summary. Thanks so much.

[@simplyhandy2769]

Had watched this long ago and glad you refreshed my memories. Thanks.

[@angelfieseler5358]

Please continue, I❤️ this series and you are the only guy around who does these.

[@PetePeppers1]

I'm working on one for the first book now. Don't think either series will get many views at the moment, but will likely add seasons 2 and 3 at some point.

[@DWatt6455]

Thank you so for the recap, can't wait to start season 2 tomorrow. Whew, I thought I was the only one really captivated with this show but was mad lost on the politics of it, seeing by the comments, glad I wasn't the only one hah

[@Petula1968]

Wow, that was great! I may need to watch this again to fill in the gaps in my brain. I wish the ending was included here as well, but okay off I go to watch some more so I can start watching season 2. I kept having to start season 1 over because of my poor memory so I'm hoping this will be the key to continuing without confusion.

[@chumbucketjones9761]

Just started watching this . Seems very dense but good, so far. Decent sci Fi is so hard to find. Thanks.

[@PunksterOS]

Congratulations on the Eleventy One Thousand subscribers, Pete.

[@jasongoodman3546]

This is Amazing Work Pete, Thank you very much.

[@schnauzer777]

Great recap... I saw season 1 and this recap still helped me understand what was going on

[@PetePeppers1]

Glad to hear it

[@aneyesky]

This helped me greatly- thank you

[@mespaillat921]

Love your Expanse content

[@PetePeppers1]

Thanks for watching

[@protector808]

What a fantastic job brother. I gained more from watching your recap than actually watching the show. I think i might just watch your recaps for the other seasons instead of investing the time into the whole series. Thanks! Also, what are some of the most jaw dropping or chilling scenes that I can lookup? For example saw a clip of the disassambly of a craft landing on Venus which simply blew me away.

[@LandB2015]

Great recap , really watch it all , cheers

[@emmettturner9452]

The water rationing on Ceres wasn’t just for corporate control. It was only that extreme because their ice hauler got nuked.

[@lightemam]

Very nicely done. This is still an active literary topic, whether one is a fan of print or video, but it's a slow burn, so it's really worthwhile to have this sort of recap from as avid a fan and as good a narrator as you are. I never before heard or saw the word 'pinas' or 'pinis.' Was that in the book? Good vocab. Well done! Thanks!

[@PetePeppers1]

They refer to the Razorback as a racing pinnace in the books. Glad you enjoy the videos!

[@88tdc88]

Awesome Video

[@halwasserman7905]

Definitely not always an easy show to understand. I am grateful for the internet for the information available there. To combine a difficult to understand show with a very gloomy atmosphere makes for challenging viewing, but I survived season one and expect to stick it out for season two.

[@dentoncrimescene]

Perfect, thanks.

[@dinocollins720]

ANother fantastic video! Thank you!

[@13thBear]

Holy moly, talk about complicated. That plot is too convoluted for me to follow. I don’t know how you managed to keep all of the twists and turns in order. Good luck keep it straight. I know I’m thoroughly confused!

[@PetePeppers1]

I think the first season is pretty hard to follow the first time through. The momentum it picks up and the characters keep you engaged, and then things pay off and it all makes sense/comes into focus.

[@crimson2knight]

Came here to brush up on what happened. Now I just want to rewatch everything from the start.

[@movieloverfan18]

Excellent recap. I think you forgot something. When you were talking about the crew you didn't cover Shed, you said more about him later. When they are discussing how the Martian integrator Lopez was trying to turn them against each other and they should not believe him that Niaomi was a better sleeper agent, Holden recounted that Lopez told him that Shed wasn't really a medic as he forged his certification to get the job on the ice trawler, because he was on the run from a drug dealer. Only to have Shed offer that that was true. I laughed at that, being that all received medical treatment from him. But thanks for this recap really helped me catch up.

[@thedumbfoundeddipshitspod]

Such a great show

[@renatocosta7408]

Now i will think in return to watch again ( i dropped a while a go)

[@tigerwarsaw99]

Thanks bro.

[@davidbecquer3624]

The biggest tragedy about the TV adaptation might just be losing Havelock's arc in Cibola Burn. It was so goddamn entertaining to be in that guy's head watching how got worse and worse on the RCE side...

[@PetePeppers1]

He was a good balance for Murtry.

[@leftkehsvault2712]

I will be honest: I did NOT expect a recap of season 1... I just did not. As a result, it was the MOST pleasant of surprises to have the notification pop up yesterday! A very good video, of excellent quality (as is the case for all of your The Expanse content). Well done! P.S.: Pity for Kenzo Gabriel though... With his special human skills, he would fit well with everybody else at the ship...

[@colt5189]

I originally started watching the Expanse when it came out, but bailed after 3 episodes as I had no idea what was going on and had to keep doing research after each episode. I really don't like it how these shows are written with the expectation that you've read the books and already know the characters. But I decided to give it another shot.

[@TheAntibozo]

Great job, Pete! Any updated theory or new information about the release date for the next season?

[@PetePeppers1]

Haven't heard anything new. I still expect it will be next spring, but would be happy to find out I'm wrong.

[@TheAntibozo]

@@PetePeppers1 Groovy, thanks!

[@Dexthesaga]

Great 👍

[@worldofdoom995]

I wanted to pick up where I left off on season 3 without watching season one and two again thanks.

[@David-wq3dq]

The start through Blue Falcon always loses me there's just too much information being presented. This recap helped immensely.

[@snickle1980]

300+ years sounds about right to reach this point in expansion. Might actually be a bit optimistic. I'm thinking it might take as long as 400-500 years to industrialize beyond our own gravity well. Anyway, I just started reading the second book. Good stuff. Detective miller is a great noir character. Anyway, time to play space engineers.

[@emmettturner9452]

Pretty sure Diogo wasn’t working with his uncle to “go straight,” since he was only on Ceres stealing water AFTER being rescued. Yes, that entire scene where his uncle throws him out the airlock and leaves him adrift was a flashback.

[@angrycapsicum6027]

When I first saw series 1 years ago, younger me really thought the OPA were the bad guys.

[@satanspy]

wish you would have done the recap of seasons 2 and 3 as well

[@googlespynetwork]

Fred Johnson didn't want to use their ship. He wanted to seize it from them.

[@SDT808]

Whenever that old lady showed up I was so confused 😭 like where does she fit in this show again? Lmao

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

This is one of those shows where I watch 10 episodes and I don’t know who anyone’s name is! 😆

[@kofmanmi]

Great recap. One question - I get why the Mao/Dresden faction attacked The Cant as they wanted to create chaos between Earth, Mars, and the Belt. However what was the purpose for attacking the Donniger? Also, what is the UN faction that allied with Mao looking to gain from the Eros test? Tech advantage over Mars?

[@Mecca4BA]

Currently rewatching the series with my wife. Now I’m wondering if, in the books, is there ever any explanation as to what Holden’s jump off was talking about with that “something you should know”.

[@ivacikac1542]

Currently reading the first book. Ade doesn't say anything in the book. Holden only hears her gasp before the explosion

[@ubellubo]

I started watching the Expanse a few years ago. I really liked it at first but by episode 10 I found that I didn't really understand the story. There are so many characters and locations it was confusing. Anyway I thought it had potential so I'm going to give it another try.

[@ChrisBrengel]

Wow, that was complicated! I got the general idea when I watched it for the first time, but none of the details.

[@davidh7088]

I'm 6 hours into this and can't say I'm impressed. Everybody whispers or mumbles, no idea what people are doing most of the time because I can't hear what they are saying. Just switched off halfway through episode 6, really disappointed but it's just too poorly produced for me. I need to be able to hear and see what I'm watching!

[@yensid4294]

This first season was such a roller coaster ride. I hadn't read the novels when the show debuted & trying to follow everything was a bit challenging but I loved the show's world building & lack of lengthy exposition, voice overs or flashbacks. Season 3 made me want to read the books since certain character's decisions didn't quite make sense & I figured the books would go more in depth into the characters ( & I was right) Anyway, when you go back & watch season 1 you realize how many times the attack on Earth was foreshadowed or hinted at. It's a great show to go back & re-watch, there's always something new to notice or pick up on that you didn't before.

[@PetePeppers1]

A lot of the world building is easy to overlook the first time you watch it. There's a lot keep track of with the characters and different factions.

[@torgitron]

I hear nothing but good things about the show, but I tried watching the first season and was lost. I’m hoping is recap will help me like this show. Does anybody know if the show gets less confusing in later seasons?

[@colt5189]

One thing in Expanse Season 1 that I find annoying is the cop and the group looking for Julie/Lionel end up running into each other at her apartment. Like what are the odds of that? Then at that exact moment, the whoever unleashed a bio-attack. Like, what's the odds of all three things happening at the same time? I wish instead they had some plot to justify how all three things could have happened at the same time.

[@gasgano8255]

What i can't piece together: Why did Protogen leave the Anubis and Julie behind? Why did Dresden rely on finding Julie on Eros to get samples?

[@emmettturner9452]

You called the Tachi a “shuttle.” It’s a MCRN gunship frigate.

[@skie6282]

Amazon somehow started me on season 2 so here i am.

[@becoolexpress9035]

So that’s it for Julie and Star Helix?

[@ztru15]

When is the new season out, my dudes?!

[@PetePeppers1]

Probably next spring. Check my Future of the Expanse video for more on that.

[@elvisibra]

@@PetePeppers1 yeah, they say hoping for end of this year i.e. for usual schedule, but I just might be few months "delay"

[@AlphademonAlphademon]

12

[@putinscat1208]

I don't see alot of these ships rotating. Are their engines so damn efficient that they just accelerate in circles to maintain artificial gravity? Just for fun, the minimum distance from Earth to Mars is about 50 million km ( 50 billion meters ). A ship with an acceleration of 9.8 m/s would take about 28 hours to travel that distance. Longer if they accelerate then decelerate halfway. Higher Gs would take less time, but less comfortable. The distances between Mars, Jupiter and Uranus are much greater, and much much greater when orbits don't align.

[@Lance37a]

Shed is a red shirt.

[@PetePeppers1]

Someone had to go.

[@PunksterOS]

@@PetePeppers1 Curse those dice rolls.

[@googlespynetwork]

Season One opens with a woman inside a pool of water. 😂 Over the top underwater hair scenes.

[@bradcracknell435]

Watch this in X1.25 speed, thank me later

[@merlinwizard1000]

18th

[@r3kk3n54]

wow five years too late much?

[@theStacyJames]

This season aired December 14 2015, and ended February 2, 2016. Just one thing I want you to think about. "They" always tell us what they're going to do before they do it. They use mass media to do that. They put parts of the puzzle in different shows and doing this is all part of some ritual obligation to reveal themselves before they move ahead with their plans. Jump forward to 2020 and the rest of it. Now consider the parallels.

[@danielmuliira5363]

Sematimba is a Ugandan name am surprised it's here

[@danielmuliira5363]

This is a complex show

[@KnowledgeDriven]

3:39 The equivalent today is US under-secretary of State, currently Victoria Nuland, who is unelected and served in the Obama and Biden admins. She is responsible for helping coup the Ukraine gov't in 2014. A master manipulator and high-level fixer.

[@osenrima]

All look as the dame megalomaniacos chosen one are thinking about the falses promisses from their god an their fate futuro based in a bloody lie.

[@igooog]

huh and people actually recommend this?