The Expanse 1x04 CQB | Blind Reaction

On board the Donnager, Holden and his friends try to survive. Miller follows a lead.

[@blackpaw29]

You nailed the concept of the sling shot club! almost no one gets that.

[@zolahVR]

I got it, but only because I already knew what 'sling shot' means in space context. NASA uses this all the time to save fuel to get probes to the outer planets.

[@MrRomulus23]

Impressive that you understood the gravity push that Holden gave Naomi immediately. So satisfying to watch you react!

[@rodentnolastname6612]

Physics FTW!!! 🤘😎

[@Psi105]

Yeah, lots of people don't understand that bit so it's satisfying when someone does.

[@pssthpok]

Many people find this episode to be the one that 'hooks' them. I really enjoyed it of course, as it advances the plot, and changes our crew's situation in a very interesting way. You mentioned the tension in some scenes -- if you are feeling strong emotion while watching The Expanse, it's probably partly due to Clinton Shorter, dude who wrote the score to this show. Incredible. As for red vs blue military lighting, there may be cultural influences at play. This show is a masterclass in exposing differences between cultures a little at a time. You mentioned withholding medical attention as a war crime. I would not call this show 'grimdark' or anything, but it's certainly got some grit, and is not afraid to show the dirty underside of an issue, like armed conflict on a space ship in this case. Space is such an unforgiving environment, different rules in battle might have evolved. Taking on prisoners, for example, might doom your crew to suffocation if you don't have the resources to support both. New environment, perhaps new morals evolve due to practical issues. So interesting to think about! That is one of the many things I love about this show, is that it's written for an adult, thinking audience. Glad to be seeing it with you.

[@Harv72b]

Should've read more comments before I left mine. 😄 I don't know if they even considered this in the writing or production of the Expanse, but technically speaking the people who attacked the Donnager were pirates, not enemy combatants. So the Geneva Conventions would not apply in this case.

[@westcoast7429]

blue light tends to make one more alert, while red light is has a lulling effect. humans have been going to sleep with a red sunset and waking up to a blue sky for millions of years

[@Shawn_M]

The sound of the rail gun round piercing they're room is one of the most epic sound effects ever. btw, rail guns use powerful magnets to propel a metal slug at super high speeds. There's no warhead or explosive. It's pure kinetic energy. It goes strait thru whatever it hits

[@SciFiCatGuy]

Fun fact: The most common phrase uttered by The Expanse viewers is, "WHAT THE FUK!?" Second most uttered phrase is, "I wanna watch the next episode!" Third most common phrase is, "Avasarala's wardrobe is beautiful/impeccable/gorgeous!"

[@zolahVR]

There's usually a 'How people not talk about this show?' around the end of season 1/beginning of season 2.

[@LeeCarlson]

"The Juice" is a biochemical cocktail that provides cardio-pulmonary support during high-g burns to prevent the persons onboard from stroking out.

[@jasondolph2785]

It is noteworthy however that her guess about it being adrenaline is not that far from correct either, because in order to do what it needs to in offsetting the negative impacts of G-Forces, it would have to be a strong stimulant.

[@ViraL_FootprinT.ex.e]

This episode never gets old.

[@TomCarrell1]

Great attention to gravity and physics! Gravity is almost it's own character throughout the entire series. I've read that the text in some of the scripts was color-coded based on the gravity in the scene (depending on the ship's acceleration or the size of the planet, moon, or station they were on).

[@WrensRamblings]

Colour-coded scripts! That's so cool

[@rodentnolastname6612]

They did fudge things once but it's in a future episode so I'll bring it up then.

[@zolahVR]

In The Expanse, Space is a character that is constantly trying to kill every single character in the show.

[@lockstocknl]

They are actually using acceleration for gravity. There is no artificial gravity like in Star Trek in The Expanse. Ships, like the Donnager, are constructed as high rise buildings and when flying under power the acceleration the crew are “pushed” down. Most of the ships in the Expanse normally fly at 0.3g so that everyone, Earthers, Martians and Belters can handle it. Stations like Tycho and asteroid bases like Ceres rely on spin gravity. Nothing but hard science (except for the Epstein drive) in The Expanse

[@traylor2502]

And the medical tech. Limb regrowth, the arm ring that can diagnose and heal everything, the mind enhancing Martial drug etc.

[@madux42]

@@traylor2502 This is getting spoilery. Beside the focus drug, we haven't seen those things yet.

[@remliqa]

@@madux42 Dude, we literally saw limb regrowth mentioned in episode 1 and the mind enhancing drug was in the previous episode . The arm bad diagnoser is the only thing she haven't saw and that thing have a rather minor impact on the story.

[@remliqa]

@@traylor2502 Those are actually more scientifically feasible than the Epstein drive. At least we understand how those can work in real life despite not having the tech to make them, yet.

[@madux42]

@@remliqa Can you read? I said BESIDE the focus drug. I also said that we have not SEEN it yet. Yes, the one thing was mentioned, however very briefly in one single hit and miss moment, and the other thing has not appeared yet at all. What is it with you guys that you always need to walk at the far edge of the spoiler boundaries or even beyond for no reason? Just don't do it. It can't be that hard, really.

[@madux42]

8:45 _"The gravity turned off when they stopped"_ First of all, they didn't "stop". The engines just went out which means no more acceleration, however, the ship is still moving super fast at the velocity it had just before the drive went out. Nothing will slow it down in space. To really stop, they have to flip the ship and burn towards their destination. That's what we've seen in episode 1 when the Cant made a high G flip&burn. Other than in most scifi, in The Expanse there is no magic artificial gravity. Gravity is created through acceleration (or spin-gravity on space stations), so this is all real physics. When the drive is on, they are accelerating (getting faster every second) which is pushing the ship's floors against things like your body, creating the same effect as gravity. "Down" is always towards where the drive is, and "up" is towards the nose of the ship. Imagine the ships like a skyscraper with an engine at the bottom. This is different than in other scifi where ships are often built as if they would float on water, and because of all those physically wrong depictions seen in series and movies over years, many people have a hard time imaging how it really would work in space. So they have either gravity through thrust, or if the drive is out they are floating, which means they are weightless. That's when they use their mag-boots (notice the red light getting on on their boots and the clicking noise when walking).

[@LeeCarlson]

The Tachi is one of four corvette gunships that are the Donnager's regular complement. At this time the other three are chasing pirates in the volume between Saturn and the Belt which is the reason that they were not deployed to deal with the stealth ships that attacked.

[@br3wmaster]

They had the discussion about making all space scenes silent for scientific accuracy, but decided on having sound simply due to artistic license. it helps tell the story and helps us as the viewer to "feel" the weight of ships.

[@WrensRamblings]

Honestly I love how they've done it, it makes me feel like I'm standing on the ship or something.

[@Yesquire0]

Rail guns are actual weapons today. They are just deemed less efficient at destructrion than explosive shells propelled by gunpowder. I assume the distances in space require faster shells which will not allow targets to dodge them, and the extreme acceleration obtained in a railgun system makes the usage of explosive ammunition too hazardous. So, tungsten shells are used, heavier than lead. They could be countered by armoring warships, but the increase in mass caused by the armor would make them much more difficult to accelerate/decelerate and render them too inefficient for effective use in battle. The next best alternative is labelled "anti-spalling", which is a construction technique that permits shells to easily pass throught the ship causing minimal damage. Lots of heavy armor would proably result in a hull buckling when hit by a high-speed tungsten shell, and being severely damaged and maybe even scrapped. Modern naval vessels employ anti-spalling construction to limit the production of scrapnel when a shell hits. As demonstrated in this fine episode, railgun shell damage can to easit\ly repaired. If you went to the time and trouble to focus on one of the binders used, you would see the label "MCRN Emergency Procedures Manual" on its cover.

[@ezrawyrd9275]

I'm no expert, but as I understand it from watching a youtube video or two about railguns one of the main reasons that they're not being readily adopted by modern militaries is largely due to the sheer amount of power that they require to operate. Modern generators in common usage just can't provide the oomph they need to operate for more than a shot or two. In the Expanse, the advent of basically-magic nuclear fusion reactors makes them more viable. Even on the Donnager, however, they can only operate two of them and they're still power hungry in comparison to the PDC's or torpedoes.

[@TArnoldFerguson]

Nice that you appreciate the sound design of the show. I think you'll find that the entire production team (carpenters, lighting design, cinematography, etc., etc.,...) were at the top os their respective games for the series.

[@aartsst3227]

Another great reaction! Really, Really enjoying watching you pick up on so many of the little things they are doing to advance the overall story. As you noted, the sound design, the attention to realistic science, all add so much to the show. Having the show based off a great series of novels gives it a great base to work from, & then having the authors involved in adapting it to TV mixed with a production team that is second to none is why this show works so well on nearly every level. One reason so many Expanse fans ( well, at least this one) like watching reactions to "our" show - is it is so much fun watching others experience it for the first time - Especially when its with someone like yourself (& Lil Bismuth!) who clearly gets the show & appreciates all the details that make it so good. Looking forward to the next one! 🚀

[@billross7245]

I'm enjoying your thoughtful comments and analysis. Good reaction. The attention to detail in this show is incredible. It's easy to miss, but Lopez tells them to turn off the mag boots so they can cross the ramp quicker, which sets up that cool zero g trick with Holden and Naomi. They were very consistent at showing the engine thrust states and the relationship to gravity.

[@jeffreypreiss8191]

Another great reaction to a great episode. You have commented a few times on Chrisjen's wardrobe. It almost becomes a character of its own as time goes on. Glad to see you are catching the "gravity/physics" details. I think you and Bismuth will continue enjoying this series.

[@celefin6494]

Awesome reaction. I absolutely love that you get the amazing physics stuff they employ... Space itself is almost a character in the show, and basically the main antagonist throughout.

[@jamesholland5761]

Really liked your reaction! This is the episode that hooked me! I would like to point out that there are no wasted lines or scenes in this show! Also this is real plausible future for humanity! There is no artificial gravity, space brakes, space shields or hyper drive! Enjoying your journey, looking forward to the next one!

[@rodentnolastname6612]

The killing of Shed and the destruction of the Cant do something subtle but important. It removes plot armor from the cast. Suddenly dangerous situations have real weight and palpable tension. Anyone could die. Our plucky heroes might not make it out safe in the end. 😲

[@DrEsky914]

I think the scenes with Bizi are necessary to establish his niche in the whole mystery of Julie Mao and what she is involved with. Being a data broker using your own body will likely truly become a thing in the future so I like that aspect of it. It was slightly squirmy but also the man was dead so no real difference with the real world of doing anatomy class (which of course I have done!) ie he wasn't being tortured which was good. Poor Shed lost his head (and the physics of that was pretty squirmy as well but also very real!). the writers note that when TE was just a RPG, the player who was Shed had to leave so Shed got killed off in the game (and thus in the book and the show!!). Ah well.

[@kuningaskolassas4720]

I agree that its more interesting when science fiction gives some picture of how spiritual beliefs evolve in their vision of the future, rather than assuming it will be discarded entirely.

[@WrensRamblings]

I see no evidence that religion or spirituality would disappear as science is advanced--humans are religious creatures, we need something to worship and its fun seeing how the show creators explore that idea!

[@8301TheJMan]

love ur reactions! this episode is one of the two best episodes of the season imo

[@simonstarr7667]

Just wanted to add that I am really enjoying your commentary. You are very quick at picking up what is going on (much quicker than I was) and your ‘film school’ comments are interesting.

[@LeeCarlson]

That "peng!" that you heard was a 300mm tungsten round from a railgun going completely through the ship opening all of the compartments to vacuum, and consequently taking Shed's head with it.

[@kirkdarling4120]

Notably, in that moment the "medication" that Shed tossed to Alex changed direction, heading back towards Shed on a newly created air current...or rather, towards the hole where Shed's head had been.

[@WrensRamblings]

What a way to go 😔rip Shed

[@louishermann7676]

That round should have superheated the air in the room and caused an explosion.

[@ThanesTito]

@@louishermann7676 not really - most of the travel was through hard vacuum, so it had nothing to friction against to heat up, and the travel time inside the ship was too small for it to heat up significantly

[@louishermann7676]

@@ThanesTito I disagree. It would have instantly superheated as soon as it touched air going at those speeds. The round is literally traveling faster than a spacecraft on reentry to the earth, it would have had an expanding plasma cone behind it. Period.

[@AdmiralEisbaer]

It's adorable that your dragons name is Bismuth, because it really does have the same shiny colours as the metal does :)

[@Sinewmire]

Martian battle/emergency lighting is blue because Red is friendly in Martian colour coding! When asked by fans where the sound came from in the space battles, the producers answered "the same place as the music"!

[@LeeCarlson]

In his book "The Happiness Hypothesis," Dr. Johnathan Haidt provides compelling evidence that without religion (or something so much like it you cannot tell the difference) humanity could not maintain social groupings larger than tribes. And the reason for the Mormons building a generation ship is that they have the financial capabilities as well as the drive to go to other worlds.

[@rodentnolastname6612]

To "Scuttle" a ship is an old naval term meaning to purposefully sink your own ship so that an enemy couldnt capture it.

[@danpettit4449]

Yay! Been looking forward to this one.

[@mmagnenat]

There's no hyperspace drives on this show. Mostly everything is based on real physics, no magical force fields, gravity is based on acceleration or rotation. Of course there's no sound in space, but the producers decided it would be more effective to still do it. Love how you get most of the small details. And there were a ton of small details in this episode... And finally! The Tachi in its original Martian color scheme, Black/Orange. To this day I still use a Tachi-Image as a screen backdrop.

[@LeeCarlson]

The six stealth ships have the advantage of surprise and unexpected weaponry (usually nothing smaller than a capital ship has railguns) which is the only reason that they would dare attack the Donnager, and as it is they have serious losses before the Donnager is scuttled. And we would expect that the detonation of the Donnager's reactor is going to cause even more (if not total) losses.

[@danpettit4449]

Good name for the Dragon! He looks just like a natural Bismuth crystal.

[@cheesedanishable]

Of course, there wouldn't be any sound in space but they add it for the show as they do in most sci-fi or the audience would think something was wrong, haha. I do agree they do a great job making it sound great though, the muted effect like space is underwater is cool.

[@BCPvideo]

@13:20 Withholding medical attention from POWs isn't a war crime, it's a violation of the third Geneva convention (pedantry!). Also, there is no war, they don't even know who these people are. In modern parlance they would be considered criminals, or "enemy combatants". And in a situation like that, I don't think anyone would blink if that guy was "killed in the fighting".

[@kirkdarling4120]

That is a huge point to understanding the situation of the Belters. As Miller said, "There are no laws, just cops." Belters are not citizens of any nation, falling into the legal crack of being controlled by the armed security of the corporations that own the rocks they live on. Ah, but if the corporation calls them "terrorists," the the governments come in hard and strong to deal with "terrorists."

[@AustinStarDust]

As some have posted, there are two realistic types of artificial gravity. There is spin gravity, of course. Then there is acceleration gravity -- like G-forces in combat jets. Or, when a car takes off really fast and you get momentarily knocked against seat. Same thing when a car stops too quickly. In The Expanse, ships are always going a little faster each second. You will hear them talking about going 1/3 G. So, the gravity in ships are about the same as gravity on Mars. That's comfortable for most belters, martians, and earthers. Ships can go faster than that, but 1/3 G seems to be the norm. Btw, when I say acceleration gravity is "realistic", I mean it is realistic according to the laws of physics. There are no magical gravity plating like in Star Trek. However, with today's technology, acceleration gravity is not possible. Even going at a constant acceleration of 1/3 G for a prolong period would require far beyond the power that our fastest engines could go. But in 200-300 years, who knows? Finally, ships need to slow down before reaching their destinations. In The Expanse, ships will reach a half way point to their destinations, turn off the engines, and the ships will flip around before turning the engines back on. The deceleration will create gravity. Again, much like a fast car stopping suddenly.

[@scottlescard6154]

Something to note about Christian's wardrobe, she never wears the same outfit twice, at least not while on Earth.

[@LeeCarlson]

Withholding medical attention is a war crime, however, how quickly you call in medical personnel for an injured antagonist can vary and the sooner they get attention the better their chances of survival.

[@jbondhus]

Battle mode lighting on Martian ships is blue because Earth (their enemy) is "blue". Reds and blues are what they call each other informally.

[@nono6167]

For mars red and blue are basically switched, red is the calm everything is okay color and blue is the danger everyone get to your battle stations color.

[@evilvolts]

There's a huge difference between an Earth Ice Hauler and the Donnager the flag ship of the Martian Navy.

[@noahrobin1941]

Regarding the battle mode lighting; yes, you would expect it to be red. Except Mars is the red planet, and you might not want your soldiers to associate “red” with “dangerous” if they also associate “red” with “home” (or, more cynically, if you want them to associate “red” with “patriotic”), so you need another color. And, hey, Earth is the Blue planet so (again, with cynicism set to max) you can create a psychological association between “danger” and “earth” just by going to alert status. Thats an in-world explanation; I’ve not read the books, so I’ve no idea how much of that is simply me reading too much into it. :) From a production perspective, it means you can give the viewers a(nother) visual cue telling them which ship they’re looking at. Given that you have some experience with production, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I’m just repeating what you already know; you didn’t call it out tho, so I figured I’d mention it. Enjoyed this; well done.

[@kirkdarling4120]

Also, the ship AI appears to make that switch automatically according to its evaluation of the situation.

[@WrensRamblings]

That makes a lot of sense!

[@SciFiCatGuy]

Earth is the blue planet. Mars is the Red planet. Earth battle mode lighting is red. Mars battle mode lighting is blue. 😉

[@charly03090309]

The memory crypt is not a bionic (I dont think... although the unbiverse does have a few examples of implanted tech) I think its just a USB drive stored in a hidden compartment in his body.

[@Harv72b]

3:10 "Battle mode lighting is blue....you'd expect it to be red." It's a Martian Navy ship. For them, red is the soothing color of the sky while the sight of anything blue is unusual and attention-grabbing. Regarding religion, people are _always_ going to need religion. We might change the name of it, but it'll be around as long as humans (and probably any conscious intelligence) exist. Denying medical attention to a prisoner of war is a war crime, assuming the Geneva Conventions are still a thing in this future. But since the attackers never identified themselves and are representing an unknown faction, in this scenario they would be considered pirates, not enemy combatants, and the Geneva Conventions would not apply.

[@LeeCarlson]

Colonists/inhabitants of Mars are called Martians, or Dusters by racists. Belters are called just that, or Skinnies as a racist epithet.

[@danpettit4449]

Great reaction! Religion doesn't play a huge role in the show, but there are more references as the show goes on.

[@louishermann7676]

War crime law doesn't apply to non-state militants or terrorists. These attackers werent flying the flag of any recognized state nor were they in a formal war.

[@bwallatube]

Hi Bismuth. 👋

[@BrunoBarata78]

The point of the Mormons in the show is not really to explore religions in the future, but there is a plot reason for them having being included. As a former Mormon myself who has since turned non-believer (in anything really, not just mormonism) I can say I find the show to both be in character and respectful, I don't think any believing mormons will find anything in it to be offended about it's portrait.

[@richb313]

Great reaction it get's intresting.

[@tomaszmankowski9103]

Many interesting points. I think that episode 4 remains one of the best in the show, it is like a season finale of a lesser tv series. Of course there is like twenty+ of episodes of this scale of... epic awesomeness, but episode 4 remains a huge factor why so many people got hooked. It is like a show of force - 'we are capable of something like this when we need it to tell the story, do you want more?'. Religion. There is more of it, though it never is a main subject. As many parts of world building it is developed in the show. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll better shut up about it right now. War crime. Yes, withholding medical treatment is a war crime. I guess it is the usual 'but' thing here - the attackers are pirates of unknown origin. Historically pirates were deprived of many rights, usually treated as the worst criminals caught in an act of commiting a crime. They are not fighting a war and authoritarian Martians are not exactly the good guys in the setting, but neither is any faction in the series. Sound. Have you seen the Battlestar Galactica tv series from 2000s? It was produced by the same channel and the Expanse was supposed to replace it when the BSG was over. I think it is this show which introduced the way to use sound in a semi-realisitc way when it comes to space. We hear too much in the Expanse than we should hear in space, but sound is used as if you were hearing the inside part of a ship/fighter/space suit - the guns firing, the fusion/rocket engine working, thrusters in use, people breathing and talking etc. I think it is the best idea to have sound in a space story because not every time you can replace it with music like it was often done in Firefly. Yeah, I agree it is used in a great way in the Expanse, though it is not yet as good as in season 2 and later seasons. Yeah, every piece of world building is interesting. We are never overwhelmed by it, but get steady supply of believable pieces without boring, lazy exposition. I think it is great you are editing your own videos because you will notice much, much more than when watching the series once. The 'stabbing video' was pretty cool way to use your reactions to make it more unique and have fun with preparing the video for KZbin. I realise it is often hard and boring work, so creativity is more than welcome. Take care!

[@jonasfermefors]

As an atheist I still often enjoy ideas about future religiosity, but you won't really get that in The Expanse. You will meet a couple of people who belong to a faith group, but it never goes into any detail. There are things that happen where it would have been interesting to explore how it would affect faith.

[@blackpaw29]

Bismuth - as in the metal? cool name ❤

[@WrensRamblings]

As in the metal! He's got similar colours ^-^

[@elroysez8333]

In this future, the population is pushing 30 billion. There aren't enough jobs due to automation, so most people are on a government assistance program called "Basic" 11:42 that gives just that... "Basic" living needs and nothing more. There are very strict population controls and not everyone is happy about that. The authors of the books thought of all of the religions, the Mormons would have the drive and resources to want to leave out on their own to a new world. They believe in big families and are passionate about being self supporting with food preparation, farming, etc. They have commissioned the Nauvoo for that purpose.

[@charly03090309]

The LDS are meant to be fruitful, but Earth is overpopulated and has birth restrictions. Finding a new home makes sense to fulfill their sacred duty.

[@remliqa]

I find Earth being overpopulated to be a vey unrealistic based on what is projected of our population growth.

[@WrensRamblings]

See that does make sense, but my main confusion about it is that Mormons have a huge emphasis on missions work and that's kinda hard to do if everyone on the planet you're on is Mormon, right?

[@charly03090309]

Im not sure Mars is a place where the LDS would find much traction. Its very state oriented, with a combined focus on terraforming Mars. Its also a bit of a technocracy. The belt on the other hand is incredibly fractious and destitute, and they might have more opportunities there. Other religions do exist, and certain character are shown to be religious, but there is not a massive focus on them. The mormons show up a fair bit precively because of the big ship they are building

[@geminicricket4975]

@@WrensRamblings The Mormon's goal is to make our planet fully Mormon, therefore any fully Mormon planet is a good thing. :) Of course, Mormon's are very tolerant of those who leave the faith, so, whether or not they achieve a fully Mormon planet is not mandatory. That said, you'll find the Expanse treats religions respectfully as does another excellent sci-fi classic: Babylon 5.