In a perfect universe, everyone would coexist in harmony. However, that is not the reality in Prime Video’s sci-fi epic, The Expanse. Based on the novel series of the same name by James S. A. Corey, the show reimagines a far-distant future where humans don’t just live on Earth, but also on other planets. Decades ago, this idea felt like the stuff of sci-fi television. But with space colonization actively in modern discourse, there may one day be a possibility that it could all come true.
However, colonization on Earth alone has long been a touchy, heated subject. People have seen the effects of world leaders debating who gets to control and who must concede. A successful era of space colonization would mark a new chapter in scientific development, but it would also raise questions about who has the right to that power and access. **The Expanse brings these same political tensions to astronomical heights. **
Since the earliest recorded battle to the most recent wars in the Middle East, conflict is nothing new to humankind. However, The Expanse*** reimagines war as an outer space ordeal. Set in the 23rd century, humanity has colonized the Solar System*. Earth is governed by the UN, while Mars stands as an independent military power. The inner planets depend on resources from the asteroid belt, where Belters live and work in harsh conditions. In the Belt, air and water are more precious than gold. After decades of tensions, Earth, Mars, and the Belt are now on the brink of war.
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
At the start, much of The Expanse is told through three individuals. Joe Miller (Thomas Jane) is a detective tasked with finding the estranged daughter of a powerful billionaire. James Holden (Steven Strait), a survivor of the destroyed Canterbury, becomes captain of the salvaged gunship Rocinante alongside his remaining crew. Then there’s Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), a high-ranking UN Deputy Undersecretary determined to protect Earth from Mars’ intervention. Though they come from different social strata, the missions they are assigned begin to align and ultimately shape the outcome of a potential Earth-Mars-Belt war.
Sci-fi elements aside, *The Expanse *makes it clear that while technology has advanced, human nature hasn’t. Many of the show’s conflicts come from the constant struggle over resources in the Belt. At the center of it are Earth’s United Nations and the Martian Congressional Republic, who are locked in a cycle of blame, each accusing the other of sabotage and secretly developing weapons behind closed doors. Meanwhile, the Belt is stuck in the middle. Its people — mostly laborers who extract these resources — live at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and are only given limited scraps of said resources.
Although Earth and Mars constantly clash, there is an unspoken understanding between them: war should be avoided at all costs. Conflict on one planet is already devastating, but a full-scale war across the Solar System could be catastrophic. Still,** there is always a third party looking to benefit from the threat of war **— one that profits from the chaos itself. These shadowy figures manipulate events behind the scenes, treating people on Earth, Mars, and the Belt like pieces on a cosmic chessboard. In the end, the real victims are those caught in the crossfire, while the true villains are the ones pulling the strings light-years away from the orbit.
4 Years Later, ‘The Expanse’ Star Sets First Sci-Fi Return ](/the-expanse-star-thomas-jane-sci-fi-return-cast-celestia/)
The cult favorite actor is also set to play a Star Trek icon.
Space does things to people in The Expanse, not just physically and physiologically, but mentally as well. It changes the way we see society, and it’s not surprising that many begin to view things more pragmatically. As for dreamers and idealists — say future captains or union leaders — their values are often seen as lofty. Staying alive is the main priority, and with natural resources tightly controlled, there is little luxury for “doing what’s right.” However, just because a character is required to do something for the sake of survival, that doesn’t mean they like the choice. The best way to demonstrate this is through the original three main characters.
Detective Miller was born and raised on Ceres, making him part of the Belter society. Yet, despite speaking like a Belter and understanding them, his job depends on their exploitation, turning him into a walking contradiction. When Holden served on the Canterbury, he believed he was right to never leave anyone behind, but he soon learned that politics is rarely kind to those who try to do the right thing. Meanwhile, Avasaral’s position in the United Nations requires her to sacrifice her values for a system that claims to do good, yet relies on disturbing methods. She is willing to let individuals die to prevent a larger disaster, though she still carries the weight of those decisions. There is no right way of surviving in The Expanse, it’s just a matter of choosing the lesser of the two evils.
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2015 - 2022-00-00
SyFy, Prime Video
Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
Breck Eisner, Jeff Woolnough, David Grossman, Kenneth Fink, Rob Lieberman, Terry McDonough, Thor Freudenthal, Bill Johnson, David Petrarca, Jennifer Phang, Mikael Salomon, Sarah Harding, Marisol Adler, Anya Adams, Nick Gomez, Simon Cellan Jones
Georgia Lee, Robin Veith, Hallie Lambert, Matthew Rasmussen, Ty Franck, Naren Shankar, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Daniel Abraham, Dan Nowak
The disappearance of a rich-girl-turned-political-activist links the lives of Ceres detective, accidental ship captain and U.N. politician. Amidst political tension between Earth, Mars and the Belt, they unravel the greatest conspiracy.