WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.299 You know, there's this phrase that gets thrown 00:00:02.299 --> 00:00:04.240 around constantly in television marketing, like 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.059 if you were pitching a science fiction show to 00:00:06.059 --> 00:00:08.220 a network, you basically have to use it just 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:10.179 to get a meeting. It's Game of Thrones in space. 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:12.960 Right. It is the ultimate elevator pitch, isn't 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.859 it? It promises high stakes, political complexity, 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:20.679 moral ambiguity and usually a massive budget. 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:23.519 The problem, of course, is that very few shows 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:26.500 actually deliver on that promise. Yeah, they 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:28.420 usually just end up being a soap opera with lasers. 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:31.600 Exactly. But today we're doing a deep dive into 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.520 the one show that seemingly everyone, I mean, 00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:37.179 critics, fans, the industry agrees, actually 00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:40.119 earned that title. We are talking about The Expanse. 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:42.460 Such a great show. Specifically, we are looking 00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:45.560 at the pilot episode, Dulcinea, which premiered 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:48.570 back in 2015. And it's a fascinating case study 00:00:48.570 --> 00:00:50.429 because if you look at the source material we're 00:00:50.429 --> 00:00:53.310 using today, the Wikipedia entry detailing the 00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:55.609 plot breakdown, the production notes, the critical 00:00:55.609 --> 00:00:58.710 reception, you realize just how much heavy lifting 00:00:58.710 --> 00:01:01.490 the single 45 -minute episode is doing. It is 00:01:01.490 --> 00:01:04.530 wildly ambitious. So the mission for this deep 00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:07.290 dive is to figure out exactly how this episode 00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:10.890 manages to set up a massive, fully colonized 00:01:10.890 --> 00:01:14.209 solar system, introduce three distinct factions 00:01:14.209 --> 00:01:17.159 on the brink of war, and weave together three 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:19.560 completely different genres. Right. You've got 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:23.019 the noir detective story, a political thriller, 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:26.980 and basically a space disaster or horror story. 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:29.219 All without the whole thing collapsing into a 00:01:29.219 --> 00:01:31.859 mess. That's the key. It is not just one story. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:34.280 It's three stories that just happen to share 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:36.840 a universe. And they managed to do it while keeping 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:38.859 you completely hooked, which is no small feat 00:01:38.859 --> 00:01:41.430 for a pilot. So let's unpack this. We are just 00:01:41.430 --> 00:01:43.689 doing a recap here. We are analyzing the structure. 00:01:44.290 --> 00:01:46.450 First, we need to look at the world described 00:01:46.450 --> 00:01:48.890 in the background section of our source. We are 00:01:48.890 --> 00:01:51.530 200 years in the future. Right. And the most 00:01:51.530 --> 00:01:54.430 important thing to note here is the scope. Humanity 00:01:54.430 --> 00:01:56.629 has colonized the solar system, but we haven't 00:01:56.629 --> 00:01:58.950 gone beyond it. Yeah, no magic hyperdrive. Exactly. 00:01:59.069 --> 00:02:01.250 There's no warp drive. We are stuck in the same 00:02:01.250 --> 00:02:03.769 system, basically breathing recycled air. And 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:06.469 because we are stuck... We've divided into tribes. 00:02:06.769 --> 00:02:09.889 The source outlines this Cold War dynamic, but 00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:12.330 it's a three -way standoff. Let's break down 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:14.669 the players, because understanding this geopolitical 00:02:14.669 --> 00:02:18.870 setup is essential. First, you have Earth. Earth 00:02:18.870 --> 00:02:21.629 is controlled by the United Nations. In this 00:02:21.629 --> 00:02:24.509 future, the UN is a global government. Earth 00:02:24.509 --> 00:02:26.490 is the cradle of humanity, rich in resources, 00:02:26.889 --> 00:02:29.729 breathable atmosphere, high gravity. It's basically 00:02:29.729 --> 00:02:31.680 the old money. Right. They have the blue skies. 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:34.280 Then you have Mars. The source describes them 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:37.219 as an independent military power. Mars is the 00:02:37.219 --> 00:02:40.139 Spartan society. They are trying to terraform 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:42.280 their planet. So they are incredibly disciplined, 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:45.240 militaristic, and their technology is generally 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.719 superior to Earth's. They're the rising superpower. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.340 And finally, the third faction, and arguably 00:02:50.340 --> 00:02:52.919 the most interesting one sociologically, the 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.719 belt, the asteroid belt. This is where the Game 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:57.900 of Thrones comparison really holds water. The 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:00.080 belt is the working class of the solar system. 00:03:00.509 --> 00:03:02.969 Earth and Mars are the superpowers, but they 00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:05.370 are entirely dependent on the resources from 00:03:05.370 --> 00:03:07.750 the belt. The water? The minerals? Yeah. All 00:03:07.750 --> 00:03:10.169 mined by belters. But read in the background 00:03:10.169 --> 00:03:12.610 section. The belters are definitely getting the 00:03:12.610 --> 00:03:15.289 short end of the stick. They live in low gravity, 00:03:15.370 --> 00:03:17.569 which the source notes actually changes their 00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:19.789 physiology. It does. They're taller, thinner, 00:03:20.009 --> 00:03:21.949 their bones are brittle. Right. They physically 00:03:21.949 --> 00:03:24.110 cannot go to Earth because the gravity would 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:27.099 crush them. Which creates this permanent underclass. 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:29.879 They are physically distinct and economically 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.620 exploited. They literally ration air and water. 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:35.300 And the source mentions that the inner planets 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:38.000 Earth and Mars police the belt and essentially 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.180 treat the belters as expendable labor. Which 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:44.080 perfectly explains the tension. The source mentions 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.939 the existence of the OPA, the Outer Planets Alliance. 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:50.379 To the inners, they are terrorist activist groups. 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:53.759 To the belters, they are fighting for recognition. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:56.620 That is the powder keg. You have a resource dependent 00:03:56.620 --> 00:04:00.139 economy, a marginalized population and two superpowers 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.580 pointing noops at each other. The source explicitly 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:05.099 states that a system wide civil war is imminent. 00:04:05.340 --> 00:04:07.659 So that's a macro picture. But what I love about 00:04:07.659 --> 00:04:09.240 this episode is that it doesn't start with a 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:11.680 boring exposition dump about treaties. No, not 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.060 at all. It starts with a scene that feels straight 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:16.980 out of a horror movie. We really need to talk 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:19.639 about the prologue. and Julie Mao. This is such 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:22.420 a smart narrative move. Before we care about 00:04:22.420 --> 00:04:24.540 the politics, the show establishes the mood. 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:28.240 We're on a ship called the Scopule. And the atmosphere 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:31.439 described here is terrifying. Julie Mao is trapped 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.879 in a room. She's in a spacesuit. She's frightened. 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:37.199 She manages to break out, but the ship is completely 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.639 empty. Just silent. It's the ghost ship trope, 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:43.000 but used so effectively. She makes her way to 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:44.899 the engineering bay, and this is where the source 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:48.290 highlights a very specific visual detail. The 00:04:48.290 --> 00:04:50.769 room is drenched and glowing with an unknown 00:04:50.769 --> 00:04:54.209 blue material. Unknown blue material. And to 00:04:54.209 --> 00:04:56.069 show that prides itself on scientific realism, 00:04:56.329 --> 00:04:58.730 that glowing blue stuff stands out immediately. 00:04:59.009 --> 00:05:00.850 It doesn't look like technology. No, it looks 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:03.189 alien. Precisely. And then comes the horror element. 00:05:03.449 --> 00:05:05.750 Julie sees something near the reactor. The source 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:07.589 describes it as what looks like a human being 00:05:07.589 --> 00:05:10.750 sucked into a vortex. And she screams, cut to 00:05:10.750 --> 00:05:13.329 black. Which serves as the inciting incident 00:05:13.329 --> 00:05:15.730 for the entire series. It tells the audience, 00:05:15.850 --> 00:05:18.029 yes, there are politics, but there is also a 00:05:18.029 --> 00:05:21.410 monster in the closet. It recontextualizes everything 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:25.029 that follows. We're about to watch people squabble 00:05:25.029 --> 00:05:27.769 over money and territory, but we know there's 00:05:27.769 --> 00:05:29.850 an existential threat lurking out there. Right. 00:05:29.910 --> 00:05:32.850 So from that horror opening, we slam cut to our 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:36.009 second genre detective, Noor. We are on Siri 00:05:36.009 --> 00:05:38.850 Station and we meet Detective Joe Miller, played 00:05:38.850 --> 00:05:41.540 by Thomas Jane. Miller is our window into the 00:05:41.540 --> 00:05:44.259 life of the belt. He wears a fedora. He drinks 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:46.920 cheap booze. He stands in the rain well, the 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:49.339 recycled water dropping from the ceiling. It 00:05:49.339 --> 00:05:51.699 is very much Blade Runner meets the asteroid 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:54.160 belt. But his position in this society is really 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.759 complicated. The source notes that he works for 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:59.199 Star Helix Security. That is an Earth -based 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:02.379 police force. But Miller is a belter. Yeah, he's 00:06:02.379 --> 00:06:04.519 policing his own people on behalf of the oppressors. 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:06.399 That puts him in a fascinatingly compromised 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.019 position. The source actually mentions a specific 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:12.399 slur the Belters use for him, walwala. It's Belter 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.420 Creole. It effectively means traitor to our people. 00:06:15.660 --> 00:06:18.800 He is an outcast. The Belters hate him because 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.319 he's a cop, and the Earthers look down on him 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:23.980 because he's a Belter. He is completely isolated. 00:06:24.459 --> 00:06:26.620 And he's got this new partner from Earth, Dimitri 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:29.579 Havlok, which just adds to that dynamic. Plus, 00:06:29.779 --> 00:06:31.620 there's that detail about his awkward interaction 00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:34.540 with his ex -lover and former partner, Octavia 00:06:34.540 --> 00:06:37.519 Moss. Oh, yeah, the unsuccessful flirting. It 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:39.759 just highlights how pathetic and lonely his life 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.920 has become. Exactly. And naturally, the corrupt, 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:45.180 lonely detective gets a case that nobody else 00:06:45.180 --> 00:06:48.100 wants. He is assigned to find Julie Mao, the 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:50.420 girl from the horror prologue. But notice the 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:53.139 instructions he gets. He isn't told to save her. 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.620 He is told to find her and ship her back to her 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:57.860 wealthy businessman father, Jules Pierre Mao. 00:06:58.180 --> 00:07:01.019 It's a retrieval job, not a rescue mission. Julie 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:03.519 Mao is a champion pilot and an activist. But 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:05.920 to the people hiring Miller, she's just lost 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:08.629 property. I want to zoom in on a specific scene 00:07:08.629 --> 00:07:10.389 mentioned in the plot summary because I think 00:07:10.389 --> 00:07:12.509 it defines Miller's character perfectly. The 00:07:12.509 --> 00:07:14.670 airlock scene. Oh, this is a defining moment. 00:07:14.949 --> 00:07:17.089 So Miller goes to confront a guy named Vargas. 00:07:17.850 --> 00:07:20.370 Vargas runs a sweatshop on the station and the 00:07:20.370 --> 00:07:23.129 air filtration system is broken. The child workers 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:25.610 are literally getting sick from the bad air. 00:07:25.910 --> 00:07:28.610 But Miller isn't there to arrest him. No, Miller 00:07:28.610 --> 00:07:30.990 grabs Vargas and throws him into an airlock. 00:07:31.149 --> 00:07:32.970 He throws him in the airlock and starts cycling 00:07:32.970 --> 00:07:36.420 it. He vents the oxygen into space while Vargas 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:39.279 is trapped inside. It is brutal. He is literally 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.500 suffocating the man. But, and this is the key, 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:45.779 he doesn't kill him. He stops the cycle right 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:48.899 before Vargas passes out. The force says he does 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:51.000 this to get his point across regarding the air 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:52.939 filters. Which tells us everything we need to 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:55.720 know about Miller's morality. He's corrupt. He 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:58.680 is violent. He is a well wallah. But he has a 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:01.319 code. He protects the kids, the vulnerable, even 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:03.379 if he has to act like a gangster to do it. It's 00:08:03.379 --> 00:08:05.199 that shade of gray that makes the noir angle 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:07.920 work. Now, while Miller is choking people out 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:10.800 on series, the episode shifts gears again. We 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:13.439 jump all the way to Earth for our third genre, 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:15.920 the political thriller. And this is where we 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.220 meet Christian Abbasarala, played by the incredible 00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:21.680 Shoray Aghdashloo. She is the U .N. deputy undersecretary. 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:24.339 The visual contrast the source describes here 00:08:24.339 --> 00:08:27.600 is startling. We just came from the dirty, cramped 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:31.100 industrial tunnels of Ceres. Suddenly, we are 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:33.820 in Westchester, New York. Avasarala is at her 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:36.220 beautiful home with her husband Arjun and her 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:39.220 grandson. A completely domestic setting. It immediately 00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:42.700 establishes the wealth gap. On Ceres, air is 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:45.519 a commodity. On Earth, it's just a given. It's 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.120 paradise. But the scene doesn't stay peaceful. 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.500 No. She is whisked away to a UN black site to 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:54.960 interrogate a prisoner. A belter. named Heike 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:57.480 Sabong. And this interrogation scene is vital 00:08:57.480 --> 00:08:59.779 for the plot. Sabong is a member of the OPA, 00:08:59.940 --> 00:09:02.000 and he was accused of carrying contraband stealth 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.940 technology. Stealth tech? Why is that such a 00:09:04.940 --> 00:09:07.179 massive deal? Because in space, if you can't 00:09:07.179 --> 00:09:09.980 be seen on radar, you are a god. If the Belters 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:12.580 or Mars have stealth ships, Earth loses its military 00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:15.019 advantage instantly. Avasarala is absolutely 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:17.539 terrified of this. We see how that fear translates 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:20.740 into action. Sabong refuses to speak. So this 00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:22.659 grandmother, who we just saw playing lovingly 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:24.919 with a child, orders his interrogation to be 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.500 prolonged. Prolonged. It's a euphemism for torture. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.500 And she does it without blinking. It's chilling. 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:32.440 It really is. It shows that Earth is willing 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:36.519 to use brutal methods to maintain control. Avasarala 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:39.940 represents the empire. She's smart. She is capable. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:43.259 But she is utterly ruthless when it comes to 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:45.919 protecting Earth's interests. So we have the 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.220 horror mystery with Julie Mao, the noir detective 00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:50.679 with Miller, and the political intrigue with 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:53.000 Avasarala. That leaves us with a final piece 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.159 of the puzzle, the space disaster. This is the 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.559 Working Class in Space segment. We are introduced 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.179 to the crew of the Canterbury. The Canterbury 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:04.600 is a massive space freighter hauling ice to Ceres. 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:07.580 It's basically a clying oil rig. I love the detail 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:09.460 in the source about the crew's motivation here. 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:12.360 They pick up a distress signal. In most sci -fi 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:14.500 shows, the crew would immediately rush to help. 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:17.220 Right, it's a moral duty. But here, the crew 00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:19.710 wants to ignore the signal. Because if they stop, 00:10:19.889 --> 00:10:21.750 they'll mess up their on -time work bonuses. 00:10:21.990 --> 00:10:23.769 It's such a grounding detail. It makes the world 00:10:23.769 --> 00:10:26.929 feel so real. These aren't noble explorers. They 00:10:26.929 --> 00:10:29.470 are truckers. They have bills to pay. Exactly. 00:10:29.570 --> 00:10:32.029 But then you have Jim Holden, the executive officer. 00:10:32.330 --> 00:10:35.190 He is the moral center of this group. He secretly 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:37.870 logs the distress call, which forces the ship 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:40.679 to stop. He admits to Naomi Nagata that he logged 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:43.139 it. And she tells him to just keep it quiet. 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:45.059 Right, because the crew is going to be furious. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:47.759 They take a shuttle, the night, to investigate 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.419 the signal. And this gives us our core crew for 00:10:50.419 --> 00:10:53.940 the show. Holden, Naomi, Amos Burton, Alex Kamal, 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:56.259 and Shed Garvey. They fly over to the source 00:10:56.259 --> 00:10:58.120 of the signal. And, of course, it all ties back 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.799 together. They find the scopulae. The ship from 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:03.879 the prologue, Julie Mao's ship. So the threads 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:07.399 are colliding. Miller is looking for Julie. Julie's 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:10.259 ship is drifting in space. And now Holden has 00:11:10.259 --> 00:11:12.279 found it. But when they board, it's empty. They 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:14.899 find a distress transmitter, but no life. It's 00:11:14.899 --> 00:11:17.840 a trap. And while they're investigating, an unidentified 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.679 ship appears. And it fires torpedoes. But they 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:23.279 don't fire at Holden's shuttle. The torpedoes 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:25.379 bypass the shuttle entirely and head straight 00:11:25.379 --> 00:11:27.720 for the mothership, the Canterbury. The Canterbury 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:30.320 is this massive vessel, and the torpedoes just 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.039 destroy it. Everyone on board is killed. It is 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:36.019 a shocking escalation. You just spent 20 minutes 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:38.259 getting to know this crew, seeing them worry 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:41.700 about their bonuses, and then gone. There's a 00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:43.700 heartbreaking detail in the source about Aiden 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:47.039 Igard. She sends one final transmission to Holden 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:49.539 right before the explosion. Right, she says, 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:51.120 there's something you should know. And then she's 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:53.379 cut off by the blast. It's a brutal cliffhanger. 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:56.690 But beyond the personal tragedy... Think about 00:11:56.690 --> 00:11:59.090 the implication. You have Holden and his small 00:11:59.090 --> 00:12:02.409 crew now stranded in a tiny shuttle. And a massive 00:12:02.409 --> 00:12:05.610 ship has just been destroyed. Avasarala was terrified 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:08.769 of stealth tech, and now a mystery ship has used 00:12:08.769 --> 00:12:11.870 advanced weaponry to vaporize an Earth Corporation's 00:12:11.870 --> 00:12:14.549 ice hauler. So this isn't just a shipwreck. This 00:12:14.549 --> 00:12:16.889 is the spark that starts the war everyone has 00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:19.409 been dreading. Exactly. The episode successfully 00:12:19.409 --> 00:12:22.340 launches three separate threads. Miller's investigation, 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:24.799 Avasarala's politics, and Holden's survival, 00:12:25.100 --> 00:12:27.200 and shows how they are all hurtling toward the 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.460 same disaster without collapsing under its own 00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:31.980 weight. It is an incredible amount of plot for 00:12:31.980 --> 00:12:34.519 a single hour. And looking at the reception section 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:37.220 of the source, the critics agreed. The reviews 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:40.480 were glowing. Oh, absolutely. The AV Club gave 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.840 it an A-, specifically praising the world -building 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:47.379 and complex politics. IGN gave it an 8 .5 out 00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:50.000 of 10. And io9 said they were blown away by the 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.750 scale of it. The word that keeps popping up in 00:12:52.750 --> 00:12:55.889 the critical response is realism. That's a huge 00:12:55.889 --> 00:12:58.990 takeaway. Why did this succeed where other space 00:12:58.990 --> 00:13:01.909 operas failed? Because it focused on realism. 00:13:02.149 --> 00:13:04.549 The characters act like real people worrying 00:13:04.549 --> 00:13:07.470 about their paychecks. And the physics. The source 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:10.049 notes that critics praised the attention to realism 00:13:10.049 --> 00:13:12.889 regarding the visuals and the gravity. It grounds 00:13:12.889 --> 00:13:15.570 the high concept sci -fi in a physical reality. 00:13:15.970 --> 00:13:17.929 We should also mention the production pedigree. 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:20.759 The script was written by Mark Fergus and Hawk 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:23.000 Osby, who are an Academy Award nominated duo. 00:13:23.179 --> 00:13:25.600 And directed by Terry McDonough. Based on the 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.539 novel Leviathan Wakes by James S .A. Corey, these 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:30.220 are creators who know how to balance character 00:13:30.220 --> 00:13:32.340 with spectacle. And it paid off. It was watched 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:35.139 by 1 .19 million households and actually remains 00:13:35.139 --> 00:13:37.360 the most watched episode of the series up through 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:39.080 season five. Which is really saying something. 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:41.500 So if we look back at our mission statement, 00:13:41.779 --> 00:13:45.799 how did Dulcinea pull this off? Sure. It seems 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:48.149 to come down to a perfect balance. I think that 00:13:48.149 --> 00:13:51.350 is the key takeaway. It works because it balances 00:13:51.350 --> 00:13:54.139 the epic with the personal. If you only had the 00:13:54.139 --> 00:13:57.139 epic, the space battles, the conspiracies, it 00:13:57.139 --> 00:14:00.019 would be dry. But if you only had the personal, 00:14:00.220 --> 00:14:02.879 the missing girls, the work bonuses, the air 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.919 filtration, it's just a drama. The magic happens 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.200 when you mix them. The personal anchors the epic. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:10.440 You care about the political tension because 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.279 you saw Miller venting that airlock. You care 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.259 about the war because you saw the Canterbury 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:18.240 crew die. Exactly. And it leaves us with a final 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.940 provocative thought. We've spent this whole deep 00:14:20.940 --> 00:14:23.690 dive talking about the political tensions earth 00:14:23.690 --> 00:14:27.509 versus mars the belt versus everyone right avasarala 00:14:27.509 --> 00:14:30.090 is looking for stealth tech miller is looking 00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:32.870 for a rich girl holden is looking for whoever 00:14:32.870 --> 00:14:35.110 blew up his ship they are all looking at each 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:37.470 other but you the listener know something they 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:40.230 don't we saw the prologue we saw the blue glowing 00:14:40.230 --> 00:14:43.409 material the vortex exactly the ultimate irony 00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:45.990 here is that humanity is sharpening its knives 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:49.529 ready to go to a system -wide war over territory 00:14:49.529 --> 00:14:52.720 and resources completely unaware of what Julie 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:55.899 Mao found. Is the war Avasarala fears coming 00:14:55.899 --> 00:14:58.299 from Mars, or is it something entirely different 00:14:58.299 --> 00:15:00.299 that none of them are ready for? It's an existential 00:15:00.299 --> 00:15:04.320 threat disguised as a political thriller. They're 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:06.600 too busy fighting each other to notice the monster 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.600 in the room. Which is a brilliant way to hook 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.320 an audience. It really is. Well, that is all 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.379 the time we have for today's deep dive into the 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:17.000 pilot of The Expanse. It is a dense hour of television, 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:19.559 but hopefully we've helped you see the incredible 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:21.580 clockwork underneath the drama. It's definitely 00:15:21.580 --> 00:15:23.419 an episode worth re -watching with all these 00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:25.779 details in mind. Thanks for joining us. We will 00:15:25.779 --> 00:15:27.179 catch you on the next deep dive.