The Expanse (TV Series) Safe (2017) User Reviews

Some harmony at last - new subplot thickens with terrible actor

[morgan-tomd · 8/10 · 28 September 2017]

Having just binge consumed the first season I was excited to see what was what. The first season left a huge amount untold (one of the most open-ended seasons that I've ever watched...the whole story was left wide open!) and I was excited to understand the 'what happened next?'.

The crew sort a few issues out, they couldn't keep the gritty disharmony active without inventing more backstories and twists so I was glad to see this was the case.

Most important for me a subplot begins to thicken between Earth and Mars as well as rogue factions showing their heads in each. My biggest concern at the current time is the stand out terrible performance of Frankie Adams. Gunnery Sergeant can't act makes this look like 90s TV!# All told worth watching - we'll see how the rest of the series pans out.

What Happened?

[AJ_Blanc · 7/10 · 16 April 2020]

I finally got around to catching the Expanse; got as close to binge watching the first season as I get, and am loving it so far! That said, the first episode of season two, Safe, was a marked reduction in quality, both subjectively and objectively.

Maybe it's because I watched the end of the first and start of the second seasons together, but it seemed all the new characters were competing to see who could say their lines faster and more robotic. It was quite jarring considering how natural and meticulous dialogue was during the entire first season. Plus, a there was a moment of passion that seemed to come from nowhere.

I've since watched a few episodes after this one and it's not near as apparent, so perhaps the production was simply rushed due to the show's meteoric popularity. Regardless, whomever directed Safe should not be allowed back, and hopefully the scenes with those Martian Marines will continue to be limited because of how unrealistic they were portrayed.

The good news is Miller is still awesome! I plan to read the books this show is based on someday, but for now it's one of the best sci-fi series out there.

Airplane reference

[phaedrabazina · 8/10 · 9 September 2022]

Finally, started watching the Expanse. I've watched season 1 and just started season 2. A good sci-fi series to the point where one could even call it believable.

I love Thomas Jane and Shohreh Aghdashloo. The rest of the cast is also doing a stellar job!!

What I fond most interesting with this show is the language and the accents. As I said... it is absolutely believable.

I'm just hoping that the rest of the seasons are as good.

NOTE: To include, in this episode, a reference to one of the best comedies ever, Airplane, to me was priceless!!

"Do you like space gladiator movies?"... Brilliant!!!

Transitional

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 14 January 2020]

I don't know if I can watch any more. Apparently the show has been ruined. Yes, some of that female marine stuff is a bit far fetched, but let's get back to the principle plot and the evil that is being spewed. We have entities on Earth and on Mars that are trying to interpret each other's actions (like any detente). This episode put everyone back in close quarters and forces the characters to confront one another and settle issues. I found Miller to be totally out of hand.

Consistent pace but with possible drop-off incoming.

[iZerg · 6/10 · 4 April 2022]

As an avid enjoyer of even the B movies of the Sci-Fi genre, I usually go into them ready to compromise and suspend disbelief when it comes to possible future tech, space age societal structures/factionalism, basic physics, biology, astronomy falsehoods etc.

So I really appreciate it when the world building is realistic enough to fool me.

The Expanse, so far, is above par with regards to the aforementioned "sins".

However, as was sometimes the case with BSG(which I hold in pretty high regard for the most part), writing and acting can be the straw that break the camel's back.

As others did before me, I'm referring to the character of 'Bobbie' Draper, portrayed by Frankie Adams, and by extension her squad.

I understand that it's a personal pet peeve and I'm not condemning the show for it, but unfortunately I tend to hyperfixate on these cases and it lessens my enjoyment. I just can't understand how someone can deliver lines without moving a single muscle on their face, especially in candid conversations. Obviously, the director was also asleep at the wheel.

I'm really hoping they either improve going forward or they (insert random death scene).

Solid Science Fiction, A Decent Portrayal of the Books, Nothing Extraordiary

[croetoan · 6/10 · 27 February 2020]

I'm reviewing episode one, "Safe", and the entirety of series 2 at the same time. I'm also reviewing this as a reader of the books. The books were always television-ready. They were never that deep, never that stylistic, never that convincing, but they were fine science fiction easily adaptable to television. Like season one, this new episode and season really fail in the casting and characterization. They also dumb down the series. The directors and producers get the right general features for the characters - the beard, the drawl, the earnestness, the skin color or size - but they do not capture the real essence of the characters of the book. Draper was the big disappointment in this one. All the rest of the characters continue to be just a little off, the producers somehow unwilling to commit to the ones penned in the books but taking some hints and general direction from them. This episode and season continue to streamline and add randomly to the book plot. This did not make the television series better and only annoys book fans. What the series might have done better than the books is to capture the distrust and tension between Earth, Mars, and the Belters. The tension within each of the camps - particularly the Belters - is exceptionally portrayed. The CGI, sets, and action sequences continue to be great science fiction television. All in all, in makes for an episode and season that is above average science fiction but a real missed opportunity to create something extraordinary.

The "progressive politics" of this show ruins it for me

[martin-andersson22 · 2/10 · 23 June 2019]

Marine squads mostly made by women, women in the mess arm wrestling etcetera. Having been in the military it just plays as extremely political and totally unrealistic to me and ruins the show. All the marine scenes that are meant to appear edgy and tense just end up a farce. But if you are not bothered by that and other such silly progressivism in the show it is still well produced and the plot is tolerably competently written.

Change Director, Add Female Story Editor, Series Now for Women

[geolabuk · 3/10 · 10 February 2017]

I really enjoyed the first series, Joe Miller was a dark 'film noir' character, a tad sleazy, corrupt, shady and definitely not nice. This character was non-communicative, possibly autistic even, very interesting and menacingly scary.

It seems that with the loss of his hat in the last episode of season 1, he also lost this character, as now he is normal and chatty.

Also, in the next episode there is a space battle with a stealth ship. But, oh dear, the pilot lost a pod of 25 people in the battle and spends all of episode 3 crying about it, running simulations, so he can avoid losing anyone next time.... ridiculous.

This series has been compared with Battlestar Galactica, The first series was comparable, but this .... ho ho ho. Adama lost ships with thousands on board, did you see him or his crew crying about it? That's what happens in a battle, isn't it? So what has changed? Now there is a female story editor added to the writing list. Every episode will concentrate on the emotions of the crew instead of the science fiction, this is what happens when women try and do scifi....

Example... for men, try and read the Handmaid's Tale book by Margaret Atwood, then see the 1990 film with the screenplay by Harold Pinter. The book is full of sentimental padding but Pinter sticks to the harshness of the situation and keeps it scifi.

For me, the change of director, and the addition of Georgia Lee as story editor, has ruined the whole story to the point that it may become so namby pamby and will be unwatchable.

Senseless Violence

[jseph1234-262-617488 · 4/10 · 14 January 2022]

The amount of non-sensical violence in this episode is just unwatchable. Its as though the producer thought it was a good idea just to allow a main character to shoot anyone they wanted to and without any sense or logic to it.

Just too much violence...