The final season of The Expanse is now in the books, and my recommendation holds. When I stumbled upon it some years back, it took a bit or warming up for me to recognize it for what it is, but now I’m fairly convinced – it’s the best Sci-Fi series ever made. Yeah, a huge claim for sure. But I’m sticking with it.
What makes it so? I think it’s in part the way it so completely weaves the story against a backdrop of the solar system that’s almost believable in its structure. And then there’s its foundation in mystery – the introduction of an alien element that endangers us all, is exploited by greed, and yet becomes something even more expansive and mysterious in its final state. It’s a puzzle – a meaningful series of “what-ifs.” An interesting story, well-produced. Well-acted. Something with some meat and depth to it.
Still, a story line this complex doesn’t come without its flaws. The series might seem to wander a bit in a few spots. You’ve really got to pay attention (which is a good thing). And, as might be expected in a story with a few interwoven plot lines (along with a fair share of political intrigue), you should expect some loose ends where knowing the backstory might help. But like any good show, they’ve got to find the balance between action and explanation – like the Star Wars franchise did not do in The Phantom Menace with their embarrassingly weak and clichéd “trade dispute” background work. The depth of The Expanse’s characters and the actors whom they cast for the roles really make it work. You understand what’s happening because you understand who they are and why they’re doing what they’re doing (as opposed, again, to Star Wars, where the backstory is served by a few feeble characters of inadequate depth).
Going into season six, I was a bit worried about how they’d wrap it up. There are nine books in the series, and they’d been loosely following the timeline of those books throughout the television adaptation – one book, one episode, with the title of the last episode matching that of the book. I was wondering how they were going to fit four full books into one season. I was even more concerned when I saw that that season was only six episodes long (the previous seasons were all 10 or 13). But the clue is in the naming – season six’s last episode bears the name of the series’ sixth book – Babylon’s Ashes – and it turns out that there’s a natural gap in the novels after the sixth book that makes for a decent ending point of the TV series in that spot.
And the ending was excellent – exceptionally satisfying. It was true to the characters and the story, and included some beautifully created action. It also didn’t just leave room for a sequel series (remember, there are three more books out there, with some serious hints at their story dropped in season six), it practically begs for it. And it could very well be a series that stands on its own — not depending so much on its predecessor. As long as they write and cast it well, it should make for some good television.
As each of the first four seasons came out, I found myself going back to rewatch each of the preceding seasons (so I watched one and two when two came out; one, two, and three when three came out; and one, two, three, and four when four came out). I didn’t do that for the last two seasons because Amazon was so kind as to provide Korean subtitles for the show and I watched them all with Micha – who doesn’t watch things twice. But now I think I’ll take one more shot straight through. And now that it’s all out, I recommend everyone else do that too – even if you’ve seen the first five seasons.
It really is the best Sci-Fi series out there.