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UNCUT - The Expanse Season 2 Episode 2

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UNCUT - The Expanse Season 2 Episode 2

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"Without the buildup from S1...this would not have hit as hard!" BINGO....S1 tends to be rough for most Reactors to get through (including myself) but boy does it pay off things all the way to the FINAL episode of this series. That's how much detail and continuity they put into this show! Makes you appreciate what they had to do in S1 by time you get to S6!

Shawn Anomaly

Again. If they were out in the middle of nowhere, that isn't a cargo ship. They know it, you know they know it, and you know that they know that you know it. Space is big and trans-orbital lanes are small. And if it ISN'T in the middle of nowhere, then your super-duper secret project with stealth ship level funding with civilization changing stakes should have more defenses than 3 guys with paint guns. There is only so much disbelief available for suspension.

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

Destroying a cargo ship that has already broadcast a warning that it is retrieving lost salvage is a sure-fire way to IMMEDIATELY draw a ton of attention to your ultra top secret project. Engaging in a firefight in space in any capacity would be headline news, as established at the beginning of season 1. Also strapping a ton of railguns, PDCs and missiles to the station would also draw attention. That's precisely why they have a stealth frigate, which in small numbers managed to overwhelm the prize of the Martian Navy. The bad guys in this episode were just trying to maintain their cover story, until the last minute when they figured out they were about to be boarded, then there was no option but to fight.

Worf and Riker Ride Again

Gel rounds would have accomplished nothing against the ipad scientists, so what is their point except to provide a fake out? And if you're only armed with gel rounds in principle to bluff against some unarmed scientists, why on earth would you openly engage with an armed boarding party when your station is attacked? Why wouldn't you immediately surrender, negotiated, or spend your time trying to lock down doors? I have a limited capacity of disbelief to suspend and this writing is exhausting it too fast. My brain actually works and I can't just turn it off and ignore this nonsense. "It's explained later" is bad storytelling. There can obviously be twists that recontextualize things later, and things make better sense then, but you can not tell a story where the initial perception is "this is dumb writing".

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

But you're hitting on that very issue: If the base is supposed to be 'secret', they should have immediately lit up the 'cargo ship' the moment they detected it because it had no business being somewhere so secluded and purposefully out of the way. And if it wasn't far enough off the trade lanes to avoid all conceivable commercial contact, it should have had more static defense as a result. It doesn't matter that this is book 1 of 9. "It'll all be explained later" is not a good defense. The story and motivations need to be internally consistent and believable withing the timeframe of their first reveal - not because that's how reality works but because that's a necessity of narrative. If we later learn the secret plans were thrown together at the last second with a shoestring budget and infighting within the secret group then that would retrospectively make these oddities consistent, and it would also be realistic, but it would still be bad and unengaging narrative - A consumer has a limited supply of belief they can suspend, and storytellers must be judicious with that finite supply in how they write and present the unfolding of events.

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

I agree with Ryan Mahoney. You have to be patient. It's serialized television. Also worth noting: The novel series is nine books long, and we haven't even reached the end of book 1 yet. The solar system is huge. Finding a single station hiding somewhere beyond the orbit of Mars, off any established trade routes is going to be virtually impossible. That's all the "security" they needed. The only reason the Rocinante crew and Johnson's Boys (and girls) knew where the station was came from signals they intercepted from Eros. The more people aboard the station and ships you have around it, the more supplies you need, the more attention you're likely to draw.

John

Gel rounds are for the Scientists in case they lose their minds and go crazy. The other stuff you mentioned is explained if you just let the story play out. Not all answers come right away.

Ryan Mahoney

I assume the gel rounds are there to subdue the "brainrot" guys if they go nuts or get disconnected without killing them

Timothy Nikiforovs

I was also confused by the gel bullets and lack of security

Josh (Target Audience)

I think making the 'bad guy' at the end some crazy power hungry mad scientist type was a mistake. That bit about other life being out there having fired the first shot and we can either learn what we can regardless of what it takes, or risk being unprepared and unarmed for an inevitable moment where humanity's entire future will hinge makes for a more compelling adversary. But instead he's uncaring and dreams of flying through space without a suit at the cost of a few ten thousand lives, which makes his execution less of a controversy and more of an 'oh well' And if all this is so important with such far reaching stakes, why is it so poorly defended? Why gel rounds? Why only one ship? Why not preemptively shoot at the assault ships as soon as they were in range regardless of their true intent being known or not? Seems too important to do none of that. And if this is a rogue extra governmental endeavor, why? Why not work through governmental channels? Why not go to Earth and tell them whats up and work within their own established infrastructure? Why build out stealth ships and run crazy black ops and seize control of key facilities and seemingly purposefully pit the two planets against each other? The motivations seem all weird and I don't get it. Asian dad guy seems to have all kinds of clout within Earth govt, so why work outside it? Surely he could have stayed in control even working within. So why? None of this makes sense, and feels like a whole heap of missed opportunity.

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

Spoilers are so insidious, it's easy to accidentally, without any malice, spoil something through inference and implication.

Paul

No she has not done much yet

AzoriusMage

I love the dynamic of the crew starting to form up and gel together symbiotically. It's about to get good. :)

Paul

If I recall, Breck Eisner directed the most episodes out of any of the directors, directing 14.

Jason Dokos

Josh's face at the end there was priceless LOL

MrTickleTrunk

Please stop hyping up characters? Let them form their own opinion, also you spoil that someone might survive in a dangerous situation, which takes away from the experience, that‘s commenting on shows 101.

Florian

When Diogo said "invincible me" I immediately thought of the Invincible title card gimmick. "The only way Diogo is making it through this mission is if he's........" But this is a fantastic episode. Finally starting to figure out what's up with this whole protomolecule thing and why it was released. Also I love the battle with the stealth ship because it really keeps what's happening inside and outside connected. In Trek we see the ship get hit and people shake around in their chairs or a console explodes, but I love that they have to suit up knowing there WILL be a hull breach. Seeing the PDC rounds zip through the compartments and missing the crew by inches, seeing Amos getting thrown around during a maneuver, and just great pacing all around. Next time you upload an impromptu Expanse reaction, Alex should post "surprise, assholes" in the comments.

Timothy Nikiforovs

Really looking forward to the next episode. It is one of my favorites.

Daxeah

Layers within layers. Three main factions. And each of those has their own splintered mini factions. All working with different pieces of the puzzle. It's spun together so well, and I wish more stuff was this thought-out and complex on tv these days.

Boggle

Just wait. She became my favorite character second only to Amos.

Monty Crawford

This recording was a few weeks ago, but I don’t remember her really doing anything noteworthy at this point. Don’t think we say anything about her.

Josh (Target Audience)

I'm at work and can't really watch right now.... but I gotta know.... what did you think of Drummer?(The badass woman Belter).

Monty Crawford


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