Line #105 YMMV/TheExpanse


1	[[foldercontrol]]
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3	* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/TheExpanse here]].
4
5	[[folder:Book series]]
6	* CatharsisFactor: After a book and a half of Winston Duarte and the Laconian Empire being a borderline InvincibleVillain, suddenly [[spoiler:the aliens who wiped out the protomolocule creators finally get good and pissed off at him and remove much of his advantage out of existence in a split second. The remainder of ''Tiamat's Wrath'' is the heroes getting sweet payback for all the indignities heaped on them.]]
7	* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Amos Burton. He is messed up in his head in an unspecified manner that makes him extremely blasé about killing and death and not entirely understanding 'morality'. Many traits fit a sociopathic profile, except his protectiveness of children. While he believes MurderIsTheBestSolution, he is bound by [[MoralityChain others]].
8	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
9	** Chrisjen Avasarala and Bobbie Draper are popular with a lot of readers. The former as one of the few politicians in the series actively working to improve the situation and refusing to take shit from anyone. The latter for her snark, badass ActionGirl status, and more or less getting to be a space marine in an otherwise gritty series. In the show, the two are even added to the events of books they weren't present in, ''Leviathan Wakes'' for Chrisjen and ''Abaddon's Gate'' for Bobbie.
10	** Samantha Rosenberg, aka Sam is one of the most popular side characters. Snarky, helpful to the protagonists, and an all around NiceGirl who gets some of the best lines. [[spoiler:It's a real shame she's killed off in ''Abadon's Gate'']].
11	*** This character is largely the origin of OPA member Drummer (see the note for EnsembleDarkhorse in the TV show below), though her role in the TV show is vastly expanded with her rising in the OPA to become Fred's right-hand woman and getting most of Bull's scenes and plot relevance from ''Abadon's Gate'' - and she gets [[spoiler: SparedByTheAdaptation for both her Sam's death and Bull's.]]
12	* FanficFuel: There's a ''lot'' of speculation throw about in the fanbase that ''The Expanse'' takes place in the same universe as ''Literature/TheMartian'', fueled by the constant back-and-forth jokes, jabs, jives and vague cryptic references between their respective authors. Not helping matters is that in-universe, the Free Navy owns a Martian ship called the ''Mark Watney''. While it's typically Earth that names their ships after famous, and supposed, historical figures, Mars isn't above this practice either, with ship names such as ''[[UsefulNotes/NeilArmstrong Armstrong]]'' and ''UsefulNotes/{{Hammurabi}}''.
13	* FridgeHorror: After [[spoiler:Marco's attack on Earth]] halfway through ''Nemesis Games'', what happened to the characters we last saw either living there or headed there for other reasons? Basia's daughter? Anna's wife and daughter? Havelock? One or more of them might have been off-world for any number of reasons, but if they weren't, the situation doesn't look good.
14	** Thankfully, [[spoiler:Anna and her family are all revealed to be alive in the next book]]. No word on anyone else though.
15	* MagnificentBastard: From the ''Auberon'' novella: [[SocialClimber Erich]] re-emerges from the 30-year timeskip as the ruler of the eponymous planet's underworld. He embarks on a campaign to blackmail Laconian governor Biryar Rittenaur. Erich first tries to bribe Biryar, and when that fails, manages to escape simply by implying that Biryar's guards are in his pocket. Erich is ruthless to his enemies, but [[AffablyEvil supportive to his allies]]. When Erich blackmails Biyrar over Biryar's wife embezzling money from Laconia, Biryar tries to kill himself. Erich talks Biryar down and convinces him to be more true to himself by accepting Erich and his corruption. Erich was introduced as a petty criminal with no legal status and ends the series as the [[FromNobodyToNightmare shadow ruler of an entire planet]].
16	* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: In ''Nemesis Games'', a power-armored Bobbie Draper ''surfs on a laser-guided missile'' to save a free-floating Naomi drifting in vacuum.
17	* ParanoiaFuel: Slugs that can kill with a touch? Scary, but as long as you pay attention you should be fine. They get a lot scarier when an alien microorganism colonizes your eye, and suddenly ''you can't see''.
18	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Elvi Okoye was a deeply unpopular character in ''Cibola Burn'', with her CelebCrush on Holden turning her into a one-note character, and then getting resolved in the most contrived manner imaginable. Thankfully, when she returns for the final two books, she's much more interesting, with her position in the Laconian Science Department putting her in a position to get a good look at Laconia's inner workings and the protomolecule experiments.
19	* TheScrappy:
20	** Despite the CharacterDevelopment and the FreudianExcuse of being raised by a complete narcissistic sociopath, a lot of readers still can't find anything redeemable about Filip Inaros. Being the person who [[spoiler:orchestrated the near-destruction of Earth]] will do that.
21	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Clarissa Mao. By the time she [[spoiler:joins up with the ''Roci'' crew]], she's been through the proverbial wringer, and it's implied she still has nightmares. Having as much blood on her hands as she does, she may never fully come to terms with herself. [[spoiler: As of Clarissa's death in ''Persepolis Rising'' she still hasn't, although she has gained the forgiveness and trust of the rest of the crew. The implants she intended to use to kill Holden--and which are in turn killing her in the long run--she uses [[DeathEqualsRedemption to save him and his companions]] in a final sacrifice]].
22	* TheWoobie: Teresa Duarte. She was raised to be the heir of an intersteller empire, leaving her with only one true friend, Amos. [[spoiler:When her father falls into a coma, she has to deal with the other leaders of Laconia viewing her as a political pawn and Cortázar's attempts to murder her. When she goes to Amos for help, Laconian soldiers gun him down. When she pleads with her father to stop his AssimilationPlot, he ignores her and then tries to kill her when she attempts to disconnect him from the alien station. Whlie Holden saves her and covers her eyes, Teresa still has to be there as Tanaka brutally kills her father.]]
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:TV series]]
26	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The show's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krqqqgixNq8&list=RDQMXO4SwvnRHlM&start_radio=1 intro song]] is an incredible combination of OrchestralBombing and OneWomanWail that perfectly fits the intro's TimeLapse of mankind's expansion throughout the solar system.
27	* BrokenBase:
28	** [[AdaptationalAngstUpgrade The more initially antagonistic relationship]] between the members of the ''Rocinante'', especially in comparison to their book counterparts. While many fans have stated that they feel it was a necessary change so as to add more interpersonal drama aboard the ''Roci'' and make the show more interesting for a television audience, others have complained that it just comes across as ultimately contrived and makes it harder for the audience to see why the crew would even work together in the first place.
29	** The decision to have the "[[EldritchLocation Slow Zone]]" look more like an [[AlienSky alien nebula]] rather than the [[TheStarsAreGoingOut starless black void]] described in the books. Some have described it as more visually interesting and a sensible change so as to better differentiate the region from the "normal" Sol System, while others have complained that it looks uninteresting and loses the more alien emphasis upon the region from the book series. Amusingly, the swirling alien appearance of the TV version of the Slow Zone [[spoiler:is exactly what it looks like come the events of ''Tiamat's Wrath'' after the aliens unleash the exploding neutron star.]]
30	** A lot of fans aren't happy with how much of the episode limited Season 6's run time is being taken up with Naomi, Marco and Filip's internal drama, whereas other fans like that the show can still dedicate runtime to exploring the character interactions, unlike with certain other finales that were forced into a six-episode final season. Both sides generally agree that this would still be improved with either a longer season or a guaranteed future for the show.
31	* CargoShip: Alex literally ''breaks up with his wife'' so he can stay with the ''Rocinante''.
32	* CatharsisFactor: Although "Immolation" is still a super-tense episode, it does allow for some excellent catharsis. [[spoiler:''All'' of the primary villains get their comeuppance, and it's immensely satisfying to watch. The vilest of them all, child-torturing Strickland, begs for his life before Amos rightly puts him out of everyone's misery with a 12-gauge to the head. Errinwright is revealed for the manipulative extremist he is and arrested. Nguyen is left to die in a mess of his own making. And Jules-Pierre Mao is taken prisoner by Holden and delivered right to the feet of his old enemy, Avasarala...who, for bonus points, is wearing [[SignificantWardrobeShift his daughter Julie's flightsuit]] from the ''Razorback'', symbolically allowing the now-dead Julie to be present to condemn her father's misdeeds.]]
33	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
34	** After Amos learns that Holden and Naomi are an OfficialCouple (with him thankfully taking it quite well), he notes that he and Naomi are LikeBrotherAndSister...before noting aloud that [[BaitAndSwitch "I'd still do her if she let me."]] Wes Chatham's ''perfect'' delivery of that line, combined with Holden's face (which is an amazing mix of FlatWhat and TooMuchInformation) makes the whole moment [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments completely hilarious]].
35	** Same thing with Amos' "so does that mean we're not fucking any more?" line after an argument with Chandra Wei. It leaves her completely dumbfounded.. until she squeaks out "no, no, I guess."
36	** When the ''Arboghast'' is [[spoiler:"deconstructed" by the protomolecule on Venus in "Caliban's War," ''everyone'' has an initially terrified OhCrap realization...Well, except for [[NightmareFetishist Iturbi]], whose shit-eating grin at being proven right about the existence of extra-solar life makes the scene (somewhat) darkly hilarious]].
37	** Manéo [=Jung-Espinoza's=] CruelAndUnusualDeath is easily one of the most [[NightmareFuel horrifying moments in the entire series]]...but has also become a source of dark humor within the fandom, with many simply describing him as the "Red Splat Guy" (since that's ''all that was left of him'' when his ship hit the "Slow Zone").
38	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
39	** MCRN Lieutenant Lopez underwent such rapid character-development that it made him very likable and memorable despite only appearing in two episodes.
40	** After [[spoiler:[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome casually executing two of her previous captors while having a bullet lodged in her stomach]] in "Pyre"]], OPA member Drummer became a fan favorite. [[BreakoutCharacter As a result]], her screentime and plot relevance is vastly expanded in the TV show compared to her book-counterpart (Samantha Rosenberg), she gets many scenes that were part of Bull's plotline in ''Abbadon's Gate'' (instead of Sam's function in the plot of that book, which is given to Naomi and a mauve shirt OPA member), and she even [[spoiler: survives Bull's death scene from the book.]]
41	** Klaes Ashford, having been a particularly unlikable antagonist in ''Abbadon's Gate'', has turned into a fan favorite as well. Unlike his book counterpart, Ashford in the series is a competent, respected leader who doesn't let politics get in the way of common sense, and has a greater vision than most of the OPA leadership except perhaps Fred Johnson.
42	*** It also helps that he gets parts of Bull's characterization and plot from the books[[note]] Bull was wisely edited out for the TV show, given that he was basically just Miller 2.0, or how Miller would have been if somebody saved him from his alcoholism and gave him the home / group-belonging he was desperately longing for. To further clarify, Bull's scenes were reassigned to Ashford and Drummer.[[/note]], doesn't start out as the ship's captain, and gets a new backstory as a ''space pirate'' who tragically lost a child.
43	* FanPreferredCouple: In the show, Chrisjen Avasarala is mostly HappilyMarried to Arjun for the first four seasons. However, while that does have its fans, most fans prefer to ship Chrisjen with Bobbie Draper. This is mainly due to the chemistry between their actresses and their OddFriendship that formed from having to work together in Seasons 2 and 3. On Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn, for example, Chrisjen/Bobbie has a little over 9 times as many fanfics as Chrisjen/Arjun.
44	* FashionVictimVillain: Marco Inaros, ''full stop.'' He's a handsome looking man to be sure, but his sense of style...or lack thereof, is a hot mess. Dresses like a Goodwill bargain-bin [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Char Aznable]]? Check. Raided Drummer's entire supply of [[{{Guyliner}} eyeliner]]? Check. Desperately trying to bring back [[{{Hipster}} man buns]]? ''Jesus'', check.
45	* FriendlyFandoms:
46	** With the revived ''[[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Battlestar Galactica]]'', what with both series being (relatively) hard [=sci-fi=] {{Space Opera}}s that give a fundamentally cynical and philosophical analysis upon humanity as they progressed into the stars.
47	** With ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In fact, a very popular turn of phrase when ''The Expanse'' first started to get significant critical acclaim was describing it as ''Battlestar Galactica'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Game of Thrones''.
48	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: [[Funny/TheExpanse Has its own page]].
49	* GeniusBonus:
50	** In Season 4, Amos is shown trading bullets for drinks. An apocryphal story says that, in the Old West, a single bullet could be bartered for a small portion of whiskey leading to the term "shot of whiskey" and the "shot glass".
51	** The OPA vessel ''Guy Molinari'' is named for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Molinari Guy Molinari]], a US congressman from New York whose name is also used for a class of vessels in the Staten Island Ferry system. Fittingly, the ship is a ferry (and, given the timeframe, a ''very'' old one for the name to still be significant).
52	** Holden is shown eating yakamein while on Tycho Station. Yakamein originates from New Orleans and is a fusion of Chinese and Creole cuisines, appropriate for a melting-pot culture like that of the Belt.
53	* GrowingTheBeard: Season 1 was critically acclaimed, but Season 2 is where the show became significantly bolder and the plot became more intricate, with the characters becoming significantly more interesting and well-developed as consequence. Amusingly enough, this was also around the time the series got the cred for being able to use the occasional PrecisionFStrike (albeit censored, muffled, or replaced with "forget you" on some broadcasts) to better match its characters to the ones in the books. Season 3 introduces the Belter Creole equivalent 'felota', which allows the writers to get away with a lot more than in previous seasons (at least for Belter characters--Drummer and Ashford make copious use of it in particular).
54	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
55	** While his performance was never seen as necessarily ''bad,'' Creator/StevenStrait's performance as Jim Holden was often seen as [[SoOkayItsAverage being the comparative "weak link"]] out of the ''Rocinante'' crew. However, his surprisingly captivating depiction of someone undergoing rapid SanitySlippage in "It Reaches Out" was widely praised and seen as some of his best work on the show.
56	** Creator/WesChatham's performance as Amos Burton has been one of the most consistently praised aspects of the series, with his genuinely convincing depiction of a near-sociopath attempting to find a moral compass being both surprisingly engaging, genuinely unsettling, and weirdly endearing. Many fans have even favorably compared his "I am that guy" line from "Immolation" with [[Series/BreakingBad "I am the one who knocks!"]]
57	** While initially seen as just an unlikable jarhead, Frankie Adams as Bobbie Draper got a ''much'' better reception as Season 2 went on and she was able to show more of her own impressive acting range beyond the generic "tough guy" marine persona originally shackled to her.
58	* HilariousInHindsight: Over a private dinner, Chrisjen Avasarala states [[spoiler: after learning of the protomolecule's extrasolar origins]] that the idea of aliens existing is completely terrifying as they are unequipped to handle them if they are a threat. Fans may find this hilarious as Chrisjen's actor, Shohreh Aghdashloo, played a similar authority figure character in [[Franchise/MassEffect another science fiction franchise]] who was ''herself'' an alien.
59	* [[HoYay Les Yay]]:
60	** Naomi and Drummer have copious amounts of sexual tension from the moment they start bonding during "Static." [[spoiler:When Naomi leaves the ''Behemoth'', it's treated very similarly to a break-up, leading fans to speculate. Season 5's "Winnipesaukee" removes any ambiguity from Drummer's side, at least: when Drummer is talking to Oksana while [[ItMakesSenseInContext believing that Naomi is dead]], she explicitly refers to her as "a woman that I loved". Oksana then asks if Drummer loves her and the rest of their crewmates (who are all ''in a (polyamorous) relationship with each other'') as much as she loved Naomi, which Drummer affirms.]]
61	** AmbiguouslyBi Tilly Fagan has a fairly flirty relationship with canonically gay Anna.
62	* MagnificentBastard: While Sadavir Errinwright begins as a pawn for Mao, when Mao turns on him, Errinwright shows how skilled a manipulator he is. Errinwright assassinates Mao's Martian contact and starts a war between Earth and Mars to force Mao to work for him. Seeking to use Mao's protomolecule hybrid supersoldiers to give Earth the strength to conquer Mars and remain secure, Errinwright begins a campaign to undermine the Secretary General's anti-war speechwriter Anna, first convincing her that her actions allowed Mars to kill millions in South America and then altering a speech she wrote to call for the annexation of Mars. Errinwright is ultimately undone when Avasarala accomplishes the almost-impossible task of obtaining a copy of a message between Errinwright and Mao and sends it to Anna. When Errinwright realizes that he's lost, he calmly admits to his crimes and remains dignified as security takes him away.
63	* MemeticBadass: [[EnsembleDarkhorse Drummer]], who many fans have openly claimed is only kept from single-handedly conquering the entire ''universe'' by her [[UndyingLoyalty loyalty to Fred Johnson]]. Her badass reputation only '''increased''' after she [[spoiler:was paralyzed from a spine injury, only to build working mechanical legs/prosthetics for herself and continues to kick ass in the Season 3 finale]].
64	* MemeticMutation:
65	** Crossing over with ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the phrase "epic spaceship sex" (in a reference to the "epic boat sex" meme from ''Thrones'') has come up within the fandom.
66	** Holden being obsessed with coffee.
67	** From season 3: "[[PreMortemOneLiner I am that guy]]."
68	** When referring to [[OneSceneWonder Manéo Jung-Espinoza]], many people will either call him the "Red Splat Guy" or depict him with [[CrossesTheLineTwice a picture of a splattered bug on a windshield]].
69	* MisaimedFandom: In-universe, Holden was read ''Literature/DonQuixote'' as a child, and he took it at face value as the story of a noble hero rather than an old man lost in his fantasies.
70	* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: [[Awesome/TheExpanse Has its own page]].
71	* MoralEventHorizon:
72	** One of the [=OPA=] refugee ships coming from Ganymede in "Pyre" [[spoiler:takes all the people from Earth and Mars and throw them out of the airlock.]]
73	** Jules-Pierre Mao crosses it in "Assured Destruction" when he [[spoiler:backs up from his HeelFaceTurn and agrees to keep experimenting on the children. The scientists doing the experimenting themselves, including Dr. Strickland, also count here.]]
74	** Admiral Nyugen's [[spoiler:cold-blooded murder of long-time colleague Admiral Souther and his subsequent slaughter of the other mutineers]] in "Triple Point", all so he can [[spoiler:commit genocide against Mars]].
75	** Melba[[spoiler:/Clarissa Mao]] wades into this when she blows up a UNN supply ship and frames Holden for it in an attempt to get him killed. Interestingly deconstructed though, in that she's ''extremely'' conflicted about her actions (both before and after pressing the button) [[spoiler:and ultimately pulls a HeelFaceTurn in the season finale, saving the entirety of humanity in the process]].
76	** Avasarala callously uses her son's death for political gain in a speech full of CrocodileTears to make herself more relatable. Arjun is naturally furious about it and [[spoiler:says they should separate shortly afterward. And she even loses the election anyway, making it AllForNothing.]]
77	** Marco Inaros wants more rights for Belters and wants the Belt to become its own superpower that's no longer oppressed by the "Inners". This would be a noble goal if he didn't take insanely extreme methods to try to assert control: [[spoiler:he uses Martian stealth technology to drop numerous asteroids onto the Earth, killing ''millions'' of innocent people, threatens to unleash the protomolecule onto Earth and/or Mars if either of them defy him, and claims that ''all'' of the Ring Worlds now belong to Belters]], essentially making him far more of a tyrant than the Inners ever were to Belters.
78	* NightmareFuel: Being a pretty damn hard [=sci-fi=] take on the SpaceOpera genre, the series has [[NightmareFuel/TheExpanse its own page]] for a ''damn'' good reason.
79	* OneSceneWonder:
80	** Creator/JonathanBanks appears for all of three minutes in the pilot episode, playing a man suffering from SpaceMadness, and milks ''every'' moment for all it's worth.
81	** Veteran character actor Creator/DanielKash only really has one scene as head protogen scientist Dr. Antony Dresden (excluding a Season 1 cameo toward the end via a recording) but he is highly memorable and deeply chilling in his portrayal of someone who truly believes the ends justifies the means. Even after all the horrors he's wrought, he somehow manages to make the promise of what the protomolecule can do not only vital, but strangely attractive. It's little wonder that Fred and Holden almost immediately start to become convinced by the sheer passion and logic of his argument.
82	** The scenes with [[HotBlooded Manéo Jung-Espinoza]] in "Delta-V" ultimately aren't very long, but Zach Villa's surprisingly endearing performance and his ''memorably'' [[CruelAndUnusualDeath horrific death]] have made it nearly impossible to forget him.
83	* QuestionableCasting: Arjun Avasarala was recast for Season 4, with Michael Benyear replacing Brian George, who was unavailable. The differences are so striking that essentially nobody realized they were meant to be the same character, and Benyear makes no attempt to emulate George's performance. Benyear looks completely different from George, uses a different accent, plays the role a little more coldly than George's warm portrayal, and is much younger than either Brian George or Shoreh Aghdashloo. It inadvertently ends up looking like Chrisjen just ditched her first husband for a boytoy between seasons. This entire situation is made even weirder with the fact that Brian George ''does'' reprise the role for Telltale Games series.
84	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
85	** Some fans found Bobbie Draper to initially be incredibly annoying for her frequent gun-ho behavior on the Earth/Mars conflict, viewing her personality as largely flat outside of this trait. However, after [[spoiler:the Ganymede disaster, learning about Mars' experiments, and]] getting a healthy dose of CharacterDevelopment, Bobbie began to convince non-book fans that there was more to her character, and has now become a fan favorite.
86	** Klaes Ashford went from being a largely unlikable and unsympathetic mutineer in the books to an incredibly likable ReasonableAuthorityFigure in the series, to the point that some fans have argued that he honestly might actually ''be'' a better fit for the captain of the ''Behemoth'' than Drummer.
87	** Elvi Okoye was TheScrappy in ''Cibola Burn'' due to her over-the-top CelebCrush on Holden that gets resolved too quickly. When adapting this novel into Season 4, the show wisely does away with this; instead, Holden and Elvi start off not completely seeing eye-to-eye, but gradually gain increasing respect for each other and become FireForgedFriends as they work together to save everyone on Ilus, culminating in Elvi playing a very important role in the climax. All throughout, their camaraderie remains completely platonic on both sides, and Elvi instead gets ShipTease with Fayez (the guy she rather-suddenly ends up with in the books). As a result, she is much less annoying and more likable in this version.
88	* SacredCow: In part after the "[=#SaveTheExpanse=]" fan campaign which successfully got the series UnCancelled, this attitude has started to seep into the fandom.
89	* TheScrappy: Come Season 3, Diogo Harari has become very unsympathetic and his once-amusing self-delusions have turned him into an infuriating SmugSnake.
90	* SignatureScene:
91	** The ''Donnager'' battle in "CQB" is frequently cited as one of the most realistic {{Space Battle}}s ever put to screen. And [[SensorSuspense it's no less exciting for it]].
92	** On a more spoiler-ridden note, Miller [[spoiler:meeting with Julie Mao for one last time on Eros]] at the climax of "Home" and Chrisjen's epic BadassBoast in "Paradigm Shift" are often held up as two of the best moments in the entire series.
93	* SpecialEffectFailure:
94	** When walking up to the Belter undergoing gravity torture in "[[Recap/TheExpanseS01E01Dulcinea Dulcinea]]", Chrisjen bizarrely shrinks as she goes from the left of the screen to the right, indicating that they were shooting on a forced perspective set.
95	** Minor case, but most of the more complex Belter tattoos are pretty obvious decal tats. The one on Drummer's neck is just the most prominent example, and it gets especially grating in Season 3 due to the large number of Belters on the ''Behemoth''.
96	* SpiritualAdaptation:
97	** Downplayed since the series is already [[Literature/TheExpanse based on a book series]]. That said, some fans favorably compared the series to the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' novels, especially in regards to the main similarities in how their long-term world building, political maneuvering and progressive technological developments that dramatically alter the military and political landscape are utilized within the narrative.
98	** The show already has a video game adaptation of sorts. It's called ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare'' which has the exact same plot of a United Nations-dominated Earth fighting a rebellious force of space colonists who want to break away from the government and form their own nation.
99	* {{Squick}}: As with the books, virtually ''anything'' to do with the [[EldritchAbomination protomolecule]], though special mention probably has to go to [[CreepyChild Katoa's]] "disassembly" of his nurse in "Reload."
100	* StoicWoobie: Over the course of the series, Camina Drummer [[spoiler: gets shot through the gut by traitors on Tycho Station, has her spine severed by being crushed under heavy machinery in the slow zone, gets brutally friend-zoned by Naomi, becomes disillusioned with a leader she trusted, spends a season and a half building up a sweet OddFriendship with Ashford only for him to be killed (which she blames herself for, not without reason), is forced to submit to the man who killed him, watches her polyamorous family die or leave her one by one and finally her fleet gets cut to pieces and her second in command dies in a kamikaze charge in the finale.]] She does not let any of this slow her down much.
101	* StrangledByTheRedString: Holden and Naomi's relationship is prone to complaints about how the storylines can grind to a halt while they work out romantic drama many people aren't interested in.
102	* TakeThatScrappy: After becoming an insufferably arrogant and idiotic {{Jerkass}} throughout Season 3, Diogo Harata gets a vicious verbal ''and'' physical beatdown by Ashford before [[spoiler:having an elevator dropped on him by Naomi in "Abbadon's Gate."]]
103	* TearJerker: [[TearJerker/TheExpanse Has its own page,]] though special mention must be given to when Miller [[spoiler:finally meets Julie face-to-face]] in "Home" and [[spoiler:he prevails upon what's left of her humanity to steer Eros away from Earth.]]
104	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
105	** Some fans were disappointed with the mid-Season 3 TimeSkip that shifted the show's focus to the Ring, as they felt that not only were the intervening events (i.e. the uprooting of the [[spoiler:Protogen conspiracy]]) on both Earth and Mars) interesting enough to watch in their own right, but also that trying to then stuff ''all'' of the third novel into just half a season left that material feeling rushed as well.
106	** Not showing any of the major space conflicts in the final season. There are some BombersOnTheScreen style graphics, but all the ship combat shown is between small handful of ships and the battles between the large combat groups are handwaved through dialogue.
107	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome:
108	** The effects used for the spaceships and space battles are pretty cool to look at, but the opening sequence for episode 1 (and the entirety of Season 2) deserves special mention. It shows the progress of humanity over the next two hundred or so years and is simply ''gorgeous''.
109	** The inside of Eros after [[spoiler:the protomolecule has fully taken over in "Leviathan Wakes"]] is truly a sight to behold, and it gets ever more gorgeous the closer Miller draws to its core.
110	** The slingshot maneuver in "Here There Be Dragons" may be ArtisticLicensePhysics, but it's absolutely stunning to look at.
111	** The fate of the ''Arboghast'', which takes a seemingly simple shot and turns it into something intricately beautiful.
112	** The climax shot of ''Caliban's War'' where [[spoiler:The "Caliban" Protomolecule creature is crawling over the hull of the ''Rocinante'']] is just breathtaking.
113	** The show is generally ''amazingly'' good at making the audience believe that characters are floating in Zero G whenever she ships aren't under thrust and the characters couldn't lock down to the floor with magnetic boots. Case in point: the forced-slowdown situation in the Season 3 episode "Fallen World".
114	* WTHCostumingDepartment: The show uses off-the-shelf rank insignia and applies them haphazardly and inconsistently. So a yacht captain wears the insignia of a US Army sergeant major while MCRN captains' insignia change from episode to episode and Gunnery Sergeant Draper wears the same stripes as an MCRN lieutenant.
115	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Melba[[spoiler:/Clarissa Mao]] might be a villainous saboteur and murderer, but she's clearly unwell and suffering for her father's sins. She's tormented by her actions, but feels she's come too far to stop now, and we get a good view of how ''abysmally'' she was treated by her own father.[[note]]Whereas in the book, it was implied she was "Daddy's darling" or at least not TheUnfavorite.[[/note]] Furthermore, Anna immediately likes her instead of realizing "This woman wants to ''kill me''" just from looking into her eyes the first time they met, which helps give Melba more moral ambiguity as consequence. Also, given that we don't get her narrative POV and self-justification thoughts in the TV show, she comes across as ''far'' less of a sociopath than in the first half of the novel-version of ''Abbadon's Gate''.

Context YMMV / TheExpanse