# The Expanse (2015)

> A hardened Earth detective and a rogue ship's captain race across a class-divided solar system to uncover a conspiracy that could reshape humanity.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/56468

## Facts

- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 62
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, mystery, drama
- Created by: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
- Network: Syfy, Prime Video
- Cast: Steven Strait, Dominique Tipper, Cas Anvar, Wes Chatham, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Frankie Adams, Paulo Costanzo, Sara Mitich
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3230854/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, tense, melancholic, propulsive

## What critics say

Critics and audiences broadly regard The Expanse as an acclaimed, grounded space opera with believable worldbuilding and a strong conspiracy-driven story that grows in scale across its seasons.

## Synopsis

The Expanse (2015-2022) is a United States science fiction series adapted from the novels of James S. A. Corey and created by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby for Syfy, later continuing on Prime Video. Set roughly two centuries from now, the story follows a hardened Earth detective, Joe Miller's counterpart in the ensemble, and the crew of a battered ship, centered on Jim Holden (Steven Strait), whose rogue captaincy collides with a missing young woman's case. Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper), Amos Burton (Wes Chatham), Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar) and Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) carry the story across Earth, Mars and the Asteroid Belt. The engine is pursuit: characters chase a missing person through a class-divided solar system while a conspiracy grows larger than any single faction. Each season covers one novel's worth of plot across six seasons and sixty-two episodes, a serialized space opera rather than a case of the week. Its tone is gritty, political and patient, with grounded industrial spacecraft, labor tensions and tense standoffs. Fans of Battlestar Galactica, Foundation and Altered Carbon will find resonance in its blend of political intrigue and hard science fiction.

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