Fans are flocking to binge a sci-fi series that’s been hailed as a ‘hidden gem’ and boasts a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics.
The Expanse first premiered almost a decade ago in 2015, based on the novels of the same name by James S. A. Corey.
In a tale set 200 years in the future, in which humans have colonised the solar system, the search for a missing woman results in an enormous conspiracy being unravelled.
The first three seasons of the drama aired on the American TV channel SyFy, before moving to Amazon Prime Video for the final three seasons ahead of its finale in 2022.
It’s a show that viewers can’t stop raving about, but there’s a slight catch if you’re hoping to get into it now.
Last month, streaming platform Amazon Prime removed seasons 1-3 from its site.
Seasons 4, 5, and 6 are still available for you to sink your teeth into, which is great news for die-hard fans of the latter episodes.
However, for those hoping to start watching from the beginning, it seems rights issues are going to cause problems unless you have an AppleTV+ subscription, where seasons 1-3 can be streamed for a monthly fee.
But never fear, because if you aren’t sworn off physical media, there’s still hope, as all seasons are available on Blu-ray, with a complete set released in late 2023.
And from what the reviews say, it’s a purchase that might just be worth making.
As well as its near-perfect critics’ score, The Expanse has an impressive 90% audience rating on RT.
There, audience members use adjectives such as ‘unpredictable’ and epic’ to describe it, even comparing it to fantasy greats like Game of Thrones.
Viewers have also heaped praise on it across social media, taking to X to brand it ‘one of the best sci-fi TV shows’ not just of current times, but ‘ever’.
‘If you haven’t watched The Expanse on Amazon Prime do yourself a favour and watch it!’ @ThayCallMeMonty wrote. ‘A hidden gem that one day people are going to wake up to and say it’s one of the best sci-fi TV shows ever!’
@LiamRudden said they’d just finished watching the first three seasons, before calling it ‘one of the best sci-fi series in a very long time’.
‘Delighted I still have another three seasons to catch up on,’ they added.
Meanwhile, @kalina_kangaroo admitted they didn’t yearn for the experience of watching The Expanse for the first time again because they knew that rewatching the series would ‘blow them away anyway’, which is high praise if we ever did see it.
Long-time fans are still holding out hope for more episodes in the future, given that Amazon didn’t finish adapting all the books.
The Expanse is a 10-book series, comprising nine novels and one short fiction collection.
As for its TV version, 62 episodes have been made so far, and while season 6 was confirmed as the final one for now, with plenty of unexplored material remaining on the page, who knows what might happen in the future.
Perhaps another streamer will pick up the franchise for a seventh outing…
The Expanse is available to stream on Prime Video and can also be streamed on Apple TV+.
This article was first published on January 14, 2025.
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