Belter Creole and The Expanse

This year Netflix has has served up some absolute gems and some well ... not so good. The Expanse however was a pleasant surprise.

Tokengeek and I had written this off as an awful Firefly rip off and barely made it 10 minutes. We didn't really give it a chance and felt the characters lacked charisma. And what was with the stupid hat? Where was Nathan Fillion when you needed him.

A month or so later with nothing to watch we decided to give it another chance and were drawn into the amazing universe of the Expanse. So is this just another space detective story... uh...no! So much better than expected.

Official Synopsis

Space Opera/Mystery Drama

Two hundred years in the future, in a fully colonized Solar System, police detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane), born on Ceres in the asteroid belt, is given the assignment to find a missing young woman, Juliette "Julie" Andromeda Mao (Florence Faivre). Meanwhile, James Holden (Steven Strait), the Executive Officer of the ice hauler Canterbury, is involved in a tragic incident that threatens to destabilize the uneasy peace between Earth, Mars and the Belt. On Earth, Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), a United Nations executive, works to prevent war between Earth and Mars by any means necessary. Soon, the three find out that the missing woman and the ice hauler's fate are part of a vast conspiracy that threatens all humanity. (Wiki)

My absolute favourite aspect of the show was the Belter Creole language. This was an unusual part if the show that helped you understand the characters and their motivations better.

The language of the Belt is called Belter Creole, like many sci-fi shows before it, the writers of The Expanse believed that in the future human languages would evolve into something unrecognisable to us today.

The other fascinating thing was that it came with its own affected accent, at first I thought it was kind of South African but then I realised it really had a sound all its own. By the end of Season 1, I was adding 'se sa' to the end of every sentence like I was a beltalowda (belters us all) too.

I also liked how the casting director consistently made the belters tall and thin so as to exaggerate their poor economic conditions and lengthened limbs due to low G. Little things like this made the world likeable, different and not your run of the mill scifi.

The story revolves around three main characters, a detective looking for a diplomats missing daughter, the missing daughter, and an XO whose ice hauling freighter is destroyed leaving only him and a small away team alive.

The loss of one of the main characters late on in the series is disheartening and affects the whole cast. I really thought that as the stories came together, so would the characters so I was really disappointed that the characters didn't make it to the end as I was really holding out for that moment when they all meet but like I said this isn't your typical show where it works out and the characters fall in love or blah blah. If you are looking for that you are in the wrong place.

The whole thing comes to a dramatic end where our 'heroes' are caught up in social upheaval and unrest on one of the moons and with all the plot lines and stories coming together we realise their stories are all connected by intrigue, murder, and greed.

The contrast between our society and the universe in the Expanse was evident and was not lost on us. There are three main cultures Earther, Belters (who live in the astroid belt) and Mars.

There were quite a few similarities to Aldonoha Zero which I will be reviewing next. Particularly the disdain Mars have for Earthers as they destroy Earth such a beautiful planet with plentiful resources which they do not believe Earthers deserve.

Season 2 was aired in the US in February to answer all the multitude of questions we have! WooHoo!
Hang on to your hats it going to be wild ride.

Did you watch The Expanse?

What did you think?

Let us know in the comments below

AliceT