NOOOOOOOOO!!! The Expanse 1x4 Reaction 

_"Lopez, ...new favorite character..."_ I recommend you stop getting attached to characters... lol

Frank was a professional diplomat. He knew how to control his emotions. Her name is Chrisjen Avasarala. Most call her Chrisjen. Nobody in this show is safe.

In case no one explained it yet, ships in The Expanse are built more like a skyscrapers rather than a long boat. This puts the engines on the bottom, and the decks are like floors. The upward thrust pushing into peoples feet causes the feeling of gravity. As they approach a destination, they have built a lot of excess speed, so they need to brake, so the rocket flips 180 degrees and starts to slow down. The people inside have all this high-speed inertia, and want to keep going that speed, but the engines are pushing back. In this way, the occupants have gravity whether speeding up or slowing down. Additionally, they can alter how much thrust the engines provide. Earthers tend to like 1g, while belters like 1/3 g, and Martians, although they don't like 1g, they'll do it to train their bodies to get used to it.

We were all holding our collective breaths when you said anyone but Shed. Great reaction

""What is he doing"? Holden made a very smart snap decision to save Naomi's life. It is a certainty she would have been shot and killed if allowed to float slowly through the air at a constant speed in a straight line. Holden launched himself off the gangway, caught up to Naomi, clipped a line to her suit, and then rotated himself backwards so he could apply a large leg push to Naomi. The "equal and opposite" reaction to that leg push propelled Holden back down to the gangway, where he grabbed a railing to anchor himself, after which he reeled Naomi in and got her back down to the gangway where she could activate her grav boots and start moving again towards the shuttle bay. I'm sure you know the physics involved, but might not have realized their application while raptly watching the perilous scene. To those of us who adore the way The Expanse follows the laws of physics, it is perhaps the finest single scene in season one.

In The Expanse, ships are built like a building with one deck on top of another so as long as there is thrust, your feet stay on the floor. If the drive goes out, you are weightless.

The Expanse has the best space battle sequences we have seen on television-even better than Babylon 5. Everybody else treats space battles as ocean-going naval engagements, complete with fighters.

To quote Nolans Joker, "And here we go! " It's all Runaway train kinda fun from here! Best thing about The Exoanse fans is that we live to watch new peeps get baptized into this universe. It's a little selfish, though. We want to watch you unwrap the mysteries ahead! We want to see you scream on the rollercoaster. Enjoy the ride. We're right there with you.

The Donnager uses LADAR (laser-based radar) as its active sensor. Passive sensors are basically radar telescopes reading the ER emissions of the ships' drives. The attacking craft turned out not to be a single craft but six, with the additional five hidden in the lead ship's radar shadow. Captain Yao did not expect ships that small to carry railguns, so the Donnager's defenses were overloaded. However, with that said, the Donnie still took out four of the aggressors before she was boarded.

Shed's dead, baby. Shed's dead.

Quick aside: The Expanse (and its lead characters) started out as player characters for a TTRPG that Ty and Daniel ran with friends and family. One day, Shed's player had to move across the country for work, so they decided to kill off his character. In the show, they made Shed's death meaningful and instructive. The railgun round that killed Shed had punched its way clear through the Donnager, which was then venting to vacuum. Naomi's and Amos's quick reaction saved the rest of the crew.

Lopez knew that he couldn't survive high G's with his injuries.

The milky fluid being injected into the crew before the Tachi dusts off is military-grade "juice," a cocktail of drugs used to maintain cardio-vascular integrity during high-g maneuvers.

Part of the reason Belter life expectancy is the danger of space life. Lifetime radiation exposure is higher...that's unavoidable, but it causes more cancer and more birth defects, higher infant mortality. But there are also the vagaries of physically being in space: Lots more opportunities to be killed by accidents and negligence, all reducing statistical life expectancy. Then there is the preventable issue of corporations cutting corners on life support: Food, water, air. The stealth ships are no longer stealth as soon as they turn on their drives. A ship with drive engaged is visible for millions of miles. Even though they could follow the battle from Earth (or from reconnaissance and surveillance stations between the planets), their view was fuzzy. But the Nauvoo, which is being built as an interstellar vessel, naturally has the most powerful sensors ever built, which is why Fred Johnson wanted to use them to follow the battle himself. Yes, slingshotting is an extreme sport among Belters. That's not a throwaway scene...you need to know what slingshotting is. There is no fluff in this series. Important point that they showed over and over again in this episode to drive it home: "Gravity" in space is purely a matter of either rocket thrust or centrifugal force. If they're not thrusting or spinning, they're floating. That's a constant reality in this series. The ships themselves are built like multistory buildings with the engines in the basement. "Up" is always in the direction of flight. They are usually under constant acceleration to the halfway point of a journey, then they flip around and use the main thruster to decelerate the rest of the way their destination. I first read about that mode of travel in Robert Heinlein's "Have Space Suit-Will Travel" in 1965...never saw it on the screen before now. We told you this started as an RPG. The original guy playing Shed dropped out of the game early, so they killed off the character in the original game. The piton the Griegas put through Havelock missed vital organs, and because it stayed in, it stanched blood loss. Miller's ex (ex-partner, ex-lover) is Octavia Muss. "Scuttle the ship." The camera paused on Lopez reading the "Condition Zero" order on a computer screen that explained the captain was going to set the ship to self-destruct. On this show, computer screens and background loudspeakers often provide pertinent information to the plot. One reactor actually paused the video to read each screen...and it paid off. Fans largely regard this as the "hook" episode. If this episode doesn't hook you,

One definition for "scuttle" as a verb is "to abandon, withdraw from, or cause to be abandoned or destroyed". In nautical terms it means to purposfully sink your own vessel, generally to avoid capture. Naval ships sometimes have "scuttling charges" which are basicaly timed explosives meant to be placed inside the ship at various weak points to ensure the ship's sinking. Here, a small nuclear device or overriding the ship's reactor does the same thing.

LADAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging'

PDCs (Point Defense Cannons) are like the Phalanx system used by today's aircraft carriers. Railguns use electromagnetism to accelerate 500mm tungsten slugs to an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. Of course, at the ranges where space battles are usually engaged, a ship's computer can detect incoming railgun slugs and "dodge" them. That is why CQB is so devasting.

Notice that Lopez saw that Holden got out of his seat and immediately went to help the injured sailor, and that Holden did **not** go for the sidearm which was right in front of him to pick up if he had wanted to. This is where Lopez starts to see Holden in a new way, and starts to trust him.

In an effort to cheer you up a bit after the shock of seeing your favorite character decapitated, if you look closely enough using freeze-frame, you can see that the binder used by Amos to plug the rail gun shell hole has a title on the cover: "MCRN Emergency Procedures Manual".

In the books, the waste heat generated by ships is one of the hardest things to mask. Stealth in this century involves being able to not just reducing your radar signature, but also being able to hide the heat your ship creates. Contrary to popular belief, it takes time for things to cool down in space because no air, no convection. A ship that can't shed its waste heat efficiently will esse tially destroy itself over time. Mars stealth tech has gotten good at both shedding and masking that waste heat.

It's here !!! The moment we've all been waiting for !!!!

"Moon stole our water" was a mistake in the subtitles. There are many, so be careful. I guess they must be auto-transcribed and not checked. The dialog was "Mars stole our water" - everyone thinks Mars blew up the Canterbury after Holden's "insurance" message got out. But, all "inners" are tarred with the same brush, so Havelock becomes a target during the heat of the riots. The spike pinned Havelock to the wall, so it went right through him, although by this episode he's become detached. The important thing is that it missed all the vital stuff and also stayed in him and so blocked much of the bleeding (that otherwise probably would have killed him). There's actually a real-life accident where this kind of injury happened to somebody which inspired the writers. Isaac Newton approves of Holden's move on the dock bridge when the Donnager's thrust is temporarily cut. You asked why Lopez wistfully stated "It would have been nice to see an ocean on Mars". Ponder a bit more why he would have phrased it that way. And, err, be more careful picking favourites in future 😉 Miller's lady colleague is called Octavia Muss. Not sure we've had it explicitly or in one go yet. The Captain called her Muss. Miller calls her Tavi.

I refer to this ep as "fun with thrust gravity". The show made a point to show the state of the engines and the effects on gravity. Also, Lopez tells the crew to turn off their mag boots so they can cross faster, but the engines cut out and there go Holden and Naomi floating off. Quick thinking by Holden to attach to and push off Naomi toward the ramp. The opening credits show the ice caps melting and sea walls built up around New York, as there was evidently an environmental disaster which caused the oceans to rise. It was world wide plus over-population that caused a shift in world politics, making the UN the seat of global government as a reaction to the environmental impact and devastation to the world economies due to overpopulation and limited resources. Earth's population is 30 billion in the Expanse as compared to 8 billion today.

There will be other moments in the future where the show will frustrate or annoy you, as well as moments where it will make you cry, moments where it will make you happy, moments where it will make you melancholic and many, many moments where it will make you nervous. In short: The Expanse will absolutely invoke the entire emotional spectrum in you - because it's a show about people being people. People do right things and wrong things for right and wrong reasons, make mistakes, are good at things, suck at other things, are tough yet incredibly vulnerable at the same time and can ultimately die - and the Expanse doesn't shy away from any of that.

Frank was a senior Ambassador appointed to Earth's most important diplomatic legation... thats not going to be someone prone to emotional outbursts.

There's an odd story behind Shed's death. Long before The Expanse was written, either the books or the TV show, the authors were thinking about writing is as a role play game. They got a few friends together and were working through the plot playing it as a game. The guy role playing Shed had to leave so they just killed the game character. When they wrote the books and then the TV show they decided to keep these first few episodes in line with how they had played it as a game. So Shed dies because someone years ago had something else he needed to do.

This would be one of those series where it might be wise to not get overly attached to any particular character...

27:00 "What is he doing?" The drive went off, so gravity was gone, and without their mag boots on they were floating away. Holden secured Naomi with a thether, then pushed her away, resulting in himself being pushed in the opposite direction back towards the floor, where he could activate his boots and then pull her back. Or in short: Real physics.

It's in episode four we dread, when our good buddy Shed lost his head. Obviously a bummer, but an indicator that anyone can be lost in this show.

This show does a great job of not holding your hand with information. They expect you to piece together character backgrounds, story plot points, world building naratives, technology, etc. At the same time there is so much info on the diffrect storylines that its hard to catch everything on the first watch.

There's a reason The Expanse is called "Game of Thrones in space" 🤣

You don't think the rod went into Havelock very deep ? Man it went through him and then pinned him to the wall like a butterfly in a collection set...lmao.

Space is a completely unforgiving environment, and people can be gone in the snap of a finger. Even so, everything shown in most sci-fi shows about what happens when a ship is depressurized or breached is wrong. Ships don't just pop when breached nor are people just sucked out into space. The pressure inside just isn't that high. There will be many examples of this throughout the show and really shows they did their research to make this as authentic as possible. Same with the gravity. The gravity they have in the ships is only there when the ship is accelerating. As soon as the acceleration stops the gravity is gone.

Killing Shed and killing the crew of The Cant' did something important, it removed plot armor from the cast. Anyone could die. Danger becomes visceral. Our plucky heroes might not make it out alive in the end 😯

"The f**k" - "First time I vocalize that full word in any of my videos" First of all, you didn't last long lol. Second of all, get ready to vocalize it a lot more - The Expanse has a way of inspiring strong emotions in its viewers

Shed’s dead ☠️

I laughed a little too hard at the Noooooo! I was waiting for that reaction. lol.

LADAR = (LAser Detection And Ranging) systems use light to determine the distance to an object. Since the speed of light is well known, LADAR can use a short pulsed laser to illuminate a target and then time how long it takes the light to return. space stealth is way different then earth stealth. yes you would sill paint black and angels to reflect active direction systems (radar and the like) away, but the bigger problem is heat. space is cold any heat signature will stand out. the attacking ships where decelerating so impossible to hide the heat. PDC = Pint Defense Canon. primaraly for taking out torpedoes and missals (could be used on fighters). designed for high fire rate not damage. scuttle = intentionally sink/destroy the ship. in this case to keep the enemy from getting the ship and hopefully take the enemy with you.

little tidbit: Holden didn't try punching his supperior officer because he thought the guy was trafficking humans. He tried to punch him because he was gonna fire on a smuggler who was trafficking humans (which would have killed those humans of course).

Shed’s dead, baby. Shed’s dead.

I suggest you re-watch the last part of the episode from after Shed’s demise. Every detail counts. Sorry for your virtual loss!

G'day from Australia mate! Loving your reactions to a great series. I like the fact they use pretty much real physics in this as well.

Bizi Bitiko is one of many subtle Simpsons references - it's basque for 'Live Forever' in a reference to the boat in the McBain trailer. The writers were big Simpsons fans. Have you figured out why Miller dresses like an earther? It's because he's trying to identify himself with the oppressor, the inners, to kid himself that he's not just another Belter, another 'victim' as he put it. Earth's climate is indeed at disaster levels, it's what convinced national governments to had over power to a world government of the UN.

Okay this is the reason they lost gravity when the engines went out: All the rooms in ships on the Expanse (except in spinning ships) are stacked on top of the engines, so the thrust from the engines forces everything to the floor of the rooms. This isn't even simulating gravity, it literally is the same thing as gravity. So when the engines go out, there is no longer a 1G acceleration 'upwards', and you don't feel the 1G of acceleration downwards, ie the gravity stops.

Holden has the same backstory as Doomguy from the Doom games....they both assaulted a superior officer and were punished. Doomguy got assigned to a UAC base on Mars and fought demons. Holden got dishonorably discharged and resigned himself to a quiet life working on the Canterbury. Also, have you ever watched the Canadian sitcom "Kim's Convenience"? Admiral Yao of the Donnager is the mom from that show. Those are two VERY different roles! 😋

In the setting of the show, climate change has peaked and is receeding. Its hinted that we have enacted some kind of mitigation but it still takes time for the environment to recover. You'll see the walls that were built to hold back rising sea levels in a later episode and in some of the opening credit sequences.(NO SPOILERS!!)

Fair warning, the subtitles on this show are just remarkably bad. Not sure I've ever seen an explanation as to why, but lines are misattributed or they clearly don't match what was said fairly often. Just be aware that you shouldn't take what they say too seriously

It is worth noticing that in The Expanse, Belters don't waste the elemental constituents of bodies by "shooting them into the Sun" since there is no way to recap the lost Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen except by importing them from Earth.

New Reaction channel starting with The Expanse?! - Subscribed!! 👍🏻 and Hey Frankie! 🐶 I’ve enjoyed catching up with your first 4 episodes - you’re doing a great job following the different story lines - (& yeah, I had to chuckle every time you said “Shed’s my favorite character…” 😆 R.I.P. lil buddy. As I’m sure others have mentioned by now, keep an eye on the screens in the background, lots of good “what’s going on elsewhere in the system” info can be found there. There are very few wasted scenes / lines… things that seem to make no sense or have any bearing on the immediate story may just be setting up for a payoff sometime later… (maybe even a season or two). OPA is made up of many diff. factions - some are way more militant than others. “Scuttle the ship” when you destroy your ship to prevent the enemy from capturing it - Looking forward to watching along as your journey continues!!! 🚀

Mars does have some cracking suits.

Great reaction and analysis! Sorry about Shed... he lost his head.... to soon? This is the episode that hooked me for better or worse! Its actually been one of the most rewarding and torturing shows I've ever watched! It's amazing to me just how dense each episode is! Especially after seeing this show in its entirety several times! Hold onto to your butt! Because this ride is just getting warmed up! Hahaha you have no idea just how crazy this is going to get!!! Looking forward to the next one!

Space combat in The Expanse gets pretty hairy. As seen it often starts out with long range torpedoes armed with high explosive, plasma, or even nuclear warheads where the PDC mounts try to defend your ship from the incoming weapons. As the range closes those ships equipped with rail guns open fire, Electromagnetically accelerating their projectiles to deliver tremendous kinetic damage. Even closer in, the PDCs can switch to a secondary firing mode and engage other ships, or targets like the boarding troops, Swiss cheesing them with slugs. In a universe without shields or appreciable armor a ship can get holed very fast, so hopefully nothing critical gets pierced along the way.

Shed is dead, he lost his head.

28:30 "I would have liked to see Montana..."

Sling shots around planets are a thing some do for fun and fame. You stuff up, you dead.

Tavi Muss was Miller's former partner (also a love interest), who Miller wants to keep from getting hurt by his off-book investigation.

hehehe - and awaaaaaaay we go! 🚀🛰

The aggressors' "stealth tech" effectively conceals their drive plumes and deflects both LADAR and RADAR, making them nearly invisible. A ship under acceleration is going to be "visible" to passive sensors for several million kilometers.

Like most people, you began to like Lopez by the end. This show will very often give one-off characters such juicy dramatic roles that they seem like the introduction of major new characters. As well, there are some characters that seem background at first but grow organically to be major characters. You never know....

Strap in! Here comes the juice.

regarding climate change, watch the opening credits again and look really close at liberty island when it goes by.

You will learn why Holden is who he is. Great observation though.. wondering why he is living this life.

And you are only in season 1!

@13:15 There are other religions in the show. It just that Mormons are probably the only ones interested in space flight, lol.

I would be really curious to hear, by the end of the series, or maybe even around the halfway point (end of season 3) if there is another main character that you would trade to have Shed back and why or why not. It woukd be an interesting thing to explore as we get farther into the story.

Stealth in expanse means no heat… or actually ships can storage heat so it does not show… at least in books, not sure the TV series…

Shad is dead, he lost his head... I'm so sorry, had to make this stupid overused Ep04 joke...^^ Space battles in the Expanse are fairly realistic - except the sound of course - in manoeuvring and distances, rail guns are pointless at longer distance because the distances are so huge that they an be dodged easily since they go in straight lines. Something we see explicitly later and that should be obvious - but we are so conditioned by sci-fi to treat this like visual distance sea battles - *everything* that *accelerates* *continues to go forever* if it's not decelerated or runs into something... and space is pretty empty. Best regards Raoul G. Kunz

If you are thinking people can’t die you are watching the wrong show the don’t refer to as game of thrones in space without good reason.

Shed's dead coz he lost his head.

Hey mate, if you could make the show's audio louder in the future, it would be great, the sound level difference to your commentary is too large.

Now you have reached level 4, you hooked?

glad someone pronounces Nuclear correctly ; ).. Poor Shed died in the book just like that.

Good idea but you picked the wrong seat Shed!

If you are still wondering what Ade thoight Holden should know...She had been sleeping with Shed and Holden should get tested for STIs.😂

Sorry man. The dog noises and the distracting movements ... can't focus on the show. Best of luck.