Prime Video’s 6-Part Space Series Made Sci-Fi Look Easy

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As a huge cinema fan, I often wonder who’d take on a sci-fi series these days. It’s a genre with incredible potential, but also so many traps to avoid. You need that grounding in believable science, but it has to be exciting and imaginative fiction. Plus, with giants like Star Trek, Star Wars, Alien, and Doctor Who already out there, truly doing something completely new feels almost impossible. It’s a genre packed with copycats and ideas we’ve seen again and again, more so than any other, really.

Science fiction is a tough genre to get right, and that struggle often shows up in movies and TV. You sometimes get the feeling a script can’t decide if it wants to be dramatic or funny. Other times, a story feels too familiar, like you’ve seen it all before. And frequently, you can tell a movie or show didn’t have enough money to properly bring its vision to life.

Some science fiction shows go to great lengths to surprise viewers and avoid becoming formulaic. For example, Westworld actually changed its storyline in response to fan predictions on Reddit, and Doctor Who has repeatedly decided not to feature the Daleks, even after bringing them back from supposed permanent retirement.

Very rarely, a sci-fi show comes along that makes the whole thing look surprisingly easy.

The Expanse Made Sci-Fi TV Look Easy

Creating The Expanse was a challenging process, especially because it had to move from one streaming service (SyFy) to another (Amazon) to keep the show from being cancelled. Despite these difficulties, the final series is remarkably well-executed and makes the complex sci-fi world feel surprisingly accessible.

What makes The Expanse stand out is its perfect balance between realism and imagination. It grounds itself in believable physics when it comes to spaceships and combat, avoiding typical sci-fi tropes like aliens. But thanks to the Protomolecule, the show can introduce wild, fantastical elements – like super-powered soldiers and the reanimated dead – and still feel internally consistent. It’s a unique combination that really works.

Lots of science fiction TV shows fall short because they repeatedly rely on familiar tropes, constantly trying to top previous episodes based on what viewers seem to like. When a show is part of an established franchise, creators also face the challenge of updating it for a modern audience while still respecting the original story and avoiding backlash from dedicated fans.

Much of The Expanse‘s popularity comes from how closely it followed the original novels by James S.A. Corey. Even when the show faced potential cancellation, it remained true to the source material, allowing the story to develop naturally and logically as one continuous, epic saga. The show’s primary goal was simply to tell a compelling and visually impressive space story.

The Expanse Shows The Importance Of Original Sci-Fi

As a huge sci-fi fan, I think when you compare The Expanse to something like Star Trek: Discovery, the difference is really striking. Discovery always seemed to be fighting against its own history – it was stuck trying to fit into an existing timeline, then it jumped way into the future to get away from it. Even with that big change, people were still debating whether it felt like true Star Trek, and constantly wondering about what happened to familiar characters and places. The Expanse just felt… different. It didn’t have those same baggage issues.

Honestly, Star Trek: Discovery always felt a little… unsure of itself. It was trying so hard to be something new, but also fit into a universe with decades of history. I think if it had just been Discovery – a standalone sci-fi show without the Star Trek label – it probably would have been received much better. The weight of expectation, and trying to please both longtime fans and newcomers, really seemed to hold it back.

As a huge fan, what I really appreciate about The Expanse is that it built everything from the ground up. It didn’t have to follow any existing rules or fit into a pre-established world, which allowed it to really find its own voice. I think it would have struggled a lot more if it had been part of a franchise with a long history – it just wouldn’t have had the same freedom to be its own thing.

Just because a new show based on an existing idea seems easy – like Alien: Earth makes it look – doesn’t mean it is. The Expanse demonstrates that the key to truly imaginative science fiction is letting go of unnecessary limitations and embracing creativity.

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2026-02-28 03:28