With its stunning sci-fi visuals and fascinating cast of characters,The Expansedeserved better from Hollywood. Based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pen name for author duo Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck),The Expansetakes place in the far future, after humanity has colonized the solar system.
The Expansecenters onJames Holden (Steven Strait) and his crew aboard the Rocinante, as well as detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane) and UN Secretary Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo). Characters come and go throughout the show’s six seasons, accompanied by plenty of betrayals and shifting alliances.
From strong performances to political intrigue toThe Expanse’s epic space battles, the show had all the makings of a major hit. It began as a futuristic detective noir story, buteventually became a massive space operawith characters scattered throughout the solar system. In many ways,the Expansefeels likeGame of Thronesin space, but it never caught on with general audiences.
The Expanse Was First Canceled By Syfy After Three Seasons
The Expanse Aired On Syfy From 2015 To 2018
The Expansepremiered on Syfy in 2015, but was canceled in 2018 after only three seasons. With its massive scope,The Expansewas an ambitious (and undoubtedly expensive) seriesfor a network like Syfy to produce, and it didn’t garner enough of a following for the network to continue the show beyond season 3.
The Expanse’s first season quickly dropped audiences into its complex world, making it a bit confusing and somewhat difficult to get into. While this story was necessary to set up later seasons, and ultimately paid off in a big way,The Expanse’sslow start in season 1may have contributed to its low viewing figures.
Prime Video Brought The Expanse Back, But Only For Three More Seasons
The Streamer Saved The Expanse After Fans Fought For It
After Syfy canceledThe Expanse,fans rallied behind the show, campaigning for another network or streaming service to pick it up.Amazon Prime Video came to the rescue and renewedThe Expanse,but only for three more seasons. AlthoughThe Expansecontinued to receive critical acclaim, it still failed to find its audience on Prime Video.
The Expansewas then canceled again after season 6, as the viewing numbers weren’t enough to justify its high production cost. As each season ofThe Expansecovers roughly one novel’s worth of material, this leaves three books that have yet to be adapted. Ultimately,season 6 proved to be a good stopping point,as there is a nearly 30-yeartime jump betweenThe Expansebooks six and seven.
The Expanse Could Have Easily Run For More Seasons Based On The Books
The Story Of Holden & His Friends Continues For Three More Books
Despite the time-jump betweenbooks six and seven making for a good stopping point,The Expanse’scancellation leaves the story unfinished. While the show’s sixth season mostly wrapped up the solar system war storyline, it left several plot threads and character reveals unresolved.
With three more books' worth of content after season 6,The Expansecould have shortened the time jump or found another way to continue the story of Holden and his crew. Still, the season 6 finale ofThe Expanseleaves the door open for the show to return at some point in the future, meaning fans of the novels could still see the series' ending brought to life on screen.
