A couple of months ago, I got into an online discussion about what was the best SciFi series of all times. Those, who know me, know that I’ve got two favourites for the title:
Star Trek’s Deep Space 9
… and …
The Expanse
I find it very hard to choose between these two. Both are absolutely amazing. At some point in the discussion, somebody mentioned the series DEVs by Alex Garland, stating that it was even superior in quality. Naturally, I got intrigued and now, several months later, I finally watched it, and what can I say?
It’s bad! spoiler free comments following
I don’t complain that it doesn’t fit the genre, although it’s more a mystery thriller than SciFi, and hence, difficult to compare with a classical Space Opera like the other two series. I’ll give it a pass at that, because in a way it is without a doubt Science Fiction, as it deals with technology and the nature of the universe.
No: The problem lays elsewhere: It’s just bad TV. About half of each episode (or more) could be cut away without losing anything (except waste of lifetime). A lot of the tech shown in the series doesn’t serve any real purpose, it’s merely there to show off the capabilities of the computer graphics department. The money would have been better invested in superior screen plays.
The characters are shallow and don’t truly evolve (tbh: There’s not enough time for this, as it is all wasted for completely pointless scenes) and the evil mastermind’s motivation is just a joke.
The only truly convincing performance is by Zach Grenier as the cynical hired asshole.
I don’t understand, why critics have been so kind with the piece of rubbish that is this series.
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