Episode average: 8.230769230769231 I'll give it an 8. There was something missing in this season, I felt. Somehow it managed both to raise the stakes and lower the "compelling factor". I'm still really happy to have high production value sci-fi on TV, and will be watching season 3 of course, but I hope the series returns to the feel of season 1. What is it about space shows that makes them so interesting? Even when an episode seemed relatively pointless, plot-wise, it was still just a treat to see all the space stuff. I realized during this season, after visiting Kennedy Space Center at the end (and thereby delaying my viewing of the last two episodes due to being out of town), that not as much of the tech in this show is as far-fetched as it might look. The Saturn V / Apollo building at KSC has an exhibit remembering the crew of Apollo 1, and it integrates transparent display glass not unlike the large control panels we see in _The Expanse_ or the rebooted _Star Trek_ films. It's not a big stretch to imagine that tech being shrunk down for use in handheld tablets/phones. (Certainly, we'll develop that long before the Epstein Drive.) Time to seriously put the _Expanse_ books on my reading list. I've been lazy about reading them, even though I've wanted to since season 1 wrapped, and here we are at the close of season 2 still with zero pages read…

The first half (first 5 episodes) are flawless. It follows up directly from the first season and ends in a rather heartbreaking way. But all puzzles are pieced and all story arcs are concluded, especially the one concerning quest for Mao. Episode 6 picks up the pace rather moderately, but spirals into new conflict really fast in the next episode. There are ups and downs between episodes, however most of them did a great job in keeping up the balance between political thriller, character's drama, and sci-fi. Episode 9 had good character development that takes our Rocinante crew from ordinary guys to some righteous hero, and Eps 12 did it the best with refugee crisis and protomolecule's conspiracy. The season finale isn't the strongest, but the way it opens up new arc for the third season is excellent. So far The Expanse has been fairly consistent in keeping the pace tight. No wasted screen time, no useless shots. They were all done effectively.

Pretty good for SyFy. Some good episodes, some filler episodes -- reminiscent of Galactica. Makes me appreciate the 10-second skip ahead function of my 4th-gen AppleTV remote... there's some entertaining stuff, separated by a lot of filler -- 10 second skip-clicks are a perfect companion for "The Expanse", unless you're arthritic -- then you'll wish there was an option to increase incremental skipping. The only parts I'd never fast forward through are any with Shohreh Aghdashloo... she hypnotized me as Dina Araz, the unsuspecting Iranian mother-of-a-terrorist in season 4 of "24" -- seeing her in a scifi role borders on orgasmic. She's a drag queen icon waiting to happen, something immediately apparent with the line, "get him a proper scotch please, Lagavulin"... ;-)

This continues the high standard of Season 1 and Avasarala starts to use expletives, as in the books!

Exciting and action packed, Season 2 of _The Expanse_ takes things to the next level as the fate of the universe lies in the balance. After discovering that the Proto-molecule that infected Eros station is continuing to grow and expand Joe Miller works with Fred Johnson to put together a mission to destroy it; meanwhile Earth and Mars prepare for an impending war, which comes to a head when there’s an attack on Ganymede. The writing is a lot better this season, as it’s easier to follow and has stronger story arcs. And the acting is better too; particularly Thomas Jane, who really brings his A-game. The special effects are also especially good; making for some impressive space sequences. It still has some problems, but _The Expanse_’s second season is remarkably compelling and full of thrills.