The Expanse is an epic space opera of the highest order, but like many other TV shows of its kind, it takes place mostly in confined sets, limiting its need for visual effects. It honors the sci-fi genre’s legacy on TV with plenty of rattling spaceship dashboards and flashing emergency lights to indicate danger, but when the show needed to lean on visual effects, it always delivered. That was true in its first three seasons on Syfy as well as its latter three seasons on Prime Video — though of course, the increased budget helped bring the galaxy to life. Looking back on the show now, its spectacles are spaced pretty evenly throughout its run, and if you’re looking for the biggest highlights, there are more to choose from than you might recall.
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Written by authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the penname James S.A. Corey, The Expanse was heavily influenced by on-screen sci-fi from the beginning, with the main character Captain James Holden named in part after Star Trek‘s Captain James T. Kirk. When the series was adapted to TV, these influences could have been a detriment, as it could have felt like a formulaic copy, but instead it found its own ways to push the boundaries and blaze a new path.
The most memorable part of its legacy is when a major story moment accompanied a huge VFX spectacle. This show kept fans guessing with nods to just about ever sci-fi subgenre, so the highlights range from epic explosions among the stars to haunting body horror crawling through air ducts. Read on for the top 10 visual spectacles in The Expanse.
“Saeculum”
The Expanse never feels more fantastical than Season 4, when we spend most of our time on the planet Ilus. The juxtaposition of petty, human squabbles and unfathomable scientific revelations is enthralling from start to finish, but the highlight has to be Episode 9. This dual-narrative is wrapped up so neatly when Murtry (Burn Gorman) is defeated at the same time the alien artifacts are reactivated. This episode also gets points for incredible shots of the Rocinante up in orbit, with Lucia (Rosa Gilmore) and Naomi (Dominique Tipper) on an impromptu space walk.
“The Weeping Somnambulist”
The Expanse is often praised for the rigorous scientific logic behind it, but in truth, readers aren’t forced to understand physics or rocketry to enjoy the show — most of the time. However, Season 2, Episode 9 does challenge viewers a bit with simultaneous action throughout the solar system all converging around the moons of Jupiter. The show’s attempts to put all of this into perspective for us are astounding, with Alex (Cas Anvar) idling the Rocinante in hiding, the crew trying to sneak onto an unfamiliar station, and Avasarla (Shohreh Aghdashloo) trying desperate to impact the situation from earth.
“Leviathan Wakes”
As mentioned above, this show is adept at fusing sci-fi subgenres together, and on a first watch, you might not expect the Season 1 finale to skew more cyberpunk than space opera. However, you also likely wouldn’t be disappointed — this episode is heartbreaking and gruesome, but it’s all in service of the characters and their stories. If you weren’t rooting for Holden before, you will be by the time this cliffhanger hits.
“Safe”
The very next episode starts off just as strong. The Season 2 premiere opens on the incomparable Sgt. Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams) on the surface of Mars with her military comrades. It’s a jaw-dropping scene, and the actors help sell it by treating it like just another training exercise they’ve done before. This scene gets bonus points because it’s not taken directly from the books — Bobbie’s backstory is re-ordered for clarity on TV, and it definitely works here.
“Caliban’s War”
Skipping ahead to the Season 2 finale, the protomolecule is front-and-center, and the Rocinante herself is on the line. This is a heartbreaking episode as the crew searches for a way to destroy the monster without sacrificing their captain, and Prax (Terry Chen) gets his big moment to shine.
“Strange Dogs”
In general, Season 6 gets overlooked in a lot of Expanse round-ups, but I couldn’t imagine this list without the “strange dogs” of Laconia in the premiere. This episode was so confusing with new characters, settings, and elements thrown into the mix, yet it was never hard to follow or uninteresting. Meanwhile, the action back in Sol system is non-stop, and it begins to feel like this series could go on much longer, with more and more characters earning places in our hearts, including Drummer (Cara Gee) and Filip (Jasai Chase-Owens).
“Fight or Flight”
There’s nothing wrong with a pacifistic main character who doesn’t partake in the action, but seeing Avasarla in the thick of it here is definitely exciting. Of course, this episode’s real highlight is finally getting Bobbie back into her power armor, and the climactic spectacle is seeing her and Avasarla making a narrow escape on the infamous Razorback.
“Immolation”
It’s hard to believe that “Immolation is a mid-season episode, not a premiere or finale, as so many important things happen here. The whole episode feels pretty overwhelming, with a hostage rescue mission, protomolecule hybrids, and missile attacks in the belt, yet when the episode ends with the ring structure rising from Venus, all the noise seems to stop.
“Abaddon’s Gate”
Some fans will always be disappointed that the action within the ring space was confined to just half a season here, but the conclusion seems to make up for that. The crew of the Rocinante manage to prevent catastrophe among the stranded ships just in time, and they’re rewarded with the greatest sci-fi marvel they’ve seen yet. Unsurprisingly, this also comes with yet another seemingly impossible job.
“Gaugamela”
Finally, Season 5, Episode 4 adds “disaster movie” to the list of subgenres The Expanse has dabbled in. The various character perspectives established throughout the story really pay off when they give us so many angles to watch the weaponized asteroids strike earth, and having some of our favorite characters stranded on the surface keeps the tension at an all-time high. This show may deal with cosmic horrors beyond our comprehension, but this human-on-human attack still stands as the emotional centerpoint for most of the characters, and therefore, the audience too.
The Expanse is streaming now on Prime Video, and while some fans are still hoping for more, there’s no indication that it will be back anytime soon. The novels and novellas are all available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
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