The Expanse spent six seasons proving science fiction doesn’t need to choose between smart storytelling and mainstream appeal. Audiences will consume hard sci-fi if you just let them. No dumbed-down physics, no aliens who speak perfect English, no villain twirling a mustache for the cameras. Just believable science, characters with traits that resemble actual people, and a universe that sticks to its own rules regardless of how convenient or inconvenient it is for the plot. The Expanse became one of the best sci-fi shows of the 21st century precisely because of all this.

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