The Expanse parents guide: Why you shouldn't let your kids watch the sci-fi series, explained

Syfy's sci-fi series The Expanse, starring Thomas Jane and Steven Strait, premiered a decade ago. Yet the show holds a strong IMDb score of 8.5 stars and a whopping 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Thanks to the incredible plotline, visuals, and cast that helped the show stand out from a regular sci-fi series. After Syfy abruptly cancelled the series, Prime Video stepped up and ran it for three more seasons.

The Expanse can be misleading, especially due to the spaceships, planets, and futuristic visuals. But the impression doesn't last long.

The Expanse carries a TV-14 and TV-MA rating, which makes it unsuitable for children under 14 and some below 17. It is advisable not to let children or younger teens watch the series.

From the first scene itself, the show makes it clear that it is no wonder space fantasy. It is based on realism. The show treats the space as a hostile zone where politics is dirty and human behaviour is flawed. For a kid, these themes would be difficult to grasp. The synopsis reads,

"The disappearance of rich-girl-turned-political-activist links the lives of Ceres detective, accidental ship captain and U.N. politician. Amidst political tension between Earth, Mars and the Belt, they uncovers the greatest conspiracy."

The series is set around 200-300 years in the near future. As it turns out, humans have colonized the entire solar system. However, Mars has risen to become an independent military power, and thus it is on the verge of a war with Earth. Apart from that, we also have the Outer Planets Alliance striving for its own benefits. Amidst such a tumultuous situation, Julie Mao, an activist girl, goes missing. To find her, a detective and a ship's captain join hands. As they dig deeper, they unravel several mysteries and conspiracies.

The Expanse parents' guide

The Expanse is not for kids, and here's why. It has a TV-14 rating, which means it's unsuitable for children under 14 years of age. Some episodes also bear a TV-MA rating, which means they are not suitable for children under 17 years of age. So, what is it that makes the sci-fi series inappropriate for children?

The series has instances of foul language, violence, usage of drugs and alcohol, and intense scenes that are too strong for young minds.

Violence is a recurring theme of the series. Characters die suddenly and brutally. One infamous moment shows a man exploding from rapid deceleration, blood and gore filling the screen. Another depicts a corpse being violently altered to fit into storage, showing disturbing clarity.

Later seasons escalate the brutality further. Apart from that, certain detailed s*xual scenes are not suitable for children. Across six seasons, there are several instances of n*d*ty and explicit intimacy.

The show also includes unsettling horror elements, particularly involving a black, tar-like substance that infects bodies and emerges from a corpse's mouth in dark and enclosed spaces. These scenes are designed to disturb, blending science fiction with gory details that can be frightening for adults.

The show is built on realism, and the conflicts result in some heart-wrenching scenes. It is shown through exploitation, suffering, and survival. Power is unequally distributed, lives are treated as expendable, and nothing brings comfort. Moreover, the storytelling assumes adult viewers; hence, moral lines are often blurred. Characters take impulsive and selfish decisions that might mould a child's mind in the wrong way.

Trending

Also read: The Expanse: 7 plot threads that signal the show isn't done yet

Follow Soap Central for more such updates on The Expanse.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback