The Expanse digital premiere is available NOW!
- Thread starter RAMA
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https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/the-expanse-season-2-cast-nick-tarabay-1201764435/
“Spartacus” alum Nick Tarabay has been cast in Syfy’s “The Expanse” for Season 2, Variety has exclusively learned.
Tarabay joins the series in a major recurring role and will appear in at least eight episodes. He will play Coyter, a former spy now working in the private sector who is approaed by Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) about working undercover for her.
Aside from Starz’s “Spartacus,” in which he starred as Ashur, Tarabay’s credits include “Castle,” “Longmire,” “Person of Interest,” “Arrow” and “Star Trek Into Darkness.” He is repped by Abrams Artist Agency.
“Spartacus” alum Nick Tarabay has been cast in Syfy’s “The Expanse” for Season 2, Variety has exclusively learned.
Tarabay joins the series in a major recurring role and will appear in at least eight episodes. He will play Coyter, a former spy now working in the private sector who is approaed by Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) about working undercover for her.
Aside from Starz’s “Spartacus,” in which he starred as Ashur, Tarabay’s credits include “Castle,” “Longmire,” “Person of Interest,” “Arrow” and “Star Trek Into Darkness.” He is repped by Abrams Artist Agency.
^^Correct me if I'm wrong, but this guy is actually a new character, he's not from the books, is he?
I just got round to watching episodes 1 and 2. I am really enjoying the sci fi elements; they feel grounded enough in real science to be realistic. I think I agree that the first two episodes were very busy with too many characters to hook me in. The only stand out character for me at the moment is Naomi, whose elevation to a prominent role feels organic and deserved.
I love the fact that they have made no effort to dumb things down even if I have to keep my wits about me to follow the plot. It's fun to be challenged.
My major criticism, and this is a pet hate of mine, is the sexist casting. It has a grimy, blue collar feel and so it has adopted a 20th century attitude to its casting, with less than a quarter of the characters being female, and those tending to be a bit consciously stereotypical (by modern sci fi standards). By that, I mean that in the first episode the women we saw were a prostitute, a white collar bureaucrat, a rich kid victim, a jealous rival, a girlfriend, and an ex-girlfriend, with only the engineer and security operative standing out. The main police characters are male, with the women being shown in desk jobs. The background 'grunts' are almost entirely sweaty, unshaven men. Another reason that Naomi stands out is that she doesn't fit the stereotypical casting, although even then, loyalty to her is questioned in the context of sexual dynamics.
I will happily watch the rest of the series but compared to the 100 and Killjoys, so far it's failing on this one point for me. That said, I'm sure its character motivations are not going to yo-yo like in the 100, where I am still rooting for the Grounders.
I love the fact that they have made no effort to dumb things down even if I have to keep my wits about me to follow the plot. It's fun to be challenged.
My major criticism, and this is a pet hate of mine, is the sexist casting. It has a grimy, blue collar feel and so it has adopted a 20th century attitude to its casting, with less than a quarter of the characters being female, and those tending to be a bit consciously stereotypical (by modern sci fi standards). By that, I mean that in the first episode the women we saw were a prostitute, a white collar bureaucrat, a rich kid victim, a jealous rival, a girlfriend, and an ex-girlfriend, with only the engineer and security operative standing out. The main police characters are male, with the women being shown in desk jobs. The background 'grunts' are almost entirely sweaty, unshaven men. Another reason that Naomi stands out is that she doesn't fit the stereotypical casting, although even then, loyalty to her is questioned in the context of sexual dynamics.
I will happily watch the rest of the series but compared to the 100 and Killjoys, so far it's failing on this one point for me. That said, I'm sure its character motivations are not going to yo-yo like in the 100, where I am still rooting for the Grounders.
Do you realize how many women you named and how diverse their parts in the story are? I'm afraid this isn't much of a criticism.
I do. But do you realise how many male characters there were in comparison to those female characters? That IS quite a criticism because it is endemic, even if improving thanks to shows like Xena, Buffy, Alias, Battlestar Galactica, the 100, Killjoys etc.
I'm not saying that the female characters in the round are poor, only that most have a specific reason to be female e.g. a romantic liason to one of the significant male characters or a sex object. There are even some movies, adverts, and films where being a woman is enough of a defining trait to stop there so you end up with a bunch of dudes and the woman. It's a common casting issue if you actually look for it beyond the main characters. Geena Davis is a strong proponent for more casting equality actually.
I suppose what I'm saying is that I would respect the casting more if there were female grease monkeys, male prostitutes, female beat cops, female soldiers, and female insurgents alongside the men in more equal numbers.
Maybe the future depicted is a more sexist one? Maybe not on earth (I'm not far in my viewing either) but in space where the culture grew differently?
Surely there is still a non-equal number of woman in all of Hollywood, but to single out this show especially to inferior ones like Killjoys and Dark Matter seems like overstating things. I also compare it to "Game of Thrones" in the sense that the media tried to portray this show as a scifi version of that, and while it's really not, the women are treated far more terribly on it, and my wife and I stopped watching it.
In the series, one of the most important characters in the government is a woman, the captain of the Donnager was a woman, the police chief was a woman, the "grease monkey" of the main cast is a woman and isn't really a love interest till later. The whole reason the story is taking place is because of a very independent, motivated young woman who died.
In real life, while women are allowed in combat roles now, there will be many years before there's anywhere near a 50/50 balance in numbers, if ever. Likewise there are still and always will be jobs that men or women prefer over the other. In terms of astronauts in the US, the latest astronaut class was a 50/50 split, so maybe we'll see a better ratio in space, but we really don't know.
RAMA
In the series, one of the most important characters in the government is a woman, the captain of the Donnager was a woman, the police chief was a woman, the "grease monkey" of the main cast is a woman and isn't really a love interest till later. The whole reason the story is taking place is because of a very independent, motivated young woman who died.
In real life, while women are allowed in combat roles now, there will be many years before there's anywhere near a 50/50 balance in numbers, if ever. Likewise there are still and always will be jobs that men or women prefer over the other. In terms of astronauts in the US, the latest astronaut class was a 50/50 split, so maybe we'll see a better ratio in space, but we really don't know.
RAMA
All valid points and I agree, I don't mind a show being more sexist intentionally as part of its narrative. GoT often treats its women quite brutally but any more brutally that the Democratic Republic of Congo? Probably not. It's part of the setting.
While I agree that it is always open to them to justify sexist casting, it's so endemic now that I'm just not prepared to keep giving the writers and casting people pass after pass after pass on and on. That got old a long time ago. Women make up over 50% of our population and I want to see that reflected in the roles on TV. It's past overdue. So again, while I have no issue with the lead female characters or how they are portrayed so far, the show is very light on women for what it is.
Edit: And I do think the writing on those other shows is inferior. I'm not suggesting my gripe makes this show worse than them! Only that it is noticeable and it irritates me ;-P
While I agree that it is always open to them to justify sexist casting, it's so endemic now that I'm just not prepared to keep giving the writers and casting people pass after pass after pass on and on. That got old a long time ago. Women make up over 50% of our population and I want to see that reflected in the roles on TV. It's past overdue. So again, while I have no issue with the lead female characters or how they are portrayed so far, the show is very light on women for what it is.
Edit: And I do think the writing on those other shows is inferior. I'm not suggesting my gripe makes this show worse than them! Only that it is noticeable and it irritates me ;-P
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I assume it's Chrisjen Avasarala you're calling a "bureaucrat" and she's much more than that. When it comes to Earth, to borrow a phrase, "she runs that shit". It's a bit like calling Laura Roslin a bureaucrat.
Julie Mao is more than a victim and a rich kid. Can't say more because....spoilers.
Naomi, of the Cant crew is probably the smartest and most competent.
Shaddid is the head cop on the station.
Ade is pretty much a "redshirt" .
Ha ha yeah that is the impression I'm getting after episode two. I'm not good with the names yet - too many characters flying around! As I say, I have no issues with the main characters, even Star Trek does well with those these days (not so much NuTrek). My issue, as is often the case, is with distribution across the board. The shuttle crew was four guys to one woman, for example.
I am looking forward to watching some more later on today or tomorrow. I'm really enjoying the politics and the science so far.
At the end of the day the characters on your tv screen are the ones for the most part (think there were one or two minor characters who were amalgams) that were created by the authors of the books.
If you want to complain about the number of female characters then you should be taking it up with them.
That's part of it I'm sure. I'm not a huge fan of changing the gender of characters in re-interpretations but it is possible (I believe that Olivia Coleman's character was a man in the original novel of the Night Manager; Seven of Nine was originally conceived as a man etc). Nonetheless, I don't really accept it as a valid excuse for the wider casting. Third hoodlum from the left could be either gender and if there is an imbalance it really is simple to rectify it.
Don't we see more women on the Donnager than men? Although, I suppose it is a man who has the most dialogue of that ship's crew.
Watched episodes 3 & 4 - I'm loving the mixture of advanced but realistic tech, the politics plus espionage plus detective elements.
I agree that there was an improvement in the female dynamic in these two episodes, half the intelligence briefing, just under half the bridge crew, and about a quarter of the marines but that's still way better than most, and some of those women acted entirely independently of the male counterparts, even if a few of them are still skanks, whores, and waitresses. I'm liking the show even more now.
I agree that there was an improvement in the female dynamic in these two episodes, half the intelligence briefing, just under half the bridge crew, and about a quarter of the marines but that's still way better than most, and some of those women acted entirely independently of the male counterparts, even if a few of them are still skanks, whores, and waitresses. I'm liking the show even more now.
In more casting news, the role of Bobbie Draper (a central character in the second novel) has been cast.
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