The closest parallel to this scene comes from pages 180-181 of Leviathan Wakes: when another group of characters (Alex, Amos, Naomi, and James) approach Tycho Station (where the LDSS Nauvoo is being built) in their own spacecraft:Īlex said, “Forget the station, look at that monster.” The depiction of Mormons in the book version is a little bit warmer. ![]() (In Brother Smith’s defense, and without giving too much away, the Mormons aren’t wrong to be worried about Fed Johnson’s OPA connections…) In any case, Fred Johnson quickly intimidates poor, spineless Brother Smith into backing down from his attempt to replace Johnson as head of operations and summarily kicks all the Mormons off the ship so that he can conduct tests of the sensor array. Given the way the scene builds, I wound up holding my breath when Fred Johnson asked, “Why is that?” This scene isn’t in the books–and it’s been a couple of years since I read Leviathan Wakes in any case–and I was half-sure that this was going to end up being about how bigoted and racist those Mormons are. There have been rumblings that you should be replaced as head of operations for the project.īrother Smith: You’re ties to the OPA have been making a number of elders and the general authorities uncomfortable, particularly in light of recent events in the Belt. But trust me, it will be a ship no one will ever forget.īrother Smith: That’s not what I meant. Johnson, the Latter-day Saints took a considerable risk hiring you to build the Nauvoo.įred Johnson: I know. After a brief intro, the conversation goes like this:īrother Smith: Mr. The scene with our unknown Mormon (let’s call him Brother Smith, shall we?) and Fred Johnson is the longest one to feature Mormons to date. stands for Latter-day Saint Ship. This is just the establishing shot for a conversation that follows immediately thereafter between an unnamed Mormon representative (there on behalf of “elders and general authorities”) and Fred Johnson, the head of operations for the project to build the Nauvoo. It’s not spelled out anywhere (that I know of), but clearly L. This one comes in the fourth episode when we are introduced to the Mormon’s new ship, the L.D.S.S. And second: the named tag, while clearly modeled on a Mormon missionary tag, is for “The Church of HUMANITY ASCENDANT.” You can see it a little more clearly in this screen grab: The two things that are the most odd are first: Elder Murray has no companion in sight. He then launches into the pitch for his gimmick: come see the Mormons do stand-up at a local comedy club. It’s not a flattering portrayal of Mormons, but it’s not a wildly inaccurate one either. “Do you like to laugh?” asks Elder Murray. This is Elder Murray accosting one of our protagonists (Dimitri Havelock, played by Hay Hernandez). In any case, that’s the last you see of Mormons until episode three, when you get introduced (briefly) to Elder Murray. Why did they pick that as the symbol to introduce Mormons? Your guess is as good as mine, although (based on the nametag on a subsequent Mormon missionary), perhaps there was nothing else that was universally recognizable as Mormon that wouldn’t run the risk of legal issues. I can’t make out the gray text, but one thing that’s clear is that the poster is just a ripped off version of the promotional posters for The Book of Mormon musical. I didn’t notice it at all the first time I watched it, but the second time (with Mormons on my mind) the poster in the center stood out. As in, “blink and you might miss it” quick. It comes just about 10 minutes into the first episode, and it’s quick. This is the first scene in the series that references Mormons. So, without giving any major spoilers away, I thought I’d write a quick review of how Mormons are portrayed in what could potentially be a fairly major new TV series. Nope, the reason I thought I’d tell you about The Expanse is that Mormons feature relatively prominently in both the books and the TV series. I’ve read all the novels and enjoyed them a lot (especially the fourth and fifth) and I’ve seen each of the first four episodes twice (and find them promising.) But that’s not what prompted me to post about them to Times and Seasons. The first four episodes were released online, and the fifth episode airs tomorrow evening. The SyFy channel, in an attempt to relive the glory of its Battlestar Galactica days, is adapting the novels for television. Babylon’s Ashes is slated for June 2016, and three more untitled sequels are scheduled for 2017-2019. Abraham and Franck have released a book a year since then, with Caliban’s War in 2012, Abaddon’s Gate in 2013, Cibola Burn in 2014, and Nemesis Games in 2015. ![]() ![]() ![]() The first novel, Leviathan Wakes, was released in 2011 and nominated for both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. The Expanse is an acclaimed novel series by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck writing under the pen-name James S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |