The Expanse Is Over, But Apple TV's 3-Part Space Opera Is Just As Good

Published Jul 23, 2026, 7:29 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. Although The Expanse is over, Apple TV’s three-season sci-fi epic is one of the few shows that can go toe to toe with Prime Video’s six-season masterpiece. Although there have been a lot of great, ambitious sci-fi shows in the years since Lost revolutionized TV storytelling with its cerebral plotting and seamless incorporation of high-concept genre elements, only a small handful of these hits could be called genuine small-screen masterpieces. Prime Video’s 62-episode adaptation, The Expanse, is one such show. Based on a novel series by co-authors Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, writing under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey, The Expanse started out as a noir-ish mystery set in the future. Initially modeled on the Blade Runner movies and borrowing from other cyberpunk classics, the dark first season of The Expanse followed Thomas Jane’s detective Josephus as he investigated a series of suspicious incidents. Set in a future where the rest of the solar system has been colonized by humanity, The Expanse grounded its storyline in fraught political intrigue. Like a sci-fi equivalent of HBO’s George R.R. Martin adaptation Game of Thrones, The Expanse expanded its storyline to focus on a larger number of characters with each passing season. Soon, as more members of the Martian Congressional Republic on Mars and the United Nations of Earth and Luna came to play increasingly major roles in the series, The Expanse had become more of an ambitious, multi-layered space opera than a straightforward mystery thriller. By the end of its six seasons, the show’s ambitious, complex plotting had paved the way for Apple TV’s Foundation. Foundation Is One Of The Only Sci-Fi Shows That Is As Good As The Expanse Credit: Apple TV Like The Expanse, Foundation is based on a book series and, like the Syfy show, the Apple TV masterpiece doesn’t start as it means to go on. The first season is devoted to setting up the complex canon of author Isaac Asimov’s book series, as Foundation’s story takes place in a far-flung future where the fate of the universe is decided by three leaders known collectively as “Empire.” A clone of Emperor Cleon named Brother Day, his planned successor, Brother Dawn, and their shared advisor Brother Dusk technically make up Empire, but it is not long before viewers learn that Laura Birn’s robot Demerzel is the real power broker running the universe. When Lou Llobell’s gifted mathematics prodigy Gaal Dornick gets the chance to work with Jared Harris’s professor, Hari Seldon, she has no idea his controversial theories of psychohistory will call into question Empire’s authority and spawn a power struggle that reshapes society. Foundation’s Critical Success Highlights Apple TV’s Impressive Streaming Achievement MoviestillsDB Blending the immersive fictional future of the Star Trek universe with a propulsive plot full of political scheming and double crosses, Foundation is as unpredictable as The Expanse at its best and as cerebral as sci-fi TV gets. Although critics found the first season’s exposition dump a little overwhelming, this initial intense world-building was well worth it, judging by the show’s perfect 100% rating for seasons 2 and 3 on Rotten Tomatoes. Visually lush and unapologetically ambitious in its scope, Foundation is part of a new breed of sci-fi shows inspired by the success of The Expanse. Like Netflix’s The 3 Body Problem, the Asimov adaptation refuses to talk down to its audience, expecting viewers to engage with complex sci-fi concepts regularly and rewarding this investment with a compelling, complex plot full of twists and turns. The show’s critical acclaim is undeniably impressive on its own, but, when taken in tandem with the rest of Apple TV’s sci-fi output, an obvious pattern emerges. The streaming service has made a big investment in thoughtful, smart sci-fi over the past few years, spending a lot on projects like Silo, Severance, Dark Matter, and the upcoming William Gibson adaptation Neuromancer. As Foundation proves itself to be the best replacement for The Expanse, Apple TV is simultaneously solidifying its status as the sci-fi genre’s home on the small screen. Release Date September 23, 2021 Network Apple TV+ Showrunner David S. Goyer Directors Alex Graves, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Phang, Mark Tonderai, Andrew Bernstein Writers Jane Espenson, Leigh Dana Jackson, Liz Phang, Eric Carrasco, David Kob, Addie Manis, Marcus Gardley, Lauren Bello, Olivia Purnell Creator(s) David S. Goyer, Josh Friedman