Check Out Episode One of SyFy's The Expanse NOW!

What's a TV addict to do? The Walking Dead wraps up tonight (until 2016 at least), and maybe you haven't started in on Jessica Jones yet (what's wrong with you?!). So you're in need of something to fill the cold nights, maybe something...as cold as the deep vacuum of space?

Fans of good old fashioned hard science fiction have been eagerly anticipating the SyFy channel's return to form, and the premiere of The Expanse, adapted from the novels by James S. A. Corey. The trailer promised a faithful adaptation of the books, and folks who've read the novels know what a sprawling canvas this story occupies.

The series formally debuts December 14th, but SyFy has made the pilot episode available NOW on numerous formats, including online and cable OnDemand. Definitely check it out. SyFy's going for a definite Battlestar Galactica feel - with a dollop of Game of Thrones. It's a hybrid of far-flug space opera and detective story. The cast is engaging, though there are a lot of characters for non-book-readers to get to know. Numerous title captions explain the necessary backstory, which is a bit of a mouthful. It's 200 years in the future and the solar system has been colonized - there are numerous factions and resentments. Just go from there. The writers gave us Iron Man and Children of Men, so that ought to inspire confidence. Overall this first glimpse feels like SyFy has done a solid job of making a large story accessible and intriguing for a broadcast audience. It feels like it may take an episode or two to get their momentum truly up and running, but I'm intrigued enough to see more, and I have a feeling that acceleration and inertia are coming. See what you think!