The Tightbeam

The Tightbeam crew talks Easter Eggs, Cameos, visual effects and sets, and our Top 3's of Season 6, before diving into listener responses to the final season of The Expanse in Part 2 of our Season 6 wrap-up!

The Tightbeam crew shares their overall thoughts on the final season of The Expanse, and discuss all our favorite characters in Part 1 of our Season 6 wrap-up!

An end is just a new beginning. Join Andrea, Fred, and Shannon as they break down the second half of “Babylon's Ashes”, the series finale of The Expanse, as well as read listener reactions to the finale.

The time has come. Join Andrea, Fred, and Shannon as they break down the first half of "Babylon's Ashes", the series finale of The Expanse.

The Expanse is making a crushing decel burn with its penultimate episode! Join the Tightbeam crew as they discuss the losses, reunions, and alliances of The Expanse 605 “Why We Fight”!

Join the Tightbeam crew as they breakdown The Expanse 604, "Redoubt", discussing Lucky Earther, the fallout from Holden's choice, the hand we all want to give Josep, and the Pella's "lucky" survival.

We're at the halfway point of Season 6, and we're truly flipping into our decel burn as we breakdown The Expanse 603, "Force Projection!" Join us as we talk about the cameos and returns, THAT space battle, and why Holden isn't Fred's type.

The Roci is on the hunt, Filip's going through it, and we may have finally found someone who intimidates Marco! Maybe. Join the Tightbeam crew as they break down The Expanse 602, "Azure Dragon!"

It's finally here! Join the Tightbeam crew (and their strange dogs) as they breakdown and discuss "Strange Dogs", the Season 6 premiere of The Expanse!

Just over a week until The Expanse Season 6 premieres, and we're back with a new episode! Join Andrea, Fred, and Shannon as they breakdown and discuss the Season 6 trailer!

Join Andrea and Fred in this Tightbeam Minisode as they chat with Jacob Mundell (aka Erich) about NYCC, his raffle for crew gifts and other treats, and what Amanda Cordner (aka Hutch) is up to now!

Join Andrea, Fred, and Shannon as they breakdown and discuss the S6 teaser released at NYCC last month!

Join Andrea and Fred as they welcome Shannon back from NYCC 2021, and talk all the panels, Season 6 news, and the con experience!

Andrea and Shannon are joined by John Bultena, Game Master for Expanse RPG Podcast Abraxas' Precipice, and talk TTRPG and The Expanse Role Playing Game, as well as running a show around a TTRPG game!

Shannon flies solo in this Tightbeam minisode, recapping all the recent news from the Expanse realm, and reading the entries to Jacob Mundell's "Erich's Office" contest from our last episode!

It's a very special episode of The Tightbeam! Jacob Mundell, aka The Expanse's Erich, joins Andrea, Fred, and Shannon for a fun and insightful interview that goes more in-depth than any of us planned. Listen to the end for info on an incredibly generous giveaway from Jacob himself!

Tightbeam crew continues discussing Season 5, diving into the arcs of Bobbie, Drummer, Avasarala, Clarissa, Marco, and Filip, as well as share their favorites of the season! Stay tuned to the end for a special announcement about our next episode!

Tightbeam crew is back! Join Andrea, Fred, and Shannon in the first of two round-up episodes as they share their overall feelings about the season, and break down the S5 arcs of Holden, Naomi, Amos, and Alex.

In this special episode of The Tightbeam, Andrea and Fred sit down to have a fun conversation with Wilex Ly, who brought Serge Kylo to life in Season 5 (until Marco ruined that, too)!

Surprise! It's a special episode of The Tightbeam! Fred got the chance to sit down with Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, aka James S.A. Corey, for a quick interview last week, and he made it to the other side! Join us for this fun mini-episode to get some answers from two of our favorite authors!

It's finally here: The Expanse Season 5 finale! And it sure is a doozy. Join the Tightbeam crew as they breakdown every battle, every laugh, every cry, every loss, every revelation, and every party outfit in 5x10 "Nemesis Games". #randomchatter #TheTightbeam #TheExpanse #TheExpanse510

With only one episode left in Season Five, the stakes are only getting higher for everyone in the system as we head into the finale. The Tightbeam crew breaks down 509, "Winnipesaukee", discussing Drummer being caught between a rock and a hard place, Avasarala's humanity showing through her grief, the most important repair job Amos and Clarissa will ever do, and more.

It's another rough week for everyone on The Expanse, and the Tightbeam crew is here to breakdown all the story beats of 508 "Hard Vacuum". Join us as we discuss the fate of Baltimore, the UN's response plans, the pressures that come from being under Marco's thumb, and Naomi Nagata, the biggest badass in space.

It's our 50th episode! The Tightbeam crew looks back before diving right into The Expanse 507: Oyedeng, breaking down Holden's dubious decision making, Monica's tenacity, Filip being torn between father and mother, Marco's perspective of strength, and Naomi's difficult, heartbreaking, and entirely badass decision.

The Tightbeam crew discusses The Expanse 506, "Tribes", breaking down Amos and Clarissa's incredible journey, the consolidation of the OPA factions, Drummer's difficult choice, Marco's manipulation of Filip, and more!

The aftershocks keep coming in The Expanse 505, "Down and Out". Join the Tightbeam Crew as they discuss the politics of retaliation, what makes a Belter, Marco's influence on Filip, and Naomi's actions returning to haunt her.

After an episode that left quite an impact, the Tightbeam crew manages to break down Expanse 504, "Gaugamela", discussing the loss and chaos, the pain of being decked by a robot, and Marco Inaros's rise and his manipulations.

Emotions? Traumas? Manipulations? Beatdowns? Bombs? Revelations? Join the Tightbeam crew as we wade through it all in our breakdown of 503, “Mother”.

Fans have been waiting years for a look into Amos' past, and the time has finally come! The Tightbeam Crew breaks down The Expanse 5.02, "Churn", tackling Drummer's Polyam Belter Fam, Amos' arc, Holden's impulsiveness, and verbal takedowns on Luna and Mars.

Season Five is finally here! Join the Tightbeam crew as they break down the S5 premiere, "Exodus", discussing the stunning visuals, Naomi and Holden's growth together, Amos and Chrissy, and more!

Soon Season Five will be on our screens, and The Expanse is hitting Firehawks with tons of news and promo content. The crew breaks down new S5 promo material, the S6 renewal news, and the upcoming premiere party!

In this (surprise super-length) episode, the Tightbeam crew talks about Season 5's hybrid release schedule, breaks down the NYCC S5 trailer and what it all means for our favorite characters, and shares listener reactions to the panel and trailer!

NYCC Weekend is behind us, and we finally have info on S5! In the first of our two-part NYCC coverage, the crew discusses the panel, where characters we love have been and are going, and other news from the Expanse world.

We're back for our 40th episode! The Tightbeam Crew breaks down all The Expanse news from the last few months, including the reveals for Book 9, Leviathan Falls, the upcoming Expanse comic series, and Dominique Tipper & Steven Strait rewatching some of their scenes for TVGuide's Top 100 Shows!

The Moldy Filters, aka Chris, joins the Tightbeam crew for an interview and performance of his Lang Belta song "Seteshang Anderson" before diving into a fun discussion of our faves from Season 4 of The Expanse!

The Tightbeam crew finally reaches the top of the ruins! We discuss 4.10, "Cibola Burn", breaking down Holden's success (and failure), Avasarala's defeat, Ashford's blaze of glory, and the pieces all coming together in the Season 4 Finale!

The Tightbeam crew is back, giving everyone on Ilus social distancing advice before breaking down 4.09 "Saeculum", including Murtry's plans and motivations, Holden on the edge, and the possible final end of a fan favorite character.

Things are looking bleak as the Tightbeam crew breaks down The Expanse 4.08. "The One-Eyed Man"! Join Andrea, Fred, and Shannon as they find the "one-eyed men" of the episode, discuss the fallout of the Pizzouza and the surprise return of Fred Johnson, and ponder Miller's screams.

It's an absolute buffet of possible ways to die as Ilus' death slugs make their grand debut and fusion just shuts down in The Expanse 4.07, "A Shot in the Dark". The Tightbeam crew also breaks down Avasarala, Amos, and Murtry's fear of losing control of their situations, Holden's trauma vs Elvi's scientific curiosity, and Naomi and Alex helping Lucia through their own experiences.

Plenty of decision making is put under a microscope as the Tightbeam crew discusses The Expanse 4.06, "Displacement", breaking down the consequences of Drummer's vote, Bobbie's new lease on life, and Holden's driving force.

The Tightbeam crew tackles The Expanse 4.05, "Oppressor", breaking down Nancy Gao's debate reveal, Lucia's suicide attempt and Naomi's subsequent confession, and Holden taking charge on Ilus as tensions rise.

The Tightbeam crew dabbles in astrology, wax-poetic about Holden punching a man, and discuss the motivations of antagonists Murtry and Marco in their breakdown of The Expanse 4.04, "Retrograde".

Everyone learns something in The Expanse 4.03, “Subduction”. Naomi learns how dire her situation is, we learn the question Murtry answered with a gun, and Shannon learns from Andrea how to lead succinct episode breakdowns.

Join Andrea, Fred, and Shannon as they break down "Jetsam", search for a title in the absence of the official one, and debate the logic behind anyone asking Holden to do anything and touching alien stuff.

Like the Rocinante crew before them, Andrea, Fred, and Shannon land on Ilus! Sorry, uh, New Terra. Join the Tightbeam crew as they travel through the system, breaking down the first episode of The Expanse Season Four

In a very special episode of The Tightbeam, we get the chance to interview cast members Dominique Tipper, Cas Anvar, and Steven Strait! Andrea leads a discussion about the process, as well as catches us up with the news since our last episode!

Shannon is joined by Keri of Caped Chronicles and DC Talk, and Ed Akselrud, co-coordinator for Save the Expanse and Founder of The Expanse Lives, as they cover NYCC, the S4 premiere screening (no spoilers!), and discuss all the Expanse news since our last episode! (Spoilers for the books/new novella near the end!)

The Tightbeam crew is back, riding high on all of The Expanse news out of SDCC! Join us as we break down all the Season 4 content, including the teaser and Naomi's first steps on Ilus! Also, Andrea announces our first contest winners!

The Tightbeam Crew is back with a Donnager-class sized episode, packed with content from FedCon (courtesy of our friends at The Expanse Lives) and speculation of what’s to come from SDCC’s panel and events!

After a quick news roundup and PHLCC talk, Andrea, Fred, and Shannon dive right into an in-depth discussion of Tiamat's Wrath, the latest book in The Expanse series! Here there be spoilers (at 15 minutes in)!

Andrea, Shannon, and Fred dip into casting news, the release of Tiamat's Wrath (no spoilers!), and PHLCC, before diving right into an in depth discussion of the Kickstarter backer's release of the RPG, and what to expect if the hosts play a campaign.