| "Dulcinea" | |
|---|---|
| The Expanse episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Terry McDonough |
| Written by | Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby |
| Featured music | Clinton Shorter |
| Cinematography by | Jeremy Benning |
| Original air dates | November 23, 2015 (online) December 14, 2015 (Syfy) |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Dulcinea" is the series premiere of the American science fiction television series The Expanse. It originally aired on Syfy in the United States on December 14, 2015. The episode was written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and directed by Terry McDonough, and is based on the first chapters of James S. A. Corey's novel Leviathan Wakes, the first novel in The Expanse novel series.
As the series premiere, it introduces a future where humanity has colonized the Solar System. The episode centers around three characters across different parts of a fully colonized solar system. Detective Joe Miller (Thomas Jane) is assigned to search for a missing girl in the asteroid belt; executive officer Jim Holden (Steven Strait) of the spaceship Canterbury faces a moral dilemma when he responds to a distress signal in the outer realm near Saturn; UN politician Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) interrogates a potential terrorist who may have crucial information.
Before its official release on December 14, the episode was posted early online on November 23, 2015, and it received praise from critics for its world building, aesthetics, and storytelling. 1.19 million American households watched the episode on its initial airing.