Sci-fi showshave incredible potential for greatness, but very few manage to pull off a perfect run with no bad seasons.Sci-fi is a compelling genre for storytelling, with limitless possibilities and the opportunity to experiment in fun and interesting ways. This malleability has led to sci-fi shows delivering some of the most interesting and unique shows on TV.
However, even with the best talent, and everything working together to make a show great, it’s rare that any TV show has a perfect run. For the most part, TV shows have peaks and troughs, with the quality varying and audiences engaging with some seasons more than others, butvery rarely does there come a show that seems to continuously hit the mark,delivering quality season after quality season.
Stranger Things
Cast
Stranger Things is a Netflix series set in the 1980s, where the mysterious disappearance of a young boy leads a small town to uncover secret experiments and supernatural forces. A significant focus is on a peculiar girl who may hold the key to the unfolding mystery.
Stranger Thingsis a little bit of a risky pick as it stands because the final season of the show is due to be released later in 2025. However, as far as the first four seasons of the Netflix hit go,this show has proven to be an extraordinary success. In fact,Stranger Thingsis one of the shows that really helped put Netflix Original content on the map.
While some episodes of the series have been less than perfect, each season has managed to deliver incredible narrative arcs, introduce exciting new characters, and push the story forward.
While some episodes of the series have been less than perfect,each season has managed to deliver incredible narrative arcs, introduce exciting new characters, and push the story forward. And at the heart of it all, Eleven’s mystery is slowly being unraveled, as The Party gets ever closer to finding out what the truth about the Upside Down and the terrible monsters that inhabit it is.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a television series that follows Agent Phil Coulson as he assembles a team within the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division to investigate mysterious phenomena, safeguarding the world from extraordinary threats. Debuting in 2013, the series expands on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s exploration of covert operations.
Agents of SHIELDwas initially made as the first true spin-off TV show from the MCU. Back in 2012, after the firstAvengersmovie saw Agent Phil Coulson sacrifice himself for the heroes, he returned to life inAgents of SHIELD. The series saw Phil gather a team of highly skilled individuals to locate superpowered people, and begin the arduous process of tracking and training potential assets. However,despite the show being left behind by the MCU, it continued to excel at building its own pocket universe.
10 Sci-Fi TV Seasons That Are 10/10, Even Though Their Shows Aren’t
While none of these TV shows were perfect the whole way through, they did boast incredible 10/10 seasons that told all-time great sci-fi stories.
With concepts like the Inhumans making their debut here, and Daisy Johnson growing to become one of the most compelling and underrated heroes who deserve to crossover into the MCU proper, this show only got better over time. The first couple of seasons took time to build momentum, but when it took off, it exploded in popularity. And with the show covering topics like highly advanced technology, aliens, and time travel, it fits firmly into the space of sci-fi.
Black Mirror
Black Mirror is a dystopian anthology series that explores the unsettling and profound impact of modern technology on society. Premiering in 2011, it examines various scenarios where technological advancements intersect with human nature, creating thought-provoking narratives about contemporary and future issues.
Black Mirroris a unique sci-fi TV showbecause it is an anthology show.Each and every episode delivers new stories, with a brand-new cast. However, the consistent theme throughout the show is a closer look at how technology and futuristic ideas could be used in dark, malevolent ways. The eerie nature of each episode also hits closer to home because, often, only small details or one new technology is introduced, making it feel a little too close for comfort.
DID YOU KNOW:The first episode of the series, ‘The National Anthem’, was partly inspired by “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!” and the audience’s appetite for humiliation (viaRadio Times).
Over the course of six seasons,Black Mirrorcontinually manages to explore creative ideas that resonate with audiences and define a dark alternate reality. The seasons may be short, and it’s rare that more than one episode will deal with the same story, but if anything, that makes the creativity and impact of the series even more impressive because of how much has been accomplished.
Rick and Morty
Rick and Morty is an animated science fiction series that follows the eccentric scientist Rick Sanchez and his impressionable grandson Morty Smith as they embark on perilous adventures across space and alternate dimensions. The show explores the impact of these exploits on Morty’s tumultuous family life and personal challenges.
Rick and Mortytends to avoid continuity and long-winded narrative arcs, but as an adult animated sitcom, it’s far from an anthology. Rick, a brilliant scientist, along with his grandson Morty, travel the multiverse, going on adventures, and causing trouble everywhere they go. However, while the show is heavily based in sci-fi, it firmly rejects exploring time travel on a wider scale.
The show is incredibly creative, littered with great comedy moments,and can even delve into deeper emotional moments when the need arises. With such flexibility and fun throughout, the series deserves more recognition, especially because it has the potential to appeal to a wide fanbase. And thanks to the extraordinary run of hits the show delivers, it has even been renewed years in advance up to season 12.
Mr. Robot
Mr. Robot follows Elliot, a young programmer with an anti-social disorder, who hacks people to connect and protect those he cares about. The series explores his involvement with a cybersecurity firm and underworld organizations targeting corporate America. Debuting in 2015, it addresses contemporary cultural themes.
Mr. Robotwas smart enough to plan out a fascinating and entertaining plot over four seasons, and when it reached the end of that narrative arc, it laid the story to rest. The show followed the extraordinary story of Elliot Alderson,played by Rami Malek, and the dark intersection of cybersecurity and anonymous online hackers. But unlike many other popular shows, when it came to the end of its run, the story ended.
Too often, shows outstay their welcome, and they begin to lose momentum as the creatives run out of steam and ideas. ButMr. Robotkept the pace high until the end with the show actively choosing to say goodbye when the story was over. The acting of some of the leads, such as Malek and Christian Slater, also took this series to a new high that kept the audience coming back, desperate to see what happens next. While sci-fi often excels at single episodic storytelling, either in TV shows that see characters travel from planet to planet, or in movies, taking one core thread and building a powerful story around that has to be admired, andMr. Robotdid it extremely well.
Fringe
This sci-fi procedural follows the FBI’s secretive Fringe Division and its agents Olivia Dunham, Walter Bishop, and Peter Bishop. Together, they investigate cases regarding strange events that threaten society, including cases of parallel universes, human experimentation, and other strange phenomena.
Fringeis a thoroughly engaging serial drama that started off with one of its weakest seasons, and continued to build momentum over the following four.The show combines drama, procedural episodic storytelling, and tense sci-fi supernatural themes, which elevated it to become one of the most exciting and tense shows on TV. And looking at the pedigree behind the series, it makes perfect sense because the creators have been a large part of building other incredible franchises likeTransformers,Star Trek,Spider-Man,Star WarsandCloverfield.
J. J. Abrams and Alex Kurtzman are two of the brilliant minds who made this show a reality, and with the exceptional talent of actors like Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, and Lance Reddick, the show was destined for greatness. From multiverses to alternate timelines and all things on the fringe of science, the show stands out, and it delivers one of the best sci-fi shows in recent history.
Dark
Dark is a German science fiction thriller focusing on four families in a small town impacted by the disappearance of a child. As they search for answers, they uncover a web of interconnected secrets, revealing complex temporal and familial relationships spanning multiple generations.
Darkmay only run for a total of three seasons, but in that time,the show grew to unravel an entire world with a winding time-travel storythat saw the town of Winden and its intersections in multiple periods of time. The show revolves around time travel stories, and due to the series being written and developed in Germany with German actors, the series is in German. However, as many people were able to grow to appreciate and respect the incredible quality ofSquid Gamedespite a language barrier and subtitles or dubbing,Darkis equally worthy of pushing through the extra hurdles.
Few shows have managed to capture time travel in quite so powerful a story, butDarktakes the concept to its absolute limits.
Few shows have managed to capture time travel in quite so powerful a story, butDarktakes the concept to its absolute limits. And the standard of production, writing, acting, and set pieces throughout is spectacular. And once again, they found the right moment to end the story, and rather than overstay its welcome,Darkends when the story reaches its perfectly designed conclusion.
Orphan Black
Orphan Black follows a streetwise hustler who becomes entangled in a complex conspiracy after witnessing the suicide of a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to her. As she assumes the deceased’s identity, she uncovers a secret that places her life in jeopardy.
Orphan Blackwas initially released in 2013 on Space in Canada and BBC America in the US. However, this resulted in the show having a fairly limited reach early on. However, through various re-releases and a move to streaming platforms, the show found a much larger fanbase that could give it the recognition it truly deserved. WithTatiana Maslany playing the various leads,this show explores the thrilling and terrifying potential of cloning.
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sci-fi is easily one of the most thrilling and experimental genres on TV, and it provides a foundation that breeds some of the best protagonists on TV
Orphan Blackis a sci-fi thriller, and as such,the story has plenty of twists and turnsas Maslany’s characters, a group of girls who share identical DNA and features, find each other and learn that they are in fact clones who have been placed into a variety of different lives and settings. The show has deep, insightful, and thought-provoking explorations of the morality and implications of such procedures, which makes it feel mysterious and important asgreat sci-fican tend to do.
