Every once in a while, a sci-fi show so thought-provoking and high-concept comes along that you cannot help but feel a lot smarter after you are done watching it.
Some of the best sci-fi shows unfold like fantastical projections of the future or imaginative explorations of distant worlds. To ensure they appeal to the masses, most TV series of the genre adopt simple concepts and ideas instead of forcing viewers to probe deep into questions about the nature of reality and the purpose of existence.
A rare few, though, dare go beyond genre conventions either through compelling portrayals of real science or by using speculative premises as a lens to explore complex philosophical. These shows may not always garner massive audiences, but their impact lingers for decades because they make one feel more intelligent as their credits start rolling.
Counterpart
Starring J.K. Simmons, Counterpart is not the kind of show one can watch while scrolling through a second screen. It forces viewers to become active parts of its storytelling by making them question everything from the world they are watching to the identity of the protagonist. While the show’s portrayal of alternate dimensions alone is enough to keep one intrigued, it is J.K. Simmons’ performance that truly elevates it.
Instead of relying on costume design and aesthetic choices to capture his character’s alternate versions, J.K. Simmons just magically morphs into the roles. His mannerisms alone become effective clues for audiences to figure out which dimension they are experiencing.
Even from a thematic standpoint, Counterpart prompts one to ask existential questions surrounding the life they would have lived if they had made different choices in the past. It is unfortunate that Counterpart was canceled after just one season, but its two installments are enough to keep you mentally engaged for a long time.
Fringe
Fringe initially has an easy-to-follow “case of the week” format where it introduces one bizarre scientific anomaly after another. However, as soon as audiences get comfortable, it ties these individual cases to a larger narrative that explores real scientific concepts like quantum entanglement, singularities, and transgenics. The show’s portrayal of theoretical and quantum physics is obviously fantastical.
However, Fringe captures them in such a fascinating light that it becomes hard not to learn more about them as you grow increasingly invested in the mysteries the concepts connect to.
Intelligent viewers who stick with the show in the long run also get rewarded as Fringe brilliantly pays off story threads and ideas after several episodes or even seasons. Once you are done watching the series, you will not only be equipped with scientific knowledge surrounding a vast number of concepts but also gain the ability to closely identify patterns and build mental maps of alternate realities.
Severance
Severance cinematography heavily focuses on liminal spaces and ensures that, like its characters, even viewers feel the desire to find an escape. Even before its narrative gains momentum, Severance ensures that its sterile hallways and muted color palette create a persistent sense of unease and disorientation.
When the Apple TV sci-fi show finally kicks off its drama, it keeps viewers glued to their screens by introducing several intriguing concepts, like Macrodata Refinement, The Five Tempers, and The Break Room, among others.
Instead of merely throwing these ideas at audiences through exposition dumps, Severance brilliantly wraps them in its story and uses the golden storytelling rule of showing and not telling to help audiences understand where it is going. While at it, though, it cleverly restrains enough information to ensure that audiences never stop guessing and discussing what could happen next.
The Expanse
There are some moments in The Expanse where you will find yourself understanding Newtonian physics because of how the show employs it to shape everything from ship battles to simple movement in space. In other scenes, the show will force you to think about real-world geopolitics with its portrayal of trilateral diplomacy and the fragile balance of power between rival factions.
Even when the series settles into regular human drama, it does not shy away from using several different dialects during conversations that allow audiences to appreciate the cultural and social evolution of its factions.
Along with The Expanse, Apple TV’s Foundation also deserves a mention because of how brilliantly it adapts its source material and makes audiences grapple with dense ideas like psychohistory and the cyclical nature of imperial decline.
The Expanse also eventually drifts more into the cosmic horror domain, where it helps one understand the vastness of the universe and ponder humanity’s insignificance against it. Instead of unfolding like your regular fare of space operas, it ensures its world-building is not confined to grand space battles or heroic quests. This, in turn, makes viewers feel a lot smarter and more immersed in a future that feels intellectually challenging.
Dark
Time travel shows are a dime a dozen, but most of them use time travel as a “trick” to delete a character’s past and create a completely new future. Netflix’s Dark is thankfully not the same. It not only challenges a viewer’s perception of time with its portrayal of complex causality loops and paradoxes but also grounds its sci-fi concepts in deeply personal stories about grief and guilt.
Even the storytelling in Dark is not linear because it does not employ the typical cause and effect approach. Its beginning almost dissolves into its ending and creates a perfect circle as it reveals how every event and every character is bound to an inescapable loop where the past, present, and future constantly shape one another.
The show’s complex portrayal of family trees across timelines and realities further pushes viewers to constantly reassess relationships and identities. Although Dark‘s complex portrayal of time can be mentally exhausting if one is not prepared, the Netflix sci-fi series awards patient viewers who stay with it till the end.
