There’s been endless innovation across every medium of entertainment, but there have been especially large strides taken when it comes to television. TV has always held an advantage over movies when it comes to serialized storytelling, but television has entered a golden age where there is a higher level of quality that’s present than ever before.
This also has also pushed TV to take larger risks when it comes to types of storytelling and the different genres that they embrace. It can be very difficult to effectively bring sci-fi storytelling to life on TV, but there is no shortage of series that are out there. It’s led to science fiction television being especially polarizing and plenty of shows have very divided, yet equally passionate, fanbases.
10 Westworld’s Constant Twists Have Become A Detriment
There were tremendous expectations surrounding HBO’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s sci-fi classic, Westworld, and the series has experienced a very messy trajectory. There’s such promise behind the Westworld’s general premise where an “amusement park” of compliant robots suddenly begin to rebel, but Westworld has gone far beyond that and explored much more complex themes.
Westworld’s initial season is the perfect mix of mystery and science fiction, but the subsequent seasons bite off more than they can chew and put the sci-fi show on a problematic path. Many fans have jumped ship, while those that remain are in for the long run.
9 Stranger Things Has Started To Lose Its Way
It’s truly fascinating how success can occasionally be a series’ biggest obstacle. A larger and more mainstream audience also means greater expectations and it becomes increasingly difficult to please all fans. Stranger Things started as a loving throwback to the 1980s and Amblin-style storytelling that filters incredible phenomena through the wonder of children.
Stranger Things has remained true to that vision, but it feels as if the story’s original plan has become stretched out and altered by the young cast growing older. There are still lots of devoted Stranger Things fans, the series’ nostalgic glow has dimmed for others.
8 The X-Files’ Legacy Mixes The Good With The Bad
The X-Files is undeniably an iconic piece of science fiction and genre television due to its ability to mix together a serialized story arc with episodic monster-of-the-week installments. The X-Files has more than 200 episodes, as well as two feature films. However, there are definitely periods that hit diminishing returns and lose their way - especially the two revival seasons - that make it easy to write off The X-Files as a whole.
Audiences are fair to be critical of some of the larger storytelling missteps in the series, but The X-Files is always fascinating, which is enough for some viewers.
7 Raised By Wolves Doesn’t Baby Its Audience
Ridley Scott has established a highly revered filmography and he’s recently made waves through his latest pictures, The Last Duel and House Of Gucci. Despite the nature of these projects, Scott is a director with deep ties to the science fiction genre, helming masterpieces like Blade Runner, The Martian, and the original Alien.
Raised By Wolves brings Scott back to the thought provoking and psychologically-rich territory with a series that examines the attempts of two androids to raise human children. Raised By Wolves doesn’t spoon-feed its audience and the dense nature of its storytelling scares away some viewers, but entices others.
6 Legion Is Endlessly Creative, For Both Better And For Worse
Legion, a series that ran for three seasons on FX, is without question one of the most ambitious approaches taken to a superhero and villain story, but it’s also the perfect example of a show that flies too close to the sun. Noah Hawley’s Legion is a visual extravaganza that plays with perception and storytelling in enlightening ways that reflect the deeply frayed mental state of its main character, David Haller.
Legion’s visual tricks and ideas still remain unparalleled in many respects, but some audiences jumped ship during the second season when style started to overpower substance.
5 Sense8 Couldn’t Sustain Its Ambitious Storytelling For Many
The Wachowskis are true visionary masters and even their works that don’t fully come together, like Jupiter Ascending, are still stunning to behold and are never lacking in ambition. The filmmaking duo have forever changed the landscape of both science fiction and action cinema and Sense8 marked their foray into television for Netflix.
Sense8 tells an ambitious story with an international scope where eight strangers learn that they’re all intrinsically linked together, as well as the prey of a shifty organization. Sense8 had a premature ending after two seasons and a wrap-up special, which speaks to its tiny, albeit passionate, audience.
4 Black Mirror’s Dark Sci-Fi Parables Are Too Much For Some
Black Mirror has set a very high standard when it comes to provoking and intelligent anthology storytelling, especially when it comes to science fiction. There are strong ideas on display across all five seasons of the series, but many consider most of Black Mirror’s strongest material to fall before it moved over to Netflix. Black Mirror has progressively become more diluted and some audiences can’t get on board due to the deeply nihilistic nature that dominates so many episodes. However, that’s exactly what some audiences are looking for in their science fiction.
3 The Flash’s Devoted Fans Can’t Outrun The Inevitable Truth
Currently in its eighth season and the oldest lasting vestige of the CW’s Arrowverse, The Flash is a science fiction series that’s been running on empty for some time as far as many fans are concerned. The Flash has a surprisingly strong debut season that bolstered expectations for its future, but a myriad of Speedsters and padded seasons haven’t done Team Flash any favors. The passionate fans that haven’t run out on The Flash are still grounded enough to accept that the show’s best years are past it.
2 Heroes Quickly Loses Its Potential As Well As Its Fanbase
It’s fascinating what a difference a little time can make. When Heroes first debuted on NBC back in 2006 it was an extremely novel concept to have a superhero show on television, let alone one that’s built out of an original property. Heroes’ freshman season is its strongest and its inability to abandon characters and move on into new territory ultimately weakens the show’s potential.
Even the more recent attempt to reboot the property with Heroes: Reborn was met with a lackluster response. Many people liked the idea of Heroes and what it represented for television more than the show itself.
1 Lost Is The Ultimate Example Of Polarizing Sci-Fi
Lost was an unavoidable hit that helped ignite a trend for serialized sci-fi shows with “mystery box” approaches to story and exposition. Lost gets a little shaky in the middle, but it builds to a proper conclusion that erroneously gets written off and simplified. The introduction of more fantasy elements towards the end of Lost is met with criticism, but there’s still tremendous love and respect for the journey that Lost tells and its success as a character study. Lost is still one of the most polarizing sci-fi programs even years after its finish.