Sci-fishows create unique circumstances where one or more scientific limitations in the present world have been broken. Some ofthe most bingeworthy sci-fi TV showsjust dive into their worlds and provide exposition about the rules of their societies and the laws of nature in their universes. Not all shows go too deep with their lore, though, and somefun and lighthearted sci-fi showsare more invested in exploring the cool consequences of the sci-fi concept instead of focusing on how the sci-fi world works and how it came to be.
But, some sci-fi shows like to spend time on why their worlds came to be and focus on the mystery element of the science fiction. Some ofthe best British sci-fi shows of all timeare all about the mysteries of the Universe. Thecharacters try and figure out the various anomaliesthat made their world the way it is, or else are centered around mystery-solving characters like detectives or scientists.
Silo
Cast
In a dystopian future, men and women reside in a vast underground silo governed by strict regulations, believed to shield them from the hazardous world above. The series delves into the complex social order within the silo and the mysteries surrounding their subterranean existence.
Apple TV+‘sSilois set in a post-apocalyptic world where people are forced to live in an underground silo away from the surface, which has been deemed unfit for survival. The power dynamics between the people in the silo are the crux of the show’s drama, but while there isa lot of scientific exposition on the new technologiesand the various ways humans learned to survive, the best part ofSilois that it has a major mystery element.
I Already Miss What Made Silo Season 1 So Great
I’m enjoying Silo season 2, but it’s definitely short of something big that made me find the Apple TV+ sci-fi show so amazing on its first time out.
The first season ofSilowas largely focused on the nature of the occurrence that turned the surface world uninhabitable and how difficult it is to survive there. Using recovered information and footage from the few people who made excursions into the above world, the characters were trying to piece together a total understanding of what the surface world is like and what would be needed to survive there. TheSiloSeason 2 mysteries are not as exciting, but the show has still retained its mystery-focused narrative structure.
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a “severance” procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle.
What if people could surgically remove one part of themselves to improve their work-life balance?Severanceanswers this question by introducing a world where people have a work self (innie) and a home self (outie), who have no awareness of each other. The work self doesn’t experience any of the domestic things the home self does, and vice versa. So, this naturally leaves many unanswered questions for characters. Their journey of finding answers is one of the manyreasonsSeveranceis worth watching.
8 Reasons Severance Season 2’s Reviews Are So Amazing After The 3-Year Wait
Years after season 1’s debut, the reviews for Severance season 2 have been released, proving the show to continue its critically acclaimed streak.
Many of the innies have adjusted to not recollecting what they did over the weekend or even getting ready for work, but some of them find the experience to be understandably disorienting. Most of the first season ofSeverancesets up the world and normalizes the characters’ experience for the viewers, before delving into the mysteries in the second half. It’snever fully clear what kind of company the characters work for, how the severance procedure works, or how people adjust to not having some of their memories. The show is all about such mysteries.
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.
WhileOrphan Blackis primarilya biopunk drama and thriller, it has a compelling mystery element to it. The first season is focused on establishing the lore of the world and introducing the organizations that are responsible for the cloning of the characters. One of the main elements of that season is the aspect of mystery, as the main characters try to figure out what is going on, who they should and shouldn’t trust, and why one of the clones was able to have a child despite clones being designed to be sterile.
A spinoff sequel series toOrphan Blackcame out in 2023, but unfortunately,Orphan Black: Echoeswasn’t renewed for a second season.
While those mysteries are soon resolved in their own time in later seasons, the show retains an air of mystery throughout, all the way toOrphan Black’s brilliant Season 5 ending. The allegiances between the characters, the intricacies of technological advancements, and the conceptual discrepancies in the working theories of the two opposing organizations create mysteries for the characters that they solve on their adventures to survive persecution and perhaps stop the proliferation of the deranged philosophy that motivates cloning.
Lost
Lost is a mystery drama series created for TV that follows a group of survivors of a plane crash and tells its story between the past, present, and future via flashbacks. When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes and lands on a mysterious island in the pacific ocean, the castaways discover their new temporary home may have a mind of its own, as strange supernatural events keep them locked to the island. From an unknown black smoke creature to dangerous islanders, the passengers must work together to survive the island’s seemingly deadly intentions.
There was a time when everyone wasobsessed with the sci-fi TV showLost. The detailed fan theories and well-developed in-world lore forLostcomprise its mythology, which many felt the finale completely laid waste to. Defenders of the last episode ofLostwill prove that it was largely misunderstood, but whichever side of the debate one takes, everyone must agree that it’s one of the most influential and greatest sci-fi shows of the 2000s.
Most of the show is focused on solving the various mysteries of this unknown island and its unique inhabitants.
Premised on a plane crash that leaves the characters stranded on an unknown island,Lostfollows them on their expeditions and their adventures as they try to figure out a way to survive the attacks by The Others. Most of the show isfocused on solving the various mysteriesof this unknown island and its unique inhabitants, from The Others to the inexplicably dangerous and complicated creatures that the characters encounter regularly.
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.
One ofthe most incredible international sci-fi shows streaming now,Darkis a twisted time-travel drama that follows the chaotic lives of the residents of a German town where an anomaly opens up a portal inside a cave. The show, much like its name suggests, is a gritty drama. It has a literal mystery at its center - a detective works on uncovering the dark web of lies surrounding a disappearance in the town.
The mystery element only gets stronger with time as the characters discover the portal in the cave and start using it to travel through time. Some of the characters want to understand how it works, some want to use the portal to fix mistakes, and at the end of the day, the show uncovers the mystery behind how the anomaly came to be. Themystery aspect ofDarkis thus three-pronged- firstly, the inexplicable anomaly, secondly, the actual disappearance and the various adjoining crimes, and thirdly, who comes from which timeline and what they’ve done.
From
From is a series revolving around a mysterious American town that ensnares newcomers, forcing its inhabitants to maintain order and find an escape amidst nighttime perils from the surrounding forest. The residents face threats from terrifying creatures emerging after sunset, complicating their struggle for survival.
As a horror show with many intriguing monsters and circumstances,Fromis like a replacement forLostas both are set in a closed environment where characters are forced to tackle unknown creatures and forces of nature to survive. A survivalist sci-fi show,Fromfeatures dark and gritty encounters between humans and monsters, which often lead to extremely gory bloodshed. So, the horror element is predominant.
10 Best TV Shows Like From
The MGM+ horror television show From recently finished airing its third season, and fans of the series are looking for the perfect follow-up show.
However, mystery abounds inFromas the charactersoften encounter unforeseen circumstances and monstersand have to figure out what they’re dealing with and how to take care of the dangers. The overarching mystery of why they’re trapped in the town and how to leave also plays a small role, but as it is still developing as a show, that arc hasn’t taken over yet.
Russian Doll
Russian Doll follows a cynical young woman named Nadia on her journey as the guest of honor at a seemingly inescapable party one night in New York City. After dying on the night of her party, Nadia keeps repeating the same day - over and over again, with death assured before each day ends. However, when she meets Alan Zaveri, a man who is experiencing the same phenomenon, the pair work together to hopefully break the cycle once and for all.
Russian Dollfeatures one of the most fascinating uses of the time-loop structure of sci-fi storytelling. Starring Natasha Lyonne as the protagonist stuck in the time-loop, it follows her as she tries to figure out why she’s stuck and how she might break the loop. She spends the first season of the show behaving like a detective, making mental notes of what she believes she might be doing wrong, and tracking down leads about her past as she tries to puzzle her way out of the time loop.
Charlie Barnett plays a character who further adds to the intrigue of the sci-fi aspect but also sets up the heartwarming finale of the show that works on the chemistry between Barnett and Lyonne. Character development is the central focus of the show, as the time-loop premise pushes Lyonne’s character into a journey of self-discovery and introspection,guided by her sleuthing skillsas she tries to get to the bottom of the mystery of what has kept her stuck in a time loop, especially in the second season where it unexpectedly repeats, much to her frustration.
Twin Peaks
Conceived by Mark Frost and David Lynch in 1990, Twin Peaks is a supernatural mystery-drama series that brings FBI Agent Dale Cooper to the quiet town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of a young woman named Laura Palmer. As Dale continues his investigation of her death, he learns that Laura’s life wasn’t as she advertised it, and the town itself is hiding far more secrets than they let on. The show received a revival for a third and final season two decades later to resolve the cliffhanger left at the end of the second season.
Whatever main genre David Lynch works with for a project,supernatural surrealism invariably gets attachedto it. So, even a show about an LA detective trying to solve the murder of a local girl is a sci-fi show in his hands. As a sci-fi show,Twin Peakshas a strong mystery element because it’s basically a detective series at its core. The sci-fi aspect, while fleshed out, is treated as Lynchian idiosyncrasies by fans.
After two seasons,Twin Peakswas discontinued in 1991, although a prequel movie was made in 1992. The show returned in 2017 for a third season, and while season 4 hasn’t been confirmed, David Lynch has said he has more ideas for the show.
Twin Peaksis one of the mostsurreal crime TV shows that borders on absurd, with weirdly stilted and over-the-top interactions between characters, which is almost melodramatic and reminiscent of soap operas. The supernatural elements, on the other hand, are more akin to the horror genre. Overall, there’s an uncanny atmosphere with enough inexplicable circumstances and phenomena that add an element of mystery toTwin Peakson top of the central investigation.
The X-Files
The X-files takes the police procedural formula and applies it to sci-fi mysteries. Conspiracy theorist Fox Mulder and skeptic Dana Scully team up to solve cases surrounding alien invasions and other unexplained, paranormal phenomena.
One of thelongest-running sci-fi TV shows in history,The X-Fileshas a significantly strong mystery element. It follows two FBI agents as they attempt to solve the X files, the cases that have been abandoned as unsolved because of their supernatural nature, which no one can navigate. One of the protagonists, a criminal profiler, is a supernaturalist while the other, a doctor, is skeptical.
The series was widely popular and ran for 9 seasons between 1993 and 2002.
The dynamic between the characters evolves over the seasons, as they deal with supernatural mysteries on a weekly basis and also uncover a government conspiracy as part of an overarching storyline. The series was widely popular and ran for 9 seasons between 1993 and 2002. There were two feature films released in 1998 and 2008 too. And then it was reprised in 2016 for a tenth season, which received such good ratings that it prompted an eleventh season in 2018. There is talk of anotherTheX-Filesreboot that Gillian Anderson may returnfor.
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.
The impact ofThe X-Filesis best seen through the conception and success ofFringe, which has a similar premise of following the FBI’s Fringe division that investigates supernatural phenomena all around the world which threaten humanity. Fromunethical scientific exploration to parallel universes, it has every element of scary sci-fi that any aficionado of the genre would enjoy.
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Despite Star Wars being one of the most popular franchises in existence, sci-fi as a genre is often slept on and has many underrated gems.
Fringeis like a procedural, so there’s a mystery to solve in every episode. As asci-fi show with a mystery element, it’s quite unparalleled in lore. There is complicated interconnected lore and world mythology inFringewhich creates a very immersive viewing experience that viewers can lose themselves in. The show masterfully balances complexsci-fitheories with character development, pacing out absurd and unexpected revelations so that viewers never feel overwhelmed.
