The 14 Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi TV Shows of 2020 (2023)

When you think about it, 2020 seems like a year out of science fiction, with a global pandemic sparked by a mysterious virus and an election season that has defied all the limits of common sense. It only made the true sci-fi offerings of the year all the more heartwarming in their escapism, especially when that escapism involved goofy vampires, sad ghosts, evil superheroes, inscrutable technology, deep space, mind-bending time travel, brains, and a little bit. green guy whohide a lotmieat forbidden eggs. Eschewing the many not-so-great pandemic-themed shows that sadly came out this year, these series transported us to alternate dimensions that brought us a version of joy.

take a look at ourfavorite sci-fi movies of 2020, It's inbest tv shows of 2020.

children(Amazon Prime)

Season 2. 8 episodes.
children, ofthe smartest showabout the state of pop culture, includingdarkermimore difficultin its second season. Despite operating in the same genre as Marvel and DC,childrenit's less about saving the world and more about greedy corporate entities trading on the public's fears to sell their product; the product, in this case, are superheroes. This batch of episodes introducedyou are the worst's Aya Cash as a feminist who uses the language of women's rights for her own evil ends, a screwed-up narrative not just to shock: it gets to the root of something genuinely insidious in the entertainment industry.—Esther Zuckerman

Dark(Netflix)

Season 3. 8 episodes.
In the last season ofNetflix German Language Sci-Fi Brain Destroyer, the forces of good and evil vying for control of the very nature of time in Winden's past, present and future move forward in their possibly endless time loop that we now know also encompasses a parallel universe. Jonas, having been rescued by Martha 2 at the end of the second season, is more determined than ever to stop the villain Adam and get things back to normal. But untying a knot that has held Winden in balance for five generations requires sacrifice, resulting inone of the most shocking and moving conclusionsfor a TV show you'll watch this year.—Emma Stefanski

developers(FX sin Hulu)

Limited series. 8 episodes.
developers! Shout! If you love a wacky story involving murder, quantum theory, and Nick Offerman with a villainous beard, well, I've got a miniseries for you: this visually stunning, melancholy tech thriller, written and directed entirely byalex garlandand starring Offerman as a creepy tech CEO,alison pillas a lead designer and Sonoya Mizuno as a software engineer investigating the mysterious death of her boyfriend on her first day working at the secret company. Fans of Garland's earlier work, especially Danny Boyle's 2007 sci-fi horror filmSunlightwrote, you will be mesmerized even as the plot unravels and threatens to venture intoblack mirrorterritory.—John Sellers

The expansion(Amazon Prime)

Season 5. 10 episodes.
Featuring a mysterious terrorist, a missing protomolecule specimen, and a cairn flying towards humanity's homeworld, season 5 ofThe expansionit transforms things on several levels. Overwhelmed by the opportunity presented by exoplanets accessible through the Ring, thanks to the protomolecule mysteriously left behind by an unknown and seemingly all-powerful alien race, the solar system is in trouble once again, many factions vying for control of the blast holes. worm, worrying the community. tentative peace between Earth, Mars and the Belt. Adding yet another wrinkle is the appearance of terrorist Belter Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander), driven nearly insane by the offenses and hardships he has endured as a citizen of the asteroid belt, who plans to declare war on Earth by stealthily launching camouflaged asteroids. on the surface of the planet. the crew ofrocinanteTraveling their separate ways for the first time, they must figure out how to prevent the solar system from going to war once more.—Emma Stefanski

The Haunting of Bly Manor(Netflix)

Anthology series. 10 episodes.
The Haunting of Hill House, the highly regarded 2018 Netflix miniseries from horror author Mike Flanagan, unearthed the roots of a family's trauma by using the very spirits that haunted them as children in a mansion that was like flypaper for souls. of the people. Compared to this season,the second installmentfrom what has become an anthology show with many of the same actors playing disconnected characters is almost unsettling. But this is far from being a criticism. There are many ghosts at Bly Manor, based on Henry James's gothic mystery novel Another Turn of the Screw, in which a governess comes to believe that her two young wards are being haunted by the ghosts of two lovers who died there. before she arrives, but the show spends less time creating her (very effective) scares and more time exploring what force might be powerful enough to turn a dead person into a ghost. Death is a tragedy; a soul unable to advance further.—Emma Stefanski

your dark materials(HBO)

Season 2. 8 episodes.
After Lord Asriel opened a rift between dimensions at the end of season 1, thesecond seasonof the show, now following the action of Philip Pullmanthe subtle knife, finds Lyra crossing the ghost town of Cittagazze, a crossroads world inhabited only by children in which she finally meets Will Parry for the first time, and hunts with him an item of power that would give them both protection. Meanwhile, the Magisterium is at war with the witches of the world of Lyra, and the villainous Lord Boreal is up to no good with Will, tricking the two boys into working for him in a world that is too dangerous for him. Famous balloonist Lee Scoresby traded his hot air balloon for a ship and is looking for a famous traveler who might have some answers for him about all these parallel worlds. Perhaps most excitingly, this season introduces physicist Mary Malone, who inadvertently discovers exactly what dust is, and how dangerous that knowledge can be in the wrong hands.—Emma Stefanski

lovecraft country(HBO)

Season 1. 10 episodes.
Set in the 1950s,lovecraft countryfollows the Freemans and the Lewises, two black families from Chicago who find themselves embroiled in a centuries-old battle between warring lodges that dabble in the dark esoteric arts. It begins with Korean War veteran Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) receiving a letter from his father, Montrose (Michael K. Williams), who leads Atticus on a cross-country rescue mission with his childhood friend Letitia. Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) and his uncle. George (Courtney B. Vance). Atticus soon discovers that he is a wanted pawn by the patriarch of a white secret society (Scandal's Tony Goldwyn) in a plot to become the most powerful wizard in the country. That encounter kicks off a quest to find out what's really going on, and the monsters and ghosts Atticus, Letitia, and their families encounter are only slightly scarier than the segregated reality they live in.watchmakersconstruction of an allegorical world in style andX-fileMonster of the week intrigue makes this fantasy series from Misha Green a must-see show.—Emma Stefanski

Lucifer(Netflix)

Season 5A. 8 episodes.
With Lucifer in Hell doing his thing as King, Chloe struggles to forget about him. But you can't keep these two apart forever, and it's only a matter of time before Lucifer returns to Earth to solve murders and failed flirtations. Things are complicated a bit by Lucifer's evil (good?) twin, the archangel Michael, who descended from heaven to pose as his devilish sister and generally causes a lot of noise on Earth. The first part of the extended fifth season leaves plenty of room for its characters to have their own adventures, includinga black and white film noir detective episodeand a mojo-changing mystery, before bringing the house down in a climactic fight of angels vs. demons.—Emma Stefanski

the mandalorian(Disney+)

Season 2. 8 episodes.
In its second season,the mandaloriansped up even more than the first, which was among the most mind-blowing viewing experiences of 2019. Having accepted the mantle of transportingGrogu, née the Child, also known as Baby Yoda, back to his own people, whoever he is and wherever he is, Command's mission has become clearer,your most colorful allies, and the line between good and evil becomes more blurred with each subsequent episode. The show has preserved the lively and planetary flavor ofSeason 1as it deepensStar Warstradition without getting too bogged down in its own mythology. An interesting variety ofguest stars,surprise character appearances(Includingthat super famouson the screeching ending) and deliciously crafted aliens (two words:lady toad) kept things fresh by keeping the essentialsStar WarsSpark - spark. This is the way.—Emma Stefanski

Created by Wolves (HBO Max)

Season 1. 8 episodes.
After a catastrophic, planet-destroying war between two religious factions, a pair of androids land on a sanctuary world, bringing with them the means to restart human life in accordance with the teachings of their faith. But human children cannot survive on this planet, dying one by one, so Mother, an android who secretly possesses terrifying and destructive powers, invades a refugee ship inhabited by her enemies, the Mithraics, and kidnaps her children before crashing the ship into the sea. planet surface. The mother tries to rebuild her family, but Mithraic soldiers survived the crash and are prepared to get their children back at all costs, convinced that this is the legendary planet promised to her faith. Produced by Ridley Scott (who also directed the pilot),the presentationsometimes it feels like an alternate universe is taking overForeignsequels, with a twist for original and exciting mythology building and lots of gooey robot milk blood.—Emma Stefanski

Star Trek: Discovery(CBS Full Access)

Season 3. 10 episodes.
Star Trek: Discoveryis truly one of the most creative and daring sci-fi shows on television, and its third season transports the crew of the trusty Federation science ship into the future, soooo far into the future, where worlds that were once united meet. separated to drift in the dark, the vastness of space by an unknown and catastrophic event. Naturally, the only ones who can find out what happened are Michael Burnham, Saru, and his crew, who reside inside a starship containing the intellectual wealth of an entire universe. Three seasons later, all the characters aboard theDiscoveryit has a lot of room to grow, as well as leaving open spaces for interesting new members. Come to the odyssey in the far future, stay with the huge cat named Grudge. (Who is a queen. A queen.)—Emma Stefanski

Star Trek: Picard(CBS Full Access)

Season 1. 10 episodes.
The number of times I said "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." expecting the release of this series centered on the continuing adventures of Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard is at least as high as the number of shows and movies in the sprawlingday in the starsfranchise. The ten episodes ofSeason 1do not reinvent theday in the starsswirls by any stretch of the imagination, butPicardo, which finds the now retiredCompanycaptain in "one last mission" mode as he attempts to save Data's "daughter" from Romulan's scheming, he strikes many satisfying nostalgic notes while also successfully forging his own intriguing path.—John Sellers

tales from the loop(Amazon Prime)

Anthology series. 8 episodes.
Based on the Swedish artistSimon Stalenhagcreepy digital paintings of misty and gloomy scenes with giant abandoned robots,this Amazon Prime anthology seriesof interconnected stories takes place in a small Midwestern town in the mid-1980s. This is the main Amblin Entertainment andWeird thingsterritory, though the show eschews tired nostalgia tropes and instead explores the Loop, an underground facility like a particle collider that supposedly allows the impossible to become possible. With episodes directed by Mark Romanek and Jodie Foster (among others), and examining themes such as the effects of time travel on the human soul and the inevitability of death and pain, each part, like each Stålenhag painting, is a curious to see. .studied and, if you can, understood.—Emma Stefanski

What do we do in the shadows?(FX)

Season 2. 10 episodes.
Season 1 of this Staten Island vampire mockumentary walked so Season 2 could run like a werewolf in the night. This time around, it's one hit after another as we learn more about fellow vampire housemates Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch). The 10 episodes deal with the fear of ghosts and distrust of witches, the paranoia of chain mail and Laszlo's surprising story with the song "Come On Eileen". The episode starring Mark Hamill is not to be missed, in which Lazlo runs away and becomes the most passionate high school volleyball enthusiast in a Pennsylvania town.What do we do in the shadows?rose from cult pleasure to one of TV's few must-watch sitcoms.—Leanne Butkovic