10 Nearly Perfect Sci‑Fi Shows, Ranked
Collider presents a ranked list of ten nearly perfect sci‑fi shows, praising series that quickly establish a big idea and then sustain tension and character choices without filler, mystery boxes that don’t pay off, or didactic speeches. Examples range from the fast, clear space‑opera of Dark Matter—where a crew waking with no memories turns into a game of trust but sometimes leans into episodic comfort—to the thriller leanings of The Peripheral and the quiet, dread-filled Devs, both praised for mood and premise even as lore drift or determinism blunt their impact.
The list also highlights Westworld Season 1’s patient precision, The Leftovers’ intimate handling of grief amid occasional strange detours, Battlestar Galactica’s sharp characters despite dated visuals, and Dark’s rigorous cause-and-effect even as its timelines grow dense.
At the top is The Expanse, called the closest thing on TV to a fully lived‑in space future where politics, class, and physics all matter.