The Absolute Best Sci-Fi TV Shows on HBO Max

1 5 minutes read

It is too late. Westworld is not on HBO Max anymore. (It’s heading to Roku and Tubi.) That is both unhealthy or detached information, relying on how you’re feeling about that season 4 finale.

So what are you able to watch following the HBO Max cost-cutting TV show and movie cull of 2022? Fortunately, there are nonetheless just a few respectable choices. The just one you completely want to observe is Station Eleven. If you happen to gave up after the primary couple of episodes, no excuses. Strive it once more.

Listed below are the most effective sci-fi TV exhibits on HBO Max as of Feb. 16.

The Plot Towards America (2020)

This miniseries, primarily based on Philip Roth’s novel by the identical title, presents another historical past by which Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated within the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh. Morgan Specter, Zoe Kazan, Winona Ryder and John Turturro star within the critically acclaimed six-episode restricted collection, primarily following a working class Jewish household as the brand new president introduces facism.

Warner Bros./YouTube/ClassyBuzz Screenshot

If a correct binge is what you are after, 5 seasons of this sci-fi procedural starring The Final of Us’ Anna Torv are prepared and ready. The Fringe Division is a crew of brokers tasked with investigating unexplained phenomena, together with parallel universes and alternate timelines. After a middling first season, Fringe discovered its method, so keep it up for the ingenious concepts and a shifting emotional core.

If you happen to’re into sci-fi comedy, Avenue 5 has spectacular chops. Veep creator Armando Iannucci brings this area journey starring Hugh Laurie and Josh Gad. Within the close to future, an interplanetary cruise ship is shipped barely off track. With years added to their return journey, the crew and passengers should determine how one can survive on dwindling sources.

HBO Max/YouTube screenshot

This action-adventure out of Spain is large, foolish enjoyable. The titular Garcia (Francisco Ortiz) is a traditional endearing motion hero with the twist that he was reanimated from a cryogenic frozen sleep. Initially from the ’60s, Garcia should navigate modern-day Madrid — the place oat milk coffees are additionally a factor — amid participating in all of the espionage antics.

Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)

This gem of a comedy-drama properly faucets the charms of Lee Tempo, who stars as Ned, an oddball pie-maker with the flexibility to carry the lifeless again to life. This Tim Burton-esque present sees Ned use his talents to assist remedy generally grotesque murders with out sacrificing fairy story eccentricity. A novel, critically acclaimed collection that deserves a rewatch.

TNT/YouTube/ClassyBuzz Screenshot

Falling Skies (2011-2015)

Boasting govt producer Steven Spielberg, this post-apocalyptic sci-fi brings household drama to alien invasions. Falling Skies facilities on a band of survivors who plan to combat again after a world invasion by extraterrestrials. 5 seasons introduce a number of alien races, area journey and a satisfying last standoff.

HBO

If you happen to have been blown away by Russell T. Davies’ It is a Sin, Years and Years is a must-watch. The bold sci-fi collection spans 15 years, leaping forward every episode to seize the ups and downs of the eclectic Lyons household. From technological developments to jaw-dropping life upheavals, the Lyons undergo the ringer with out ever relinquishing a heartwarming humorousness.

{Photograph} by Ian Watson/HBO Max

Consider any hype you hear about Station Eleven. Probably the greatest exhibits of 2021, the meditative dystopian thriller (the latter descriptor can solely be utilized to sure episodes) is status TV that whisks you off on a journey to stunning, shifting and distinctive locations. Following two timelines, the main target is especially on sensible heroine Kirsten (Mackenzie Davis), a girl who survived a world-destroying pandemic and now travels across the stays with a theater troupe referred to as the Touring Symphony. Created by Patrick Somerville, whose writing work on The Leftovers could be felt right here, Station Eleven casts an optimistic lens over the top of the world.

Torchwood/YouTube screenshot

This Physician Who spinoff collection from Russell T Davies centered on Captain Jack Harkness and his crew of alien hunters. Whereas it could not have absolutely achieved its objective of turning into the “grownup” Physician Who, it did discover its footing with its later shorter story arcs. Season 3, referred to as Kids of Earth, particularly produced real compelling sci-fi drama. If something, give these 5 episodes a watch.

HBO Max

Whereas it is 90% a superhero present, Peacemaker options guests from one other planet, so it lands itself a spot on this checklist. The Suicide Squad spinoff collection facilities on the titular Peacemaker, an outrageous John Cena who explores the place his catchphrase — “I cherish peace with all of my coronary heart. I do not care what number of males, girls and youngsters I kill to get it” — got here from. Sweary, bloody and bouncing to a rocking soundtrack, the James Gunn-written collection is a rollicking time with stunning coronary heart.

HBO

The Leftovers (2014-2017)

Perhaps it is thought-about extra supernatural than sci-fi, and it is positively nowhere close to laborious sci-fi, however come on. It is The Leftovers. It is Damon Lindelof, the genius who turned Watchmen right into a lauded TV present. The Leftovers follows what occurs after 2% of the world’s inhabitants inexplicably disappears. Amid the emergence of quite a few cults, the three seasons focus on two households, the Garveys and the Murphys, and the way the “Sudden Departure” occasion upends their lives.

Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/ClassyBuzz

At this stage, new followers is likely to be laborious to return by with regards to this long-running British present. However if you happen to’re inquisitive about dipping into the wildly ingenious, genre-bending, barnstorming journey, strive the later Jodie Whittaker episodes. Whittaker steps into the Physician’s footwear, a time-traveling, space-faring alien adventurer with a form coronary heart and a far-out-of-this-world humorousness. Severe enjoyable.

{Photograph} by Courtesy of HBO

His Darkish Supplies (2019-2022)

This TV adaptation of His Darkish Supplies is the second try at bringing Philip Pullman’s traditional fantasy novels to the display. (The 2007 flop The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, was anchored to a sluggish, shallow script.) Set in a world the place individuals’s souls manifest as animal familiars, the supply materials is not precisely easy. Chuck in parallel universes, speaking polar bears and a wildly imaginative story about rising up, and you’ve got an exciting, philosophical journey. Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy and Dafne Eager bolster this slicker, extra mature try. Season 3 premieres on HBO Max Dec. 5.