If you, like me, enjoy watching weird and mind-bending TV shows, often with a bit of a sci-fi twist, I have a few mini-reviews for you of shows that I have watched in the past couple of months or so, and that I greatly enjoyed:

Station Eleven

Station Eleven

This is without a doubt one of the smartest, most brilliant TV shows I have watched in a long, long time. It’s been on my watchlist for probably over a year, and I really don’t know what took me so long. Perhaps the less-than-appealing posters? But trust me, this is 100% worth if it you like post-apocalyptic stories, Shakespeare and/or anthologies. And having listed those attributes, I can already tell you: this show is not really what you’ll expect. It takes a look at the post-apocalypse in a very grounded manner. It feels real. And what feels like an anthology series, actually all comes together in the end in a very mind-bending way.

Devs

Devs

What seems to start out as a murder mystery, actually ends up as probably the most transcendental sci-fi drama I have ever seen. It’s really hard to say more without giving away the plot of this mini-series. It’s strange, it makes you think, and it has an utterly mind-bending conclusion. Also, absolutely brilliant performances by Nick Offerman, plus bonus Shakespeare from Stephen McKinley Henderson. This show is written and directed by Alex Garland of Ex Machina and Annihilation fame (and IMHO, is better than both of those movies).

Dark Matter

Dark Matter (2024)

Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly take “alternate universe” tropes to a whole different level in this show. You think you know how it will go, because you’ve seen all these shows with alternate universes? Think again, because this one is so much better and smarter than everything you’ve seen before, and does it with somewhat scientific approaches. (This show is not to be confused with the also really good, but very very different Dark Matter (2015)).

Silo

Silo

As a big fan of post-apocalyptic settings, this one is definitely one of the most interesting ones I’ve seen – people live in a huge 144 level underground silo that is completely shut off from the world, as the outside air is deadly. It raises a lot of questions that keep the show interesting, first and foremost, what happened to the world? And why does nobody in the silo remember? I was so intrigued by this setting that I even read the books after I watched the first season. The second season is (almost) out now, and continues to unravel the mysteries of the silo.

Severance

Severance

Severance is SO good, and it took me way too long to realize it, because my first impression of this show wasn’t really convincing. It looks kinda drab and boring with its retro aesthetic, and it definitely takes you 1-2 episodes to get into it. The premise is already quite mind-bending in that people can get “severed”, meaning that their consciousness is divided into a work persona and a home persona, neither of whom know anything about the other. Obviously that opens a lot of interesting concepts to explore. It’s amazing. And it has so many great characters (times two).

Outer Range

Outer Range

I feel like this show is underappreciated and falls very much under the radar. It has Josh Brolin as an elderly cowboy who discovers a seemingly bottomless hole on the lands of his Wyoming ranch. Sci-fi shenanigans commence. It has some vibes from Dark (the German show), with lots of twists and turns and mysteries, some revealed, but a lot yet to be solved. Definitely worth watching.