Over the years, Netflix has proven itself to be a force when it comes to original television series. They have put out some of the biggest, most popular, and most acclaimed shows in recent memory, ranging from Stranger Things to Wednesday to Squid Game. These are projects that people talk about extensively during the long wait between seasons and shatter viewership records for the streaming platform. Netflix might be best known for those hits but the service has also delivered some great shows that have flown under the radar and deserve more love, especially when it comes to the sci-fi genre.
Despite a few successes, sci-fi has been a tough genre for Netflix to master. The platform often greenlights a sci-fi show that utilizes a high concept that intrigues everyone, yet costs a lot to bring to life. If an expensive show doesn’t grab a ton of viewers, Netflix cancels it and it gets forgotten over the years. That’s unfortunately the case with several of Netflix’s best and most underrated sci-fi shows. These series fit that bill and managed to combine for 131 glorious episodes, which makes them great choices to binge when you’re looking for a new sci-fi show to check out.
Away is a criminally underseen Netflix sci-fi show. Created by Andrew Hinderaker, this 2020 series centers on an international group of astronauts who are on the first crewed mission to Mars. The show balances their time out in space with the build-up to their departure and how it impacts their families. The differing personalities of the astronauts from all parts of the world make for some intriguing conflicts on the ship, especially once situations become crises.
Despite low viewership numbers, the show told an interesting story and the effects used during the space sequences were great. Away, which features 10 episodes, also had a stellar cast led by two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank, Josh Charles, Vivian Wu, and more. Reviews for the show were solid, yet there was potential for things to get better if it got to have more seasons. Alas, Away was canceled less than two months after it premiered.
LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS has the most episodes of any series listed here, spanning 45 installments across four seasons. The show was interesting because it didn’t feature any overarching story or even share any connection between stories. Each episode told its own tale and featured at least one of love, death, and robots. The animated series also featured visuals from various studios, allowing every adventure to feel like its own thing. It’s basically like an animated Black Mirror.
Although the main genre is sci-fi, the show also featured comedy, horror, and fantasy stories. Not every episode is great, but they’re all unique. The voice casts were typically strong, while the animation styles ranged from photorealistic CGI to classic hand-drawn depictions to anime. Some of the episodes are among the most visually pleasing things ever put out by Netflix. LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS is an easy watch for any fan of the sci-fi genre or animation in general.
Around 2016, it seemed like Netflix was trying so many different sci-fi concept shows. That was the year that they released Stranger Things, yet it also marked the arrival of less successful projects like The OA and 3%. Also in that category is Travelers, a sci-fi series set in a post-apocalyptic future and focuses on people with the titular job, who have their consciousness sent back in time and transferred into a present-day host to help prevent the collapse of society. Their present-day hosts are people who are about to die, lessening the impact on the future’s timeline.
This intriguing concept felt like the kind of time travel story that could grab audiences for years to come. Travelers got off to a strong start, with solid viewership numbers and a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series actually got three seasons and 34 episodes on Netflix before it was canned in early 2019. Travelers remains one of the most underrated projects Netflix has ever put out and it deserves way more fans than it had.
Altered Carbon is a show that you might have heard about when it was first premiering, but you likely didn’t actually end up watching it. The series made waves before its debut because of its hefty price tag. While the actual budget was never disclosed, star Joel Kinnaman said that it had a bigger budget than the first three seasons of Game of Thrones, and it was Netflix’s most expensive production at the time.
Based on a novel of the same name, the show is set in a world where you can transfer consciousness between different bodies and follows a former soldier as he investigates a murder. That’s a simple breakdown of a show that had a lot to juggle, so there’s kind of something for everyone. Kinnaman is joined by Anthony Mackie, Dichen Lachman, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and more to round out a great cast. The show got two seasons and 18 episodes before it was canceled, but there’s also an anime film prequel.
Before the likes of Stranger Things and even the aforementioned Travelers, it was 2015’s Sense8 that stood out atop the rankings of Netflix original sci-fi shows. Created by J. Michael Straczynski and The Wachowskis, the series centered on eight strangers from all over the world who suddenly discover that they are emotionally and mentally linked to one another, which brings them together. This premise was used to explore everything from gender to politics to sexuality and more, all within an intriguing sci-fi world.
Sense8 was praised for its diverse cast and the relationships between the characters, even if some of the stories were a bit over the top and far-fetched. Still, that’s okay in a sci-fi setting. Sense8 got 24 episodes across two seasons and its cancelation still upsets its loyal fans who fight for the show even all these years later. With nominations at the Emmys and GLAAD Awards, not many shows can match Sense8 in the sci-fi world.
Which Netflix original sci-fi show is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
