By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
While there are some great sci-fi communities out there, sci-fi fans are usually a picky. After all, it’s tough not to measure new shows against classic shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and point out where a new series falls short.
However, a handful of modern sci-fi shows have achieved the impossible and made everyone happy. They’re guaranteed to be good, and you don’t have to be a Slop Eater to enjoy them.
These are the few, the proud, the Sci-Fi shows with 100%.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return
The original Mystery Science Theater 3000 became a nerd staple because it was art imitating life: just as sci-fi fans have made rituals about watching awful movies and laughing at them, this was a show about a man forced to watch awful programming alongside his wisecracking robot companions.
Netflix brought this sci-fi classic back with Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return. We have a new human protagonist played by Jonah Ray, and he has new foes, including the amazing Felicia Day. For all the changes, though, the show keeps the classic feeling by bringing back the original bots and bringing in more hilariously cringeworthy movies for everyone to endure.
Travelers
Speaking of high-concept science fiction, Travelers is a show that features two staples of the genre: time travel and a postapocalyptic setting. However, this Netflix sci-fi show adds an interesting twist: rather than entire bodies traveling backward in time, we see consciousnesses from the future that are sent back to aging host bodies in our present day.
Travelers methodically answers the audience’s inevitable questions about how the titular travelers learn about the bodies they will be occupying. Beyond that, what will keep you watching is learning more about the mysterious AI assigning these travelers essential missions that may completely change the face of the future.
Katla
Katla is a Netflix sci-fi series that doesn’t immediately scream “science fiction.” It takes its name from a volcano in Iceland that erupted one year ago in this show’s world and left a handful of people living in the nearby village of Vik. However, things take a turn when a woman returns to the village after 20 years and inexplicably looks exactly as she did two decades ago. Pretty soon, the entire town is trying to get to the bottom of the growing mystery as more people return from the past looking completely unchanged
Osmosis
While some science fiction takes place in the distant future, we’ve always had a soft spot for sci-fi that holds a mirror up to our current world. That’s certainly what Osmosis is doing: this Netflix sci-fi series focuses on a dating app with the special twist that it scans users’ brains to find them the perfect romantic partner.
The show delves into the lengths that humanity will go to to find love. Along the way, it forces us to question everything from the accuracy of algorithms to the nature of true love. And, of course, it adds a dash of paranoia regarding the dangers of trusting so much of our lives to technology that may very well have nefarious ulterior motives.
Love, Death & Robots – Volumes III & IV
Love, Death & Robots is a Netflix anthology series blending science fiction, fantasy, and horror through short animated stories. The first two seasons are good, but the third and fourth, titled Volumes III and IV, refined the show’s formula.
Each episode offers a standalone narrative and distinct visual style, from photorealistic CGI to surrealist 2D. These seasons focus less on shock value and more on mood and theme, with stories about AI evolution, cosmic isolation, and human frailty. The third volume includes standout entries like “Bad Travelling,” directed by David Fincher, while Volume IV continues the trend of pairing experimental visuals with grounded, often bleak storytelling.
Pantheon
Pantheon is an adult animated sci‑fi drama on Netflix, based on Ken Liu’s short fiction and produced by Craig Silverstein. It follows Maddie, a grieving teenager who begins receiving messages from her deceased father, now existing as a digital consciousness uploaded to the cloud. Alongside Caspian, a gifted teen raised within a controlled environment, and Vinod, an engineer converted into a rogue uploaded intelligence (UI), they uncover a global conspiracy tied to the rise of mind‑uploading technology. Across two seasons, the show explores themes of identity, ethics, and the societal implications of virtual immortality with thoughtful pacing and character‑driven storytelling.
Scavengers Reign
Scavengers Reign is an adult animated sci‑fi drama that follows survivors of the freighter Demeter 227 who crash on Vesta, a planet lush with hostile, evolving life. Split into three groups. Azi with her robot Levi, Sam and Ursula, and the isolated Kamen. The story tracks their parallel journeys toward the ship’s crash site. Levi undergoes a strange transformation, ecosystems feel alive and ambiguous, and Kamen forms a fragile bond with a telepathic creature. Across 12 episodes, the series gradually reveals its ecosystem’s strangeness and the psychological impact of isolation.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
It had a rough start, but after some patches, Cyberpunk 2077 became one of the best video games of the modern era. It allowed players to bask in its Blade Runner-esque setting while establishing characters and settings that are wholly original and wholly captivating. As the name implies, the Netflix sci-fi series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners takes place in that world, but it’s easy to enjoy the show even if you’ve never checked out the game. It’s the story of protagonist David Martinez, who turns from a promising student to a prospering criminal, making for one of the most fulfilling arcs we’ve ever watched.
Pluto
Some of the best science fiction ever made takes familiar stories and tropes and turns them on their head. This is the case with Pluto, an anime murder mystery with a twist: the chief investigator is a robot who seems on the verge of becoming a victim himself. This Netflix sci-fi show obviously has plenty to love for mystery fans, but it’s also a feast for anime lovers or anyone who enjoys an ambitious cartoon. Plus, this world of humans and robots living uneasily together mirrors our current anxieties about AI in a way that adds emotional heft to each episode.
The Hollow
Ever watch an episode of Star Trek and think, “Wow, they could make an entirely new series off this idea?” That’s basically the vibe of The Hollow, an animated series focusing on teenagers who wake up in a very different world and have no memory of who they are. The charm of this Netflix sci-fi series primarily comes from the great characters: thanks to the fun premise, audiences get to learn more about them even as they rediscover who they are. Aside from the characters, the magical world of the titular Hollow has a special charm that will keep you watching until the very end.
