One of the great things about science fiction is that it can tell pretty much any kind of story. Maybe it’s a swashbuckling adventure across the universe, or maybe it’s a quiet personal drama in a remote outpost. Sci-fi stories take place in the past, present and future, on Earth or on other planets and dimensions. There’s no limit to the storytelling, which means sometimes audiences have trouble getting a handle on it.
For whatever reason, these three sci-fi shows passed by without reaching a wider audience, despite telling smart, engaging stories that tackle big questions about existence, as the best sci-fi should. Now’s your chance to catch up on some great TV, with my picks for the three best sci-fi shows on Prime Video that you probably missed out on.
‘Undone’
Undone – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube
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The rotoscoped animation of this trippy series about a woman who becomes unstuck in time gives it an off-kilter visual style to go with its mind-bending narrative. Rosa Salazar plays Alma Winograd-Diaz, whose mundane life is thrown into chaos when she starts seeing her dead father, Jacob (Bob Odenkirk,) following a car accident. Jacob tells her that she now has the power to travel through time and that he needs her help to solve his own murder, 20 years earlier.
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As Alma navigates multiple timelines, “Undone” plays with the idea that all her traversing of space and time may be a manifestation of mental illness, leaving just enough mystery for the audience to question Alma’s reality. Questioning reality is the core theme of “Undone,” which balances heady sci-fi concepts with grounded family drama and affecting explorations of identity.
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‘Night Sky’
Night Sky – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube
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The combined acting talents of Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons anchor this sensitive series about an aging couple who access a portal to another dimension beneath a shed in their backyard. Irene and Franklin York have been traveling back and forth through the portal regularly for two decades, simply to sit quietly and observe an alien landscape, when they discover a mysterious man on the other side of the door.
That sets in motion a series of events that reveal the portal’s origins and change the lives of these quiet small-town residents forever. The sci-fi story unfolds slowly, but “Night Sky” is affecting simply as a show about a longtime married couple easing into their twilight years, dealing with everyday challenges and supporting each other through tough times. Those tough times just happen to also involve an interdimensional conspiracy.
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‘Vagrant Queen’
VAGRANT QUEEN | Official Trailer 1 | SYFY – YouTube
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Based on a colorful, freewheeling comic book series, this intergalactic action-adventure is an endearing throwback to the Saturday-afternoon syndicated sci-fi series of the 1980s and ’90s. Adriyan Rae plays the title character, heir to the throne of a planet that has been taken over by an evil galaxy-spanning empire. Rae’s Elida has no desire to return home and reclaim her birthright, but agents of the empire and hardcore royalists are both tracking her across the solar system.
Along the way, Elida teams up with a couple of fellow scrappy outsiders in order to stay one step ahead of her pursuers. That leads them to plenty of ramshackle backwater space outposts, where they often shoot their way out of danger while engaging in snappy banter. “Vagrant Queen” is a lively, fun retro sci-fi series that never takes itself too seriously.
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