In honor of Sci-Fi November, I decided to take a look at the current Sci-Fi shows on TV. Genre shows are some of my favorites and sci-fi is near the top of the list. Even if I don’t check out all new TV shows, I place sci-fi at the top of my try list. Last week I covered the shows I like (note this is different from the shows I watch because I watch most things). This week I am going to cover a couple of shows I have more difficulty with.
Defiance (Syfy) –
Falling Skies and Defiance are both post-apocalyptic series featuring aliens’ arrival on Earth destroying most of society. But where Falling Skies is about humanity struggling to reclaim its world, Defiance is more about humanity trying to retain its humanity in the new world order. The show is maybe a little more complicated than it needed to be. There are many types of aliens, each a different species with different customs, but we don’t really get to know most of them very well. Also, we are treated as though we should already know them anyway. The series took a serious detour once it decided that one of its characters was a sort of “chosen one” with mysterious abilities. Before then, it was full of intrigue and politics, everyone trying to make it in the world, however they could–we had some people struggling for power, others searching for a home. Yet they were often thrown together to stop some outside force that threatened their delicate balance. Once Irisa became possessed (or something?) it felt like the show had split into two and was struggling to keep the two paths connected. I say, pick an area and stick with it. Concentrate on people and politics, leave the mystical beings behind.
Continuum (Syfy/Showcase) –
I am certainly not picking on the Syfy network despite the first two items on this list being from them. The reality is that with so many genre shows airing on their network, they are bound to have some so-so shows. Syfy has been responsible for some of my favorite sci-fi shows–Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, some other shows that are arguably fantasy not sci-fi–but this effort, which is actually a Canadian import is tough to swallow. It’s so…serious. I love dark shows. I love dark sci-fi, but this show lacks balance. The Walking Dead, for example is a dark show full of awful things. Children are shot in the head because they kill their sister, a boy must shoot his mother so she doesn’t become a zombie, a guy must kill his brother (twice!) to protect his friends, a mother loses her daughter, a woman loses the sister she has only just reconnected with… Yet somehow the show manages to give us some lighter moments to offset the awfulness. Glen and Maggie fall in love, Michonne and Carl bond and play games together, Beth tries alcohol for the first time. Despite all the doom and gloom the characters laugh and joke and sing. There aren’t a lot of moments like this, but there are enough. Continuum needs to find this balance. So far we have someone trapped in the past. It has been established that she essentially has no chance of reuniting with her husband and child. The one person who was supposed to be her confidant betrayed her. Her partner doesn’t really trust her. I can’t remember the last time Kira relaxed with some friends. There’s no relaxing. No friends. Not even hope really. Kira wants to return to the future, but it may not even be her future any more. What if her husband could send a message back in time to her to say he’s still waiting for her? Something to show us she might see her little boy.
Extant (CBS)-
The problem with this show is it is too unfocused (or too ambiguous). One storyline was about a couple that could not have their own children and instead raised a robotic child that they had created. They struggle to get funding for their robotics research and connect with their son. Is he a real boy? Should he have a failsafe? Can he love them? These are a fascinating set of questions and when dealt with, the show is really strong. Then there is a second storyline, about a woman who returns from a 13 month solo mission in space, pregnant despite being infertile. There’s also some sort of conspiracy involved and other people’s mysterious deaths or disappearances. It is a complicated, twisted story that seems entirely unnecessary given the other, infinitely more fascinating human interest aspect. I like Halle Berry in many other things but here she felt mostly superfluous (except when struggling to relate to her robot son). I was surprised to hear it got renewed for a second season. Was anyone watching?
So sci-fi fans, what are you thinking?
What shows do you think hit the mark?
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