Running for three seasons, Netflix’s German offering Dark has set a high precedent for shows that deal with sci-fi and time travel. It begins with the disappearance of two children in a German village, but this premise elevates to a sinister conspiracy that involves going back in time. The thrills aside, Dark also offers a philosophical take on its subject matter as it reveals the existential impact that time can have on human nature.
After achieving rave reviews from public and critics alike, the show ended its run this year with an ambitious farewell season. Here are a few other picks similar to Dark in terms of tone, visuals, or premise that fans can add to their watchlist.
10 12 Monkeys
Carrying on the legacy of Terry Gilliam’s original cult film of the same name, 12 Monkeys is a Syfy series that involves time-traveling to the present to stop an organization called the ‘Army of the 12 Monkeys’ that might end up bringing the apocalypse in the future.
The premise seems similar to the film, but it adds fresh narratives and more human elements to make the show all the more compelling. Even though it had a rocky start with mixed reviews for its debut season, its other three seasons elevated the intellectual nature of the show, adding enough elements to turn it into a good mystery too.
9 Counterpart
JK Simmons shows his versatility as both a mild-mannered man and a top-level spy in this strongly-written show that ran for two seasons. Simmons is introduced as Howard Silk, a dedicated, modest widower working at a low-level position in a spy agency. However, things take a dark turn when he finds out that the agency also houses a time portal to another dimension.
Hoping that he finds his wife alive and well in a parallel dimension, he takes a leap through the portal only to find that his doppelganger is his polar opposite. Simmon’s composed performance and a Cold War-like scenario in the alternate timeline are the highlights of Counterpart.
8 Wayward Pines
Wayward Pines is very similar to Dark in the sense that both shows have events triggered by a disappearance. In the case of this Fox series, two Secret Service agents go missing in the forests of the sleepy town known as Wayward Pines. When a fellow agent (played by Matt Dillon) investigates the case, he unearths a plot that involves time travel and an authoritarian regime in the town under its strict sheriff (played by Terrence Howard).
Howard and Dillon shine in their performances as the plot charters more mind-bending territories. While the second season is set many years later and takes on different perspectives, the first season is still lauded as an engaging sci-fi mystery and a welcoming comeback for executive producer and director M Night Shyamalan.
7 The 100
Reaching its end this August, The 100 seems like a generic dystopian Young Adult show on the surface. The basic plotline is set in post-apocalyptic earth with a decimated population. After this destruction, 100 young prisoners are set free to test the habitable nature of the wasteland that our planet has turned into.
The 100 doesn’t shy away from its cliches and genre trappings, but yet it makes for an engaging watch with decent production design and visual effects.
6 The OA
After a blind girl who disappeared for 7 years comes back to the present, she seems to be hiding secrets of what went down with her all this time. She can see now, has a fair share of powers, and adopts the alias ‘The OA’. She also starts recruiting strangers for a secret mission.
The OA is a slow-burn thriller that picks up its pace with each episode. It was saddening for many fans when Netflix canned the show after just two seasons, leaving an open-ended finale. But yet, the show’s impact and fandom still survive.
5 11.22.63
Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, this miniseries stars James Franco as a man who travels back to the 60s in order to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (a story arc that can also be found in the second season of The Umbrella Academy). Apart from tracking down his assassin, he also finds a new life as an English teacher and falls in love with a woman back in time.
The show remains true to its source material and aptly portrays the society and racism present in the era it’s set in, with neither too much grandeur nor simplicity. It strikes the balance being a time-travel thriller and simultaneously highlighting the protagonist’s romantic angle with enough drama and romance.
4 Stranger Things
Stranger Things is more than a show, it’s a phenomenon, as can be seen from the way it revolutionized 80s nostalgia, Netflix’s branding, and the careers of its leading cast members. When a mysterious girl with telekinetic powers escapes a lab facility in the 80s, she befriends a group of geeky pre-teens in a small town.
Staying true to its title, the show delivers one strange thing after the other with an angle that involves the Cold War and an alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. There are many reasons to binge this cult show, from its nostalgic soundtrack and production design to its visual effects to the emotional story arcs given to each of its main characters.
3 Timeless
Timeless explores the possibility of a world where there can be good time-travelers and bad-time travelers. A simple way of understanding the show is that a notorious time-traveler ends up messing up historical timelines, while the good ones (a team comprising of an engineer, a soldier, and a history professor) try their best to restore history. As these entanglements continue, time as we know it starts changing with some drastic effects.
It’s not as intellectually conceptualized as the other entries on this list, but is still a fun-filled action sci-fi show that doesn’t take itself seriously with its over-the-top premise.
2 Future Man
Executively produced by Seth Rogen, Future Man is a wacky take on the genre of time-travel. Starring Josh Hutcherson as the titular protagonist, a janitor gets recruited by characters that pop out of a video-game and instruct him to save the world by traveling back in time.
This journey then follows funny throwbacks to the 50s and 80s, with heartwarming scenes that are high on the series’ overall goofball humor as well as its smart writing that satirizes similar movies and shows.
1 Maniac
A Norwegian sci-fi comedy is what inspired this Netflix miniseries. However, this update ditches the light-hearted satire from its original and explores its content in a deeper and more surreal manner. Two strangers facing their inner demons (played by Jonah Hill and Emma Stone in full form) meet at a clinical test in the future that claims to permanently solve their mental traumas and issues.
As expected, these tests take another turn, with side-effects which involves hopping to various simulated realities and timelines to face their fears from the past. With diverse and colorful settings, its themes around AI’s interaction with humans, and its ‘Eternal Sunshine‘ style of memory alteration makes Maniac a show that’s one of its kind.
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