Somehow, 2025 is already nearly at an end. Winter storms are piling up snow, the holidays are racing toward us, and soon enough we'll be ringing in the new year. Where has the time gone?
Well, if you're like us, a fair amount of it probably went to getting so deeply immersed in your favorite stories that time lost all meaning. And my were there a lot of good ones this year. From epic fantasy shows to mind-bending sci-fi, sweeping books sagas, and excellently crafted video games, there was so much to take in in 2025. Now it's time to look back and honor those stories that most moved us.
Today we're digging into the best fantasy and science fiction shows of the past 12 months. It was a banger of a year for genre television with several critically acclaimed shows returning, others finishing out there runs, and yet others debuting for the first time which are destined to become new classics. As always, these sorts of lists get the disclaimer that this is based on personal taste — we'd love to hear how your top 10 differs in the comments.
But for now, let's run through our 10 favorite science fiction and fantasy shows of 2025!
10. Alien: Earth
Alien: Earth had a colossal task in front of it in bringing the iconic sci-fi horror film franchise to the small screen, and on most counts, it succeeded. Fargo creator Noah Hawley brought his full franchise-expanding sensibilities to bear in the playbox formerly inhabited by greats like Ridley Scott and James Cameron. The result was a season of television that paid homage to what came before while firmly marking out its own territory in the wider Alien saga, introducing new creatures, new types of androids, and new scheming business oligarchs causing everything to collapse under the weight of their own selfish ambitions.
Alien: Earth comes in at the bottom of the list because despite how notable it was, there were a few rough points in the show, particularly in its final two episodes and in the way it often sidelined the Xenomorph in favor of the newer creatures. But on the whole, Alien: Earth is well worth the time for any fan of the series. Its fifth episode in particular is stunning, re-creating the beats of the original Alien film with Hawley's new monsters to great effect. Alien: Earth got its spidery tentacles around us and refused to let go until the credits rolled on its first season.
9. The Last of Us season 2
HBO's hit post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us returned for its second season early this year, and it was a daring expansion on the show that viewers came to know and love from the previous outing. The Last of Us season 2 adapted a much bolder and more complicated video game than its predecessor, and it had to take some massive swings in order to make it happen. Whether you expected the surprise death of Joel (Pedro Pascal) at the start of the season or not, there's no denying that it was one of the most intense on-screen moments for any genre show of the year.
The Last of Us had a shortened runtime of only seven episodes for season 2, which at times made it feel a little rushed and is the only reason it doesn't rank higher on this list. With bigger set pieces and the same sharp writing as the first season, The Last of Us season 2 made an impression and left us very eager to see what happens next for Ellie (Bella Ramsey), Dina (Isabela Merced), and their nemesis Abby (Kaitlyn Dever).
8. The Witcher season 4
It was an important year for Netflix's monster-hunting fantasy series The Witcher. After the departure of previous star Henry Cavill, season 4 debuted Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia. This could have been a moment where the show went truly off the rails, but instead it delivered a solid and highly watchable season which saw Geralt, his foster daughter Ciri (Freya Allan), and his sorcereress lover Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra) spread across the map on different quests.
That variety was one of the great strengths of The Witcher season 4, as the show finally found a way to make its ensemble cast sing without Cavill propping everything up. Hemsworth did a solid job as Geralt, but it was Ciri and the sadistic mercenary Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley) who truly stole the show in season 4. The Witcher carved out its place on this list with blood, sweat, and tears, and it deserves a lot of credit for doing so when the odds were stacked against it.
7. Severance season 2
After nearly three years, Apple TV's mind-bending sci-fi drama Severance finally returned for its second season in 2025. This show began as a story about people who "severed" their work lives from their personal lives, creating alter egos (called "Innies") who existed only when they were on the job at Lumon Industries. But by season 2, the story has grown much more complicated, as it's become apparent that more nefarious goals are being pursued by the company.
Severance was even more experimental in its second season than its first, digging into the mystery box lore of Lumon's history and changing things up in unexpected ways, such as featuring an episode where the Innies suddenly woke up on an arctic field trip. At the same time, it kept the heart of the story front-and-center, as Mark (Adam Scott) searched for his imprisoned wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman), who he previously believed was dead but was secretly being exposed to horrific experiments in Lumon's basement. Season 2 left off on a wild cliffhanger, so hopefully we won't be waiting quite as long for Severance season 3!
6. Fallout season 2
Is it a little insane that I'm including Fallout on this list even though it's only premiered one episode on Prime Video by the time of this writing? You might think so, but I was fortunate enough to watch the first six episodes of this series early, and it was enough of a long view on the season that I'm extremely confident it belongs on this list. We'll see the first three episodes by the end of 2025, with the rest airing in 2026, and it's going to be a heck of a ride through the Wasteland.
Fallout season 2 expands on the beloved video game series with deeper character journeys, more fun references and whacky situations, some of the best practical creature effects of any show in recent memory, and a hilarious commitment to capturing the franchise's darkly comedic tone. It's setting a new gold standard for video game adaptations, and is a raucously good time to boot.
5. Pluribus
Pluribus is the latest brainchild of Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, and therefore it should go without saying that it's an excellently crafted and thought-provoking show. Gilligan doesn't miss; should we have really expected anything else?
However, Pluribus represents a departure for Gilligan and his team in that it's a hard science fiction series where the Earth is promptly taken over by an alien virus that turns the entire human race into a blissful hive mind. Only perpetually unhappy author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) and a handful of other people are immune to the virus, and have to wrangle with moral questions about whether it would be better to sacrifice their individuality to commune with the Joining, or fight to restore humanity's flawed existence.
Pluribus is one of those shows where it is so hard to predict where the story might lead. But wherever Gilligan takes us, the show has already proven it'll be a worthwhile journey.
4. Murderbot
If you read a lot of sci-fi books, you are probably among the legion of fans who rejoiced earlier this year when Martha Wells' beloved Murderbot Diaries series made the leap to the small screen on Apple TV. Murderbot follows a self-hacking security unit played by Alexander Skarsgård who has to pretend to still be subservient to humans, but really just wants to ignore them and watch cheesy television shows instead. Who among us?
Murderbot perfectly captured the quirky tone of Wells' books while also forging its own path, delighting in its new medium with meta jokes that popped extra for being on television. It had a fantastic cast delivering great performances, fun and colorful settings, and a story that seemed like it was mostly fun and games until it came along and punched you right in the heart at a few key moments. Murderbot was both one of the best genre shows of the year, as well as one of the most enjoyable to watch. Thankfully, Apple TV did the smart thing and renewed it for season 2, so we'll get more adventures with the SecUnit in the future.
3. The Wheel of Time season 3
Ah, The Wheel of Time. While it doesn't take the top spot, this is my personal favorite show on the list. Adapting the iconic fantasy saga from Robert Jordan, Prime Video's show finally came into its own in season 3, delivering by far its best episodes as it tackled material from one of Jordan's most beloved books, The Shadow Rising.
The Wheel of Time is a fantasy series with a capital F, where a prophesied hero named Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski) is destined to either save the world or break it, and magical forces both benevolent and nefarious seek to use him for their own ends. The worldbuilding in this series is so dense and detailed that encyclopedias could be written about it — and indeed, they have.
The Wheel of Time season 3 peaked with "The Road to the Spear," a time-traveling journey through the history of the Aiel people that isn't just one of the best episodes of genre TV of 2025, but one of the best period. But it wasn't alone in its quality; every other episode of the season was similarly well-crafted, resulting in a journey that felt epic and intimate by turns, and left me craving more.
Sadly, Prime Video made one of the worst television decisions of the year and canceled The Wheel of Time after this spectacular season. But at least we'll always have Rhuidean.
2. Stranger Things 5
As I write this, we're deep into the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, Netflix's premiere sci-fi horror series. The show has become a proper phenomenon of the likes we haven't seen since Game of Thrones' heydey, so it should be no surprise that it's final season feels like a huge deal. By the end of December, we'll have seen the last of beloved characters like Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), and all the rest.
Stranger Things 5 starts at a full tilt, thanks to an amazing set up at the end of season 4 where the evil Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) fractured the town of Hawkins in an attempt to merge it with the Upside Down. While season 4 spread our characters around the world, season 5 brings them all back together in Hawkins for the ultimate showdown. The first four episodes were strong, with a truly wild twist by the end of Episode 4 that set expectations high for the rest of the season.
It may be too early to rule on Stranger Things 5 as a whole, but given the fervor surrounding it and the gravity of this beloved show ending, it will assuredly go down as one of the biggest highlights of genre television in a year filled with them.
1. Andor season 2
While all the shows in this list had their highlights, if there's one series that can be said to have been as close to perfect as it was possible to get, it's Andor season 2. A few years ago when Andor was announced, I and many other fans were ambivalent to say the least. A whole spinoff about that spy from Rogue One who wasn't even the main character of the movie? What was Disney thinking?
What they were thinking was that they trusted creator Tony Gilroy, whose vision for Andor was so sharp that it elevated this series to the status of an all-time great. The Star Wars canon is filled with epic tales of Jedi battling on exotic worlds and armies clashing, but Andor isn't that kind of story. Instead it makes Star Wars feel real and gritty as it homes in on the ordinary people at the heart of the Rebellion that would one day topple the Empire. The themes were immense and timely, and there was a feeling that Gilroy and everyone else involved knew they were making something special.
When the dust settles on 2025, I have no doubt that viewers will look back on all of these memorable shows with varying feelings of fondness. But if there's one that deserves its spot at the top of the list, it's Andor.