There are tons of science fiction shows out there advertised as "mind-bending" experiences, and while that might be true for many of them, it's pretty rare to find one that actually delivers on its convoluted storylines all the way through to the end.
Most people remember the big, flashy sci-fi shows like Lost and Westworld, but even more recall that both series had very divisive endings (or seasons). Then you have great shows like Archive 81 and The OA that simply got canceled before they had the chance to wrap everything up. The following list aims to highlight the few sci-fi shows out there that stay true to their mind-bending premise through the conclusion.
1. 12 Monkeys
It's not easy to pull off making a television show based on a beloved movie, but the Syfy series 12 Monkeys is the rare series that manages to achieve that impressive feat. It takes the tried-and-true "time traveling" trope we've seen in countless other sci-fi series years and reinvents it, creating an addictive and rewarding watch with a killer ending.
Juggling several timelines, multiple complex characters, and even a few paradoxes, 12 Monkeys somehow managed the gargantuan task of paying off everything it set up. Any time a show introduces time travel, it's hard to imagine everything tying together in a neat bow sans big plot holes. The fact that this Syfy show achieved that is worth recognition.
2. Orphan Black
Tatiana Maslany took the world by storm in this Canadian sci-fi thriller series where she plays 10+ different characters throughout the show's five-season run. The story starts by focusing on Sarah Manning, one of several human clones. Sarah is a con artist who finds her life flipped upside down when she witnesses the suicide of a woman who looks identical to her, thus leading her down a dark and conspiracy-laden road where she uncovers the truth about an elaborate cloning experiment and an insidious biotech company.
The series has a conclusive ending that shows significant forethought went into the planning process. The ending provides hopeful and emotional conclusions for Sarah and most of her beloved group of "sestras," something fans were pleased to see given how dark the series could get.
3. Dark
This German Netflix series is arguably one of the best and most intricately plotted science fiction series of the modern era. A unique time-travel epic that crosses several different timelines, Dark manages to weave together an incredible mythology and reach a stunning conclusion.
Given the complexity of this show's subject matter (it's basically impossible to spoil because you need to know every layer and character to understand it), it's genuinely impressive that creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friesse were able to pull it off with such finesse, creating the perfect three-season watch. It's a shame Netflix canceled Odar and Friesse's follow-up series, 1899, as I would have loved to see what direction it would have taken.
4. Fringe
Fringe was one of the sci-fi shows released during that glorious era of television when most shows were consistently producing 20+ episode seasons. Even though Fringe was only on for five, it still managed to hit the fabled 100-episode milestone. That's a rare feat nowadays, especially for a show of this nature, centered on an FBI agent and a scientist investigating strange phenomena connected to the existence of parallel universes.
Taking inspiration from predecessors like The Twilight Zone and The X-Files, Fringe really evolved throughout its run and became a cult favorite. While it never reached the same level of acclaim as similar shows, Fringe had the advantage of telling a complete story that wraps up all the major plot points by the end.
5. The Leftovers
It's hard to label a show as "perfect" since it's virtually impossible to achieve that mythic status, but that really is how I feel about Damon Lindelof's brilliant HBO series The Leftovers, adapted from the novel by Tom Perrotta. It's an exceptional series that focuses on the millions left behind when 2% (140 million people!) of the world's popular suddenly disappears.
It's kind of like when the "the snap" happened in the Marvel Universe, except this time we actually get an in-depth exploration of what that kind of disappearing act would mean for the people left behind. Lindelof was one of the creators of Lost and he helmed Watchmen for HBO, but I think The Leftovers is his magnum opus.
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