7 HBO Sci-Fi Shows Where Every Episode Is a Masterpiece

Published Sep 27, 2026, 11:22 PM EDT

Dyah (pronounced Dee-yah) is a Senior Author at Collider, responsible for both writing and transcription duties. She joined the website in 2022 as a Resource Writer before stepping into her current role in April 2023. As a Senior Author, she writes Features and Lists covering TV, music, and movies, making her a true Jill of all trades. In addition to her writing, Dyah also serves as an interview transcriber, primarily for events such as San Diego Comic-Con, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival.

Dyah graduated from Satya Wacana Christian University in October 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, concentrating on Creative Writing. On March 2026, Dyah graduated with Master's degree in English Literature Studies, with a thesis on intersectionality in postcolonial-feminist studies in Asian literary works.

Born and raised between Indonesia and Singapore, Dyah is no stranger to different cultures. She now resides in the small town of Kendal with her husband and four cats, where she spends her free time cooking or cycling.

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When it comes to prestige television, nothing comes close to HBO. With a total of 1,500 Primetime Emmy nominations and more than 220 wins, HBO has built its reputation on taking creative risks and putting fresh twists on any genre, be it drama, comedy, or even sci-fi.

While sci-fi is often known for pushing the boundaries of science, these HBO sci-fi shows put humanity first, giving even non-sci-fi watchers a chance to connect with the characters and stories without having to get caught up in all the hard science. From androids raising human children to a bunch of wealthy passengers getting trapped on a space vacation, here are HBO sci-fi shows where every episode is a masterpiece.

'Peacemaker' (2022–2025)

Image via HBO Max

Taking place five months after The Suicide Squad, the sci-fi-adjacent superhero series Peacemaker follows Christopher Smith (John Cena) as he recovers from his near-fatal injuries sustained during the mission. Struggling with his identity as an anti-hero and his belief that "the ends justify the means," Peacemaker is approached by A.R.G.U.S. to join a covert operation that forces him to work alongside a bunch of dysfunctional misfits.

While the superhero premise is obviously front and center, Peacemaker also has an overlooked sci-fi element that's often overshadowed by its superhero premise. Think mind-controlling Butterflies that invade human bodies and consume their brains from the inside, turning their hosts into obedient vessels. The show also introduces alternate realities, including a parallel universe with a radically different version of Earth and its history. These bizarre concepts make Peacemaker feel much stranger than a typical superhero series, especially when its absurd sci-fi ideas are thrown into the middle of an otherwise grounded team mission.

'Westworld' (2016–2022)

Image via HBO

Westworld is set in a futuristic theme park where lifelike robotic Hosts cater to wealthy guests' every desire, including violence and sex. But when several Hosts begin recovering memories of their brutal pasts, they develop a sense of consciousness and turn against their creators. As Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) awaken to their reality, a rebellion threatens to expose Delos' darkest secrets.

While the Hosts are intriguing as they push beyond their cognitive limitations, the park itself is practically its own character in Westworld. Its Western aesthetic isn't purely for show, as it brings familiar elements like gunslingers, outlaws, saloons, and frontier towns into a futuristic setting, while wealthy human guests treat those stories as their personal playground. The introduction of other parks, including the Japanese-inspired Shōgunworld, expands this idea even further, showing Hosts being forced to perform predetermined identities within carefully constructed worlds. As the Hosts awaken, these artificial worlds become a fascinating reflection of the roles humans force them to play.

'Watchmen' (2019)

Image via HBO

With one of America's most devastating tragedies serving as the launching pad for the show, Watchmen follows Angela Abar (Regina King), a detective who operates under the masked identity of Sister Night in an alternate 2019 where masked vigilantes are outlawed. As Angela investigates a murder tied to the past, she uncovers conspiracies involving certain controversial groups.

Audiences don't have to read the original Watchmen graphic novel to understand the show, especially since it expands the original story by introducing new characters and ideas. Even more impressive is its ability to tie the fictional world to real U.S. history, giving the show even more weight as the story gets increasingly graphic. The Tulsa Massacre, a real event in which a thriving Black community was attacked and destroyed, becomes central to Angela's story and the show's exploration of racism, generational trauma, and how Black history can be erased or forgotten.

'The Leftovers' (2014–2017)

The Leftovers takes place three years after the inexplicable "Sudden Departure," when 2% of the world's population mysteriously disappears. The series follows police chief Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) as he struggles to hold his family and community together amid the aftermath, while cults like the Guilty Remnant emerge and survivors like Nora Durst (Carrie Coon) grapple with unimaginable loss in a world searching for answers.

Instead of treating the "Sudden Departure" as a mystery that requires solving, The Leftovers exists as this earthly purgatory, where people try to live through the uncertainty and process their grief. That's something viewers have in common with these characters, as we watch them process grief in completely different ways, making it both a collective and individual experience simultaneously. While the first season can be overwhelmingly bleak, the following seasons inject more humor, hope, and surrealism, perfectly illustrating the absurdity of living in a reality where nobody knows why 2% of humanity disappeared.

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Star Wars Faction Do You Belong To? Rebels · Empire · Mandalorians · Crimson Dawn

Eight honest questions about how you actually are: how you feel about rules, where your loyalty goes first, what you do when somebody criticises you in front of other people. Answer them and we will tell you whose side you would really have ended up on. Four factions are recruiting: the believers, the organisation, the ones with a code, and the ones with a price.

✊Rebel Alliance(Andor)

🛰️The Empire(Original Trilogy)

🪖Mandalorians(The Mandalorian)

🌅Crimson Dawn(Solo)

PICK YOUR SIDE →

01

How do you feel about rules at work? This one sorts people faster than anything else.

AI break the ones that are clearly wrong. BThey exist for a reason and I follow them. CI follow my own, which are stricter. DRules are a starting position for a negotiation.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

What is your relationship with money? Nobody answers this the way they think they will.

AI get by, and that is genuinely fine. BA steady salary and a clear ladder. CI take exactly what the work is worth. DNever enough, and I know how to get more.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

What makes you respect somebody? Whatever you pick, you apply it to yourself too.

AThat they speak up when it costs them. BThat they are very good at their job. CThat they keep their word without exception. DThat they deliver, whatever it takes.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

How do you behave under real pressure? Your friends would probably answer this for you.

ALoud and improvised, but I get there. BCalmly, and strictly by the book. CQuietly, and one step at a time. DColdly, which people find slightly unnerving.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

Where does your loyalty go first? Everybody has an order, even if they never say it out loud.

ATo the thing I believe in. BTo the organisation that took me on. CTo the people I grew up with. DTo whoever I currently have a deal with.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

Somebody criticises you in front of other people. What happens? Be honest about the first thing you feel.

AI argue back, right there and then. BI take it, then raise it through the proper channel. CI say nothing at all, and I remember it. DI smile, and make them regret it later.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

What does a good life look like in ten years? Pick the one you would actually be happy with.

ASomething I helped change, still standing. BA title, a team and a decent office. CA home, a family and my people safe. DOwning the thing I used to work for.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

What do you want more than anything else? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your side.

ATo be on the right side of it. BOrder, and a clear place inside it. CTo belong somewhere that would never abandon me. DPower, and nobody above me.

REVEAL MY FACTION →

The Transmission Is Decoded Your Faction Is…

Four sides, four completely different answers to the same question about how a galaxy should work. Here is where you would have signed up, what it would ask of you, and what it would give you back.

Rebel Alliance

You belong with the side that has almost nothing and keeps going anyway. The Rebellion is not a glamorous posting, and anybody who tells you otherwise has not seen what it actually costs the people inside it.

• You are wired to notice when something is wrong and to say so, which makes you useful here and awkward almost everywhere else.
• Andor is the best thing Star Wars has made in years precisely because it shows the unglamorous half, which is the meetings, the paperwork and the people who never get a medal.
• Your kind of courage is the ordinary kind, done repeatedly, by somebody who is fully aware of the odds.
• The Alliance wins because enough people decided separately that they were finished being quiet about it.

The Galactic Empire

You belong to the machine, and the uncomfortable truth is that the machine mostly runs on people who are competent, orderly and convinced they are doing their job properly. Very few of them think of themselves as villains.

• You want structure, clear expectations and a way to measure whether you are doing well, none of which the other three factions can offer you.
• The Empire is frightening because of how ordinary it is on the inside, which is the single smartest thing Star Wars has ever done with it.
• Your risk is the quiet one, which is looking at something wrong and deciding it is somebody else's department.
• You would be genuinely good at this, and that is exactly the part worth thinking about.

The Mandalorians

You belong to the people who lost their planet and kept their code anyway. Mandalorian culture is not a nationality so much as a promise, and anybody who makes that promise and keeps it is one of them.

• You are loyal to people rather than to institutions, which is why an organisation chart has never once told you who you actually owe.
• A code only counts when it costs you something, and you are the sort of person who would pay rather than bend it.
• Mandalorians spend the whole saga arguing about what being one even means, and that argument is far more interesting than the armour.
• The Mandalorian and Grogu took the creed to cinemas over Memorial Day 2026, the first Star Wars film in seven years.

Crimson Dawn

You belong to the syndicate, where nobody wastes your time pretending the galaxy runs on ideals. Crimson Dawn deals in leverage, and it is the only faction on this list that would tell you so to your face.

• You read a room for who owes what, and you are usually right, which is a talent that makes people slightly wary of you.
• Qi'ra is the most interesting thing to come out of Solo, because she is the one character who learned the actual lesson about power.
• You would rather be the person setting the terms than the person being told what the terms are.
• The catch is simple enough. In a syndicate, everybody is leverage, including you, and the smart ones never forget that part.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'Raised by Wolves' (2020–2022)

Image via HBO Max

Raised by Wolves follows two androids, Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim), tasked with raising human children on Kepler-22b after Earth is devastated by bloody war. As the small colony grows, religious differences threaten to tear the survivors apart, forcing the androids to confront the consequences of raising humanity while attempting to control the beliefs shaping their society.

Unlike your typical emotionless androids, Mother and Father develop their own personalities and attachments. Mother, in particular, begins to question the limits of her programming as she forms a bond with the children. It's also a show that bravely tackles heavier subjects like religion and how belief can sometimes manifest as overzealousness when things are taken too far. Marcus' visions of Sol further complicate the conflict, showing how quickly faith can influence people's actions. In the end, though, Raised by Wolves emphasizes that belief is more complex than we realize.

'Station Eleven' (2021–2022)

Image via HBO Max

In the aftermath of a civilization-wiping flu pandemic, Station Eleven follows the effects of the incident, switching between the outbreak's early days and 20 years later. Among them is Kirsten Raymonde (Mackenzie Davis), who grows from a traumatized child into a resilient woman traveling with the Traveling Symphony, a troupe of performers preserving art in the post-apocalyptic world.

Post-apocalyptic shows tend to be bleak and despondent. That's not the case for Station Eleven. Basic needs like food and water are crucial, but so is nourishment for the soul. Through the Traveling Symphony, Kirsten and her crew bring life to communities with Shakespeare, music, and a sense of connection that reminds survivors of what makes life worth living. Rather than simply showing people struggling to survive, the series asks what they should live for after everything familiar has disappeared. The Traveling Symphony's performances become a way for survivors to reconnect with their humanity, proving that art can endure even when civilization does not.

'Avenue 5' (2020–2022)

Image via HBO

Space flights are a huge risk, but space tourism is a different kind of danger. Avenue 5 follows the wealthy passengers and inept crew of a luxury interplanetary cruise ship after a maintenance accident sends the vessel 0.21 degrees off course. Instead of the eight-week outer-space trip they signed up for, it becomes a three-year journey home.

Considering the nature of space tourism today, Avenue 5 is the perfect satire of how the wealthy think they're completely invincible. Just because they can afford a ticket doesn't make them immune to disaster. And when they inevitably find themselves in trouble, their lack of preparation becomes the perfect source of workplace-ish mishaps. The passengers expect the crew to solve every problem because they've paid for a luxury experience, while the crew itself is barely equipped to handle the crisis. This makes the show's central joke especially effective: money can buy you a ticket to space, but it can't buy you immunity from disaster.

Avenue 5

• 

  Ryan Clark

• 

  Dawn Djopi

• 

  Josh Gad

  Herman Judd

• 

  Jordan Hatwal

The troubled crew of Avenue 5, a space cruise ship filled with spoiled, rich, snotty space tourists, must try and keep everyone calm after their ship gets thrown off course into space and ends up needing three years to return to Earth.