The Year 2020 in SciFi Was…Pretty Good, Actually
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge SciFi geek. There’s something about seeing creative people imagine the future, the past, the present, in ways that don’t exist…but maybe could. Star Trek, Star Wars, Westworld, The Expanse, and others are all worlds that, as I watch their various installments, give my own imagination a new fizz, and make me want to work on my own SciFi novel project that I’ve been working on for…ten years? I think it’s been ten years.
But the year 2020, despite being a solid, non-stop dumpster fire, has actually been a perfect 5/7 in terms of SciFi content. Three new seasons of Star Trek, a new season each of The Mandalorian, Westworld, The Expanse, are all shows I’ve been able to keep up on this year (no movies because…well…this year), and there’s more coming. But let’s talk about what has landed this year…
Westworld (HBO)
- 2020’s Season: 3
- 2020 Season Debut: March 15, 2020
- Debut Episode: “Parce Domine”
- Total Episodes: 8
- In a Nutshell: The great William Faulkner is often credited with the writing advice “murder your darlings.” Westworld‘s Season Three is what happens when you do that, but keep churning out content anyway.
I wanted Westworld‘s third season to work. They brought in Aaron Paul, after all, and I’m a huge fan of his work in Breaking Bad. Instead we ended up with…the only real clunker on this list.
The biggest problem is, Westworld‘s writers appear to have completely misunderstood who the real “star” of the show is. It’s not the increasingly psychotic Delores Abernathy [Evan Rachel Wood], it’s not the patently brilliant Maeve Millay [played by the equally brilliant Thandie Newton], it’s not the programmer-who-discovers-who-he-really-in Bernard Lowe [also played brilliantly, by Jeffrey Wright and his ubiquitous beard].
It’s the park. The world of Westworld is…the Westworld Theme Park, and all its companion experience parks (Futureworld, Shogunworld, Warworld, The Raj, etc.). And guess what is not in Season Three?
This isn’t the first time Westworld has blown everything up in hopes that the writers could pick up the pieces and reassemble them for a new season. But this is their weakest attempt at it.
The positives? Once again, a great cast puts in as great a performance as anyone could expect given the written content. Particular props to America’s favorite Frenchman, Vincent Cassel, in his convincing and sometimes terrifying portrayal of season villain Engerraund Serac.
It’s also a beautiful show. The imagery, scene decisions, and portrayal of near-future Los Angeles continues the series’ reputation for top-notch cinematograhy.
Ultimately, however, the writing and conceptualization are really a let down. But if you’ve run out of other shows to binge, and you’re a completist like I am, you could do worse.
Star Trek: Picard (CBS All Access)
- 2020’s Season: 1
- 2020 Season Debut: January 23, 2020
- Debut Episode: “Rememberance”
- Total Episodes: 10
- In a Nutshell: “Great” if you’re in need of some Star Trek: The Next Generation fan service, “okay” if you’re after a solid SciFi, or even Star Trek, story.
Star Trek: Picard is, without a doubt, the weakest entry in this year’s list of Star Trek content…and it’s still pretty decent. And by that I mean, yeah, I’d watch it again.
The biggest weakness of Picard is that its start is way too slow. Without giving too much away, the show starts off creating two examples of the thing Captain (now retired Admiral) Jean-Luc Picard [Sir Patrick Stewart] is best at: Extreme moral dilemmas. The first involves Romulans, the second involves synthetic life (more commonly referred to in Star Trek lore as “androids,” ala Lt. Commander Data [Brent Spiner], who is a central figure in this story, but in this series referred to universally as “synths”).
While the moral dilemma around how synthetic life is treated in the Star Trek universe is nothing new (The Next Generation episode “The Drumhead” is not only the best example, but may be one of the greatest episodes of television ever created), the dilemma as presented in Picard is genuinely new, and a decent plot device.
The problem is, each of these moral dilemmas could have easily been their own story, and yet, they’re smashed together here to a weakening effect. It’s such a gigantic story they’re trying to tell in such a (relatively) short amount of screen time that things really don’t come together and start moving solidly (and effectively) forward until…about episode six or seven. That’s a serious problem when the total season is only ten episodes long. At least when it does get moving, it’s good stuff.
The other good stuff? The fan service.
Star Trek (and Star Wars…looking at you The Force Awakens) has had some serious duds when it comes to fan service, especially nostalgia. The feature film Star Trek: Generations was ho-hum, the re-rebirth of the mad, augmented despot Khan Noonien Singh (as played by one of the whitest actors ever to grace the screen, Benedict Cumberbatch…love you Ben, but this wasn’t a good role for you) in the feature Star Trek: Into Darkness was a clunker too. And don’t get me started on what is easily the worst episode of Star Trek ever made, the series finale of Enterprise where a clearly 20-years-older Commander William T. Riker [Jonathan Frakes] tries to play his 20-year-younger self.
I should do an entire article on that one, that was terrible.
But in Picard, all the character call-backs (Data, Riker, Counselor Deanna Troi [Marina Sirtis], Seven of Nine/Annika Hansen [Jeri Ryan], and even memorable one-offs like Hugh [Jonathan Del Arco], and Icheb [Manu Intiraymi]) come off…very well.
My usual problem with attempts at nostalgic fan service like these is they usually feel forced, feel shoe-horned in for attention, with little or no reason for them to exist within the confines of the story itself. But in Picard? They all feel natural. They feel like they are the right ones to play their part in the story.
Sure, Seven of Nine seemed a little…little bit forced. But her part played well, and she got to cure her past ills she experienced with her original character on Star Trek: Voyager, where she was literally sown into a skin-tight suit that served no other purpose than to accentuate her…personal attributes. But here? Leather jackets, regular jeans, normal shirt…Seven of Nine is an actual person to be appreciated as such.
So, in the end, if you’re a die hard Star Trek fan like I am, this is worth watching (assuming you already haven’t). If you’re not all that up in Star Trek, it’s still worth a try to see if it clicks with you, but no guarantees.
Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access)
- 2020’s Season: 3
- 2020 Season Debut: October 15, 2020
- Debut Episode: “That Hope is You, Part 1”
- Total Episodes: 13
- In a Nutshell: After a couple inconsistent seasons, Discovery is finally coming into its own, though some of the classic bumps are still there.
Star Trek: Discovery started off in 2017 as a very experimental prequel in the Star Trek universe, and has become a very very experimental sequel.
Originally starting off (timeline-wise) ten years before the events of the very original Star Trek (yes, the 1960s version with Kirk, Spock, and the gang aboard the original U.S.S. Enterprise), the premise of Season Three puts the U.S.S. Discovery 930 (930!!!) years in the future of where they were. That’s approximately the year 3185. The (previously) furthest in the future a Trek series had been placed was, oddly enough, Picard, which is set around the year 2399…786 years prior.
In this future of what had previously been one of the most optimistic depictions of the distant future in all of SciFi, the United Federation of Planets is all but dead, everyone hates what’s left of it (including one particularly surprising planet), almost all the dilithium (the fictional crystalline catalyst that makes warp speed possible) has exploded, and most of what’s left appears to be controlled by the now very powerful, and always mafia-like, Orion Syndicate.
And you thought 2020 was rough!
But hey, life still exists, so the entire mission of the U.S.S. Discovery, as it closed out in Season Two, is successful. I guess.
Here’s what I like about Discovery Season Three: It allowed the writers of this season to reset their imaginations, and create wholly new things and ideas, without having to worry so much about “canon,” and not create an entirely separate timeline like the 2009 feature film reboot did (though, the 2009 Star Trek movie is definitely solid).
On top of that, though I know not all Star Trek fans will agree, Season Three has started to return to the Roddenberry roots of the franchise, returning to a focus on exploration (though in a new context), social parable (some of the reasons the Federation fell apart would sound familiar to anyone alive the past couple years), and minority representation.
That last part goes beyond series leader Commander Michael Burnham [Sonequa Martin-Green], both the first black woman, first adoptee/orphan, and first non-captain to be the focus of a Star Trek series. In this season, the reveal of the trill-joined human Adira Tal [Blu del Barrio – who is genuinely non-binary] as the first non-binary character in the franchise, and the immediate acceptance of their gender-neutral they/their pronouns, was another advanced first for Star Trek, going beyond engineer/chief mycologist Paul Stamets [Anthony Rapp] and Dr. Hugh Culber [Wilson Cruz] as the first committed same-sex couple in Star Trek.
The bumps? Sometimes the visual effects are too good, almost distracting from the story as it unfolds before you. While the characters already mentioned are well developed, a good chunk of the Discovery’s bridge crew, normally the “core” of any Star Trek cast, are almost entirely anonymous. At one point they seemed to try and get helmswoman Lt. Keyla Detmer [Emily Coutts] a PTSD angle that…seems to have kinda fizzled out. Some of the “future” elements incorporated into this season (like the Discovery’s newly detachable warp nacells) just…don’t make sense. And the “spore drive,” the Discovery’s instant-travel party piece, still annoys me, though at least there’s an element of usefulness to it this season.
While this season won’t complete until this coming January, so far, it’s been a solid story, told well, with well-made visuals, and great use of the former Empress of the Terran Empire, Phillippa Georgiou [Michelle Yeoh].
Star Trek: Lower Decks (CBS All Access)
- 2020’s Season: 1
- 2020 Season Debut: August 6, 2020
- Debut Episode: “Second Contact”
- Total Episodes: 10
- In a Nutshell: Lower Decks had all the makings of a bomb: a goofy-looking Star Trek cartoon intended to be a comedy. But with brilliant writing, great artistry, and a genuine reverence for the source material, this Star Trek spoof wasn’t just hilarious, it was better than it had any right to be. It’s not just good SciFi…it’s a great TV show.
Aboard the most-unmemorably-named U.S.S. Cerritos, the camera crew takes the turbolift down from the bridge, into the bowels of the Federation starship that takes responsibility for second contact with newly-discovered alien species. You know, the ones who go in, fill out the reams of bureaucratic paperwork, sees if they have any diseases that could spread to extant Federation species, cleans up any diplomatic messes the first contact ship may have made.
Fun stuff, right?
But focused on good-hearted, intentional underachiever Beckett Mariner [Tawny Newsome], her anal-retentive, brown-nose bunkmate Brad Boimler [Jack Quaid], starry-eyed ship newcomer D’Vana Tendi [Noël Wells], and engineering-genius-seeking-confidence Sam Rutherford [Eugene Cordero], the dysfunctional friend group style of show hasn’t been this funny (to me, at least) since Seinfeld.
One of the best, most anti-Star Trek episodes, was the fourth episode, “Moist Vessel.” The premise? Captain Carol Freeman [Dawnn Lewis] decides her best strategy of getting Ensign Mariner to request a transfer off the Cerritos is…to promote her, which gives her responsibilities that Mariner really wants nothing to do with. She’s a coaster, man.
However, the relationship between Mariner and Freeman (without spoiling anything) reveals the other strength of Lower Decks: its heart. The character building, the relationship building, the chemistry between the show’s voice actors, and the ways they are portrayed in animation, make this a series worth watching more than once.
Also, the cameos are top notch. Whether they’re well known actors from outside Star Trek like Haley Joel Osment and Jack McBrayer, or long time Star Trek favorites like J.G. Hertzler and John de Lancie, everything is done well with an eye toward both the story and genuine silliness.
One warning, though. Wait until the kids are in bed before turning this one on. The humor, while copious in quantity and presented in kid-friendly-looking animation, tends to veer into the adult realm.
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
- 2020’s Season: 2
- 2020 Season Debut: October 30, 2020
- Debut Episode: “Chapter 9: The Marshal”
- Total Episodes: 8
- In a Nutshell: Jon Favreau’s new classic Star Wars series continues to show just how much the movie writers have been phoning it in, and how great a story told in the Star Wars universe can be, whether you’re a Star Wars fan or not.
Disney+ picks up their blockbuster storyline of a lone, fanatic bounty hunter tasked with returning a 50-year-old child to a group of “enemy sorcerers” known as the Jedi to great aplomb.
You’ve likely already heard in some form or another how great this show is. It’s true. I may not say “all of it,” but by and large, all the good reviews you’ve already heard about The Mandalorian are on point. But here’s my take anyway.
First, hats (helmets?) off to Pedro Pascal, the actor behind Din Djarin’s helmet. His ability to effectively emote while having every inch of his body, head to toe, covered in armor for all but about five minutes (so far) of this season is worthy of the highest praise.
Second, the writing. Yes, storm troopers continue in their inability to hit the broad side of a barn. Yes, Moff Gideon [Giancarlo Esposito] is willfully evil to almost the point of campiness. Yes, the return of notorious bounty hunter and fellow follower of Mandalore Boba Fett [Temuera Morrison], and the live-action debut of the formerly animated Jedi Ashoka Tano [Rosario Dawson] is obvious fan service
But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t all work.
The characters are written intelligently, the situations they find themselves in make sense, the humor is at just the right level, and never once do you find yourself slapping your forehead.
The season finale is coming up soon after this gets published, so I guess there’s still a chance for that to change, but the quality of this show, especially coming from Disney, who has already screwed up the sequel trilogy of the movies (though they did knock Rogue One out of the park), is genuinely surprising.
I’m glad this show is being made, and I’m glad I’ve been able to make the time to watch it.
My only mark against it, is eight episodes is nowhere near enough.
The Expanse (Amazon Prime Video)
- 2020’s Season: 5
- 2020 Season Debut: December 15, 2020
- Debut Episode: “Exodus”
- Total Episodes: 10
- In a Nutshell: The continuation of the SciFi series based on a set of novels written by two men sharing one name may just make The Expanse my favorite SciFi franchise…not just of this year…but ever. If you haven’t started watching this show yet, I kinda envy you.
For those not familiar with The Expanse, since it isn’t as big a name as either of the Stars (Trek or Wars), it really is a fascinating vision of the future.
The skinny (not to insult any Belters who may be reading this) is, in a world set in roughly the same time frame as Star Trek: The Next Generation, man hasn’t figured out how to travel faster than light, hasn’t met any sentient alien species, but has colonized our own solar system in a very realistic way that you could very much see happening from today’s vantage point.
Mars was colonized and broke off from Earth (governed by the United Nations) and became the military and technology powerhouse of the solar system, and both Earth and Mars have colonized various planetoids, moons, and asteroids in and beyond the Asteroid Belt, extracting minerals, and treating the people who live there very poorly.
And everyone hates each other.
This fifth season, however, sees our heroic crew of the Rocinante split up (only the first three episodes have been released as of this writing) to explore some personal development.
The advent of the ring gates, which is allowing humanity to visit (and colonize…and extract from) extra-solar planets for the first time ever is wreaking havoc on Mars as its population bails out for free air, water, and proper gravity, and officially disgraced Martian Marine Bobbie Draper [Frankie Adams] and native Martian and Rocinante pilot Alex Kamal [played by the now real world disgraced Cas Anvar] are trying to track down all the high-tech military surplus that is leaving almost as fast as the people.
On the moon (now known as Luna), former UN Secretary General Crisjen Avasarala [played by the absolutely captivating personality of Shohreh Aghdashloo] is busy having her warnings of extreme terrorist attacks ignored, while both her and Belter leader-turned-“pirate” Camina Drummer [Cara Gee] are working to hunt down the perpetrator, Belter extremist Marco Inaros [Keon Alexander] who’s son, Filip [Jasai Chase Owens], is being hunted down by his estranged mother, Rocinante XO and Chief Engineer Naomi Nagata [Dominique Tipper] who wants to save him.
breathes exhaustively
Got all that? Oh, let’s not forget Rocinante Captain Jim Holden’s [Steven Strait] continued crusade to rid the solar system of any last trace of the apparently alien Protomolecule that has both killed hundreds of thousands of people and self-formed the main ring gate.
So let’s just sum this up this way: If you haven’t seen any of The Expanse yet, make sure you’re stocked up on popcorn and your calendar is clear before you do. The casting is great, the writing is great, the acting is great, and the concept behind everything is fascinating.
If you’ve already caught the first four seasons, just go on in to this season. So far at least, there’s not a disappointing minute.
Full Disclosure
If any of these reviews made you want to sign up for any of these streaming video providers, please do so through the links (if available) and they’ll toss me a couple bucks, which is nice.