Well, as I am still wrangling with the first reviews I figured Monday's blog post this week should be a nice simple and fun one! However, before I dive into it just a quick heads up on the reviews. As with most plans, they rarely survive contact with reality, meaning that nice shiny list of things I was planning on doing reviews for needs a few tweaks (especially if I want to stay spoiler-free.) With that in mind, I may not dive into Mass Effect as a review as I'm not entirely sure I could do it justice... One day perhaps just not yet plus I have a lot of RPGs I could review, though I'm not sure I want to specialise (yet) unless people want me to.
So, with all that pre-amble very much out of the way let's get on with this week's post, shall we? Science fiction is probably my favourite genre whether it is movies, games or TV shows though as of writing this choosing just three leaves a lot of awesome shows out. I just figured I'd leave myself enough space to do a 'part two' perhaps or some other blog posts in the future. Fantasy is a very close second, so maybe I'll ponder that for next week's post... We shall see!
I think my first exposure to sci-fi was catching a random episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and then I always tried to watch it whenever I could. Wasn't always easy given streaming wasn't a thing back in the mists of time when a TV show was on when it was on and that was that. That was just the start for me and my nerdy ways though sometimes just having your curiosity piqued is enough.
#3 - Andor
Andor is the kind of Star Wars I hope we get a lot more of, proof that you can tell an awesome story and have amazing characters without lightsabers and force powers. I honestly like all the new Star Wars shows to some degree or another yet this one stands head and shoulders over the others. I know we are only getting two seasons of it yet I hope it does well enough that we get other similar stories told from across the Star Wars universe as there are a lot they could tell.
Just off the top of my head, they could do a show about the ISB, perhaps even look at other rebel groups before the Alliance became a thing, a Rogue Squadron show etc. However, I guess all we can do is wait and see what they do with it.
The characters and the writing stand out as particularly good to me which just made waiting for the next episode each week only build the hype to watch more. As I said though, while I like all the new Star Wars shows, this one will be a favourite for a long time especially if season two is as good as we all hope!
#2 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Well, I couldn't go mentioning how my love of sci-fi started and not have at least one of the Star Trek shows in here now could I? It is safe to say I like all of them (including even Enterprise) though I'll admit I only ever watched the first season of Discovery so I can't comment on the newer shows. Though I may try and watch them in the future, we shall see!
Deep Space Nine for me is the best of them for a few reasons of which the biggest one probably has to be the characters. Garak, Odo and Quark are my favourites, especially the interactions between the latter two which always tended toward the humorous. The second reason is likely the overarching plot which was something The Next Generation didn't have as it followed almost a weekly adventure format with things rarely being referenced again (with some exceptions.) It's also a reason I prefer Voyager over TNG even if that got a little silly before the end but that is an entirely different blog post.
The overarching plot with the Dominion, Bajor and Sisko coupled with some good action and space battles (I love me a good space battle) make it my favourite Star Trek even today. Hence it takes the number two spot!
#1 - Babylon 5
Now, for the number one spot, it could only really go to Babylon 5 for me. Much as I love Star Trek and Star Wars this show was just amazing to me and is still my favourite even now. I mean I could write lots about my favourite parts, my top episodes in this and the like though that would fall into spoiler territory I fear. Having said that I'll do my best not to gush and spoil anything if it can at all be helped!
Much like DS9 above, the characters and a sense of an overarching plot and story helped make this show a firm favourite. From heroes to villains most of the characters I thought were pretty darned good with a few that particularly stand out. Londo and G'Kar definitely sit at the top of that list with Bester and Susan Ivanova to name just a few, including their individual and shared arcs. Even the various alien races seemed unique and interesting especially the Narn and Centauri though I can't say more without spoiling things!
The space battles and technology also make for a compelling watch as well given the humans are still relative newcomers to the galactic stage. Space travel is still risky and time-consuming which to me makes the entire setting more interesting. No space magic deflectors are to be found here!
All in all, I can highly recommend Babylon 5 even if the special effects are a bit primitive by today's standards they still work.
So, there we have it, my top three favourite sci-fi shows! What are yours? Do you like any of these too? Let me know and don't forget all support via Patreon or Ko-Fi is greatly appreciated, thanks for reading!
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