5 – Umbrella Academy Season 2

This is a really good show. I have liked both seasons quite well, I think that the second season is the better season of the two as it is more consistent across the board. All of the stories work well for the characters and it goes deep on issues during the time period they were in and that still linger today. However, it isn’t higher on my list, because I feel like season 1 has higher highs, more memorable moments. In season 2, it is more consistent and good across the board, but the standout moments feel like they are are lacking to me. With that said, I’m ready for Season 3 to come out because it’s a really good show.

4 – Ragnarok

This one was kind of a surprise for me. I thought that the premise looked interesting, kind of a Norse mythology set in modern times and I’ve had solid luck with the European shows on Netflix like The Rain and Dark. This was a very good show. The plot line was interesting throughout all of it, and while not all of the twists were shocking, some of them were very well done. And the story just felt like it had a lot of heart to it that you don’t always get in shows. It’s a short series but it leaves you feeling like they’ve wrapped it up in a solid spot, but also that you could see more story ready to be told.

3 – The Order Season 2

The Order was one of my favorite shows from 2019, so I was glad that it was getting a second season. I will say, I’m not sure that the second season quite lives up to the first season. I think that the plot doesn’t have as focused a bad guy as the first one does. But you still get all sorts of good moments and funny moments in it. Jack Morton is still somehow likeable and unlikeable all that the same time, and the Knights of St Christopher are still a lot of fun in this season. I think that it gets bogged down in trying to play too much with a middle ground and too much with Jack and Alyssa when it would have been better served keeping some of it’s wonder. Overall, really fun still and really such a B movie style for the plot still.

2 – Lucifer

A show that’s been around for a while, but Netflix kept recommending that we check it out, and clearly, I’m glad that I did. Tom Ellis is amazing in this show as Lucifer, and while the theology is all over the place, no one is watching it for that. They are watching it for a snarky Lucifer and his long suffering partner as they solve crimes. There is so much going on throughout the seasons, and all of them are really good. And there’s more of it coming, which is nice. Netflix got this after Fox dropped it, so there is still fun story to tell with a lot of really good characters in it. This would be just another procedural show if it wasn’t for how good the characters are in the show.

1 – Locke & Key

Finally, we have Locke & Key, and I feel like I’m about ready for a rewatch of this. This is one of my favorite shows of all time. It is a young adult show, kind of, but it is more than that, as it delves into a really weird and unique world where there is a magical door and magical keys that can do all sorts of crazy things, however, not everyone wants to use them for good, nor is everything around them good. I feel like they did a very good job of adapting what isn’t a YA comic book into a YA show while still keeping a lot of the sense of whimsy, almost, that comes from the keys in the show and still even keeping some of the horror along with it, it is just tamed down a little bit. Again, a show that really gets it’s casting right and the character development right.

So yes, I was able to come up with five shows, and I realize there are even more. The second season of Disenchanted came out this year, and I watched The Dragon Prince, plus shows like Another Life, Nightflyers, The Witcher, Agents of SHIELD, and Into The Badlands were ones that I watched this year as well, so I had plenty to choose from, could have even done a top 10. But I really like those top 5 and would highly recommend all of them.

What are some of the best new to you shows from 2020 (doesn’t have to be released in 2020, just that you’ve watched for the first time this year)?

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In Another Life, a mysterious alien artifact has flown to and then landed on Earth with no warning and no contact. No matter what people are doing, they haven’t been able to make contact with it, including the lead scientist, Erik Wallace. His wife, Niko Breckenridge, has been a spaceship commander but hasn’t been one for a while. Instead, after a series of unfortunate events in her life, she found Erik and they had a kid together. But when they figure out where the artifact is sending information to, she’s called back into her role as a commander on the Salvare to lead an expedition to where the signal is being sent. Meanwhile, Erik takes their daughter and continues to try and find a way to communicate with the artifact on Earth, but in neither case, do things go as they’d hope.

There’s a couple of interesting things about this show, first, I’ll say that the acting is solid on the show. Katee Sackhoff, possibly best known for playing Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica does a good job in this show and the crew of the ship is endearing and frustrating all at the same time. Justin Chatwin as Erik Wallace does a good job as well, in fact, probably the highlight for the show for me. I think that he gets down the role of a caring father but also the scientist who gets too wrapped up in his work at times really well, but he’s always a gentle soul, which is a juxtaposition to Sackhoff’s Breckenridge who is much of a harder person because of what she’s seen. There are other characters who are interesting as well and there is a good amount of character development that happens as well.

Another thing that is interesting, and another juxtaposition, is the two stories that are happening at the same time. On Earth with Erik Wallace, it’s about the frustration that can happen when things aren’t going well, about how you can get too wrapped up in science or in work and lose sight of the important things around you. And while you get some of that from Niko Breckenridge on the Salvare storyline as well, it’s definitely less of that, and more focused in on things going wrong and crew tensions on the spaceship. They both have their own tensions, but on Earth it’s more the question of when they will figure out what the artifact does and how to interact with it, more of an exploration tension versus a survival tension. It blends well and breaks what would basically just be stress from the Salvare storyline with what is happening on Earth. As I said, Erik is such a gentle soul that it just feels more relaxed throughout.

I will say that I think the Salvare storyline has some rough spots in it. While on Earth the story is fairly straight forward as you’re wondering about how they are going to create first contact with the artifact, the Salvare storyline can get into a lot of melodrama, and has parts of the story that feel rushed. Not going to spoil who ends up dying in the show, no surprise that some characters will, but some of those deaths seem a little bit rushed in the Salvare storyline, like they could have done some more character development to get you to the point where you really care. I think that you care a little bit for some of those characters who die, but not all that much, and it kind of retreads some story elements as well. When it’s done in parallel with what’s happening on Earth, it’s much more interesting, when it covers some of the same ground that they already did on the Salvare, it seems like they are trying to fill out stuff after having rushed other elements of the story.

In terms of the Sci-Fi elements to the show, I think that it does well. It offers some bigger questions about the universe, humanity, and what makes humans human, and I think that Sci-Fi at it’s best can ask those questions because they feel different than real life, so it’s easier to dig into them that way. That said, I don’t think that this is groundbreaking Sci-Fi by any means. It’s simply looking at a lot of concepts and ideas we’ve already seen in it’s own way. In some ways it’s like Nightflyers like that, where the Sci-Fi elements aren’t highly unique, but they aren’t done poorly either.

Overall, I think that this is a solid show. I think that both storylines can be a bit predictable, Earth and Salvare, and while there are meant to be some shocking or surprising moments, I don’t think that there are that many that are extremely well pulled off, again, because it’s fairly predictable. All of that said, it is a good show, the acting is good, and there are some interesting characters. One that I didn’t mention yet that I really like is William both he and Erik are probably the best parts of the show and areas where you can get some slightly less standard Sci-Fi, though, just slightly. If you’re a Sci-Fi, one to checkout, and I think it’s a solid introductory Sci-Fi show if you aren’t.

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