By Dave B.

In the second season of Lost in Space (Netflix) the Robinson family finds themselves separated from the rest of the colonists, trapped on a world with a methane atmosphere. After the Robinsons bumble their way to a reunion with the rest of their group, they come face to face with a seemingly overwhelming alien enemy as well as purely human threats.

By Dave B.

In The Mandalorian (Disney+), a highly skilled bounty hunter goes rogue after becoming attached to one of his targets. His efforts to flee his pursuers are in vain, forcing him to confront the remnants of the Empire while protecting a child with mysterious powers. 

By Dave B.

I’m not going to bother giving you an overview of the plot of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It’s laid out for us all in the first 60 seconds of the 155 minute film. And to some extent, that exemplifies what is wrong with this movie. When you combine the soulless monster that is J.J. Abrams' filmmaking with the soulless monster that is Disney, it’s not surprising that you end up with a soulless film. That’s not to say that The Rise of Skywalker isn’t entertaining, because for the most part, it is. I didn’t start getting really bored until the final 30 minutes of the movie. But it’s entertaining in the sense that it’s fun to watch cool CGI and space battles on a big screen. 

By Dave B.

In the fourth season of The Expanse (Amazon Prime) the crew of the Rocinate is tasked with going to an illegally colonized planet to determine if ancient artifacts present there pose a threat to humanity. Meanwhile, Secretary-General Avasarala is in the midst of a reelection campaign, as she tries to halt people from colonizing over 1300 newly discovered worlds until more is understood about them and how they came to be depopulated. On Mars, Bobby Draper finds that her homeland is changing before her eyes as the aftermath of war and the potential of immediately habitable new worlds throws the need for the entire Martian terraforming project into question. 

By Dave B.

​Mortal Engines (2018, currently on HBO) takes place on a post-apocalypse Earth where mobile cities vie for resources, with huge metropolises devouring smaller towns. London, having exhausted the resources of England has crossed to continental Europe, intent on finding a path through to the comparatively untouched hunting grounds of Asia. Hester Shaw, the movie’s heroine, will stop at nothing to stop London’s relentless onslaught while fulfilling her own need for revenge against the most influential member of London society. 

By Dave B.

The fourth and final season of Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle finds the world on the brink of chaos as rebels in Japanese-held territories are bleeding the empire dry, and the Nazis strive for ultimate power over not just their empire and the territories of a crumbling Japan, but also over the multiverse itself. As rebels across the former United States prepare for their last stand, all hope for freedom rests on a pivotal showdown between the powerful, but embattled Reichsmarschal Smith, and the universe-hopping rebel Juliana Crain.

By Dave B.

​In Assimilate (2019, currently on Netflix), three high school friends in a small Missouri town try to unravel the mystery of why the town pastor is throwing “rats” at people’s houses. As they investigate this mystery, they discover that townspeople are acting increasingly odd. Unable to convince anyone to help them, the teens find themselves pitted against everyone that they know as they attempt to alert the world to a potentially global threat.

By Dave B.

Prospect (2018, currently on Hulu) is a science-fiction film about a drug-addicted father and his extremely resourceful daughter, who travel to an inhospitable planet at the end of the universe for one last prospecting score. Ill-fated from the beginning, the journey turns into a struggle for survival against other hostile miners and a race against time as the last ship to human-occupied space prepares to depart.

By Dave B.

​In the Shadow of the Moon (Netflix) is a sci-fi detective mystery that takes place over the span of decades in Philadelphia. Every nine years, a female serial killer is murdering people seemingly at random and a lone police officer is determined to find out how and why she is committing these grisly crimes. 

By Dave B.

In Amazon Prime’s Undone, 28-year-old Alma is living a mundane life in San Antonio, Texas when, after an argument with her sister, she gets into a car accident. This accident changes the course of her life forever, as she discovers that she has the ability to manipulate time and space. Guided by her dead father, she seeks to uncover the mystery behind his death and prevent it. Ultimately, she must face the question of whether she is a powerful shaman or is suffering from psychotic delusions.