7 Near-Perfect Prime Video Sci-Fi Shows that Hook You in the First Scene

Prime Video is home to sci-fi shows of great variety, but some of the best ones capture our attention from the get-go. When a premise is solid and well-thought-out, the first episode often becomes a promising indicator for the rest of the story. With that in mind, here are seven near-perfect Prime Video sci-fi shows that hook you right from the first scene.

1 Upload

The year is 2033. Humans can upload their consciousness into a virtual afterlife of their choosing, but Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell) is robbed of that choice when he dies in an accident, and his rich girlfriend decides to upload him to save his "life." Nathan has difficulty adjusting to this strange new existence, but things feel easier because of Nora (Andy Allo), a customer service representative. As Nora navigates her own struggles, she begins to suspect Nathan was murdered. This is the intriguing premise of Upload from creator Greg Daniels (The Office, King of the Hill), which uses the high-concept premise of consciousness transfer and filters it through a darkly comedic lens.

Most consciousness transfer stories, including the brilliant video game Soma, are steeped in tragedy. Upload satirizes the concept by poking fun at the commercialization of the afterlife, where an avatar’s quality of life depends on how much money you have. The fact that microtransactions follow you even after death is scary enough, but you’re also subjected to spam and data limits.

2 Tales from the Loop

A sci-fi show like no other, Tales from the Loop follows the residents of Mercer, Ohio, which is home to an underground facility known as the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics, or the Loop. If you’re expecting mutated monsters in the same vein as Stranger Things, this is not what this beautiful, slow-burn show is about. Tales from the Loop is about the people who inhabit Mercer, and how their lives are impacted by a machine that makes things like time travel and body swaps possible.

These strange events are not the focus, as the show is more concerned with human relationships and how we perceive mortality and grief against such a fantastical backdrop. These interconnected stories paint a melancholic picture of a small town where the meaning of life suddenly reveals itself on a random Tuesday afternoon. This is a different kind of nostalgia, even though the setting is far removed from reality. When we see a young girl lose her mother and befriend someone who knows all about the deceased, it is an emotional turbulence we can all relate to. It is easy to get swept up in the lives of the townsfolk, as Tales from the Loop makes for a very immersive experience.

3 Undone

An animated series that uses skilful rotoscoping is impressive enough, but Undone is also a compelling sci-fi story. Alma (Rosa Salazar) gets into a fatal car crash and barely makes it out alive, but she soon discovers she is “unstuck in time.” Her late father Jacob (Bob Odenkirk) urges her to use this ability to solve the mystery of his death, which completely changes Alma’s relationship with reality.

Like its creators' other animated series, BoJack Horseman, Undone can be deeply emotional at points. Alma’s newfound gift is open to interpretation, and we never know whether this is an actual supernatural ability or the aftereffects of a severe psychological breakdown.

Even so, the point of the show is to put ourselves in Alma’s shoes to better understand her perception of memory and trauma. Both Odenkirk and Salazar deliver committed performances that elevate the subject matter, with live-action rotoscoping making every frame come alive. Undone is especially recommended for anyone who wishes to give animated shows a chance, as this is a beautiful example of a show that benefits wholeheartedly from the medium.

4 Night Sky

In Night Sky, elderly couple Franklin (J. K. Simmons) and Irene (Sissy Spacek) seem to live a cozy, mundane existence reliant on predictable routine. This is proven to be false, as they repeatedly visit a device that teleports them to a chamber that looks out into the night sky of another world. While the two have been silent guardians of this strange portal for over two decades, things take a strange turn when a mysterious man named Jude (Chai Hansen) steps out of the other side. This exposes a multi-generational conspiracy and the existence of a secret society, among other things.

Franklin and Irene are the beating heart of Night Sky, as their devotion to one another is the emotional tether of the show. The portal-like chamber is also a refuge from grief, as the couple had lost their son years ago. Jude’s arrival shatters this routine and plunges us into a slow, puzzle-box mystery that is incredibly rewarding to unravel. The stakes gradually ramp up, as this is no longer the story of a sweet elderly couple, but the odd little world that lies on the other side of the portal.

5 The Man in the High Castle

Based on Philip K. Dick’s classic novel of the same name, The Man in the High Castle is a riveting adaptation that does justice to the source material. Set in an alternate history in which the Axis powers win World War II, The Man in the High Castle explores the aftermath of such a bleak outcome. Things spiral wildly out of control after a nuclear weapon is dropped on Washington, D.C., and concentration camps are built to massacre marginalized communities across American cities.

The most unsettling part of the show is that the inhabitants of this reality find newsreels and films titled “The Grasshopper Lies Heavy,” which depict other realities, including ones where the Allied powers have won. The purpose of these newsreels remains a mystery for the longest time: Are these depictions real, or simply political propaganda? Naturally, the totalitarian regimes that constitute the show’s reality ban these reels and desperately try to destroy them, which only serves to spark widespread rebellion. This is more than a “what-if” scenario. The Man in the High Castle delves deep into the minutiae of fascist regimes and the cracks that inevitably appear over time.

6 Fallout

The video game adaptation curse doesn’t exist anymore. Fallout, from executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (Westworld), is one of many examples that point to this conclusion, as it works with the core premise of the Fallout franchise and weaves its own standalone narrative. Without a specific game storyline to rely on, the show exercises the freedom to draw freely from franchise lore while building its own quirks that have worked in its favor so far. Fallout also captures the retrofuturist aesthetic of the games rather well, with its grim apocalyptic wasteland going hand-in-hand with the show’s pitch-black humor.

In this adaptation, we follow Lucy (Ella Purnell), a sheltered vault-dweller who is forced to survive on the surface. Along the way, she is tasked with a terribly important responsibility, which might or might not change the trajectory of the world. Unaware of the true extent of the conspiracies related to Vault-Tec, Lucy crosses paths with Brotherhood of Steel soldier Maximus (Aaron Moten) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), who harbor their own intentions. Fallout excels in its portrayal of corporate greed and the ultraviolent extent to which these institutions can go to earn a profit.

7 The Expanse

In The Expanse, space colonization isn’t a progressive leap for humanity. At least, not for everyone. The Belters, who are born in the Asteroid Belt or in the moons of outer planets, are exploited to no end. Living in a low-gravity environment has permanently altered their physiology; the Belters are subjected to harsh conditions and constant dehumanization by those who live on Earth and Mars.

This aspect alone makes The Expanse feel incredibly poignant and lived-in, but the show also follows several protagonists with compelling storytelling. UN Security Council member Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) takes part in tense politicking, detective Josephus Miller (Thomas Jane) searches for a missing girl, while officer James Holden (Steven Strait) and his crew investigate a mysterious distress signal in space. The rest is a high-stakes thriller set in an unforgiving universe where every character is viciously struggling for survival in one form or another.