Time travel can be a difficult sci-fi concept to pull off, but these cult TV shows do it without tons of plot holes and problems. The nature of time travel makes it equal parts compelling and challenging. Stories can benefit from throwing their characters into all-new backgrounds, and they can make interesting narrative changes and toy with different outcomes as a result. The downside is that time travel requires well-established rules and a willingness to follow them to properly pay off.
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Many projects that utilize time travel don’t do it seamlessly; even some of the biggest pop culture titles known for it create paradoxes and plot holes as they unfold. They’re great films, but Back to the Future and Avengers: Endgame are prime examples of introducing inconsistencies when jumping around in time. On the TV front, series like Lost and The Flash don’t have clear or consistent rules either. Those searching for time travel that doesn’t fall apart are better off looking to cult series. These three do well with it, leaving very little to complain about.
3) The Lazarus Project
Despite being just a few years old, 2022’s The Lazarus Project is a sci-fi series that doesn’t get talked about enough, especially given its smart approach to time. The sci-fi series is set in a world where a secret organization regularly resets time ala Groundhog Day, an effort to prevent apocalyptic incidents from occurring. We follow one of the few men who can actually remember when time is reset as he gets pulled into the operation. It’s a cool premise, and The Lazarus Project actually does it justice. The rules driving its time-loop story are clear-cut and believable, and they have real consequences on the characters involved. They stay consistent, even as the sci-fi elements of The Lazarus Project expand in Season 2. It’s no wonder the series became such a cult hit, though it deserved a wider following. It’s still worth a watch despite its cancellation, as it shows how time loops and travel should be done.
2) 12 Monkeys
Syfy’s 12 Monkeys series is widely regarded as one of the strongest examples of time travel on television, which isn’t that shocking, considering the 1995 film that inspired it is also impressive on that front. The series follows a time traveler named Cole who hails from a future ravaged by a deadly plague. He ventures back in time to prevent it, but he soon realizes this mission may be more complicated than he’d hoped. Like any great sci-fi show, 12 Monkeys keeps viewers guessing with its many mysteries. However, it does eventually explain them and its approach to time travel, and it all comes together in an immensely satisfying way. The four-season series could easily have created more problems with how much its plot jumps around, but it manages to avoid the shortcomings that so many similar sci-fi adventures face. It raises the bar on time-travel stories for everyone who watches it.
1) Dark
Netflix’s Dark is a beloved cult classic, and deservedly so. It opens with the disappearance of two children, presenting a strong mystery component from the start. That premise unravels to reveal larger sci-fi elements at play, as well as connections to more missing kids. The show is very much a mystery-box series in nature, allowing the true nature of these things to steadily come to light over time. And there is time travel, but Dark takes a grounded and coherent approach to it. It doesn’t introduce many plot holes, and it doesn’t allow characters to easily wield and manipulate time. Basically, it avoids many of the traps that sci-fi series engaging with time travel so often fall into. It’s cleverly written, which explains why it continues to have such a cult following. More time-travel tales would benefit from looking at Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s work.
What’s a time travel show that you think gets the concept right? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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