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That’s not to say there haven’t been great HBO Sci-Fi shows: Station Eleven is a phenomenal miniseries, though it never got the wider attention it deserved. The Leftovers is an all-time great, though I think it’s more supernatural fantasy and mystery than it is pure science fiction. But the one that should’ve been destined to mix critical acclaim, audience popularity, and a long-running arc is Westworld. I can still remember watching the pilot back in 2016, and not only being immediately sucked into its world, but also assuming it was going to be HBO’s next big thing.
Westworld Seemed Destined To Be The Sci-Fi Game Of Thrones For HBO
Based on the 1973 movie of the same name, Westworld takes place in a dystopian future, at a theme park for the super wealthy, where they could live out all their Western fantasies (and things inevitably go wrong). The first episode alone cost a reported $25 million, but you could see every cent on screen; it’s an all-time great pilot, perfectly establishing its world, rules, and themes, while simply being an engrossing hour of TV that makes you want to watch so much more.
That continued across all of the first season, which is up there with some of the best Sci-Fi TV of the 21st Century. There are stunning visuals, shocking twists, compelling mysteries, and lots of sex and violence. It plays around with multiple timelines and blurs the lines between hosts (its robots) and humans. Crucially, all of that was underpinned by intriguing questions around morality and free will, strong character work, some fantastic performances from the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood, and Ramin Djawadi’s superb score.
