Can’t resist the fascination with the unknown? Don’t worry, you’re not alone: think that over the years numerous TV series have drawn inspiration from this theme, placing it at the center of their most famous stories. The most recent example that managed to blend the thrill of investigation with the supernatural mystery is Lanterns, a TV series firmly anchored in the new DCU that delved into the story of the Green Lanterns but assigning them a terrestrial case to solve. Those who have completed Lanterns and are looking for a work that blends investigation and sci‑fi can take notes, because we have three titles ready to capture your attention from the very first episode.
3 must-watch TV series if you love paranormal investigations and sci-fi
X-Files
Where there is supernatural intrigue there is inevitably X-Files. It’s almost impossible to discuss investigations merged with science fiction without mentioning it, since this very title helped define the genre. Debuting on television in 1993 and running until 2002, it later returned with a revival from 2016 to 2018 and with a reboot fresh with novelty guided by Ryan Coogler. X-Files emerged from the idea of Chris Carter and focused entirely on cases of paranormal nature, involving legendary creatures, genetic mutations, aliens, and conspiracy theories. The protagonists are Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, two FBI special agents whose mission is to reopen unresolved cases and presumed supernatural phenomena. Fox is personally invested, convinced that his sister was abducted by aliens. Dana, by contrast, is a physician who relies on scientific truths that are repeatedly challenged by inexplicable events. In Italy, the TV series is available for streaming on Disney+.
Fringe
For the themes it tackles, Fringe has often been compared to X-Files. Created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, it is a sci‑fi series that aired from 2008 to 2013 for a total of five seasons and tells the story of the Fringe Division of the FBI in Boston, which handles investigations related to frontier science. The agents investigate a string of seemingly unrelated events that, in reality, signal a fracture in the fabric of reality. The team includes agent Olivia Dunham, the eccentric scientist Walter Bishop and his son Peter. In this series, Fringe embraces parallel universes, mind control and teleportation, injecting into the plot characters forced to battle shapeshifters from alternate timelines, including a version of themselves from another universe, and to confront the Observers from a distant future. The TV series is available on Prime Video.
Resident Alien
Although steeped in mystery and featuring investigations sometimes driven by purely selfish motives, Resident Alien offers an interpretation of the theme with a more irreverent twist. Based on the comic book of the same name by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse, it comprises four seasons available in Italy for streaming on Netflix and stars Alan Tudyk as an alien living undercover. Arriving on Earth with a cruel plan, he pretends to be Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle while trying to piece together the fragments of his mission and at the same time mislead humans. What began as a plan to destroy the planet becomes instead his new home: initially trying to blend in, he finds himself drawn into investigating the death of the doctor whose appearance he has assumed. Harry must learn how to act like a human, and the voice narrating the story is precisely that of the alien trying to adapt to a new reality. And it is Harry itself who acts as the detective in every episode, tackling new mysteries to solve, but the greatest one in his eyes will always be the human emotion.
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