Best-Reviewed TV Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror 2017

The horror! The horror! The top five series in this category for 2017 share a certain bloodlust, though each in its own peculiar or fantastical way. Game of Thrones, meanwhile, finds itself locked out of the category’s top spots for the first time since RT began awarding TV Golden Tomato prizes in 2013.

The order of the rank below reflects the Adjusted Score as of December 31, 2017. Scores might change over time.

Stranger Things: Season 2 (2017)
94%

#1

Adjusted Score: -1%

Critics Consensus: Stranger Things' slow-building sophomore season balances moments of humor and a nostalgic sweetness against a growing horror that's all the more effective thanks to the show's full-bodied characters and evocative tone.

Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Natalia Dyer

Directed By: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen

Bates Motel: Season 5 (2017)
100%

#2

Adjusted Score: -1%

Critics Consensus: Bates Motel's final season brings the franchise full circle, with a satisfyingly creepy conclusion to the trials and tribulations of Norman Bates.

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke

Directed By: Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin, Tucker Gates, Vera Farmiga

The Leftovers: Season 3 (2017)
99%

#3

Adjusted Score: -1%

Critics Consensus: With reliably ambitious storytelling and outstanding performances from its cast, Season 3 of The Leftovers approaches the series' conclusion as thoughtfully, purposefully, and confidently as it began.

Starring: Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler

Directed By: Damon Lindelof, Tom Perrotta, Peter Berg, Sarah Aubrey

Black Mirror: Season 4 (2017)
86%

#4

Adjusted Score: -1%

Critics Consensus: Black Mirror proves with its fourth season that the series still has ample source material to terrify fans with technology that is now -- or soon could become -- an integral part of our lives.

Starring: Maxine Peake, Jesse Plemons, Andrea Riseborough, Rosemarie DeWitt

Directed By: William Bridges, Annabel Jones, Charlie Brooker, Colm McCarthy

The Return: The Return ()
94%

#5

Adjusted Score: -1%

Critics Consensus: Surreal, suspenseful, and visually stunning, this new Twin Peaks is an auteurist triumph for David Lynch.

Starring: