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: 103.174%

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.

Synopsis: It's 1984 and the citizens of Hawkins, Indiana are still reeling from the horrors of the demagorgon and the secrets... [More]

Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard

Directed By: Matt Duffer

Bates Motel: Season 5 (2017)
100%

#2

Adjusted Score: 100.463%

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.

Synopsis: Two years after the events of Season 4, "Bates Motel" returns in Season 5 to a still murderous Norman (Freddie... [More]

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Vera Farmiga, Max Thieriot, Nestor Carbonell

The Leftovers: Season 3 (2017)
99%

#3

Adjusted Score: 101.206%

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.

Synopsis: Season 3 begins three years after the Guilty Remnant descended on Miracle, Texas, where Kevin is now chief of police,... [More]

Starring: Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston

Directed By: Keith Gordon, Carl Franklin, Mimi Leder, Daniel Sackheim

Black Mirror: Season 4 (2017)
85%

#4

Adjusted Score: 90.481%

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.

Synopsis: Black Mirror is an anthology series that taps into our collective unease with the modern world, with each stand-alone episode... [More]

Starring: Douglas Hodge, Jesse Plemons, Rosemarie DeWitt, Andrea Riseborough

Directed By: Jodie Foster, John Hillcoat, Tim Van Patten, David Slade

Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
94%

#5

Adjusted Score: 99.55%

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

Synopsis: New mysteries unfold 25 years after the shocking death of homecoming queen Laura Palmer in a quaint northwestern town.... [More]

Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee, Michael Horse, Chrysta Bell