It’s not uncommon for a TV show to grow creatively as it gains popularity, and the creators are given a bit more artistic freedom, especially in fantasy or sci-fi shows. To some viewers, this can feel like bait and switch, while to others this just strengthens the appeal.
In many cases, getting confusing doesn’t necessarily mean that a show is too esoteric to be enjoyable, but rather that the show risked losing viewers who needed to understand every nuance. On the other hand, fans of these strange shows are further intrigued by the confusion, committing to multiple rewatches in an attempt to discover hidden meanings.
10 The Return of a Missing Person Is Just the Start of This Mystery
The OA (2016 – 2019)
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Netflix’s The OA, starring and co-created by Brit Marling, is a supernatural/sci-fi mystery that begins with a young woman who has been missing for seven years returning home. The woman, named Prairie but now calling herself the OA, short for original angel, was blind when she vanished but now can see and has concerning scars on her back. The OA brings together a team of locals, consisting mostly of high school students, and is determined to save other missing people by opening a portal to another dimension.
The OA uses a non-linear narrative to develop an intricate plot that includes near-death experiences, brain experiments, parallel universes and a healthy dose of existentialism. In addition to interdimensional travel, The OA features surreal scenes, such as one in Part II involving a telepathic octopus, and mysterious dance moves that have led to numerous fan theories.
The OA
- Release Date
- December 16, 2016
- Cast
- Brit Marling , Jason Isaacs , Scott Wilson , Emory Cohen , Brendan Meyer
- Seasons
- 2
9 This Series Tells an Impressionistic Version of the Story of Charles Xavier’s Son
Legion (2017 – 2019)
In the X-Men-associated TV show Legion, David Haller (also known as Legion) is the mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier who has been institutionalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia; he also has significant psychic abilities. Haller is set up as an unreliable narrator as he tries to avoid Division 3, gain control over his mutant abilities and free himself from the grips of the Shadow King, a psychic parasite.
Legion’s focus on showing the world through Haller’s eyes leads to boundary-pushing visual storytelling that is both fascinating and difficult to follow. Additionally, this unconventional form of storytelling is intertwined with themes of mental health, human identity, and the nature of reality, making Legion both confusing and a welcome and unique addition to the overcrowded genre of superhero TV shows and movies.
8 An Amusement Park Gone Wrong Raises Existential Questions
Westworld (2016 – 2022)
Based on Michael Crichton’s book, which had already been made into a movie, HBO’s Westworld features a star-studded cast that includes Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins. It tells the story of a futuristic Old West-themed amusement park where guests can live out their fantasies. The titular amusement park is filled with android “Hosts” who submit to the most violent, sexual or offensive behavior of the guests, without desiring retribution.
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As the android denizens of Westworld gain self-awareness, the show explores themes of identity, consciousness and morality. However, Westworld’s plot becomes increasingly complex as it shifts locales to the “real world” in which humanity is controlled by artificial intelligence and further blurs the lines between the synthetic and the organic, the fantastical and the real.
- Release Date
- October 2, 2016
- Cast
- Anthony Hopkins , Evan Rachel Wood , Shannon Woodward , Ed Harris , James Marsden , Jimmi Simpson , Jeffrey Wright , Tessa Thompson , Thandie Newton , Rodrigo Santoro
- Seasons
- 4
- Creator
- Story By
- Michael Crichton
- Writers
- Jonathan Nolan , Lisa Joy
- Number of Episodes
- Network
- HBO Max
- Streaming Service(s)
- Max
- Showrunner
- Jonathan Nolan , Lisa Joy
7 Misfit Superheroes Find Themselves in Increasingly Odd Situations
Doom Patrol (2019 – 2023)
Based primarily on Grant Morrison’s run of the DC comic of the same name, Doom Patrol tells the story of an unlikely team of superheroes, each of whom received their powers through tragic circumstances. Doom Patrol was meant to be weird from the beginning, featuring a team that seems like X-Men cast-offs, and yet it managed to get more and more confusing as the series progressed.
By the end of the first season, the Doom Patrol meets Danny the Street, a sentient city street that provides a home to societal outcasts, and a donkey that farts cryptic messages and opens a wormhole. Things only get more confusing, as Doom Patrol introduces a disco dimension, projectile vomit that turns people into zombies, and an enemy, Codpiece, who shoots death rays from his crotch.
- Release Date
- February 15, 2019
- Rating
- Seasons
- 4
- Creator
- Story By
- arnold drake
- Writers
- Arnold Drake
- Franchise(s)
- DC Universe
- Directors
- Chris Manley , Kristin Windell , Dermott Downs , Harry Jierjian , Rebecca Rodriguez , Omar Madha , glen winter
6 A College Student Drops Out to Pursue a Career in Music
Atlanta (2016 – 2022)
Created by and starring Donald Glover, Atlanta starts off as the story of a college dropout, Earn, who returns to his Atlanta home, trying to figure out his place in life and justify his return to his ex-girlfriend and his parents. When Earn realizes his cousin, the rapper Paper Boi, has a song that’s blowing up, Earn tries to reconnect and become part of the Atlanta rap scene.
What begins as a straightforward premise quickly evolves into a show that explores complicated themes including race, trauma, economic inequality, and more. Atlanta often veers away from its overarching plot, incorporating elements of magical realism, including a haunted lake, reimagined celebrities, hallucinations, and an invisible car. The show is known for clever stand-alone episodes that develop minor characters and include alternate forms of storytelling.
Atlanta
- Release Date
- September 6, 2016
- Cast
- Donald Glover , Brian Tyree Henry , LaKeith Stanfield , Zazie Beetz
- Seasons
- 4
- Main Genre
- Comedy
5 Surviving a Plane Crash Was the Easy Part on This Mysterious Island
Lost (2004 – 2010)
One of the most successful and lauded shows of the early 21st Century, Lost is also often cited as an example that went off the rails as the seasons wore on. Although the creators of Lost claimed they always had an ending in mind, many viewers and critics raised doubts as the storylines grew increasingly complex. In the show, Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes on a mysterious island in the South Pacific and its survivors try to eke out existence on the island while waiting for a rescue.
Lost quickly morphs from a show with elements of The Swiss Family Robinson or Lord of the Flies to something much more mysterious and confusing. Secret hatches and government programs are uncovered, mysterious unearthly creatures pose a threat on the island, and temporal shifts forward and backward occur. All of this places Lost at number five on this list.
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4 Androids Raise the Future of Humanity in This Sci-Fi Show
Raised by Wolves (2020 – 2022)
Expectations were high when HBO announced Raised by Wolves, and although the show largely lived up to them, it was canceled after only two seasons. The visionary sci-fi show tells the story of two androids, Father and Mother, in charge of raising human children on the planet Kepler-22b after Earth’s desolation due to a religious war. When another spaceship of survivors arrives, those on board, the Mithraic, want to save the children from being corrupted by the androids.
As it examines religion and concepts of family, Raised by Wolves sometimes ignores pacing to get to bigger ideas. The plot begins to explore where precisely the differences lie between science and religion and parental and familial obligations as miraculous events develop and the confrontation between believers and atheists grows.
Raised by Wolves
- Release Date
- September 3, 2020
- Cast
- Travis Fimmel , Amanda Collin , Abubakar Salim , Winta McGrath
- Seasons
- 2
- Creator
- Aaron Guzikowski
- Number of Episodes
- 18
- Streaming Service(s)
- The Roku Channel
3 A Disgruntled Secret Agent Wakes Up in a Strange Land
The Prisoner (1967 – 1968)
The influential British drama, The Prisoner, has been referenced in The Simpsons and is rumored to be in line for film adaptations by Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan. In the show, a British spy angrily quits his job, resulting in him being drugged and whisked away to a mysterious island, The Village. There he’s given the name Number Six and is trapped in a Kafkaesque existence in a surveillance state. The show borrows bits from Orwell and Huxley while reflecting the counterculture of the Sixties as Number Six struggles to maintain his individualism.
While The Prisoner was designed to have a beginning and an end, the episodes in between were shot in a different order than they were aired, leaving uncertainty around the linear narrative. The show’s surreal elements and overall air of mystery and dread further obfuscate the story of Number Six, culminating in a finale that leaves many questions unanswered.
The Prisoner
- Release Date
- September 29, 1967
- Cast
- Annette Carell , Arthur Gross , Barbara Yu Ling , Bartlett Mullins , Basil Hoskins , Bette Bourne , Derek Aylward , Fenella Fielding , Fredric Abbott , Geoffrey Reed , Georgina Cookson , Grace Arnold , Harold Berens , Hilary Dwyer , Hilda Barry , Jack Allen , Joe Gladwin , John Frawley , Jon Laurimore , Katherine Kath , Kathleen Breck , Keith Pyott , Kenneth Benda , Lockwood West , Michael Miller
- Writers
- George Markstein , Anthony Skene , Terence Feely , Vincent Tilsley , Ian Rakoff
- Network
- ITV1
- Directors
- Don Chaffey , Pat Jackson , Peter Graham Scott
- Producers
- David Tomblin
- Character(s)
- ‘B’ , Control Room Operator , Taxi driver , Committee Chairman , Number Fourteen , Projection Operator , New Supervisor , Loudspeaker Announcer , Potter , Skipper , Blonde Lady , Maid , Reporter , Number Seventy-Three , No. 38 , Doctor , Yorkshire Napoleon , Flowerman , Ernst , Engadine , Number Forty-Two , Waiter , Supervisor , Camera Shop Manager , Number Ninety-Three
2 A Case of Missing Children Unearths a Much More Complicated Plan
Dark (2017 – 2020)
A story that starts out with frustrated small-town families and law enforcement trying to solve a case of missing children becomes much more than expected in Dark. It’s clear early on that at least one of the children traveled back in time and is uncovering secret connections between families. However, the depths of a complicated time travel conspiracy that eventually takes place in four different times and a parallel universe make Dark a chore to comprehend.
Despite the complicated story structure, Dark’s exploration of cause and effect across generations of the people of Winden is enthralling. The show maintains intrigue and suspense even as it introduces complicated ideas of a “God Particle,” time machines, secret societies and endless cycles that repeat throughout history. Its commentary on interconnectivity and the nature of time and its impact on humans is both what makes Dark confusing and what makes it appealing.
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1 A Small Town Murder Gets the David Lynch Treatment
Twin Peaks (1990 – 1991, 2017)
David Lynch movies are known for being complicated and difficult, if not impossible, to fully understand. His foray into network television, Twin Peaks, is no different. Twin Peaks begins as a mystery surrounding the murder of a high school girl, Laura Palmer, and gets increasingly bizarre. When FBI agent Dale Cooper arrives in town, he brings an element of mysticism to the investigation which at first seems odd to the locals but quickly becomes essential to the case.
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Twin Peaks mixes the surrealism Lynch is known for with elements of soap operas, police procedurals and small-town dramas to become something fascinating and hard to understand. When the third season, Twin Peaks: The Return, aired on Showtime more than a quarter-century after the season two finale, it expanded the show’s lore, added more mystery, and provided another ambiguous ending that left plenty of room for speculation, earning it the top spot on this list.
- Release Date
- April 8, 1990
- Cast
- Kyle MacLachlan , Mädchen Amick , Dana Ashbrook
- Seasons
- 3 Seasons
- Creator
- Mark Frost, David Lynch
- Number of Episodes
- 48 Episodes
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Producer
- Mark Frost, David Lynch, Sabrina S. Sutherland
- Production Company
- Lynch/Frost Productions, Propaganda Films, Spelling Television, Twin Peaks Productions, Showtime, Rancho Rosa Partnership
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