[For more of Collider’s Best of 2016 lists, clickhere]
As you’ve probably noticed, pop culture is having a bit of a superhero moment right now. Sometimes, it feels like every genre movie or TV show has a superhero twist or at least plot structure built into it.
In this era of #PeakSuperhero, it can be easy to lose track of the other supernatural shows on TV, but there are still many fantastical shows that operate outside of the gravitational pull of the superhero genre. So we’re taking some time to recognize those brave storytelling souls.
Here are nine supernatural shows that may have been overlooked in this year of superhero mania. If you’re looking to take a break from the world of Marvel and DC, but stay within a story where magic, mysticism, and powers are still a thing, why not try one of these gems? Also included below is where to catch up with each, so you can binge over the holidays.
Wynonna Earp
Where to Watch:TheSyfy Episode Player(3 episodes) andAmazon Prime
Syfy is a currentbastion for feminist genrefare, a place to go if you’re looking for non-superhero supernatural storytelling with a diverse twist and an emphasis on escapist fun over gritty angst.Wynonna Earpis at the forefront of that specific brand of supernatural storytelling.
Based on a comic book of the same name, it tells the story of Wynonna, a demon-fighting descendant of Wyatt Earp. Along with her sister, a special agent with a secret, and Doc Holliday (yep, that Doc Holliday), Wynonna fights to keep her hometown of Purgatory safe from a whole manner of things that go bump in the night.
WhileWynonna Earpnever takes itself too seriously, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t take its characters seriously, crafting consistent, dynamic relationships amongst the show’s core characters (including one, sweetly-wrought lesbian romance). At its center is Wynonna, a sarcastic newbie gunslinger with a chip on her shoulder, a heart of gold, and a genuinely clever quip for every demon-fighting occasion. A true antecedent to that great feminist genre dramaBuffy the Vampire Slayer, this supernatural western was one of the best new series of 2016.
Where to Watch:Amazon Prime
The only non-English language selection on this list,Jordskottdidn’t technically air in 2016, but it has yet to officially air in the U.S., so all bets are off. At first,Jordskottseems like your typical Scandinavian noir, but there is more to this gorgeously-shot show than meets the eye. A supernatural fairy tale rooted in Norse mythology,Jordskotttells the story of Eva Thörnblad, a detective who is pulled into a mystical mystery when she finds her daughter, who had apparently died seven years prior, in the forest.
Forest covers half of Sweden, and the fictional forest depicted here makes for its own, well-realized character as this 10-episode season progresses. An eco-fantasy with a healthy heaping of horror, this series will haunt you long after you’ve left it behind.
The Vampire Diaries
Where to Watch:Netflixor (for the latest season)The CW Episode Player.
Yes this show is still on, and there’s something really quite impressive about that. There’s also something inherently different about TV shows that make it past the five-season mark. They’re capable of telling a different kind of story, one that is both burdened and enriched by the long history of its characters, themes, and stories.The Vampire Diariesis such a show.
2016 saw the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Season 8, its final season. Sure,The Vampire Diariesis past its prime, but it can still unexpectedly make us care about these characters. Watching humanity-less bro-team Damon and Enzo traipse around the countryside was a real highlight of early Season 8, while the most recent episode has proven thatThe Vampire Diariescan still pull off a casual, funny-haired flashback like no other show on television. Watch it now before it’s gone forever. It’s no longer one of the best show on TV, but it is a supernatural television institution (and possibly thebest CW drama of all time).
An Australian-New Zealand-American drama about an indigenous superhero (yeah, OK, so it’skind ofa superhero show) caught in a dystopian future where a right-wing Australian government oppresses a second-class species known as “the Hairypeople,”Clevermanhas a lot of familiar superhero tropes, but is utterly unique in its incorporation of Aboriginal culture and lore.
Koen West (Hunter Page-Lochard) is the one chosen as Cleverman, an important figure in Aboriginal cultures. The Cleverman isdescribedby series creatorRyan Griffenas “like the Pope of the Dreamtime … the conduit between the present and the Dreaming.” In the first season, he reluctantly leads the Hairypeople in their bid for liberation.
Clevermancan be a little on the nose with its sociopolitical allegory at times, but the subjects its addresses — from the treatment of asylum seekers to the continued marginalization of indigenous peoples in colonized countries — are so rarely depicted from the points of view other than a white, privileged stand-in, thatClevermanstands apart as something special. The show has already been renewed for a second season, which means this supernatural story is only just beginning.
Penny Dreadful
Where to Watch:NetflixorAmazon Prime
“A psychic, a cowboy, an explorer and Dr. Frankenstein. They’re all that stands between England and unspeakable evil.” That is Netflix’s show description forPenny Dreadful, the Showtime drama cancelled earlier this year after three weird, fascinating, and endlessly beautiful seasons. The description makesPenny Dreadfulsound like an escapist jaunt through Victorian England, but the show is much darker and more disturbing than that. It is a Gothic horror that manages to constantly surprise, despite drawing on some of the most iconic moments, characters, and themes from 19th-century literature, especiallyDraculaandFrankenstein.
Created byJohn Logan(the screenwriter forGladiator,Skyfall, and the upcomingAlien: Covenant, among other things) and starringEva Green,Timothy Dalton,Billie Piper,Rory Kinnear, andJosh Hartnett, the show is a breathless race to explore the best and worst parts of humanity. This is how adaptationshouldbe done, with a core understanding of the source material’s aims and a willingness to make bold choices about everything else.
Supernatural
Where to Watch:Netflixor (for more recent episodes) TheCW Episode Player.
Currently enjoying its 12th—twelfth— season,Supernaturalis another long-running genre TV show on this list that both benefits and is hindered by its long history. After 12 seasons operating along what is more or less the same plot structure,Supernaturaldefinitely has its fair share of redundant episodes, but its cast is so goddamn charismatic that you find yourself forgiving its occasional weak installments.
As you’ve probably heard from yourSupernaturalstan friends, the first five seasons are the most meticulously plotted of the show’s long run, but there’s still lots to like about even the weakest ofSupernaturalseasons. Just go in with the expectation that it’s about the journey, not the destination — and that there will be some slow and/or bumpy parts on that journey — and you will be fine.
With the first 11 seasons available to watch on Netflix and Trump about to take office, there has never been a better time to start on this supernatural tale of two brothers fighting demons, monsters, and the clutches of hell with the help of angel Castiel and some other friends. Start watching on inauguration day and it will carry you through to at least the midterm elections, if not the next inauguration day.
Where to Watch:YouTubeorGoogle Play
Supernatural TV fans might writeTeen Wolfoff because it is on MTV or because it is not aboutMichael J. Foxdunking a basketball, but that would be a mistake. Sure,Teen Wolfdraws heavily from the teen drama structure (especially in its early seasons), but it is also a straight-up horror adventure, one where the anxieties of being a teenager are rendered as the literal transformation of the body into something else, something monster-like.
LikeThe Vampire Diaries,Teen Wolfworks through plot faster than most shows work through dialogue, and it takes an earnest delight in its characters and subject matter that is missing in the many more self-serious shows. In a TV landscape where most dramas are working to infuse a gritty tone onto whatever it is they’re exploring,Teen Wolfdoesn’t have to. It’s subject matter is horrific enough; it can spend its extra energy on Stiles’ one-liners.
The Magicians
Where to Watch:TheSyfy Episode Player
Based on the fantastical book series by Lev Grossman,The MagiciansTV show had a lot of skeptics when it first launched on Syfy, which is only now starting to make itself known as a network that crafts worthwhile adaptations of beloved genre works. (The Expansewould also fit into this category.) After a season spent with Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) & Co. at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, most if not all of those reservations have been quelled.
At its heart,The Magiciansbook and TV series are fantasy stories about fantasy stories (as Adam Chitwood so astutely pointed out when writing aboutthe first seasonearlier this year), which is perhaps why the changes the show made from the book series work so well.The MagiciansTV show can’tjustbe a story about fantasy novels. It must also be a story about fantasy TV shows.
In a year that also gave us a fair amount of backlash against new Harry Potter canon, it’s also somewhat therapeutic to see the TV show adaptation of a book series marketed as “Harry Potter for adults” take so many smart liberties in its execution.The Magicianswas more than just one of the best adaptations on TV this year, it was one of the best genre series, full stop.
The Shannara Chronicles
Where to Watch:Amazon Prime,Google Play, orNetfilx
The Shannara Chronicleswas not one of theverybest genre series of 2016, full stop, but that’s OK. It was still a heck of a lot of fun. MTV’s attempt to makeGame of Thrones, but with a more youthful twist didn’t quite pan out, but there was still something gloriously ambitious about this adaptation of the Terry Brooks fantasy series. MTV spentlotsof money onThe Shannara Chronicles, which were filmed in Middle Earth (a.k.a. New Zealand), and it shows.The Shannara Chroniclesis like watching your favorite YA genre blockbuster, but in TV form. (Eat your heart out,Divergentseries.)
Centered around an Elvin princess and an elf-human dude on their quest to save the world from an evil demon,The Shannara Chronicleswas not breaking any new ground when it comes to the on-screen fantasy genre, but not every TV show has to be groundbreaking, and with gorgeous visuals, a sweeping premise, andArrow’s Manu Bennett hanging out as a stoic Druid, what more could you want from a Tuesday night?
The Shannara Chronicleshas been given a yet-to-air second season, which means there’s plenty of time to catch up on the first 10-episode season.
