For many people, television is escapist entertainment, but there are people who want their favorite series to challenge them. When it comes to these challenging shows, most are in the genres of fantasy and science fiction, with sci-fi often being a genre that many television fans claim is a little too hard to follow at times.
On Reddit, there is a massive collection of movie and television fans who love to discuss everything they love and hate. They also like to share opinions on things like television shows that they found either complex or hard to follow. These include high-brow sci-fi, complex fantasy, and even one critically acclaimed drama series, all of which gave many fans problems.
The Witcher (2019) – Stream On Netflix
The Witcher is a Netflix original fantasy series based on both video games and novels. The structure of the series, though, can make it hard to follow at times. There are multiple timelines involved, and often the show will flip to the new timeline with little warning, and throw the viewers off.
One Redditor named SpearsAtPoseidon wrote that the show had him completely confused as someone who wasn’t a diehard Witcher fan. “There are nine hundred characters. I was sure about Geralt, Yennifer, Ciri and Roach. Any time another name was mentioned, I threw my hands up over my head internally… I didn’t know ANYTHING about anything.”
Mr. Robot (2015) – Stream On Amazon Prime
Mr. Robot premiered in 2015 and presented a story about a young genius tormented by visions of his dead father talking to him and offering oftentimes bad advice. The father in the show had the name Mr. Robot, and it turned out later in the series that Elliot developed a second personality after his dad’s death.
On Reddit, sammyinthesky wrote that Mr. Robot kept him confused most of the time he watched it. “Mr robot comes to mind. I still have no idea if what I’m seeing is reality or dreamworld.”
Lost (2004) – Stream On Hulu
Whenever people talk about shows that kept them confused, Lost is one of the first shows to come up in conversation. Even the Lost finale failed to answer every question and left some fans more confused than they were working their way through the series.
Redditor Richtofen-72 wrote, “Despite anything you may say about how well it wrapped up, it’s so go**amn complex… Questions of right v wrong, power dynamics, vengeance, and the boundaries of redemption, are constantly brought up. What starts off as a thriller about a plane crash becomes philosophical as hell.”
Twin Peaks (1990) – Stream On Paramount+
Twin Peaks came from the mind of David Lynch, a man who created some of the most bizarre and puzzling movies in cinema history. He didn’t hold back for the TV show either. Bringing in bizarre characters and presenting a murder mystery that was never the most important part of the series made it must-watch television.
For EZ_does_it, the show was a little too much when he first watched it. “Twin Peaks was that for me when I was in college. Plus it was in an era where you didn’t have the internet so I remember there were countless books, magazines, newspaper column’s dedicated to clues, puzzles, symbols, etc.”
Game Of Thrones (2011) – Stream On HBO Max
Game of Thrones remained one of the most-watched TV shows all the way through to the final season, which itself came as a letdown for the fans who followed it from the start. However, it wasn’t always easy to follow what was happening on Game of Thrones since there were so many characters and locations, often not interacting with one another.
For Redditor kmcg013, it was overwhelming at times. “For Game of Thrones I’ve taken notes and have used maps and charts of connections. It’s quite difficult to keep all of that in your head as you are watching.”
Fringe (2008) – Stream On HBO Max
Fringe was a sci-fi TV show that was popular because it was so complex. The premise surrounded alternate worlds and time travel, and there was never any attempt to simplify things for mainstream audiences.
This was a show that sci-fi fans ate up because of its intelligence and scientific knowledge presented in the series. However, there are many fans who just couldn’t grasp it. Redditor RyanMRKO721 wrote, “Fringe. The mind boggles at the thought” of not watching every episode closely and in order.
The Wire (2002) – Stream On HBO Max
It doesn’t have to be a sci-fi or fantasy show to complicate things for the viewer. The HBO series The Wire remains one of the best original shows ever to air on the network. However, each season switched things up and focused on a different area of Baltimore’s lifeline.
This made it hard to keep up in some cases since the show kept switching points of view through the seasons. Redditor boblablaugh wrote, “Even watching in order, there is so much going on, if you blink you could be missing something huge. I watched the whole series four or five times now and each time I pick up something new.”
Heroes (2006) – Stream On Paramount+
Heroes started off on fire as one of the hottest shows on television. However, by the time the show ended, many fans had stopped watching. The interesting mystery at the start of saving the cheerleader and saving the world became a confusing myriad of sci-fi ideas in later seasons.
Redditor LuffyThePirateKing wrote, “Heroes got really confusing near the end. Probably because of the writers strike but it just started not making any sense.”
Dark (2017) – Stream On Netflix
Dark was a Netflix original sci-fi series that involved time travel, and while that is often confusing, there were other aspects that confused viewers. Each of the actors portrayed characters in different timelines, and with some time-traveling as well, things got very confusing for those not paying close attention.
That didn’t stop fans from loving every confusing minute of the journey. Redditor g0thmess wrote, “I love it, but the entire time I have the wiki out and I pause frequently to go back and check names.”
Legion – Stream On Hulu
Most of the time, superhero shows are straightforward. This is especially true for Marvel shows, as even WandaVision was bizarre, but tied everything together at the end for an easy-to-understand finale. That was not true for Legion, who in the comics is the son of Professor X of the X-Men.
One fan on Reddit posted that they found “all the mindscapes tough to keep straight/interpret in that show. Maybe I just don’t have the right psychology for it… somehow I have to concentrate more with a show like Legion.”
