The Best Use of Science in TV and Film in 2016

As another year draws to a close and we prepare to look ahead to a new year full of hope and promise, we can’t help but thinkÂ back on 2016 and take stock of all it had to offer. The last 12Â months have yieldedÂ amazing scientific achievements and stunning discoveries. AsÂ interest in science continues to grow, we’re seeing this fascination reflected in our favorite TV shows and movies. The best of these engage our intellect, ignite our curiosity, and inspire conversations with others that last far longer than the runtime of the show or movie itself. It’s these spectacular 2016 standouts on both the big and small screens that we’ll revisit today.

In TV, a number ofÂ trends stood out. The use of cutting-edge technology to battle perceived threats remains popular, whether in the long-running seriesÂ Person of Interest or the new Syfy endeavorÂ Incorporated. Futuristic colonies,Â either in space likeÂ The Expanse or on Earth itself likeÂ Colony andÂ The 100, also serve as rich backdrops for dramatic tension. But one of the biggest sci-fi trends in TV this year was time travel, as seen in such varied interpretations as 12 Monkeys,Â 11.22.63,Â Timeless,Â Frequency, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash. That last CW superhero series shares the sci-fi concept of alternate realities with the Amazon adaptation,Â The Man in the High Castle, which goes all-in on this aspect in itsÂ second season. Even 2016’s darling seriesÂ Stranger ThingsÂ featured a competent and compassionate high school science teacher who gladly imparted his knowledge upon his young students. It’s just too bad that the show is rooted more in dice rolls and demogorgons than hard science, but I’m not complaining.

As for movies, 2016 was a year in extremes which saw a lot of films do some simple hand-waving in place of science while others made it a cornerstone of their plot. There were your typical big-budget and super sci-fi cinematic experiences likeÂ Star Trek Beyond,Â Independence Day: Resurgence, and the upcoming filmÂ Passengers, which seems to be asking some interesting philosophical questionsÂ at the very least.Â Equals filled in the year’s requisite future-set romance in a society that has outlawed emotion, whileÂ Morgan attempted to capitalize on the philosophical cachet ofÂ Ex Machina by focusing on an artificially intelligent female humanoid.Â The 5th Wave found Chloe Grace Moretz attempting to save her brother from an alien invasion, and Paul Feig attempted to stand besideÂ his female-ledÂ GhostbustersÂ in the fight against Internet trolls, but neither was completelyÂ successful. The good news is that there were definitely some scientific gemsÂ available for our viewing pleasure in 2016.

But these are just the runners-up! Check out the gallery below for our favorites, and be sure to let us know your thoughts (and any shows we missed) in the comments!

Image: Paramount Pictures

Gallery

WESTWORLD: One of the year's best breakout shows, this newcomer to the HBO lineup knocked it out of the park when it comes to intellectually challenging material. The adaptation of Michael Crichton's 1973 feature film by the same name did so much more with the source material than I ever expected. In the movie, the robot inhabitants of an adult amusement park malfunctioned and ended up terrorizing the guests. The series called the morality of the guests, the robotic hosts, and even the employees behind the scenes of the park into question. In a show that features literal white hats and black hats, you might think it'd be easy to see which way everyone's moral compass is pointing, but it soon becomes apparent that the characters are not always who (or what) they seem to be. Questions of consciousness and destiny and free will are powerful enough notions to play with before even factoring in the show's narrative style, one that skips around in time but offers few clues to let viewers know which timeline they're in. That latter aspect is a fascinating one that's aided by the eternally youthful appearance of the robots, which messes with our biological conception of time and aging. It's such a heady show that many viewers and critics bowed out before the finale, but for those of us who stuck around until the bitter end, it was a richly rewarding experience.