It was a damn good year for TV, especially genre TV. We feasted all year on quality Star Wars, freaky horror, endearing and exciting sci-fi, thrilling fantasy, gloriously weird storytelling, and top-tier anime and animation. We’ll have io9’s list of 2025’s top sci-fi, fantasy, and horror series coming very soon, but first: here are 42 standout moments that stuck with us long after the credits rolled.
Andor – Mon’s crashout dance
More than just a club classic, more than just a long night of many more to come for Mon Mothma, the climax of Andor season two’s first act broke Mon down perfectly, so she could steel herself for the battles to come later in the season. An ecstatic, almost delirium sequence, watching Mon give herself to the thrumming beats of “Niamos!” knowing one of her oldest friends was being sent to his death on her behalf was a defining moment not just for the character, but for Andor.
Severance – the cliffhanger
It finally happens. After years of waiting, Mark finally reunites with his wife, Gemma. They’re about to escape when he realizes, wait. No. That’s not who he, his innie, wants. He wants Helly. And so Mark chooses to flip the show on its head and stay in the depths of Lumon, running away to an uncertain fate.
Pluribus – Sprouts
The first season of Pluribus is filled with jaw-dropping, incredible moments. One that stands out, just from its mind-numbing logistics, is when Carol wants to go shopping, only to find her local grocery store, Sprouts, has been emptied. She asked that it be refilled, so the Others do just that. Watching it happen, you can’t help but think about how much work that is for the characters on the show, for no reason, and also how much work it must have been for the people working on the show, for the best reason. We’ll never forget it.
Foundation – Brother Dusk goes bananas
Foundation season three made some capital-C Choices in its climax, including the big reveal of who was actually the villainous Mule the entire time. But Brother Dusk’s meltdown as he faced his “retirement” was truly unforgettable: first he blew up some planets because their leaders made him grumpy, then he annihilated all the royal clones—wiping out his own legacy—as well as Demerzel, the only being capable of fixing the damage he’d done. Talk about going out in a blaze of glory.
Murderbot – Murderbot goes it alone
We didn’t really expect Murderbot to accept the warm, musky embrace the PresAux hippies offered it at the end of season one. But it was still surprising to see the self-aware robot sneak out in the middle of the night in the season one finale, choosing new adventures and limitless possibilities over the familial comfort Mensah and company wanted to give it.
The Last of Us – Joel’s death
Fans of The Last of Us video games had been waiting to see how the show would handle its biggest spoiler of all, the brutal death of Joel at the hands of Abby. And it was handled perfectly, with the same shock and awe as the game. Bonus: the episode included the biggest, most memorable zombie invasion yet.
Futurama – “The White Hole”
The season 10 finale sent the Planet Express crew on a long-haul mission to witness the birth of a new galaxy—which they miss entirely because their single-use clones, generated mid-voyage to tend to various disasters along the way, rebel at the last minute and seize the moment for themselves. It’s funny, ironic, self-defeating, and yet somehow it all works out in the end, in true Futurama fashion.
Solar Opposites – “The Wall” conclusion
The tiny people trapped inside Yumyulack’s bedroom wall decided to stay small when they realized Cherie’s baby Pezlie, who was born tiny, can never be made regular-sized. The show then flashes forward 90 years to the post-apocalypse, and a very old Pezlie explains her mother’s actions accidentally caused the end of the world. How, exactly? We never learn. And really, the alien mission was always doomsday, so things worked out after all.
Severance – “Woe’s Hollow”
One of the best things about Severance is that it’s usually so contained… until “Woe’s Hollow.” Watching the innies experience this weird, outside life on Lumon-owned land was just an entire episode of awkward tension, culminating with the season’s first big surprise—Helly isn’t who she says she is.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew – At Attin’s gold
What was the deal with At Attin? Why was it so secret? What was it hiding? These questions floated all around the fun Star Wars adventure show Skeleton Crew and then, finally, it was revealed. At Attin is basically a safe for the galaxy, filled with more gold than anyone can imagine. And seeing it all, in all its glory, was the type of payoff Star Wars fans dream of.
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