
Shows that feel likeThe Expanse (2015–2022)
If you loved The Expanse, the closest series we have are Dark Matter (2015), Project Blue Book (2019) and Firefly (2002). All three share The Expanse's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Stargate Universe (2009).
If The Expanse hit the spot, these will too

Strangers aboard a ship, working out who to trust
The difference: Pulpier and much smaller, with an amnesia hook

Official investigations that keep bumping into something being covered up
The difference: Retro Earthbound UFO cases, episodic and small — no ships, no scale

A working crew on a battered ship, out where nobody is coming to help
The difference: Space western, warmer and funnier, one season only

A hidden war being waged just under the surface of ordinary life
The difference: Mythic surrealism over plot, with nothing scientific holding it down

Civilisational stakes told through factions rather than heroes
The difference: Grander and stranger, and much less grounded

Politics, religion and war carried by people who make bad calls
The difference: A fleet in flight, and mysticism rather than physics

The same preoccupation in both: conspiracy
The difference: Takes it somewhere less twisty than The Expanse does

Humanity out past its own capability, meeting something bigger
The difference: Federation optimism, episodic and lighter

People stranded where the environment itself is the antagonist
The difference: A family adventure, warm and family-facing

A mismatched crew trapped aboard something they do not control
The difference: Gloomier and smaller, with no solar-system politics

Common ground in both: spacecraft and the future
The difference: Trades the twists of The Expanse for an angle of its own

One thread runs through both: conspiracy
The difference: Leans harder into action & adventure than The Expanse does
In the mood for more contemplative?
all contemplative shows →The best-reviewed series that share The Expanse’s defining feeling.









