Don’t look now, but Syfy is enjoying its very own network renaissance. After a period of confused stumbling into its new Syfy (previously SciFi) rebrand in 2009, the network is back in the genre TV game with some of the best science fiction and fantasy programming anywhere on television. Part of this TV renaissance has been Syfy’s decision to embrace diverse drama, becoming the place to go if you’re a lady (or dude) looking to watch genre television that doesn’t lazily subjugate women into the victim and/or girlfriend category. The result has been encouraging.

Syfy’s return to speculative fiction form isn’t in spite of its diverse, feminist programming — but, in no small part, because of it. The best science fiction and fantasy reflects our world back at us with the aid of spaceships, monsters, and high-stakes plots, but it only works if it is saying something relevant about our society. To leave out huge segments of that society — half of it, in fact, when female characters are de-emphasized or not represented at all — seems an abject failure of that primary goal.

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Image via Syfy

Some Syfy watchers may associate the phrase “feminist TV” with some sort of marketing ploy or agenda-driven storytelling. To me, that is the most narrow-minded (not to mention least imaginative) way of looking at storytelling. Genre TV that embraces diversity — in terms of gender, race, class, etc. — doesn’t take away from the tales of white male perspective we are most used to, but rather adds nuance and depth. But don’t take my word for it. Just watch Syfy’s current slate of exceptional, diverse programming.

This kind of programming is a breath of fresh air in a TV landscape that has had an uncertain era following a strong class of kick-ass genre TV heroines like Buffy Summers and Aeryn Sun. Though shows like Orphan Black and The Vampire Diaries exist, female-centric stories are often pushed into the more “girly” of genres — i.e. the primetime soap or the romantic comedy. I am all for a good romantic comedy series (R.I.P., Selfie), but, as a female TV watcher who loves science fiction and speculative drama best, there are only so many times I can re-watch Farscape. (Just kidding — there is no limit on the number of times I can re-watch Farscape.)

Enter Syfy, whose new series Van Helsing is a female-centric modern retelling of the classic Dracula-based story to its slate. In honor of its premiere and of Syfy’s current genre renaissance, let’s take a moment to discuss some of the badass, complicated, and narrative-driving female characters the network currently has represented on its increasingly must-watch docket of genre TV shows.

The Magicians

If you’ve yet to check out the first season of the excellent TV adaptation of The Magicians, then you’re in for a treat (the entire uncensored first season is actually available to view now). Based on the book series billed as “Harry Potter for adults,” The Magicians tells the story of Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) and his entrance into Brakebills College For Magical Pedagogy. While the book series is great — particularly in its deconstruction of the “chosen one” narrative and other fantasy tropes — it is somewhat limited in its perspective (it is told from Quentin’s point-of-view, in a third person limited omniscient voice). Because of the nature of TV versus the novel, The Magicians TV show has much more character-driven scope — especially when it comes to the character of Julia (Stella Maeve), who really acts as a co-protagonist here in a way she doesn’t in the books.

One of the issues that disproportionately affects women in real life that doesn’t often get meaningfully depicted on TV is sexual assault and trauma. This is slowly changing, especially in genre TV shows like Jessica Jones. And in The Magicians, Julia’s first season arc is a great example. Without giving too much away, I will say that Julia’s character arc in the first season is the best part of this show so far (though there are other great characters and elements, too) and that the trauma she suffers is not about motivating another character, but about how it affects her own journey — something that is far too rare on TV.

Wynonna Earp

Wynonna Earp has got to be one of the most straight-up entertaining shows on TV right now. The western-inspired tale of Wyatt Earp’s Revenant-killing great-granddaughter is filled with witty one-liners, yet the show quickly evolved from just a fun romp to some seriously affecting, character-driven family drama that isn’t afraid to put lady characters and relationships center stage.

At its heart of the series is the relationship between sisters Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) and Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), who have been unwittingly born into a complicated legacy of death and duty. Their love for one another, as well as their ragtag band of evil-fighting helpers, may be the only thing that keeps the town of Purgatory — and the larger world — from falling into hell. (Probably.)

This show’s plot moves about a mile a minute, but never loses sight of its characters or its mythology — something that is no easy task when you’ve got Doc Holliday, secret government agencies, and snake creatures running (or slithering) around. It also proves that western-inspired horror doesn’t have to target a male audience. Women like gory monster stories, too, especially when we get three-dimensional female characters saving (and, sometimes, ruining) the day.

Killjoys

A TV show for science fiction fans who miss the bombastic space adventures of old, Killjoys hails from the mind of Michelle Lovretta (Lost Girl), who may be the closest showrunner we currently have to Joss Whedon circa 2000. Yep, I said it.

Killjoys, the story of a group of space bounty hunters, has the fascinating and flawed character of Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen) at its center. Amongst the crew, Dutch is not only the leader of the killjoys, but also the most competent. She has been trained as a fighter, a strategist, and a spy, and uses her skills to keep her found family safe and make money as a reclamation agent. (These two goals are not entirely unrelated.) She also regularly says things like: “Rattled an ovary or two, but nothing I can’t shimmy back into place” — and pulls it off.

Killjoys also doesn’t make the mistake of having one exceptional female character in a sea of machismo-driven male characters. Not only does Killjoys populate its story with multiple three-dimensional female characters, but it also lets its male characters be supportive of the women in their life — and not just in romantic or condescending ways. There are varied relationships between the men and women on the show, and ones that exist outside of the strict gender norms that too often define television drama.

In speaking about how she writes three-dimensional female characters, Lovretta told TV Junkies:

“Honestly, I just don’t know any other way to write women. There’s nothing about my gender I am ashamed of or apologetic for. The old advice to writers was always “write what you know.” This is what I know, this is my truth. That women are actual humans. That’s it. Nothing more earth shattering than that, just the basic knowledge that every emotion, grace and sin that human beings are capable of can and has been part of womankind and should be part of our stories.”

12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys is the story of one man’s mission to travel back in time and prevent an apocalyptic viral outbreak, and it is one of the best science fiction shows on TV right now. Plus, it does it all with a dynamic lead female character who doesn’t fall into the Strong Female Character trope that too often characterizes feminist media.

There’s nothing wrong with a female character who is strong in traditionally masculine ways (i.e. emotionally stoic and physically capable), but we also need female characters who are strong in traditionally feminine ways (i.e. compassionate, empathetic, and still very competent). 12 Monkeys’ Cassie (Amanda Schull) falls into that latter category, though she is constantly evolving and adapting for the high-stakes situations she is often plunged into. Add in some terrifying female villains, an older female character, and a gender-swapped Goines, and you’ve got one of the more actively feminist genre shows on TV.

And let’s take a second to talk about Jennifer Goines, played by the transcendent Emily Hampshire, because she is one of the most fascinating characters on TV. Gender-swapped from the Brad Pitt role in Terry Gilliam’s 1995 12 Monkeys film, Hampshire will make you forget about Brad Pitt. That’s how good she is. Raw, vulnerable, and totally unpredictable, not everyone would be able to pull off Goines’ characteristic, meaningful rambles, but Hampshire is more than up for the task. Goines is not just one thing — none of the female characters on 12 Monkeys are, and that’s one of the many reasons this show rocks.

The Expanse

The Expanse has been called the science fiction equivalent to Game of Thrones — i.e. it embraces many of the tropes of the speculative fiction genre, but add a healthy dose of “realism.” Really, though, it stands in a category all its own.

Based on the books by James S.A. Corey, The Expanse tells the story of a future in which Earth has colonized the solar system and Earth, Mars, and the Belt are on the brink of war, and it does it all with an incredibly diverse cast that represents a future that is egalitarian in terms of race and sex (though not without sociopolitical faultlines). The first season had, at its heart, the same kind of political thriller plot machinations that drove Game of Thrones Season 1 (OK, fine, maybe there are some comparisons that can be made) — and there is one badass female character at the center of this political game: Chrisjen Avasalara.

Chrisjen Avasalara (played with mesmerizing terror by Shohreh Aghdashloo) is the Deputy Undersecretary for the United Nations, but her interests and influence extend far beyond Earth. She is brilliant and determined, and she is ruthless — in a way that female characters (especially grandmothers) don’t usually get to be. It’s goddamn refreshing, and all kinds of chilling.

Another standout is Dominique Tipper’s Naomi, who is the Chief Engineer on ice hauler Canterbury — a mechanical role of authority that is also almost always male. Speaking to The Verge about the underrepresentation of women of color on TV, and most especially genre TV, Tipper said:

I hope Naomi, and me portraying her, inspires people, and lets women of color know that they can either act and play these roles, or actually be the engineer on a spaceship. Either way! It's everything I believe in. That women should be in positions of power. That people of color should. We are at liberty as artists to create worlds where [this is already happening.] And the more people see that, the more they'll get used to it.

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Image via Syfy