The Maze Runner series may deservedly live in the shadow of YA book-to-film darling The Hunger Games, but it’s got a few things going for it. Handsome and brave Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) leads the cast of plucky, likeable teenagers as they face a mysterious threat in the form of WCKD, the powerful scientific entity that rules their post-apocalyptic world. The series is short on explanations, so watch the first Maze Runner to get whatever bearings you can before entering The Scorch Trials.
That said, for a series that gives itself so much latitude, introducing something as played out as a zombie plague is pretty lame.