In the full article, Javier mentions Breaking Bad (which you've covered in Protagonist's Journey), a show that came to my mind as I read your article here. I think Javier is probably right about sci-fi tv being more of a problem (the ancient tv show The Prisoner--which uses a sort of sci-fi premise--has an operational theme, and explodes the theme in the final two episodes).

Part of the challenge may be that many sci-fi tv narratives use a collective protagonist (even though there may be a sort of commander).

I've been watching From, which has some of the creative folks from Lost, including 2 episodes by Javier, and which uses a collective protagonist, though a number of main characters die off as the story proceeds (I hate to admit it, but I've never seen Lost). There is an operational theme (though it may be a little bit nebulous), and there are clear, well-developed sub-themes. Each character is a kind of theme bit and the narrative manipulates the character conflicts to maximize the operational and sub themes. Haven't seen the second season yet (which is still in progress and which requires an additional subscription), but it looks as if the Season 1 trajectory is set up in a way that will keep up viewer involvement in Season 2, which will no doubt have many twists and reveals. In my opinion, the success of Season 1 owes much to its well-planned thematic architecture.