We’ve all had moments when we finish an episode in a nail-biting series that ends on a cliffhanger. You have the overwhelming urge to continue watching the next episode, then the next, and the next. But, what if you couldn’t go to the next episode? What if the streaming service giant, Netflix, chooses to cancel the continuation of your favorite series?
This has happened to many subscribers of Netflix for one- or two-season shows where the viewership and revenue of that particular series hasn’t reached acceptable numbers within a set amount of time. Afterward, the company deems the show not worthy of continuing. Netflix earns its revenue from subscriptions to the platform as opposed to earning money for viewership like the olden-style cable television. According to an article written in The Miami Student, unless a show becomes a mega-hit like Stranger Things, it likely won’t be continued. This doesn’t mean your favorite show is a bad show—it just doesn’t live up to the near impossible expectations of a successful project by Netflix.
Netflix is now stuck in a loop of cancelled shows and decreased viewership. Many subscribers are now refusing to watch new shows until they are completely finished, even ones that strongly appeal to them. Naturally, viewership of those new shows probably won’t do so well and would not meet the revenue requirements. Then, the show won’t continue, reinforcing to the viewers the idea of a cancelling spree by Netflix. This solidifies viewers’ resolve to not watch new shows. The only exceptions are mega-hits that instantly do well such as Wednesday or XOXO Kitty.
According to Paul Tassi, who wrote for Forbes, the only way to get your favorite show to continue is to “watch it immediately, […] tell all your friends to watch it immediately, and […] finish all episodes in a short period of time.”
The whole purpose of a streaming service is to make your beloved shows available to watch whenever and wherever. Now, you feel the pressure to stream the entirety of the show in a rushed manner to ensure Netflix knows that at least an extra viewer enjoys their creation. This has created numerous complaints by subscribers even when a show gets positive reactions. This is because it still flops in Netflix’s eyes. Especially nowadays, shows range from a mere eight to ten episodes instead of the average twenty episodes from a few years ago. This could prompt creators to rush the story’s plot to avoid a potential flop of a series that ends on yet another cliffhanger. Therefore, the shows that result might not be written well and not satisfy customers creating a bad reputation.
One of the biggest victims of Netflix’s cancellation spree was Shadow and Bone. After the second season’s release, the show stayed in Netflix’s Top 10 for two weeks and accumulated over 771 million minutes of viewing. It was even nominated for several awards, including a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, an Irish Film and Television Award, and the People’s Choice Award for The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show of 2021. Netflix claimed the cancellation was due to the 2023 strikes involving key actors and a lack of resources to continue the series. As a result, the planned third season and the Six of Crows spinoff were scrapped.
The backlash was massive—fans launched petitions that gathered over 26,000 signatures and raised $14,000 through Kickstarter in hopes of reviving the show. Despite these efforts, Netflix refused to renew it, and no other streaming service picked it up, likely due to high production costs. Two years later, fans still hold out hope for its return, though the chances remain slim.
While Shadow and Bone is one of the most popular shows canceled by Netflix, it isn’t the first nor the last. Other notable shows that Netflix canceled include The Residence, Pulse, Dead Boy Detectives, Mindhunter, The OA, Sense8, and 1899. Most of these shows have huge fanbases that are working hard to get them renewed or transferred to another streaming platform. These shows were canceled because of high production costs not equal to the viewership.
Netflix’s pattern of canceling shows after only one or two seasons has created a cycle of frustration, distrust, and declining engagement among viewers. By focusing on the profit margin rather than genuine love for the fans, Netflix risks alienating the audience that gives the platform its popularity. If Netflix continues down this path, it risks making its own future uncertain and losing subscribers.
