Amy Child
* Spoilers Ahead *
There is nothing like the heartbreak of discovering that a show you love is never getting its second season. Leaving plot threads severed and endings never untangled, these much-loved stories deserved better. In this article, Amy Child pays homage to three brilliant shows that Netflix snuffed too soon.
I Am Not Okay With This (IANOWT), 2020
For the record, I am NOT okay with the fact that this was cancelled. IANOWT became another casualty of the pandemic in August 2020, when it was announced that the coming-of-age black comedy, adapted from Charles Forsman’s comic book, would not be returning for a second season. From the creator/director of The End of the F***ing World and the producers of Stranger Things, with stellar performances from Sofia Bryant and Wyatt Olef, the show would undoubtedly have gone far had the pandemic not thrown a spanner in the works.
Regardless, IAMOWT is still a show worth watching for its tender exploration of sexuality and friendship, and that one aspect of teenage-hood everyone can relate to: discovering that you have telekinetic powers. It also features some great characters, such as the lovably eccentric Stan Barber, who we can’t help but stan.
What pains me most about the cancellation of IAMOWT is that season one ended with the show’s protagonist Sydney walking down the street covered in blood, having blown up someone’s head at her school’s homecoming dance. She is then met by a mysterious man whose first and last words are “they should be afraid. Let’s begin”. Tragically, fans will never know what these cryptic words meant, nor where Sydney’s story might have gone next.
The Society, 2019
I’ll be honest, this one really stung. When I first discovered The Society, a mystery drama about a group of teenagers who must form their own community after everyone else in their town disappears, I binge-watched it in two sittings and went on to rewatch it twice more. With a brilliantly original premise, realistic and nuanced characters, and a fascinating take on society and leadership, this show had me hooked from start to finish. It was incredibly refreshing to see teenagers act with both immaturity and maturity, in a way that I felt was far more realistic than the majority of teen portrayals in media.
It is such a shame that a show with such excellent writing, characters, and plot should never get the chance to unravel the mystery
Not only that, but season one ended on a shocking cliff-hanger in which Allie and Will, the town’s elected leaders, were overthrown in a political coup. A brief scene in the “real” version of their town then reveals a memorial plaque listing the missing teenagers’ names. Many pressing questions are left unanswered, such as: where are the teenagers really? Was the fake town a social experiment or a parallel universe? And most importantly, what was to be the ultimate fate of the society’s citizens? It is such a shame that a show with such excellent writing, characters, and plot should never get the chance to unravel the mystery.
La Révolution, 2020
This unique show is perhaps less well-known than the last two, but it deserves all the recognition it can get. La Révolution is a French-language show set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, and is best described as historical fantasy meets zombie flick. If you love a compelling plot, fast-paced, gory action sequences and villains with bucketloads of flair, this is the hidden gem you are looking for. Not only that, but it is written and shot amazingly. Similarly, the costumes are a treat for the eyes.
Though La Révolution presents a number of mysterious plot threads that will sadly never be untangled, season one holds up under rewatch
Season one concludes with the villain Donatien (who is one of my favourite villains ever seen on screen) getting away, the shocking death of one of the protagonists, and a mysterious masked woman, seen in flashes throughout the series, being bled whilst tied to a post. When I first saw that Donatien lived to the end of season one, I was delighted that I was going to see more of him in season two, but alas, it was not to be. Though La Révolution presents a number of mysterious plot threads that will sadly never be untangled, season one holds up under rewatch. We can only theorise for ourselves what the ending would have been, but given that the protagonist’s surname is ‘Guillotine’, I’m guessing there would have been some beheading taking place.
Amy Child
Featured Image courtesy of Marques Kaspbrak via Unsplash. Image use license found here. No changes made to this image.
In-article trailer 1 courtesy of Netflix via youtube.com. No changes made to this video.
In-article trailer 2 courtesy of ONE Media via youtube.com. No changes made to this video.
In-article trailer 3 courtesy of Netflix via youtube.com. No changes made to this video.
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