This November, Netflix announced the cancellation of the popular fantasy series, “Shadow and Bone.”
Netflix’s “Shadow and Bone” is based on the highly acclaimed book series, written by author Leigh Bardugo. The show follows the story of Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) a young soldier who discovers she possesses the power to summon light. Taken under the wing of the mysterious General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) Alina searches to understand her true purpose, all while fighting to protect her childhood best friend, Malyen Oretsev (Archie Renaux) and defeat the darkness looming over her world.
Bound by a journey of hope, loss and found family, the series consists of a talented ensemble cast including, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Danielle Galligan, Calahan Skogman, Jack Wolfe, Patrick Gibson, Daisy Head, Anna Leong Brophy, Lewis Tan and Sujaya Dasgupta.
The cancellation came as a huge shock to fans, following the success of the show’s season two release in March of 2023. According to Deadline, the series reached the #2 spot on the streamer’s English-language chart and racked up over 50 million hours viewed, all within the first few weeks of its premiere.
Additionally, there was a possible spin-off in the works, based on the beloved band of thieves from Bardugo’s “Six of Crows” duology. In fact, Screen Rant reported that the series showrunner, Eric Heisserer suggested the highly anticipated spin-off was already fully written and waiting to receive the greenlight.
Yet, despite the show’s high viewership and overall popularity, Netflix placed the final nail in the series’ proverbial coffin.
But “Shadow and Bone” is only the latest series to fall victim to the big box streaming model. Just this month, Netflix cancelled multiple original shows including “Agent Elvis,” “Glamorous” and “Captain Fall.” Fan favorites like “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” on Paramount + and Hulu’s “The Great” were abruptly cancelled this past summer and another of Netflix’s page to screen adaptations, “Lockwood & Co.” was cut short after just one season.
Streaming is going to change the world
Over the past couple of decades, streaming services have quickly come to dominate the film and television industry. Massive media companies like Netflix, Disney and Amazon currently control a huge portion of the content audiences consume. And consequently, what they do not consume.
With this cancellation pattern amping up, it seems no show is off the chopping block. Now viewers have more questions than ever. How can fans prevent the premature cancellation of their favorite show? Who decides what series are cancelled and what is the reasoning? Is there no power whatsoever left to the writers, showrunners and creative teams?
Well, the answers to these questions are as convoluted as the criteria itself.
Based on the current streaming model, a series must do more than just be entertaining to prove it’s worth. While most people would find a thoughtful plot and well-defined characters as reason enough to support a show’s production, big streaming companies like Netflix prioritize very specific analytics. These numbers not only highlight the level of viewership, but the timeline and consistency of the viewership.
According to an article by Wired, streaming companies are primarily concerned with seeing if the level of viewership outweighs the cost of making the series. This means paying close attention to a few key factors. The first being the time it takes audiences to watch and the completion rate.
A series completion rate, or the percentage of viewers who watch a show from beginning to end, is typically the major determining factor in whether there will be a series renewal, as reported by Forbes. And in terms of the timeline for an ideal binge watch, viewership within the first full month of a series premiere is imperative to a show’s future.
Additionally, there is the point of comparison. While it may seem overwhelming enough that every show within a certain platform and genre is competing with all the others like it – apparently it’s also competing with itself.
Even though season two of “Shadow and Bone” did extremely well across the board, it did not manage to outperform its own first season. According to an article by Screen Rant, season one reportedly amassed a whole 1.192 billion minutes of viewership. This drop in watch time from season one to season two is yet another reason Netflix chose to not renew the series.
When people say renewal is impossible, they really mean improbable
Still in the case of “Shadow and Bone,” the Grishaverse fans are not going down without a fight. Since the show’s official cancellation, fans have been making their presence known, creating tik toks, social media posts, and even an online petition titled, “SAVE Shadow and Bone!!!”
The petition has already garnered an unprecedented amount of attention, bringing in over 150,000 signatures within its first week of going live. The series has even managed to break back into Netflix’s top 10 trending shows for the first time, since the season two premiere.
To most people, these would be obvious calls to action. But is it enough in the eyes of big streaming companies?
Despite the efforts by artist causes like the SAG-AFTRA writers’ strike, this severe push and pull between financial prowess and creative integrity continues to come to a standstill, rearing its ugly head in more ways than one.
Every story is an arrow
Like any other artistic medium, there is no single way to interpret the significance of a show or more importantly, determine its value. Modern society prides itself on capitalistic ideals, even going so far as to monetize a basic cornerstone of human nature – storytelling.
Analytics and algorithms focus on the “right” amount of engagement, but they cannot and will not account for the natural ebbs and flow of human interaction and connectivity. And because of this fault in the system, companies are scrapping many inventive and thoughtful stories long before they ever get the chance to thrive.
As a fan of both the “Shadow and Bone” books and television series, I can speak to the fact of how rarely a story comes along that captures the hearts and adoration of new and existing fans, alike. And there are so many other stories like it; beautifully written, directed, scored and designed, only just falling short of a number that keeps going up.
Still, the life of a story is not finite. It continues to grow and sustain itself through all those who find meaning in it, despite any one singular interest.
As far as understanding how to navigate of the current streaming model, it seems there are still many layers for audiences to unfold. But in the words of Bardugo herself – “When you can’t beat the odds, change the game.”
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