Cancelled too soon: five Netflix shows that deserve another shot

We all know Netflix has a bit of a reputation for swinging the axe on shows well before they’ve run their course—creating a pile-up of abandoned series that never stood a chance to reach their natural conclusion. Sometimes, fair dos, the cancellation makes sense, but often it just leaves us with unresolved cliffhangers and a gnawing sense of ‘What was the point of getting invested?’. Anyway, these are the five Netflix cancellations that should seriously be reconsidered—shows that, in my (completely correct) opinion, deserve another shot, or at the very least, a decent wrap-up.

Serial Killers and Shattered Hopes

Let’s start with the one that stings the most: Mindhunter. This is David Fincher at the top of his game, leaning hard into the early days of the FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit—think late 1970s into the 80s, when profiling serial killers was cutting-edge. Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv deliver top-notch performances, and the show grabs you from episode one. The real standout (and proper nightmare fuel) is Cameron Britton as Edmund Kemper; easily one of the creepiest TV roles of the last decade.

Now, what really grinds my gears is that Mindhunter was originally imagined as a five-season saga, charting the growth of criminal profiling and layering in iconic killers as historical background. That plan never panned out. After some meandering limbo post-season two, Fincher called time on it, saying it just cost too much to keep going for the audience it managed to pull. So: unresolved character journeys, and the BTK killer subplot—introduced from the very start—left eternally dangling.

There was a flicker of hope when Holt McCallany let on that Fincher had considered turning Mindhunter into a trilogy of two-hour films. Sounds promising on paper, but given Netflix’s track record, you’d probably be mad to start hoping now.

Gore, Laughs, Cliffhangers

If there’s one show that deserved a dignified ending, it’s Santa Clarita Diet. Spanning three seasons from 2017 to 2019, this one at least got more room to breathe than most—but even that wasn’t enough. The worst bit? It all comes to a halt on a proper cliffhanger.

For anyone who’s only ever seen Timothy Olyphant playing straight-laced hard men in something like Deadwood or Justified, his stint here is a revelation. The man’s got brilliant comedic timing, and his double act with Drew Barrymore is by far one of the best oddball suburban pairings TV’s managed lately. Barrymore plays Sheila—your average US estate agent, up until she dies and suddenly acquires a taste for human flesh. Olyphant’s Joel is increasingly desperate to hold what’s left of their marriage and daily life together. It’s a perfectly morbid mix of family chaos and zombie mythology, and the supporting cast are equally sharp. With the third series ending the way it did, it’s maddening that the plug got pulled when it did.

Global Favourites, Local Tragedy

Next up is South Korea’s Kingdom, a historical zombie mash-up that started in 2019 and should have run far longer. Set in 17th-century Korea, it’s basically a political drama colliding with apocalyptic horror. The zombies are terrifying, the action’s beautifully choreographed, and the entire thing is so atmospheric it outclasses most Western zombie fare without breaking a sweat. Season two once again delivers a cliffhanger, and a third chapter was strongly hinted. Instead, Netflix rolled out a feature-length special—Kingdom: Ashin of the North—over a year on. That one’s more prequel than sequel, though; it adds lore but puts the actual main storyline on ice. Officially, the show isn’t dead (at least, that’s what the creators keep insisting), but after more than five years with no movement, it’s feeling rather unlikely Netflix will ever revive it in earnest.

Kingdom premiered in 2019 and was followed by only two series and a special despite fan demand for more.

Cancelled Mysteries Club

Now for 1899, a show that had almost ridiculously high expectations riding in—mainly because it comes from Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, who previously cracked out the much-lauded Dark. 1899 rolled out in 2022 and looked set for a three-season run. The story follows a load of troubled passengers on a transatlantic ship, only to run smack into the Prometheus—a boat missing at sea for months. Plenty of secrets, reality-twisting turns, and some of the most intriguing slow-burn sci-fi since, well, Dark. Just as the first series rewrites everything you thought you knew, Netflix cancels it not two months later, leaving all those mysteries to fester, unresolved.

Bonkers and Brilliant

Finally, there’s The OA, co-created by Brit Marling (who also stars) and Zal Batmanglij. She plays Prairie Johnson—a woman who re-emerges after years missing, able to see despite having been blind pre-disappearance. If you thought Lost was odd, this takes ‘mystery box’ to a new level: genres mashed together, the rules of reality constantly played with, sometimes dabbling in the deeply surreal. It won a cult following for good reason, though admittedly, it’s not for everyone. When season two closed, it was with one of the most exasperating cliffhangers I’ve seen—and Netflix axed it in 2019. Fans weren’t just annoyed; they launched major campaigns and, in one instance, even staged a hunger strike outside Netflix HQ. No, seriously.

• Mindhunter: Two series (2017-2019), killed off before its planned five-series arc. Hints of a return as films, but nothing official.
• Santa Clarita Diet: Three series (2017-2019), ended on a cliffhanger. Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore at their comedic best.
• Kingdom: Two series (2019-2021) and a special. Not officially cancelled, still no sign of a third series.
• 1899: One series (2022) before cancellation cut all the planned twists short.
• The OA: Two series (2016-2019), cancelled after a bizarre and ambitious run, with fans still lobbying for an ending.