It’s not every day you see Netflix cancel a series with solid viewership and something as high as a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score. But that’s what’s happened with The Boroughs, which only just fell off the service’s top 10 list as recently as this past week, almost a month after its debut.
The Boroughs had legs, and everyone seems confused about what happened here, including one of its main stars, Geena Davis. She spoke to THR about the show ending after one season, even though it was assumed it would return, a season 2 writers’ room already in motion, and a three-season plan for the series. Here’s what she said when asked if she knew why:
“Fortunately, the creators, who became our dear, dear friends, were able to tell us before the news came out, and we’re all terribly disappointed. Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I think it’s probably rare for a show to not get picked up and to have it announced that it’s not being picked up while it’s still in the top 10. We didn’t expect that.”
She goes on to say that the showrunners were told to format the show so it wouldn’t end on a huge cliffhanger, given the frequent risk that Netflix might not renew a show, no matter how it performed, and that was true here. They did listen, as The Boroughs’ first season storyline did end somewhat conclusively, although there was a tease of what might be to come. But it won’t come.
THR has previously published an unconfirmed report that the cancellation was meant to be a dig at The Boroughs’ producers, the Duffer Brothers, who are leaving Netflix after the end of Stranger Things for Paramount, though that remains a rumor. Davis was asked whether she’d heard the show might be picked up by Paramount after their movie there, but she had no information on that front. She’d do it, of course, she relayed.
The Boroughs’ cancellation is indeed one of the strangest Netflix axings in quite a while, between its high review scores backed by a weeks-long spot in its top 10. The show may be pretty costly, given that it does use some measure of VFX due to its villainous-ish monsters, but the whole thing seems a bit unusual.
Is The Boroughs yet another Netflix show not even worth starting because it was canceled too soon? I’d argue no, given that the creators did follow that advice about making season 1 feel like a complete whole. It’s a bummer it’s not returning, but I’m not super broken up about it, given that it works as a one-and-done. I also think that 97% critic score is more than a bit inflated. But it’s good! And probably deserved better than this very weird cancellation.
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