Is there anything more irritating than a question without an answer? When a series ends on a cliffhanger, the rest of the plot becomes ultimately meaningless. Netflix has run afoul of this simple observation multiple times by cutting the story short after its first season.1899is just the latest victim, but it’s also a microcosm of the problem with the service.
Anyone who hasn’t seen1899would be well advised to give it a pass. Not because it’s a bad show, it’s very good by all accounts, but because it won’t amount to anything. The show concludes with its biggest reveal, but its second and third seasonshave been canceled by Netflix.
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1899comes from the makers ofDark, a 2017 series that ran for three seasons on Netflix. The showshave a lot in common, especially when it comes to the structure of both shows. They fall into the category of Mystery Box shows. J. J. Abrams is credited with the invention of the concept with his incalculably massive hitLost.Losthooked the world for six years, almost exclusively thanks to the way it withheld information. The show was built around big reveals and unexplained events. Looking back now, people have a lot of problems with the storyline, but the success speaks for itself.Imagine ifLostwas canceleda few seasons in. There would be riots in the streets. The mystery box format swiftly became a bit overdone after the success of the show that popularized it, but it’s still an acceptable method to make an interesting show. It’s also a massive gamble. There’s some value to a show that ends too soon, but if the entire plot is built around the Mystery Box and no one will ever learn what’s in it, why even leave the show on the service?
How can Netflix expect an audience to get invested in any new show? Netflix’s metrics aren’t always publicly available, but it has become clear that they weigh the hours viewed in the first 28 days of release extremely heavily. Every show, no matter what audience they’re aimed at, ismeasured againstStranger Things. If it isn’t the most talked about series of the month when it comes out, it’s often safe to assume that it won’t get a second chance. We saw a great example of this with Neil Gaiman’sThe Sandmanin 2022. The show was a massive hit, it was praised by everyone who laid eyes on it, and there was plenty of source material to continue the series. The show was eventually renewed, but Netflix held fans in suspense for a long time. The only exception tends to be shows that attain cult status with a hit IP behind them,likeThe Umbrella Academy. With such strict guidelines, garnering a fanbase will only get harder with each big cancelation.
There has never been more competition for the eyeballs of the masses than there is right now. Multiple massive streaming services with aconstant flow of well-received series, tons of free independent shows and movies underneath the surface, and endless new stuff to watch. Every new show has to fight against the tides to garner an audience. Anyone paying attention can now look at every new Netflix show as a bad investment. Especially a mystery show like1899. Why watch a show that doesn’t ever get where it’s going? People will start skipping shows until they know whether it’s been canceled. This also means that the essential 28-day timer will become even less viable. It’s a cycle that could only result in the death of more beloved shows.
MORE:‘1899’ Creators Tease How The New Series Differs From Netflix’s ‘Dark’
