Netflix has cancelled plenty of shows that probably deserved to end. These aren’t those shows. Mindhunter, Santa Clarita Diet, Kingdom, 1899, and The OA all had something particularly frustrating in common: their stories weren’t finished when Netflix pulled the plug… or, in Kingdom‘s case, when the series simply disappeared into limbo.
Some had ambitious multi-season plans. Others ended on brutal cliffhangers. One was cancelled after barely getting started, while another has technically never been cancelled at all. Whatever the circumstances, each left viewers wondering what might have happened next.
With that in mind, here are five Netflix shows that were cancelled far too soon and desperately deserve another chance. If Netflix won’t give them another season, some of these stories at least deserve a proper ending.
More than any other show on this list, Mindhunter is the one I desperately want to come back. David Fincher and serial killers? Sign me up.
Starring Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv, the series explored the early days of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit in the late 1970s and early ’80s, when criminal profiling was still a relatively new concept. It’s an absolutely fantastic show, and the interviews with notorious killers—many of them based on real-life conversations—are captivating. Cameron Britton’s performance as Edmund Kemper is particularly unnerving.
Although Mindhunter was conceived with a five-season plan, it was placed on indefinite hold following its second season. After several years of occasional updates, Fincher confirmed that a third season wasn’t happening, explaining that the show was simply too expensive to produce for the audience it attracted. That left its characters’ stories unfinished, along with the slow-burning BTK subplot that had been unfolding since the beginning.
More recently, Holt McCallany revealed that Fincher had discussed bringing Mindhunter back as a trilogy of two-hour movies. I would love to believe that will happen, but until Netflix makes it official, I’m not getting my hopes up.
With three seasons, Santa Clarita Diet actually got more time to grow than the other shows on this list, but its story certainly wasn’t finished. Even worse, it ended on a cliffhanger!
If you’re only familiar with Timothy Olyphant from shows such as Deadwood, Justified, or The Mandalorian, this series presents him in an entirely different light. The man is FUNNY.
Drew Barrymore stars alongside Olyphant, with the pair playing married real estate agents Sheila and Joel Hammond. Their relatively ordinary suburban lives are turned upside down when Sheila suddenly becomes undead and develops a craving for human flesh. Not ideal.
Barrymore and Olyphant are terrific together, with pitch-perfect chemistry that makes even the show’s most outrageous moments work. As the increasingly bewildered family searches for a cure, Sheila becomes more primal and impulsive, while Joel desperately tries to keep their lives—and marriage—from falling apart.
Toss in an equally hilarious supporting cast, a wonderfully morbid sense of humour, and an intriguing mythology surrounding the zombie contagion, and you’ve got one of my favourite Netflix shows. The third season left Joel in a particularly alarming predicament, making its cancellation even more frustrating. Bring it back already!
Set in 17th-century Korea, Kingdom follows a zombie plague ravaging the countryside, all against the backdrop of a brewing political conspiracy. With fantastic action, terrifying zombies, and great characters, the South Korean series became an instant favourite of mine. I still remember anxiously awaiting the second season, eager to learn more about the origins of the outbreak.
Unfortunately, that season ended on a cliffhanger, and a third season never materialized. Instead, Netflix released the feature-length special Kingdom: Ashin of the North over a year later. Although it provided some answers, it was more of a prequel than a continuation of the main story.
Kingdom has never officially been cancelled, and its creators have discussed the possibility of a third season, but after more than five years without a new installment, it’s difficult to imagine it ever returning. Netflix really needs to resurrect this one.
1899 was created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, the team behind Dark, the critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller that was also Netflix’s first German-language original. That show ran for three seasons, and its creators had a similar three-season plan in mind for 1899.
The story follows a group of secretive passengers travelling aboard a steamship from Europe to New York City. Midway through the voyage, they encounter the Prometheus, a ship that had mysteriously vanished at sea months earlier. Cue the twisty-turny mystery.
Atmospheric, captivating, and frequently mind-bending, the first season gradually introduced its characters, established its larger themes, and posed one intriguing question after another. By the time the finale arrived, it had completely upended everything we thought we knew and set the stage for an even bigger story.
But Netflix cancelled the show less than two months after its debut, leaving its many mysteries frustratingly unanswered. We need answers, dammit!
Created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, The OA stars Marling as Prairie Johnson, a young woman who suddenly resurfaces after being missing for seven years. Now calling herself “the OA,” Prairie can somehow see, despite having been blind before her disappearance.
The series is difficult to classify, blending elements of science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and the supernatural, and occasionally blurring the line between fiction and reality. It definitely isn’t to everyone’s taste. The OA can be complicated, bewildering, silly, and occasionally frustrating, but once it pulls you in, it’s almost impossible to get out.
Unfortunately, Netflix cancelled the series after two seasons—and on one hell of a cliffhanger. Fans were understandably furious, launching passionate campaigns to save the show, with one supporter even staging a hunger strike outside Netflix’s headquarters.
Of all Netflix’s unfinished shows, The OA may be the one most desperately in need of a proper ending.
What connects these five shows isn’t simply that Netflix cancelled them. It’s that Netflix pulled the plug while their stories still had somewhere to go.
Mindhunter was conceived as a five-season story and ended just as its larger narrative was taking shape. Santa Clarita Diet was cancelled after leaving its characters in a major predicament. Kingdom remains stuck in limbo despite never receiving an official cancellation. 1899 barely made it through the first part of a story its creators envisioned as a three-season series. And The OA ended on one of the most frustrating cliffhangers in Netflix history despite reportedly having a much larger story planned.
Will any of them actually return? Mindhunter at least has the intriguing possibility of a movie trilogy, while Kingdom technically remains alive in the sense that Netflix never officially pulled the plug. For the others, a revival seems increasingly unlikely. But that doesn’t make the unfinished stories any less frustrating.
Those are just five of the Netflix cancellations that still sting, but there are plenty of other shows that deserved more time. Which cancellation still bothers you the most? Is there a series you’d bring back for another season, or at least give a proper ending? Let us know your picks in the comments.