Sorry Netflix, but I haven't forgiven you for canceling one of the best drama shows The Society. Yes, I know it's been years now, but with the amount of cancelations the best streaming service has recently done, it's a hurtful reminder of the beloved shows that were cut short by the Netflix ax.
The harsh memory of The Society's cancelation was brought back to the front of my mind while writing about Netflix quietly canceling the most realistic zombie show I’ve ever seen Black Summer (sob!). Unfortunately, the streaming giant has scrapped over 15 shows this year so far, with dark comedy Greek mythology-inspired series Kaos being the most recent show to be controversially canceled.
The Society definitely deserves a space on my list of seven shows canceled by Netflix in 2024 so far that you should still watch, even though it was canceled four years ago – but I'm just not over it. And I'm not the only one either, with watchers creating a Change.org petition to renew The Society for a second season.
Following its debut in May 2019, the YA drama was renewed for a second season in July of the same year. Production was set to start in March 2020 for the new instalment, but Netflix decided to can The Society season 2 due to the Covid--19 pandemic.
This best Netflix show with 86% on Rotten Tomatoes isn't just your average teen drama with the formulaic tropes of teenage angst, high school gossip and best friend backstabbing. It's actually a thoughtful and realistic portrayal of community, politics and culture with a unique premise that had a lot of potential to become a huge success.
Why you should stream The Society
What would you do if there was a killer in your community? With no police or prison around, would you execute the criminal or lock them up and throw away the key? What if you're pregnant and there's no hospital staff or midwives to help you deliver your baby? These are the sorts of issues that arise in The Society.
Commonly described as a modern take on The Lord of the Flies, The Society follows a group of teenagers who return home from a school trip and realize all of the town's adults have mysteriously disappeared. In order to survive, they create their own society, which quickly descends into chaos and becomes a "survival of the fittest" with shocking deaths, betrayals, and secrets as the high school students rebel against the rules.
While the intense plot, unpredictable twists, and unraveling mystery will keep you intrigued throughout the 10-episode series, it's also the complex and authentic characters that make The Society a must watch. There's an eclectic mix of teenagers you meet - some you love and some you hate. From a manipulative psychopath to a devout Catholic, they all have their own stories to tell and deal with their issues in various ways.
The Society also raises awareness on important social issues such as teen pregnancy, domestic abuse, mental health, and living with a disability that makes this fantastical story all the more true to life and engrossing.
Hopes of The Society season 2 was struck down with even more bad luck when the show creator revealed to Variety that he and his creative partners nearly released a graphic novel that would have revealed season 2's storylines, but the publisher went out of business.
However, he did add that the writing crew are working out how to continue the story in a new way. He said: "I have consistent conversations with a bunch of the writers and Marc Webb about how we might bring this back in some way. We don’t have an answer yet, and I wouldn’t count on it, but I don’t do that with every show that gets canceled."
"The audience still wants to talk about it. They are still moved by it and want answers to the questions and then new questions are posed. I just don’t know whether the world is going to work in a way that aligns for us, but we’ll keep trying for a while because it’s gotten under my skin as well." Fingers crossed this happens!
Now that The Society has been canceled before season 2, I won't ever get the answers to the series biggest mysteries – please Netflix, I need to know where the adults went and who the mystery father of Becca's (Gideon Adlon) baby is. Despite this, The Society is definitely still worth the watch, and deserves as much praise as it gets.
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