In a surprising move, Netflix has canceled The Waterfront after one season, and fans of the show are angry.
Is The Waterfront Coming Back for Season 2?
No. Deadline reports that Netflix has made the decision to pull the plug on the crime drama series after one season, citing unnamed sources.
What Is The Waterfront?
The series was the latest offering from screenwriter, director and producer Kevin Williamson, whose other television credits include Dawson’s Creek, The Vampire Diaries, The Following and more.
Williamson is also responsible for launching big-screen projects including Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.
The Waterfront starred Holt McCallany, Jake Weary, Melissa Benoist and Maria Bello, and it followed the drama of a prominent fishing family that has fallen on hard times after their patriarch has suffered a series of health setbacks. The family members end up turning to crime in order to try to preserve their status.
“As their storied North Carolina fishing empire decays, the damaged Buckleys grapple to revive their imperiled maritime heritage,” IMDb describes the show.
Why Was The Waterfront Compared to Yellowstone?
The show drew comparisons to Yellowstone due to its focus on the internal dynamics of the family, its strong, but difficult patriarch and the moral ambiguity that underlies the family’s actions.
Slate described The Waterfront as being “like Yellowstone, but set in North Carolina,” while CBR called it a “Yellowstone-like crime series” that was “surprisingly good.”
Collider termed the show a “Yellowstone replacement.”
Why Did The Waterfront Get Canceled?
Netflix has not offered up any details behind the decision to cancel the show, which actually performed better than a few other shows that the streaming service has chosen to renew.
According to Deadline, The Waterfront spent five weeks total in Netflix’s worldwide Top 10 for English-language series.
The show earned 11.6M views in its first full week of release, and ultimately pulled off the rare feat of returning to No. 1 three different times.
That’s a better performance than the recently renewed drama Ransom Canyon, which spent four weeks in the Top 10 and peaked at No. 2, earning 9.4M views in its first full week.
The Waterfront also performed better than Forever, which also landed in the Top 10 for four weeks, reaching No.3 and earning 6.7M first-week views.
However, sources suggested to Deadline that while the initial ratings were strong for The Waterfront, Netflix executives might have felt that the show’s completion rate — the number of fans who start a show and then watch it all the way until the end — was not strong enough to warrant a second season.
What Are People Saying About The Waterfront‘s Cancellation?
Fans of the show were quick to react to its cancellation online, with many fans venting about the decision:
Kevin Williamson also turned to Instagram Stories to react to the news, writing, “A big thank you to everyone who watched The Waterfront. While I’m sad the Buckleys won’t be back for Season 2, I’m celebrating the joy that was Season 1.
“I had the pleasure of working with a dream cast and crew. My heart is full of gratitude for all the people who brought their talents to the show both in NC and LA. You were all amazing.”
Williamson also called the doing the show “one of the best experiences of my life.”
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