Netflix cancels Duffer Brothers' sci-fi series The Boroughs after one season
The sci-fi series produced by the Duffer Brothers debuted on May 21 and drew 5.6 million views its opening weekend, but numbers fell sharply, and Netflix has now decided against a second season.
The cancellation
Netflix confirmed on June 17 that The Boroughs will not return for a second season. The decision surprised the creative team. According to Deadline, a writers' room had already opened for season two, and talks of a renewal were underway. Some reports indicated that shooting seasons two and three back-to-back had even been discussed.
Cast and concept
Created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews and executive produced by Matt and Ross Duffer, the series starred Alfred Molina as Sam Cooper, a recent arrival to a retirement community in the New Mexico desert. The ensemble included Geena Davis, Bill Pullman, Alfre Woodard, Denis O'Hare, and Clarke Peters. Critics praised the blend of supernatural mystery, humor, and homages to Amblin films like E.T. and Back to the Future.
In American television, protagonists aged 70-plus remain a rarity. Hollywood has suffered from deep ageism for years. [...] The Boroughs broke with the image of seniors confined only to comedies or social dramas. For years Hollywood fed us a pattern in which teenagers on bikes or muscular thirty-somethings in capes save the world.
Viewership and costs
The series started solidly: 5.6 million views in its opening weekend, rising to 9.5 million over the first full week. But the second week dropped to 3.7 million. Variety reported a total of about 19 million views in its first 18 days on the platform. Those numbers, combined with an expensive production budget driven by a star cast and heavy special effects, made renewal hard to justify, according to trade outlets.
- First weekend
- 5.6 million views
- First full week
- 9.5 million views
- Second week
- 3.7 million views
Duffer brothers' shift and audience fatigue
The cancellation comes roughly six weeks after the Duffer brothers moved from Netflix to Paramount, leaving only one remaining Netflix project from the duo. Industry observers also noted that The Boroughs was the second supernatural Duffer-produced series this year after Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (also not renewed), suggesting possible audience fatigue after the emotional finale of Stranger Things.
An unresolved ending
The eight-episode season ended on a cliffhanger, with the story of the seniors uncovering a dark secret in their community left incomplete. With the cancellation, that arc will remain unresolved.
