Dear Netflix: I Am Not Okay With This

I have a bone to pick with Netflix. Well, not only Netflix… all streaming services, I suppose. But mostly Netflix. Here it is; all my favourite shows get cancelled. Every single time I’m actually enjoying a show, every time I get emotionally invested in the characters and the storyline and the screenwork…they cancel it. It’s starting to feel like a personal vendetta, to be honest.

I’m already stuck in this pandemic, I’m enduring my second round of lockdown right now, and I can’t even rest assured that my favourite tv shows will be there to comfort me in this time.

Everyone likes to say that our generation is depressed because of models on Instagram and like-counts…no. The mental health crisis comes from our favourite shows being cancelled or removed all willy-nilly with no warning or concern for our wellbeing. Shows get cancelled before the writers have a chance to finish them properly, and the audience never gets closure. It’s inconsiderate, irresponsible, and, ultimately, unacceptable.

In case a legal professional comes across this blog post and chooses to take my side and fight Netflix on this dire matter of public health, I do have evidence. The following is a record of times that my favourite shows have been cancelled, for no good reason.

I Am Not Okay With This

This show was cancelled after ONE SEASON! Netflix wrote the introduction and then threw away the rest of the essay. The problem is that the first season was incredible. It introduced themes of mental health, family, friendship, coming of age, grief, identity, and possible paranormal murder mystery. Also, the playlist was great, and the visual aesthetic was something I thoroughly enjoyed. The vibes are immaculate, and my love for Stanley Barber is unmatchable. Cancelling it after one season was evil. It was just long enough to get really, really interested… and then have it ripped from your hands and thrown to the eternal gutter. It’s the one that got away.

Selfie & Faking It

The cancelling of these shows were not a crime by Netflix. However, I feel the need to mention them because it was possibly the first time my favourite shows got cancelled. Faking it was an MTV show about a school in Texas where being gay is the social norm, and Selfie was a re-imagined version of ‘My Fair Lady’ in a modern-day social media age setting. In hindsight, they’re both kind of cringey and definitely wouldn’t do well in today’s social climate, but I was attached to the characters, and not getting closure as a 14-year-old in these cases was extremely hurtful. I needed Karma and Amy/Henry, and Eliza to work it out and be together in the end, and we never got there.

Brave New World

This wasn’t Netflix, either, but it’s a recent one, and I’ve already complained about this… this show should not have been cancelled. I loved this show. Visually, conceptually… it’s perfect. It was cancelled just because the writers felt they didn’t have anywhere left to go with it. They’re writers. Make it up. Make it happen. In fact, I’ll forgive Netflix if they pick up this show.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

I adored the original Sabrina as a kid. This version, I loved even more. Every character is fantastic and cast perfectly. Keirnan Shipka was made for this role. She’s poised, fun, likeable, and then at points, dark, arrogant and self-assured. She did awesomely, and I wanted to see more of that. The plotline is beyond fascinating. A lot of it is based on actual witch theology. Visually it’s stunning, even though we could have done without the cringey musical numbers. But overall, I loved the show, and I loved the side characters, and it deserved at least another season.

The OA

Honestly, this show was such a ride. It was so trippy that I never quite figured out what was going on, but cancelling it didn’t help. I loved it because it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Often when I don’t understand what’s going on in a show, I get bored and quit. But I stuck by this one; I hung in there and tried to see it through. But Netflix decided not to see it through.

Tuca & Bertie

I don’t often enjoy cartoons. I never really got the hype with shows like Rick and Morty. But I watched this during lockdown last year, and I loved it. It was a tremendous light-hearted comfort show, and its cancellation seemed very personal because it was the first cartoon I’d genuinely enjoyed for a long time.

Girlboss

I love Britt Robertson. She’s a fantastic and wildly underrated actress, and I wanted her to succeed with this role. I wanted her character to succeed with her business. I was rooting for her. It was a great, millennial feel-good show that looked and sounded great. Netflix has no business cancelling it.

Impulse

This one was a YouTube original. It was cool as hell. The main girl’s name is Henry (cool), and she can accidentally teleport when she’s upset (double cool). It’s a bit of a conspiracy, it’s yet another coming of age deal, and I wanted to see a proper ending. We never really got answers. Why is it always the coming of age shows getting cancelled? It is strange for streaming services to show such low regard for their 1main audience, being young adults and teenagers who love coming of age shows.

Santa Clarita Diet

I watched this for Drew Barrymore, but I stayed for the bizarre comedy concept. I don’t usually enjoy zombie movies. I don’t find gore amusing, but this show was great. It was so funny. And so, naturally, Netflix cancelled it.

Anne

This show had my whole heart. I read the Anne of Green Gables books as a kid, and of course, got overly attached to the character. I thought this show was written well and did a fantastic job at capturing the innocence of Anne’s childhood without sugarcoating the hardships of her story. The casting was perfect, Gilbert was adorable, Anne (as always) was ahead of her time… the writers did an amazing job of drawing empathy from the viewer. I got so invested in her character, just for it to be cancelled. The last few episodes tried to wrap the series up, but I know that there’s more to say, so I’m not happy with it. Netflix said it was cancelled due to low viewership, but if they change their minds and pick it back up for one last season, I’ll watch it 120000 times personally.

The Good Place

This is my favourite show of all time so far. It’s undeniable that the writing is some of the best of the last decade. I’m in love with the whole cast. If we’ve ever met, even for 30 seconds, you know that Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop is the love of my life and can do no wrong. I love the grounding of the story in a philosophical framework. It’s still my go-to comfort show. It’s cancelled, and that was a great betrayal on Netflix’s part, but the say that Netflix decides to take it off the server, I’m rioting. I’m beyond attached to the characters. By the end of the show, you’re rooting for everyone in the story. The ending is underwhelming, but at least they let Chidi and Eleanor be together. All in all, I would trade all of my belongings, mind, body and soul, to Netflix in exchange for one more episode of The Good Place.

Schitt’s Creek

This show is hilarious. It is so, so funny, and as the seasons go on, the characters gain depth and maturity. It’s also just a great feel-good watch. But again, they cancelled it. Because they hate me and want me to be miserable.

So, there you have it. The many, many times that I have been personally victimised by Netflix and other such streaming services. Also, they recently took Mamma Mia off of Netflix. That’s ridiculous. It’s the internet. You can’t tell me that there’s no room for Mamma Mia.

All this, and yet, they still haven’t cancelled Riverdale.