New Netflix Series Was Terrifying, But The Streamer Still Cancelled It

Netflix has cancelled its share of series. Were any of those shows as terrifying as Marianne, which was recently axed by the streamer? That is probably in the eye of the beholder, but horror master Stephen King gave the scary series a ringing endorsement. The French-language show will not be returning. Netflix cancelled Marianne after just one season.

Marianne creator Samuel Bodin confirmed the news on Instagram. Thus, there will be no Season 2 for the horror series that made waves large enough for Stephen King to notice. You can check out Bodin’s full message (complete with a spine-tingling photo) below.

If you have yet to check out the Netflix series, here is what you need to know. Marianne centers around Victoire Du Bois’s Emma, a writer who puts together that the characters from her horror novels are manifesting in the real world. It premiered back in September 2019, just in time to stream for Halloween.

Season 1 was comprised of eight episodes. I had not watched Marianne yet, so I cannot say if it ended on the much-dreaded cliffhanger that some Netflix originals have. One would hope not. The horror series is yet another casualty of Netflix’s growing willingness to cancel a show before subscribers (including Kelly Clarkson) can find it.

It is a changing policy that BoJack Horseman’s creator has weighed in on after discrepancies emerged over why the popular series was ending. The go-to thought for many series’ cancellations tends to revolve around ratings. There are arguably a lot of things that go into a streamer like Netflix’s decision-making, though.

Not every show can perform on the level of The Witcher or Stranger Things’ third season, and Netflix probably does not expect them to. Of course, it has historically been tough to know what TV series are doing well without hard numbers. At the time Marianne made its debut, Netflix had not launched its new Top 10 feature highlighting the day’s most-watched content.

Now that Netflix users do have access to that kind of info, it should help cancellations like Marianne’s possibly make a little bit more sense. When the streaming giant revealed what its most-watched shows were over the past year in 2019, Marianne was not among those on the list.

Regardless of how many watched, there is still nothing worse for a television fan than to know a series they really enjoyed will not be coming back. Netflix has dealt that blow to many fans over the past year. Despite getting cancelled, at least one show has managed to fight its way back into a possible renewal. So far, Marianne fans have not been as fortunate.

You can check out the first (and only) season of Marianne on Netflix, along with tons of new 2020 content. If you are anxious to scare up another TV treat, there are always this winter and spring’s premieres.