Why Did Netflix Cancel ‘First Kill,’ With Double Heartstopper’s Viewing Hours?

Games Why Did Netflix Cancel ‘First Kill,’ With Double Heartstopper’s Viewing Hours? Paul Tassi Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience.

Got it! Aug 3, 2022, 08:20am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin First Kill Netflix Add another one to the list. Fans of freshman vampire drama First Kill on Netflix are mourning the death of the show , which will never get a season 2, the latest casualty in Netflix killing off unfinished series, only this time, things seem a bit strange. Almost immediately, First Kill fans began comparing it to a seemingly similar Netflix series, Heartstopper.

Both shows center on young LGBTQ characters in love (though only one has vampires), and the immediate question became: why was First Kill cancelled where Heartstopper was renewed for two more seasons shortly after it debuted? Things get even weirder when you look at the actual numbers. Tracking sites say that First Kill racked up 97. 6 million viewing hours when it was hanging out inside Netflix’s top 10.

By contrast, Heartstopper racked up just a little more than half that, 53. 4 million hours. To be clear, the argument here is not that Heartstopper shouldn’t have been given those two extra seasons.

It’s a great show that definitely deserved it. But First Kill fans want to know why their own series wasn’t granted another season, even just one more, to wrap up its unfinished storylines, which has happened to so many other Netflix shows before it. Heartstopper Netflix MORE FOR YOU ‘Demon Slayer’ Season 2 Finally Has An Actual 2021 Release Date Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Not A Sure Thing, Says Director ‘Genshin Impact’ Still Refuses To Increase Anniversary Rewards, Despite Fan Outcry A few theories: The biggest difference between the two shows is critical reception, where Heartstopper has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a sky high 97% audience score, probably the best overall reception of any Netflix show I’ve tracked.

First Kill, in contrast, has a not-great 58% score among critics. But it does have a 90% audience score, and Netflix has shown no qualms about renewing critically panned shows when it suits them, especially when there’s audience support (see the audience scores of The Gray Man and Red Notice constantly being extolled). There could be some sort of cost factor at play here as Netflix is really, really starting to need to trim down after years of unchecked spending.

While I’m sure First Kill is not expensive compared to many productions, the supernatural elements likely cost more than Heartstopper, which is mostly just kids roaming around a high school. Heartstopper may have had a longer tail of viewing hours past what the top 10 data shows, and those number could be out of date. But with Netflix’s inaccessible metrics, it’s hard to know for sure.

Heartstopper also has a clear roadmap for further seasons given that it’s based on a series of graphic novels, while First Kill has more limited source material, based only on a short story. Again, these are all kind of flimsy justifications, and I’m not sure any of them warrant Netflix creating yet another “dead end” show in its catalog. It keeps amassing these, where Netflix is now full of dozens of series that were cancelled with no resolution, so they exist as kind of dead content you don’t want to invest in because you know it’s not going anywhere.

Sure, network TV used to do that frequently, but dead seasons didn’t hang around for years after like Netflix’s back catalog does. Judging by the fan reaction, this is a misstep from Netflix and they have alienated yet another chunk of users. My advice to anyone making a Netflix series these days, plan each season like it’s your last, unless you want your story to feel forever unfinished.

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