The cancellation of Lockwood & Co. might just be the straw that breaks Netflix’s back.
The once-dominant streaming service has been stumbling of late as it makes questionable decision after questionable decision. The latest of these, while predictable, is seeing public favor and faith turn dangerously sour as viewers start to wonder if that $15 subscription is really worth it ⏤ particularly with so much competition in the form of dozens of alternate, warring streaming services. Whether it realizes it or not, Netflix is toying with extinction each time it swings the ax anew.
In recent years, the streamer has accrued a well-earned a reputation for its vendetta against the fantasy genre. Once a haven for more niche projects with passionate fan followings, Netflix has since become the enemy, raising our hopes time and again only to dash them against the rocks a season later. In the last three years alone, the streamer has cancelled a full 26 fantasy programs, with Lockwood & Co. serving as the latest to join those overstuffed, weary ranks.
The issue started long before shows like Lockwood & Co. and Warrior Nun got the ax. As it turns out, Netflix’s fantasy issue goes far deeper than its lack of faith in its own offerings. It actually begins with the shoddy product the platform puts out in the first place.
I’m not trying to shade Lockwood or Warrior Nun here, but they are the partial result of a problem Netflix created and continues to create each time it promises a new show based on our favorite childhood books, or a beloved webcomic, only to let us down yet again.
The first disappointment far too often comes with quality. I’m going to put two shows at the core of my argument here, and — ironically — both have yet to receive a cancellation. Maybe that’s the problem. The first is The Witcher, which boasts plenty of quality when it comes to set pieces, costumes, and cast, but is lacking it where it matters most: the story. Something similar can be said of my second example, Shadow and Bone. As a longtime fan of both of these stories, I was overjoyed to hear that they would be getting adaptations, but both have let me down in more ways than one.
Shadow and Bone‘s lack of quality goes deeper than The Witcher‘s. I think that’s due to everything The Witcher has going for it. As I mentioned above, it’s overstuffed with talent in a huge number of areas and puts fun characters, excellent action scenes, and intriguing storylines on our screens. But its overarching story is continually lacking, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in minor and annoying details or needless alterations from the original. No matter what, the issue remains: the writers have been clear that they have no faith in the original Witcher story — the one Andrzej Sapkowski put to the page, and CD Projekt RED reproduced — and it shows. They want to twist the story into something they find more palatable, but it’s not nearly as good as they might think, or what fans want.
The same can be said for Shadow and Bone. The second season of the show is particularly guilty of this issue thanks to some of season one’s stronger elements. But the show, in general, has far less going for it than The Witcher. While I’m a big fan of the cast members, some of whom perfectly capture the characters they’re playing, far too much of the delivery stumbles. They’re selling it as best they can, but the script is safe and withheld, overstuffed, and sometimes downright cheesy. The sets look fake in vital scenes and even the costuming, choreography, and ambiance fall flat more often than not. The set issue is all the more egregious when you consider that some of those same sets I praised in The Witcher were reused for Shadow and Bone. Why, then, did they look so cheap and out of place?
Beyond all of these issues is the same poison that’s rotting The Witcher: a story that, due to apparent disdain for the original product, reworks and warps its every element until it is all but unrecognizable. Sure, there are clear ties back to the story we longtime fans know sprinkled throughout, but without strong supporting elements, even these beloved moments feel cheap and disappointing. I found myself utterly let down by moments I’d been looking forward to for years, as solid acting and the occasional perfectly replicated dialogue were dampened and sometimes destroyed by the uninspired decisions of their surrounding scenes.
Look, I’m not advocating for adaptations to perfectly replicate the original product. That kind of defeats the purpose of an adaptation, if you ask me, but loyalty to the source material should be a no-brainer. This sentiment is perfectly illustrated by HBO’s The Last of Us, a show that encapsulates what fans are looking for in an adaptation. The story is not precisely replicated, but it leans — and leans hard — on the story it’s adapting. It sometimes delivers flawless, perfect re-workings of memorable, beloved scenes while at other times thrusting new storylines, characters, and plot developments in to make the story something new.
And there’s no arguing that it’s new. Bill and Frank are far from the only example of reworked storylines — Kathleen’s entire existence is an extra addition, but she lends a necessary, vital element that will doubtless pay off (even for the skeptical) in future seasons.
That’s what I’m asking for. I want to see more stories like The Last of Us ⏤ not a replication of its story, or even its wonderful emotionality, but a graceful interweaving of the original story and something new. Game of Thrones accomplished something similar in its early years before its writers similarly decided that they could do better than the original. Spoiler alert: they couldn’t, and now collectively serve as a stark reminder of how fast the tides can turn.
Netflix is set to learn the same lesson, and soon, if it doesn’t actually start learning from all of the shows it’s actively cancelling. As much as I love fantasy stories and want to see more of them adapted, I can also accept that not every story has the staying power to warrant a renewal. But instead of just approving and then cancelling shows willy-nilly, perhaps Netflix could stand to learn from the shows that get the ax. Maybe those shows didn’t work because the streamer refuses to properly consider the vital source material it’s adapting.
The streamer ⏤ and too many of the teams it taps ⏤ continues to make the same mistake, and audience members like myself caught wise a while ago. Now we’re starting to truly tire of the trend, and our faith in Netflix plummets with each fresh failure.