Northern Rescue‘s appeal is no mystery. The CBC show has intrigue, romance, familial tension, and scenic backdrops. William Baldwin and Kathleen Robertson are great leads, and the show doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. It’s old school drama and it works. The first season aired for 10 episodes on the aforementioned Canadian network, CBC, but it got a spike in popularity thanks to Netflix.
There are fans who have stumbled upon Northern Rescue by chance on Netflix, and have fallen in love with its charming combination of elements. The logical thing to ask after binging the whole first episodes, of course, is when the second one will be released. Is Northern Rescue going to come back in 2024 or will fans have to wait even longer?
Northern Rescue is not coming back for a second season
Northern Rescue aired its first season in 2019, which may not seem like a long time ago, but it’s an eternity in TV time. The only shows that get to take a multi-year gap between seasons are critically acclaimed sitcoms like HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm or massive hits like Netflix’s Stranger Things. A quiet, family drama that originally aired on a Canadian network does not fall under either of the categories.
Fans held out hope for a Northern Rescue renewal throughout 2020 and even into 2021. It made sense that the show would be on production hiatus, given the pandemic and complications that arose as a result. There were numerous shows that were delayed and then given a chance to pick up where they left off, but Northern Rescue did not appear to be one of them.
In 2022, TV writer Esme Mazzao tweeted about the show’s future, and tagged star William Baldwin in the hopes of getting some info. The tweet read: “@johnlegend is my Google Assistant voice & he just told me there will be a @northern_rescue Season 2. No date & I couldn’t confirm it any other way but it was a lovely way to learn so I had to pass it on. I wonder if @BillyBaldwin will confirm.”
Baldwin kindly responded to the request, but his answer was not encouraging. He didn’t outright state that the show was canceled, but he made it clear there were no plans to get the cast and crew back together for another season. “Not that I know of,” he told Mazzao. “No.”
Northern Rescue ended on on a season 1 cliffhanger
The cancellation of Northern Rescue is especially frustrating for those wanted a resolution to the season 1 cliffhanger. Some major bombshells were dropped during the last episode, including the reveal that John West (Baldwin) was not the biological father of his daughter, Maddie (Amalia Williamson). Maddie considers running away as a result.
Then there’s Maddie’s little sister Taylor (Taylor Thorne), who suspects she has a serious medical condition but is worried to look into it for fear of adding to the emotional strain of her household. Did we mention that Scout (Spencer MacPherson), the only West son, gets pulled over by a cop, only for the cop to suspect that he may have stolen it? No? Well, that happened too.
Northern Rescue was really into the idea of multiple cliffhangers for multiple characters, which would have been great if the show returned. As it stands, it’s another show cut down in its prime.