The creator of Netflix’s popular Greek mythology comedy series Kaos said they were “upset” that the show was canceled after one season.
Charlie Covell posted a message on production company Sister’s Instagram page to fans who over the past week have expressed their disappointment and anger at Netflix for canceling the series.
“Of course I’m sad that we won’t be making more Kaos, but I don’t want this news to overshadow what we have created,” Coville said. “I am extremely lucky to have worked with such an exceptionally talented cast and crew, and I am so proud of our show. Thank you to everyone involved: it has been a hard team effort, and it has been a great honor to work with all of you.
Chaos is a contemporary retelling of Greek and Roman mythology. The eight-episode series, which was released on Netflix in late August, stars Jeff Goldblum as a megalomaniac, tracksuit-wearing Zeus, who chains fellow god Prometheus (Stephen Dillane) to a cliff as punishment for interfering in his rule.
Prometheus enlists the help of three humans – Eurydice (Aurora Perrineau), Ariadne (Leila Farzad), and Canaeus (Missia Butler) – to overthrow Zeus. The show also stars Janet McTeer, Killian Scott, Billie Piper and David Thewlis.
It debuted at number three on Netflix’s most-watched English-language show, and a five-star review in The Guardian said it’s “a reimagining of Greek mythology that’s nuanced and complex, clever, tough, and keenly intelligent, funny and brutal.”
Fans on social media said the early cancellations rob viewers of the opportunity to see the series grow and reach its conclusion. A petition to save Kaos has attracted thousands of signatures.
“This is frustrating,” one fan wrote. “Kaos didn’t have time to fly. It featured an eclectic cast, amazing diversity and a twist on Greek mythology. Season 2 would have been a banger. If Netflix doesn’t let its content grow, hand it over to another platform. It’s just getting started!”
Another said: “Kaos could have gone on for several seasons. Rich source material known to a global audience. A new and interesting interpretation of the source material. Fantastic casting, direction, acting, writing, editing, cinematography. I don’t understand.”
The news broke via a now-deleted post by Perrineau on Instagram in which she said: “This hurts.”
The actress said that when she was cast, “I couldn’t believe that anyone saw me. A girl who is not only from a minority, but also an SA survivor — and you’re telling me that someone thought I could be one of the leads of the show, and have agency, and my own mission, and to be… Desirable enough to be the love interest of not just one gorgeous human being but two people? Was I worth it?
Covell, best known for his TV adaptation of The End of the F***ing World, had envisioned the show as a three-season arc, and previously said that the Season 1 finale set up several potential storylines for future installments.
However, while the show’s debut was promising (3.4 million views in its first week and 5.9 million in its second week), viewing figures fell by 43% in its third week to 3.4 million and again in its fourth week to 2.2 million .
Around this time, Netflix changed the title of the show from Kaos: Season 1 to just Kaos, indicating that it was now a limited series.
According to Forbes, this decline coincided with other recent shows canceled by Netflix, whose renewal decisions are primarily based on viewership in the first 28 days of a show’s launch. The streamer is very focused on maintaining engagement.
When What’s On Netflix compared the weekly viewership development of Kaos with others renewed by Netflix (Supacell, The Gentlemen, My Life With the Walter Boys), it showed that Kaos was lagging behind.
The cancellations aren’t exclusively Netflix’s problem: Disney+ not only canceled the Willow sequel series after one season, but also removed it from the platform, a decision its writer called “absolutely cruel.”
Streaming “was supposed to revolutionize how we watch TV,” journalist Rachel Siege wrote in I, but anyone who delayed their viewing of Kaos’ “old-school style” had inadvertently dealt the series a fatal blow. “Binge, Netflix says, or else,” she wrote.
Covell praised the show’s audiences for their continued “love and enthusiasm.” They said: “I now hope people continue to discover and enjoy the show: I think there are some potential fans who might need a little more time to find it, so please keep talking about Kaos if you enjoy it.”
