Kevin Williamson’s crime drama series The Waterfront gets the boot from Netflix, with the streaming platform announcing it won’t go ahead with a Season 2, according to Deadline.
Sources say Williamson has informed the cast and crew of the series cancellation, which comes as a shock following its Season 1 premiere on June 19, and its climactic season finale that left fans wanting more.
The Waterfront saw success after its release, topping Netflix’s Top 10 list for five weeks for an English-language series. It peaked with 11.6M views for its first full week. News of the series cancellation comes as part of the streaming platform’s crackdown on series renewals, focusing on cost versus performance as key factors. The Waterfront did significantly better than two other Netflix canceled series: Pulse and The Residence. Both of which did well among fans.
From Universal Television, The Waterfront delves into the lives of the Buckley family in Havenport, North Carolina. Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany), the family patriarch with heart issues, returns to manage the family’s struggling fishing business. Instead of a warm welcome, he learns his son and wife have secretly entered the drug trade to salvage their legacy.
The Netflix series scored a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes with its overall eight-episode season. Back in late June, after the series finale, Williamson teased the possibility of a Season 2 and the power struggle within the Buckley family.
For now, none of the cast has commented on the series cancellation. The Waterfront is McCallany’s second Netflix series to be cancelled after Mindhunter, with the actor having previously expressed his focus on returning to the Williamson series for a second season.
He told The New York Post that The Waterfront Season 2 would happen “sooner rather than later,” with a renewal status “as early as the spring.”
