10 TV Shows Cancelled Before Their Time

Another of Netflix’s abandoned playthings, the Wachowskis’ mind-melding and diverse sci-fi drama Sense8 was one of the early signs of the streaming service’s itchy trigger finger.

Showcasing an international ensemble cast of “sensates” - 8 people who discover they are mentally and emotionally linked - the series was lauded by fans and critics alike for its approach to diversity and explorations of identity, gender, sexuality, race, and human empathy.

A 5-season arc is known to have been planned out by the writers from the offset, and what a world it would be if those plans had been allowed to come to fruition. However, despite nominations for multiple major awards, Netflix announced the shock cancellation of Sense8 after only the second season, citing that the admittedly passionate viewer base was simply not large enough to cover future production costs.

Immediately, a fan campaign to resurrect the show hit social media, and within a month Lana Wachowski announced that a feature-length special finale had been green-lit. The special was released the next summer, and while it received critical acclaim and much love from fans for providing a satisfying conclusion to character arcs that had previously been left on a cliffhanger, it still left many questions surrounding the show’s overall sci-fi mythology disappointingly unanswered.

The creators haven’t entirely shut the door on a future for Sense8, and released some details surrounding the proposed arcs going forward. Despite this, with the tricky Netflix clauses that keep shows firmly in their clutchlong after they’ve discarded them, this seems highly unlikely. We deserve a world that not only replicates the diversity, acceptance, and emotional intelligence that Sense8 displayed, but a world in which more Sense8 exists to give it to us.