OPINION: I’ve got to say that this one leaves me a little confused.
Netflix has cancelled (or should that be kancelled?) Kaos, and it’s a decision that makes me wonder (again) about the state of the streaming industry.
A few weeks back I wrote about the 20th anniversary of Lost, and about how the TV series of today should ape it – not necessarily the content, but the era of programming it existed in. But in today’s world, I don’t think a show like Lost would exist.
A 24-episode season that unfurled on a weekly basis? That seems like a luxury.
I don’t think Netflix helps itself with its decision-making. Yes, it’d look at the streaming figures and justify the cancellation of Kaos on those terms. The audience didn’t grow as much as it wanted in the first 28 days, viewership declined on a weekly basis etc etc.
Not every show is the same
But not every show is the same. Kaos is not the most outwardly exciting series – it’s not a thriller, it takes its time and tells a story about fate, life, and death. To me, the story isn’t really finished, it ended – but not in a conclusive way. It now stands as a series that feels incomplete. Knowing there won’t be a second series, would I recommend it to anyone? Not really.
Some shows are discovered and found, and build up a following over time. Netflix swinging the cancellation axe after a season denies viewers the opportunity to discover something and get invested into. It also creates a problem of front-loading an audience instead of sustaining and building it over time. It’s as if Netflix is fuelled by explosions that burn bright but don’t last for very long. It’s as if it’s designed to be fleeting before moving on to the next bright thing.
You look at a series such as Slow Horses, which has built an audience and credibility over time. Apple showed faith in it and allowed the creators to tell a story in the manner they wanted to. Netflix seems to solely operate under the rule of the almighty dollar. If a series does not clap peoples’ eyes to a screen straight away, if the audience trends downwards slightly instead of upwards in the first 28 days, then that’s a sign of failure. It’s short-termism and I don’t think it works.
Who knows, Kaos could have become a bigger hit once it laid out its story and started to progress in its second series. Often TV series find more confidence once the set-up is done but we’ll never know if that was the case with here.
Binging is the issue
Part of the problem is the expense of these series. An episode could cost as much as two-hour independant film. Another part is Netflix’s reluctance to move away from binge-watching. Other streaming services have shied away from dropping all their episodes at once, and while a season drop does offer freedom in how people soak up the show, it does make for a scattershot interaction with it.
Some people might watch it all on the first day, others a month later. Some might talk about one episode, others about another. It’s a messy way of building a following.
Like with Lost or Game of Thrones, watchers were on equal footing and could discuss the show every week. You’d sustain that attention over months – the binge-watching culture doesn’t support that. It evaporates too quickly.
And it doesn’t offer much confidence in Netflix, either from viewers or creators. It reduces the variety of shows on the service (hits demand similar follow-ups) and puts pressure on creators to create shows that are a success straight away, even though there’s no way anyone could be sure of what does and does not make something a hit.
Netflix’s short-term approach could leave its fate up to the gods, and you know how fickle they can be.
