Netflix canceled The Society after only one season and left plenty of burning questions answered, but the fact that the showrunner kept these twist reveals undisclosed over the past five years was a great decision. The Society followed a group of high schoolers who embarked on a field trip only to suddenly land and become entrapped in an identical version of their town, though with all other residents – including every adult – having disappeared. Despite positive reviews from audiences and critics, with The Society holding an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score, and popularity on Netflix, the show was shockingly canceled in 2020 after initially receiving a season 2 renewal.

The concept of teens being stranded by some supernatural occurrence or disaster wasn’t a novel premise when The Society debuted on Netflix in 2019. But, the show’s writing, cast performances, character development, unique mysteries, and modernization of its themes made it so entrancing it could accidentally lead someone who intended to sit down for one episode to watch all of season 1 in one sitting. Consequently, when The Society season 2 was canceled, the intense outrage about all the remaining unsolved mysteries wasn’t surprising. Cut to five years later, showrunner Christopher Keyser still hasn’t revealed these answers to audiences – which may be a source of frustration to many.

Why Netflix Canceled The Society After Only 1 Season

The Society had no “normal” cancelation

The Society didn’t experience any sort of typical one-season Netflix show cancelation. After the success of season 1, The Society quickly received a season 2 renewal in July 2019. However, in May 2020, it was announced that The Society season 2 had been canceled by Netflix due to complications with production from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic led to delays in starting production, increased costs of production, and difficulties in aligning schedules to make The Society season 2, so the show was left without a studio at that point.

The Society wasn’t the only TV show canceled by Netflix due to restraints from the COVID-19 pandemic, as GLOW and I Am Not Okay With This were also among the series axed at that time. Of course, The Society’s cliffhanger ending would bring a great amount of attention to its early cancelation, and it stands out among the canceled Netflix shows as one of the least satisfying “endings” for this reason. The cast and crew were understandably disappointed by Netflix’s decision, with fans even starting various petitions to greenlight The Society season 2 over the years.

The Society’s Showrunner Revealing The Show’s Answers Would Have Killed Season 2 Hopes

If Keyser had already given the answers, there would be no need for season 2

I, alongside many others who binged season 1 and waited impatiently for answers to come with season 2, was hoping that, at some point, Keyser would have eventually revealed the truth of The Society’s mysteries after its cancelation. After all, it’s been four years since Netflix gave it the ax and The Society has still yet to be picked up by another studio or network or even receive updates on potential story and cast details. There are so many questions that, after five years, still bug me today when I see the cast in new movies and TV shows.

When I saw Gideon Adlon in Miller’s Girl, I couldn’t help but think back to how frustrating it was to never find out who the father of Becca’s baby was. When Olivia DeJonge appeared as Priscilla Presley in Elvis, I caught myself reassessing the mystery of Elle’s dog in West Ham. Nearly every scene with Jack Mulhern in Mare of Easttown made me wonder whether Grizz’s newly-discovered farmland in The Society season 1’s ending would be fruitful. The list goes on, and it proves how greatly compelling the show was in engaging the audience through so many intersecting plotlines that could so easily risk becoming convoluted.

As much as I want the truth to these questions unanswered by The Society season 1, I realize that Christopher Keyser telling me these through a post online won’t give me the same satisfaction as concluding these storylines on screen like they deserve. Rather, the best way to properly continue the story and answer these questions in a satisfying way is to do so through The Society season 2. The disappointment with The Society’s cancelation isn’t just the lack of answers, but the lack of seeing the storylines played out by the actors, all the emotion and plot in between, and the growth of these characters and their responses to these developments.

However, if Keyser had given in and told audiences the answers that they wanted to hear after Netflix canceled The Society, there would be no hope for season 2 to ever happen. Keyser himself has often remarked on the loyal and outspoken backing that The Society still has after five years despite only enjoying 10 total episodes. The showrunner still believes in the potential for The Society season 2 to happen in some way, and I’d rather see what he can make work in bringing the story back to the small screen (or somewhere else) than simply be told the answers.

The Society’s Cast Could Still Believably Reprise Their Roles After 5 Years

The actors’ aging isn’t a hindrance to The Society season 2

Rightly or not, many TV shows receive complaints about casting actors far older than their teenage characters. While it may make a show more realistic and relatable for teen viewers to see the characters played by actual teenagers, sometimes casting older actors can truly benefit a show when the complications of productions and schedules come into play – or if a show is canceled and has the potential to return after five years. Many of The Society’s cast members were already in their early or mid-20s when playing their teen characters, and they don’t look too much older today than they did back in 2019.

Similar to how Riverdale’s actors continued playing high schoolers for nearly a decade or how Yellowjackets season 3’s “teen” cast features some actors who are now over a decade older than their characters, The Society season 1’s actors reprising their roles after five years wouldn’t be a stretch. However, the problem could still lie in aligning schedules and reworking contracts with these actors, such as how Kathryn Newton’s horror movie career has skyrocketed with films like Freaky and Abigail. Other Lord of the Flies-style shows, including Yellowjackets, have utilized this casting strategy successfully, so whether a time jump needs to be included or not, The Society season 2 could still work with the same cast.

Will The Society Season 2 Ever Happen?

Hope keeps being renewed for the show to return

It’s been five years since The Society was canceled, but hope still remains for season 2 to finally happen. The Society showrunner Christopher Keyser recently revealed that he’s still having conversations about “how to continue the story in a new way” according to Variety. He hasn’t revealed the potential avenues for that on-screen, but Keyser said he doesn’t “know whether the world is going to work in a way that aligns for [them], but [they]’ll keep trying…” The notion that the cast could all be recruited to reprise their roles on a schedule that works for everyone seems like an extremely difficult task, but hope is still alive for The Society season 2’s truths to finally be revealed.

Source: Variety, Rotten Tomatoes