Netflix cancels Away after a single season, grounding yet another female-led series

It seems like Netflix is determined to jettison their most intriguing female-led series this Fall, canceling space drama Away after a single season.

The seemingly random axe of sudden Netflix cancellation strikes again. This time, the streaming giant has decided not to move forward with a second season of its space drama Away, 

The series starred Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank as a female NASA commander leading the first manned mission to  Mars. Set over the course of their eighteenth-month journey to the Red Planet, a diverse international crew must overcome hardships, dangers, and misunderstandings, learning to trust one another along the way.

Sadly, we’ll now never see what was next for them on Mars itself. (Though, thankfully, the first season does end on a note that feels relatively hopeful and complete, so that’s something. As a whole, the show is still more than worth your time.)

Unfortunately, Away’s cancellation is another entry in a somewhat uncomfortable trend for Netflix this summer. Over the past few weeks, the streamer has also decided to axe Teenage Bounty Hunters and revoke the fourth and final season renewal it had already given its female wrestling drama GLOW.

Sure, we all understand that times are hard and the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is forcing every network and streaming service to make some hard decisions about what projects they’ll move forward with. But the decision to cancel yet another female-focused, diverse series in the space of just a few months really stings. And, honestly, it’s not a great look for them.

Given that Away spent considerable time near the top of Netflix’s streaming rankings – peaking at number 2 during the week of its release – the decision to axe the show seems more than a bit sudden. (It only premiered a little over a month ago, after all.)

Of course, I’m pretty biased, since Away was one of the best things I personally watched this year, a surprisingly timely meditation on separation and togetherness that couldn’t have possibly arrived at a more perfect moment. With its diverse cast and thoughtful storytelling, this felt like precisely the show we all needed at this moment and I’m heartbroken it won’t continue.

I mean, I get that this show was probably not cheap to make, given the star power involved, as well as the training and special effects required to successfully create a realistic space world onscreen. But isn’t this exactly the sort of story Netflix was created to tell? Shouldn’t this be precisely the sort of project the streamer champions?

At one point, the answer to that question felt like a resounding yes. Now…not so much.

What do you think of Netflix’s decision to cancel Away? Let us know in the comments.