Netflix Cancels Groundbreaking Teen Drama "First Kill" After Just 1 Season

Netflix has officially canceled the teen drama series First Kill after its first season, claiming that it did not meet the thresholds for viewership and completion of episodes. Despite the series achieving impressive figures upon its June 10 release (spending its first few weeks in the top 10 for English language TV-series, ultimately peaking at No. 3), fans are now voicing their honest thoughts on this puzzling trend of Netflix abruptly ending hit shows surrounding LGBTQ+ characters, primarily lesbian ones. 

#FirstKill showrunner Felicia D. Henderson opens up about the show's cancellation, saying that Netflix failed to properly market the series https://t.co/sCQaIWpptw

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 4, 2022

First Kill chronicles an unlikely high school romance between Juliette (played by Sarah Catherine Hook), a vampire, and Calliope (played by Imani Lewis), a vampire hunter and is based on the short story by V.E. Schwab. The show was embraced by viewers and the lesbian community in particular, especially because of it having not only a central representation of lesbians, but also having one of the leads played by a dark-skinned black actress. Despite the show receiving mixed reviews by critics (58% on Rotten Tomatoes), it has an 89% audience score. Clearly, as campy and cheesy as any vampire teen drama may be, it is still worth gifting lesbians and queer people in general  with their own representations of the genre. 

Shows like Everything Sucks! and I Am Not Okay With This are other LGBTQ+ shows with lesbian representation that have also gotten abruptly canceled by the streaming platform. This unfortunate trend has caused upset in the lesbian community, especially when other teen dramas that have a dwindling fanbase or that have unfavorable reviews by viewers have continued to get renewed season after season. Many fans are even voicing their disdain for Netflix and opting to boycott it because of so many LGBTQ+ and lesbian-driven shows getting canceled after just one season. 

first kill getting cancelled after doing 100 million PLUS viewing hours… netflix hates lesbians and it shows

— ria. tea’s wife (REAL) (@lgbtzenin) August 3, 2022

Netflix announced the cancellation on August 2, just two months after the season one finale debuted. Netflix stated the reason for the cancellation being the show’s low viewership not warranting the hefty price of creating a second season. 

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