First Kill

Fans of freshman vampire drama First Kill on Netflix are mourning the death of the show, which will never get another season, the latest casualty in Netflix ...

Judging by the fan reaction, this is a misstep from Netflix and they have alienated yet another chunk of users. While I’m sure First Kill is not expensive compared to many productions, the supernatural elements likely cost more than Heartstopper, which is mostly just kids roaming around a high school. But it does have a 90% audience score, and Netflix has shown no qualms about renewing critically panned shows when it suits them, especially when there’s audience support (see the audience scores of The Gray Man and Red Notice constantly being extolled). Again, these are all kind of flimsy justifications, and I’m not sure any of them warrant Netflix creating yet another “dead end” show in its catalog. To be clear, the argument here is not that Heartstopper shouldn’t have been given those two extra seasons. Add another one to the list.

The eight-episode show followed the Shakespearean tragedy-esque duo of Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Calliope (Imani Lewis), heirs to a vampire family and ...

The numbers justification makes even less sense when comparing First Kill’s streaming figures to those of Heartstopper, the gay Netflix teen rom-com series based on the webcomic by Alice Oseman. First Kill racked up over 97 million viewing hours while in the top 10, whereas Heartstopper garnered about 53 million viewing hours, according to Netflix data. In classic Netflix fashion, the first season ended with a bunch of cliffhangers, which viewers will now never see resolved unless the show is picked up by another network or streamer. But in that same article, the entertainment publication reported that within three days of the series’ release, First Kill broke into the Top 10 for English-language TV series.

The sapphic vampire show First Kill has become the latest casualty at Netflix. But why was the series canceled? Is low viewership to blame?

One of the few examples is One Day at a Time and that was a short-lived resurgence. But why did it get two seasons when First Kill couldn’t even get one? In short, it’s very hard to compare numbers because so much of it is inaccessible to us beyond the first 28 days. The comparable series Heartstopper had far less, but still got renewed. Was it low viewership that killed the show? We got some bad news regarding the fate of Netflix’s sapphic vampire series First Kill last night.

See fan reactions and cast tributes to teen vampire series “First Kill” following the news that the show was cancelled by Netflix after only one season.

According to Deadline, within the first three days of its release, the young adult series was viewed for 30.3 million hours, nabbing the No. 7 spot of that week's Netflix Top 10 for English-language TV series. Grieving First Kill fans have taken to social media to mourn the series, sharing passionate criticisms that question Netflix's cancellation motives. The shocking announcement from Netflix comes a little less than two months after the series' debut, as the show recently premiered on the streamer on June 10, 2022.

Fans share their outrage after Netflix reportedly canceled the popular teenage vampire drama. Many are proclaiming they will drop the streaming service.

"Netflix lookin' like their out of touch CEOs have no idea how to draw in and maintain an audience that doesn't look like their mirror image. The call on social media by many subscribers to cancel Netflix accounts comes after the company announced on July 19 that it lost just under 1 million subscribers in the second quarter. Netflix has canceled the teenage vampire drama First Kill after only one season, according to a Variety report that's seemingly been confirmed by a cast member.