Netflix announced in August 2022 it won't be renewing First Kill, a supernatural teen drama about a vampire and a monster hunter who fall in love, against the wishes of their families. The series was released June, and gained over 90 million hours of views in its first few weeks of streaming alone. Despite debuting a mere two weeks after Stranger Things Season 4, First Kill brought in high numbers and performed exceptionally well.
Created by Victoria Schwab, Netflix's First Kill focused on a queer relationship between two teen girls, and their feuding families. Although some viewers have criticized its low-budget look, the series garnered support from fans of both the supernatural and queer media. The abrupt cancellation of First Kill shocked many viewers, and revealed an unsettling trend across many streaming services.
Netflix's First Kill Highlights Streaming's Cancellation Problem
Netflix has a history of canceling shows after their first season. Series like The Society, Everything Sucks! and The Get Down were canceled before they had a chance at renewal, with reasons ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to low viewership. Meanwhile, the ax fell on other shows with supernatural premises, like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (which received four seasons) and I Am Not Okay With This (which only got one).
Changes in HBO Max and other streaming services have also cut short some shows and films. The cancellation of Batgirl, despite being almost complete, have created distrust in streamers. Although services like Netflix are intended to bring films and television to the homes of viewers, they also put in a lot of time and money into creating original content. Cancellations of original series, and the removal of other films and shows from streaming platforms, prove these providers are mostly concerned with profit, and any show deemed "unprofitable" will be canceled, regardless of how well it performs otherwise.
First Kill Is Only One of the Lesbian & Bi Romances Canceled in 2022
Aside from the unreliability of streaming services like Netflix, there is another problem at hand. First Kill being canceled after just one season reveals that studios don't think of shows focusing on sapphic characters as necessary and profitable. In 2022 alone, numerous shows featuring lesbian and bisexual women, and their relationships, were canceled. I Am Not Okay With This, Gentleman Jack, Batwoman and The Wilds are only a handful, and many more have been canceled before this year as well.
Following Netflix's decision to end First Kill, many people have begun to examine how streaming services treat shows about lesbians, compared to shows about gay men. For instance, Heartstopper, which premiered a couple of months before First Kill, renewed for two more seasons. Interestingly enough, First Kill brought in more views during its first few weeks, yet it was still axed. While Heartstopper absolutely deserves continuation, it's heartbreaking that a show geared for teenage lesbians has been left behind by Netflix.
Unfortunately, First Kill's untimely cancellation reveals that corporations are not inclined to fight for sapphic media. It's likely an unfortunate result of the crossover between homophobia -- and the idea that queer media is only of interest to queer people -- and the notion that stories about women are less important than those about men. If given a second season (which would have likely provided a higher budget) First Kill could have grown its fan base beyond what it already had. Despite its high viewership, growing fan base and place on Netflix's Top 10, First Kill never stood a chance against Netflix's model for cancelation.
While it's unfair that a show as new and popular as First Kill was canceled so quickly, it has shown many people that streaming services are not inherently giving viewers the content they want. Rather, the shows that are deemed the most likely to bring in money and views are prioritized over all others. Hopefully the future will bring audiences more fun shows about queer women and teenagers to reflect the obvious interest in their stories.
Season 1 of First Kill is available to stream on Netflix.