As the new Warner Brothers Discovery takes inventory of its options, many Warner-owned outlets may see drastic shifts in how they do business. The company announced to Variety that TNT will no longer produce any scripted programming. That could be bad news for fans of TNT's genre drama Snowpiercer, which was recently renewed for Season 4. Could that decision mean Season 4 will also be the final season?
The Snowpiercer series is a reboot of the 2013 film of the same name, which both take their inspiration from Jacques Lob’s and Jean-March Rochette’s 1982 graphic novel Le Transperceneige. Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly lead the series, playing Andre Layton and Melanie Cavill respectively. It’s a big, cinematic sci-fi action drama -- but that means it's expensive and according to Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery has to find a way to shed $3 billion in expenses company-wide.
Luckily, Snowpiercer earned a Season 4 renewal before the Season 3 finale aired. This move made sense pre-merger, as it was a buzzy, big setpiece show that got folks talking about TNT again. Big-name stars, a built-in fan base from the 2013 Snowpiercer movie (considered one of Chris Evans' best roles) and 1982 graphic novel, and a huge story made it something the network could build around. In the wake of the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery, everything looks much different.
The first thing to look at is ratings, as provided by TV Series Finale. For Season 2 of Snowpiercer, the series averaged a 0.25 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic and slightly more than 900,000 viewers. After the Season 3 premiere, there was a precipitous drop-off of viewership. The rest of the season only earned 611,000 weekly viewers on average, and a perilously low 0.13 average amongst viewers ages 18-49. None of this is good news, but ratings aren’t the only way these shows make money anymore.
Warner Bros. Discovery might want to move Snowpiercer to their streaming service. HBO Max currently has 48.6 million subscribers and streaming platforms are always looking for exclusive content to attract new viewers. If Snowpiercer is seen as a simply a series that keeps subscribers signed up in between other big releases, the show could keep going like its titular train. Several shows have made the jump from networks to their streaming counterparts, such as SEAL Team, which went from CBS to Paramount+ (although Max Thieriot's future was in doubt).
Even if TNT makes the decision to get rid of the show, there will be the inevitable exploration of taking it to other networks or streaming services. That seems to happen with almost every canceled show nowadays and recently paid off for Manifest, which finished its third season on NBC and was picked up by Netflix post-cancellation. Snowpiercer Season 4 has yet to air, so it's entirely possible that its ratings numbers could improve and be strong enough to secure a fifth season regardless of TNT's situation -- especially because the third season completely changed the series and left viewers with plenty of potential stories.
In Season 3, the characters found New Eden -- a safe zone on an inhospitable Earth. Yet Sean Bean's villainous Mr. Wilford was still out there and most of the third season involved him and Diggs' Layton having their final battle for control of the train. While Layton gained the upper hand, the season also questioned his leadership and surprised fans by finding another way to divide its characters in the finale. The fourth season is essentially starting the show over in many respects, and TNT has already announced that it will include new characters and a new showrunner. That doesn't read like a series that's winding down.
There's certainly reason to be concerned about Snowpiercer's future, since the show is an expensive part of something TNT isn't even interested in anymore, and its ratings are not stellar. However, the Season 4 renewal means that the series will at least get the chance to show what its future looks like, so it could still survive if all of its creative changes make a noticeable impact. For Snowpiercer fans, the best thing they can do is watch every episode live to boost the ratings, and then just go along for the ride.
Snowpiercer Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max.