Amazon cancels The Peripheral after already renewing it for season 2

Last year, Amazon premiered The Peripheral, a sci-fi show based on the book of the same name by William Gibson. It started Chloë Grace Moretz as a young woman living in a desolate future who sees a way out by taking part in the testing of a new device — a peripheral, if you will — that may or may not have something to do with time travel. Several conspiracy-filled episodes later, the first season wrapped to rave reviews from WiC’s very own Daniel Roman. And then Amazon renewed it for a second season. Everyone wins!

Only no, because Variety now reports that Amazon has canceled the show. According to their source, the cancelation had a lot to do with the ongoing writers and actors strikes in Hollywood. At this rate, if season 2 of The Peripheral went into production, we wouldn’t see it until close to 2025, which I guess Amazon feels is too late to bother.

Negotiations between the studios and the writers are at least open again, so it’s possible that at least one of the strikes could be resolved in the near-ish future. But before that happens, more shows may suffer the fate of The Peripheral.

The Peripheral was always on the bubble

That said, The Peripheral was more vulnerable than most. Even after it was renewed, we got word of an Amazon insider who said that it “should have been canceled.” I mean, it’s not like a ton of people were buzzing about it.

So maybe shows like The Peripheral will be the first to go when studios start deciding what to cut in light of the ongoing strikes. But it could eventually reach shows people actually watch, as well…no shade to The Peripheral.

To be completely honest, maybe I’m just the tiniest bit amused by this news because The Peripheral was made by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and I’m still a little salty about how they let that show fall apart over at HBO. But generally speaking, this is bad news. I’m sorry for the cast, the crew and the fans.

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