It’s hard to believe now, but there was actually a time a few months ago when we thought it was possible to keep track of all the major productions and events that had been canceled by the coronavirus. Now, as the pandemic enters its thousandth month, it turns out that things are still being canceled by the virus. Things like Netflix’s Lord Of The Flies update The Society, which was supposed to start production on its second season—stop us if you’ve heard this one dozens of times—right at the end of March when the virus forced the whole world to shut down. Netflix pushed that start date back to the end of September, but things aren’t getting much better and the timeline of the show established that season two would take place in spring or summer, so last week Netflix abruptly canceled the show (much to the surprise of series creator Christopher Keyser).
Now, speaking with Variety, Keyser has opened up about the shock of finding out that the show has been canceled after just missing its production start date earlier this year, calling it “obviously pretty upsetting and abrupt.” Keyser says it’s not totally unexpected, since Netflix spent months trying to work out the logistical issues involved in working on a show like this with a large cast of young people and a large number of outdoor sets (making it hard to hide which season it is), but it’s still “a bit of a gutpunch.”
Keyser wouldn’t offer specific details about what would’ve happened in the show’s second season, but Variety did get some highlights. The show is about a group of high school students who return to their hometown from a school trip and find out that everyone else has disappeared, with season one ending on the reveal that there was an alternate universe where the kids never returned from their trip. Keyser says season two would’ve “been on point” with the current political situation in the country and would’ve involved the kids splitting off into factions after some of them leave the town to live on newly discovered farmland.
With the disappointment about the show being canceled established, though, Keyser adds that it’s “more sad that the country couldn’t figure out a way to cope with the pandemic through science and leadership and logic and a sense of shared responsibility,” which… yeah.