Sorry Netflix, but I haven’t forgiven you for canceling one of the best drama shows The Association. Yes, I know, it’s been years, but with the number of cancellations the top streaming service has made recently, it’s a painful reminder of the beloved shows that were cut short by the Netflix axe.
The harsh memory of That of the Association cancellation came back to mind when I wrote about Netflix quietly canceling the most realistic zombie show I’ve ever seen Black summer (gasp!). Sadly, the streaming giant has canceled more than 15 shows so far this year, with dark, Greek mythology-inspired series Kaos it is the most recent show to be controversially canceled.
The Association definitely deserves a place on my list of seven shows canceled by Netflix so far in 2024 that you should still watch even though it was canceled four years ago – but I’m just not over it yet. And I’m not the only one, with viewers who create a Change.org petition renew The Association for a second season.
After debuting in May 2019, the YA drama was renewed for a second season in July of the same year. Production on the new episode was supposed to begin in March 2020, but Netflix decided it could The Association season 2 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This top Netflix show with an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t just another teen drama with the formulaic tropes of teen angst, high school gossip, and conniving best friends. It’s actually a thoughtful and realistic portrayal of community, politics, and culture with a unique premise that had a lot of potential to be a huge success.
Why you should stream The Society
What would you do if there was a murderer in your community? If there were no police or jail nearby, would you execute the criminal or lock him up and throw away the key? What if you are pregnant and there are no hospital staff or midwives to help you give birth? These are the types of problems that arise in The Association.
Often described as a modern variant The Lord of the Flies, the Society follows a group of teenagers who return home from a school trip to realize that all of the town’s adults have mysteriously disappeared. To survive, they create their own society, which quickly descends into chaos and becomes a ‘survival of the fittest’ with shocking deaths, betrayals and secrets as the high school students rebel against the rules.
While the intense plot, unpredictable twists and unraveling of the mystery will keep you intrigued throughout the ten-episode series, it’s also the complex and authentic characters that will keep you going. The Association highly recommended. There’s an eclectic mix of teens you meet: some you love and some you hate. From a manipulative psychopath to a devout Catholic, they all have their own stories to tell and deal with their problems in different ways.
The Association also raises awareness of important social issues such as teen pregnancy, domestic abuse, mental health and living with a disability, making this fantastic story all the more lifelike and compelling.
Hope of The Association season 2 was hit with even more bad luck when the show’s creator revealed this Variety that he and his creative partners almost released a graphic novel that would have revealed the storylines of season 2, but the publisher went bankrupt.
However, he added that the writers are working on figuring out how to continue the story in a new way. He said: “I’m having consistent conversations with a number of writers and Marc Webb about how we can bring this back somehow. We don’t have an answer yet, and I wouldn’t count on it, but I won’t.” Don’t do that with every show that gets canceled.”
“The public still wants to talk about it. They are still affected by it and want answers to the questions and then new questions are asked. I just don’t know if the world is going to work in a way that suits us. but we’ll keep trying for a while, because it’s under my skin too.” Fingers crossed that this happens!
Now that The Association was canceled before season 2, I’ll never get the answers to the series’ biggest mysteries – please Netflix, I need to know where the adults have gone and who the mysterious father of Becca’s (Gideon Adlon) baby is. Despite this, The Association is definitely still worth watching and deserves as much praise as it can get.