Prime Video’s The Peripheral: Canceled Cyberpunk Show Deserved Better

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Prime Video unexpectedly canceled a promising cyberpunk sci-fi series after just one season, and many feel it was unfairly treated.

Look, I’ve been watching streaming since the beginning, and honestly, we’re all pretty used to shows getting canceled, especially by the big guys. But even after all this time, some cancellations really hurt. You just can’t help but think about how amazing a show could have been if they’d just given it another season.

There was a sci-fi show set in a near-future cyberpunk world on Prime Video that was almost renewed for another season, but ultimately got canceled.

Prime Video Canceled The Peripheral Too Soon

The TV series The Peripheral got off to a good start and successfully introduced the complex world from William Gibson’s novel. It also performed well with viewers, leading Prime Video to plan a second season. In fact, the streaming service officially announced the renewal in February 2023.

I was so excited for the next season, but sadly, things took a really disappointing turn about six months after it started. The show was canceled because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which was just heartbreaking for all of us fans.

Season 2 of The Peripheral promised to resolve many unanswered questions from the first season. Sadly, the show was canceled just as it was building momentum and becoming truly captivating.

The Peripheral Showed Immense Potential In Season 1

The show skillfully balanced its story between two different time periods – the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2032 and London in 2100 – making both equally engaging. Its take on time travel was particularly interesting, introducing the idea of ‘Stubs’ to reveal that the future was using time travel not to change the past, but to collect information from it through experimentation.

The action sequences in the series were unlike those usually seen in science fiction. The show featured “haptic” combat and technology, creating a distinctive style of tactical battles that felt like a coordinated “hive-mind” effort.

The show remained ambitious and stayed true to William Gibson’s original novel. After the first season of The Peripheral ended on a cliffhanger, viewers were eager to see how the looming catastrophe, known as the Jackpot, would play out. However, despite a strong first season and a clear setup for more episodes, the show wasn’t renewed for a second season.

Apple TV’s William Gibson Adaptation Will Hopefully Get A Better Future Than Peripheral

William Gibson, widely known as the father of cyberpunk and a huge influence on the science fiction genre, finally saw one of his novels adapted for television with The Peripheral. Now, Apple TV+ is bringing another of his groundbreaking works, Neuromancer – a truly iconic sci-fi story – to the small screen.

This book was incredibly important in the development of the cyberpunk genre and heavily influenced popular franchises such as The Matrix.

Let’s hope Apple TV’s Neuromancer adaptation has a better run than Prime Video’s The Peripheral. Ideally, it will be allowed to fully develop the rich ideas from William Gibson’s novel, rather than being canceled prematurely.

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2026-01-05 03:38