Shadowhunters canceled at Freeform — return date pushed back
Today, the network confirmed that the series will be ending with a two-episode finale, which is going to be attached onto the ten-episode season 3B — in turn, these episodes will be packaged together for an arc entitled Shadowhunters: The Final Hunt, which is slated to air in early 2019. Originally, there were reports that the second half of season 3 was going to premiere later this year, but that may have changed due to the desire to place these episodes together with the final two installments.
This is a decision that the network has been mulling over for some time thanks in part to the season 3 ratings coupled with the show’s international performance — while global numbers are not easy to track down, in the United States Shadowhunters season 3 was down a substantial amount versus season 2. We thought that its performance via DVR and streaming would be enough to get us at least one more season — but alas, that didn’t happen. We first started hearing internal chatter about a cancellation late last week, but could not find confirmation on that particular subject until the official announcement late last night.
In a statement, Freeform had the following to say about the decision:
“We are very proud of Shadowhunters, a series that broke new ground in the genre world and became a fan favorite. However, along with our partners at Constantin, we reached the very difficult decision not to renew the show for a fourth season. But as big supporters and fans ourselves, Freeform insisted on and championed the filming of a special two-part finale that would give devoted fans a proper ending.”
The best way to read this statement is that this was not necessarily the sole decision of Freeform to cancel the show, and they are the ones that have ensured that there is at least a two-episode finale to offer up some closure. Shows like Shadowhunters are costly to make and complicated to produce. If the ratings start to sag in one part of the world, that should be enough to have you concerned over the future.
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