The 1930s-set USA drama Damnation has been cancelled and will not return for Season 2. The well-received western began in November of last year and has been canceled by the network after just 10 episodes. USA announced its decision to cancel the series just a week after the show would air its Season 1 finale, so at least fans didn't have to wait that long to discover its fate.
The cancellation of Damnation, which was based on a real-life farm strike in the 1930s, is a sad one for fans, but it's to be expected. The series premiered to numbers comparable to Season 3 of USA's critically acclaimed drama Mr. Robot, but those numbers quickly fell as the series continued. With Damnation only reaching around 500,000 viewers at its lowest point in Season 1, USA's decision to cancel the series is not all that surprising, as the network would risk viewership dropping even further if it took a shot on a Season 2 order. It's likely the risk didn't balance Damnation's presumably sizable budget for its period sets and costumes.
Damnation has a slight shot at seeing the light of day again, as Deadline noted Netflix owns the first-run rights to Damnation outside of the U.S.. That may not mean the streaming giant has any motivation to snatch up the rights to Damnation to produce more seasons, but Netflix certainly seems to be in a more advantageous position than most to make an offer if it wanted to. The U.S. viewership numbers on Damnation don't appear to be solid enough for Netflix to jump into anything big, but shows with modest numbers on other networks have thrived on the platform in the past, so who knows? Damnation is set to stream on Netflix internationally beginning Thursday, February 1, so time will tell if there's any hope for the series within Netflix's ranks.
USA still has Damnation available to watch via its on-demand services, and for anyone who hasn't finished with the series, it's worth a watch. Set in rural Iowa, the show follows a man named Seth Davenport, who poses as a preacher while secretly plotting an insurrection against the status quo. The series boasted a great deal of talent such as lead actors Killian Scott and Logan Marshall-Green, with Longmire writer Tony Tost serving as the creator. Tost commented on the series' cancellation on Twitter, and thanked fans for their support of Damnation:
As previously mentioned, Season 1 of Damnation is currently available to watch on USA's on-demand services and will be available on Netflix internationally beginning February 1. For more on USA-related programming, be sure to check out this exciting exclusive clip from Season 2 of Falling Waters. For a list of shows that are set to premiere or return to television today or in the coming weeks of 2018, head on over to our midseason premiere guide.
