It's one-and-done for Whiskey Cavalier on ABC. Scott Foley produces the show as well as starring in the lead role of FBI Special Agent Will Chase, with The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan as CIA agent Frankie Trowbridge. Foley just announced to fans in a video that ABC decided to cancel the action drama, which will end with Episode 13 on May 22 as the series finale.
It's a tearful video from Scott Foley, but not because he's crying. No, the tears are from his wife Marika Dominczyk, who also co-stars in Whiskey Cavalier in the recurring role of Tina Marek. Foley and Dominczyk have three children together, and -- through tears -- Dominczyk referenced the cancellation being a bitter Mother's Day present.
Scott Foley definitely seems disappointed in the video, but he's handling the cancellation with grace. He noted it was a difficult decision for the network. Fans are upset, pointing to ABC renewing Grey's Anatomy for Season 16 and Season 17, and also renewing Fresh Off the Boat (even with a main star of that show not wanting a renewal) for Season 6. Why not Whiskey Cavalier for Season 2?
ABC first aired Whiskey Cavalier as a special preview after the 2019 Oscars. Then it moved over to its regular Wednesday at 10 p.m. spot. The show started strong and lost some viewers along the way, but I still thought ABC would renew. The show seemed to do pretty well with DVR numbers, from fans watching the episode later in the same week. For example, the "Hearts and Minds" episode of April 24 only had 2.54 million same-day viewers and a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demo, but it picked up 2.81 million DVR viewers with a 0.6 rating from the DVR crowd, bringing the total to 5.35 million viewers and a 1.0 demo rating.
Not enough, it seems.
There are always other factors involved in cases like this. Whiskey Cavalier filmed Season 1 in Prague, which made for beautiful locations, but could that possibly have been a cost factor? Or did that choice save money? There are also star contracts, competition from other networks (all competing for ad $), and whatever else ABC has ready to go on the schedule for 2019-2020.
I'm a bit surprised and disappointed by this decision. That said, Maggie was my favorite character on The Walking Dead, and I can't help but hope AMC sees ABC's loss as their gain. Just pay Lauren Cohan what she wants already and bring Maggie back to the show. The Walking Dead can't afford to keep losing early season cast members.
But before The Walking Dead fans get their hopes up too high, Deadline noted that series producer Warner Bros. TV will be shopping Whiskey Cavalier to other outlets/platforms. So it's possible Netflix, Hulu, Amazon or someone else could step in to save the show.
Anyway, Whiskey Cavalier fans still have two more episodes to watch -- this Wednesday, May 15's "Two of a Kind" and then the May 22 finale, "Czech Mate." Here's the synopsis for the big finale:
'Czech Mate' - Ollerman attempts to force the team to commit a terrorist attack for The Trust using Ray's life as leverage. Meanwhile, Jai helps Standish deal with a revelation about Tina, and Will and Frankie come to a realization about their relationship on the season finale.
They'll probably leave us on a huge cliffhanger. Scott Foley had talked about what he wanted for Will and Frankie, should Whiskey Cavalier get a Season 2. He said the end of Season 1 would definitely show a progression for their relationship, one way or another. He wanted to play with tropes, but move past the "Will they or won't they" and possibly move it to "on again, off again."
Say goodbye to Whiskey Cavalier Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC. Keep up with 2019's other cancellations and renewals with our handy guide. It's been a busy few days on that front, with a lot of happy and sad tears out there.
