Showtime’s The Borgias is currently in full swing in its third season, but if you were already getting excited about Season 4, you should probably take a seat right now before you continue reading. The subscription cable network announced on Wednesday that this month’s June 16 finale will actually be the series’ last episode, as well. After 3 seasons, The Borgias is officially getting the axe.
This is actually pretty bizarre news. The Borgias has been averaging 2.4 million viewers an episode on Season 3, which is on par with what the series was doing, ratings-wise, in Season 2. That’s not crushing in the ratings when compared to other subscription cable programs, including the wildly popular Game of Thrones, but Showtime isn’t HBO, either. However, show creator and writer Neil Jordan has a few things to say about the end of the series, and it sheds at least a little light on why the show may not be returning.
“I never thought I would make a cable series and have enjoyed every minute of it. For a variety of reasons we won’t be doing a fourth season, but, ‘The Prince’ [the final episode], when I wrote it and shot it, did seem like the end of a journey for the family. Whatever bonded them as a family dies in this episode, and the center of the drama for me was always the family.”
If the show doesn’t crush in the ratings and the series got to a natural stopping point, it may explain why Showtime doesn’t want to continue creating new episodes of The Borgias, which stars Jeremy Irons in a drama about the famous Italian family that is the title’s namesake. With Dexter also ending after this summer, the pay cable network has plenty of new projects in the works, including another project with Michael C. Hall, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Pump, and more. It may have just been the right time to let go of the period drama.
You can catch new episodes of The Borgias on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.
