Three Pines gets the chop as Prime Video TV show is cancelled
An acclaimed Prime Video series is felled after one season
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Three Pineshas been cancelled byAmazonStudios after a single season.
As first reported byVariety, the Alfred Molina-starring detective thriller is the latestPrime Videoseries to get the chop. No reason has been given for the show’s cancellation, but Amazon Studios told Variety (via email) that it was “proud of the work done on the series and the opportunity to work with great partners”.
Unsurprisingly,Three Pines' cast and crew have been left shocked by its unexpected and abrupt ending. Taking to Instagram, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers – who played Isabelle Lacoste in the TV show – said it was “difficult to process” its cancellation before thanking viewers who tuned in to watch the series' one and only season.
A post shared by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (@ellemaijatailfeathers)
A photo posted by on
Showrunner Emilia di Girolamo, who also posted a thank you message on Instagram following the announcement, explained that Amazon,SonyPictures, and Left Bank Pictures tried to negotiate a deal to bringThree Pinesback for a second season. Unfortunately, a mutually beneficial agreement wasn’t reached, hence its cancellation.
A post shared by Emilia di Girolamo (@emilia_di_girolamo)
A photo posted by on
It’s unclear ifThree Pineswill find a new streaming home. WithNetflixandDisney Plusfocused on their own in-house projects, andHBO Max’s parent company Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) cutting back on its streaming output, it’s unlikelyThree Pineswill land on one of the otherbest streaming services.
Based on Louise Penny’s novel of the same name,Three Pinesstarred Molina (Spider-Man: No Way Home) as Chief Inspector Armand Gauche, who investigates a series of seemingly interconnected murders in the titular town near Quebec, Canada. The show ran for eight episodes, with four blocks of two episodes released weekly between December 2, 2022 and December 23, 2022.
Three Pineswas praised for its authentic representation of indigenous characters, cultures, and issues. Molina’s multidimensional portrayal of Gauche, too, was positively received by critics. Despite its many positives, though,Three Pineshas become the latest in a growing list of showscancelled by Prime Video, which includesPaper Girls,The Wilds, andI Know What You Did Last Summer’s TV reboot.
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Analysis: taking root at the wrong time
There are many reasons why a studio might decide to cancel a show. Maybe a series didn’t perform well enough, from a viewership perspective, to justify renewing it. Maybe a TV program cost too much to make, meaning there aren’t funds to bring it back for another season – and a potentially more expensive one at that.
Based on di Girolamo’s Instagram post,Three Pinesseason 2 wasn’t greenlit because its three major production companies couldn’t come to an agreement over its development. That’s as good a reason as any to explain why it won’t be back for a second installment.
It’s also possible, though, thatThree Pineswas released at the wrong time. The series initially debuted on Prime Video in early December, which pitted it against a number of big hitters on rival streamers. On Netflix,The Witcher: Blood OriginandEmily in Paris season 3also arrived in December, while smash-hit seriesWednesdaycontinued to dominate the streaming charts. Over on HBO Max,His Dark Materials season 3took its fair share of the global audience share, whileTom Clancy’s Jack Ryan season 3, which also debuted on Prime Video in December, will also have eaten into Three Pines' viewing figures.
The arrival of the 2022 Christmas holiday season might have givenThree Pinesa timely viewership boost. But, with the above shows – not to mention the debut of eagerly anticipated films, such asGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, around the Christmas period – competing for viewers' attentions,Three Pinesseems to have been outfought by its rivals. The holidays represented the perfect time to catch up on some of thebest TV shows of 2022, too, for those viewers who missed top-tier series earlier in the year.
We can’t know for sure if that was the case. Amazon rarely releases official viewing figures for its original movies and TV shows, only doing so when an in-house project performs extremely well (seeThe Rings of Powerseason 1’s debutas proof of that). Reading between the lines, however, it appears there’s more toThree Pines' cancellation than meets the eye. Simply put, it took root on Prime Video at the wrong time.
For more Prime Video coverage, read our guides on thebest Prime Video shows,new Prime Video movies, andbest Prime Video movies.
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