Why Did Netflix Cancel Spinning Out After Just One Season? - CBR

Starring Kaya Scodelario, Spinning Out was canceled after only one season on Netflix. That left the teen ice-skating drama with a cliffhanger and multiple unresolved storylines. While certain factors led to its cancelation, the show was in its infancy and could have used another season to properly hit its stride.

Spinning Out followed Kat Baker (Scodelario), who is presented with a unique opportunity to be a pair skater, alongside bad boy Justin Davis (Evan Broderick), after a fall that nearly ended her figure-skating career. Throughout the series, she balances working as a waitress, taking care of her mental health, and daily skating to make her Olympics dreams come true. The finale ended at a crucial point in the series, and with its cancelation, there is no way of knowing what would have happened next.

Updated by Katie Doll on September 9, 2024: Netflix has become infamous for canceling its streaming series, often angering fans who invested their time into tuning in for each season. Spinning Out only received a single season before being abruptly canceled, like many other Netflix shows. Even so, the Netflix series had its fair share of passionate fans, who weren't too pleased with the ending they ultimately got.

Spinning Out Season 1 Finale, Explained

• Spinning Out ran for only one season, consisting of ten episodes. The series aired in full on January 1, 2020.

As Netflix canceled Spinning Out without notice, it's up to viewers' interpretation of what would've happened after the events of the Season 1 finale. And as it happens, much happens in the Season 1 finale that could've led to an eventful Season 2 if it had been renewed. Unfortunately, as Netflix's originals continue to run out of steam, the series falls victim to the brutal cancelation ax, never to pick up on its unfinished storylines. In the series finale, Kat discovers that Mitch is not the sexual predator she suspected he was (but that he was in love with the age-appropriate Carol). In a shocking twist, Kat's underage sister Serena was romantically involved with her physician, Dr. Ethan Parker, which unfortunately is a situation that mirrors a real-life situation with the former US Olympic gymnastics physician Dr. Larry Nasser.

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As revenge, Kat and Serena's mother Carol takes care of the situation herself so Kat can at least nail her routine. Carol arrives at Dr. Parker's house and hits him on the head with a baseball bat. The series ends with Kat and Justin just starting their free skate, so viewers will never know if they make it to the Olympics or if Carol gets arrested for attempting to kill Dr. Parker — or whether Dr. Parker gets arrested.

Why Spinning Out Was Canceled

• Series lead Kaya Scodelario was previously known for her work in the Maze Runner franchise and for appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Netflix nor executives behind Spinning Out have confirmed why the series was canceled. While Spinning Out developed a devoted fan base, it seems that it didn't translate into enough of a viewership for Netflix to justify ordering Season 2. This is based on the streaming service's model of evaluating data after one month of viewership. Within the same year that Spinning Out was released, Netflix had incredible success with Tiger King, Bridgerton, The Queen's Gambit, and The Crown, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If Spinning Out was released just a few months after it did, there's a chance it could've been renewed because people had nothing else to do but watch the show.

Unfortunately, Netflix has a pattern of churning out shows as experiments to see which ones stick with viewers and canceling those that aren't overnight sensations.

Spinning Out also received a 59% score on Rotten Tomatoes, suggesting Netflix also took the show's critical reception into account. However, IMDb had a higher rating of 7.6/10, which shows audiences were more drawn to Spinning Out than critics were. There was a Change.org petition calling for the drama's renewal, but it is unlikely that will happen, considering Season 1 ended in January 2020. Netflix also hasn't been kind enough to renew newer shows that the service has canceled in recent years, so the chances of Spinning Out returning are highly unlikely.

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Other great shows like Lockwood & Co., The Society, and 1899 were canceled after just one season on Netflix. Unfortunately, Netflix has a pattern of churning out shows as experiments to see which ones stick with viewers and canceling those that aren't overnight sensations. Just as Disney and Lucasfilm did with The Acolyte, Netflix won't take the risk of producing another season of a show with mixed reactions. The lack of trust in a show's ability to strengthen overtime is discouraging for writers, but safe for executives.

Spinning Out Season 2 Could Have Provided Closure

• Willow Shields, who stars as Serena Baker in Spinning Out, is best known for her work in the Hunger Games franchise, where she plays Primrose Everdeen, Katniss's younger sister.

Spinning Out Season 1 ends on a pivotal moment that the entire show was building toward, as Kat finally reconciles with Justin after revealing that she has bipolar disorder. They are now standing together on the ice, waiting to perform their final program in the hope of achieving their Olympic dreams. While it would've made a great cliffhanger to be resolved in another season, that simply wasn't meant to be.

While some of the representation and portrayals were problematic, Season 2 could've corrected these while also cleaning up the dangling story threads.

It seems showrunners were fully expecting to have a second season, which could address any lingering questions. Kat and Justin, however, weren't the only ones to have unfinished storylines. There were still questions about what happened to certain characters, especially with Serena (Kat's younger sister) and Carol (their mother). One of the more successful aspects of Spinning Out was that it was character-driven. While some of the representation and portrayals were problematic, Season 2 could've corrected these while also cleaning up the dangling story threads.

What Has The Cast Of Spinning Out Done Since Its Cancelation?

• Before starring as Carol Baker in Spinning Out, January Jones was best known for her work in Mad Men, where she portrayed Betty Draper, and in X-Men: First Class, where she played the mutant member of the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost.

Since Spinning Out's cancelation in 2020, its cast has gone on to star in several prominent projects. Kaya Scodelario has appeared in multiple films since her Netflix series was canned, including Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) and The King's Daughter (2022). She also stars in Guy Ritchie's spinoff to The Gentlemen.

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Scodelario's co-stars have also been hard at work since Spinning Out ended. Willow Shields, who played Serena Baker in the series, recently starred in Detective Knight: Independence (2023) alongside action movie star Bruce Willis. Evan Roderick, who played Justin Davis, has appeared in a series of television movies, including 2023's Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New. January Jones, who played Carol Baker, has appeared in one project since the series ended, the 2023 action thriller God is a Bullet.

Other Netflix Shows Like Spinning Out

Rotten Tomatoes Rating	IMDb Rating	Stream On
Spinning Out	59%	7.6/10	Netflix
Tiny Pretty Things	53%	5.9/10
Thirteen Reasons Why	35%	7.5/10
Outer Banks	72%	7.5/10
The Queen's Gambit	96%	8.5/10

Spinning Out isn't likely to return with a second season, but fans might still want to live out their inner figure skating dreams. Thankfully, Netflix has other shows that execute the same soapy drama that viewers get from Spinning Out.

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Tiny Pretty Things

While not a figure skating show, Tiny Pretty Things does focus on the extreme regimen of ballet and the ramifications of what it requires as a career. The Netflix series was also canceled after the first season like Spinning Out, and follows the students and administration of a ballet school in Chicago. Tiny Pretty Things received mixed reviews from critics but should be noted for its actors performing the dances themselves without the use of doubles.

Thirteen Reasons Why

The campy storylines of Spinning Out can also be found in other Netflix originals like Thirteen Reasons Why, which follows a group of students uncovering the death of student Hannah Baker and what led her to take her own life. The controversial series may not be for everyone, but certainly touches a lot of the same ground as Netflix's delightfully campy Spinning Out.

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Outer Banks

Outer Banks, through all its highs and lows, is witty campiness at its peak and is worth exploring for fans of Spinning Out who also have a taste for treasure hunting. Outer Banks features romance, betrayal, and adventure in its completely unbelievable yet somehow still captivating story of teenage treasure hunters. While the similarities shared between the two shows initially seem minimal, one will find that the general feel of Outer Banks and Spinning Out is remarkably similar.

The Queen's Gambit

Like Spinning Out, Netflix's original miniseries The Queen's Gambit also hits the themes of the obsessed artist in the form of chess, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a young female player exploring the world of chess championships. The show follows Beth Harmon throughout her career as she becomes more and more obsessed with her craft, exploring themes that discuss whether talent can actually be a curse.

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Spinning Out is available to stream on Netflix.

Spinning Out

Like Drama Release Date 2020 - 2020-00-00 Network Netflix

Cast

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• Kaya Scodelario

A figure skating Olympic hopeful's struggle to balance love, family and fragile mental health as her dream of winning takes a dizzying hold.

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