Netflix kills “First Kill”
RIP First Kill. (Image: TIME)
On June 10, Netflix released First Kill, a sapphic vampire drama series based on a short story by V.E. Schwab. In just three days, it became a hit and ranked number 7 in the streaming giant’s weekly Top 10 for English series. A week after its release, it peaked at number 3 with a total of 48.8 hours viewed. Only behind Stranger Things season 4 and Peaky Blinders season 6, the show seemed to have a bright future ahead.
But despite its initial success, it seems like First Kill didn’t have enough staying power as other Netflix originals, which caused them to pull the plug just after its first season. Later on, it gained only average or mixed reviews on Metacritic.
The show’s failure to be renewed for a second season had many fans disappointed but not surprised. Not many titles are diverse in terms of characters in the first place, and big production companies like Netflix and Disney have been infamous for limiting the representation in their works. Netflix in particular has been adding to its list of canceled titles featuring women who love women, which included notable ones such as I Am Not Okay With This, Everything Sucks!, One Day at a Time, and Sense8.
In the case of Sense8, whose cancellation similarly broke hearts around the world, Netflix explained that the budget for production outweighed the support from viewership. "At some point if you don't have the viewership showing up to justify the expense of the series, you're going to want to end it,” said Cindy Holland, the vice president of Netflix.
Surprisingly, Sense8 was picked back up rather swiftly with a special that they deemed the “proper” ending to the show. If only that were the case for other Netflix titles with lesbians.
Bare minimum marketing
First Kill showrunner Felicia D. Henderson spoke out against the streamer for failing to promote the show further, which contributed to its poor performance.
“The art for the initial marketing was beautiful. I think I expected that to be the beginning and that the other equally compelling and important elements of the show—monsters vs. monster hunters, the battle between two matriarchs, etc.—would eventually be promoted, and that didn’t happen,” she said.
Sources also suggest that the few ads released for the show portrayed it simply as a lesbian love story, even when it had potential to succeed in the supernatural department. This marketing angle may have limited its reach and hindered some potential fans from seeing it.
The bigger (motion) picture
We could argue that it was time to go for First Kill. It had some pretty brutal reviews, reminiscent of the hate for Twilight. At the same time, though, we can’t pretend that titles with non-traditional characters haven’t been treated unfairly in the past.
Recently, Batgirl was also scrapped completely after being caught in a merger between HBO Max and Discovery Plus. It was a highly anticipated film that would have starred Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, JK Simmons, and Brendan Fraser, and also would have introduced DC’s first transgender character. Originally to be played by Ivory Aquino, the character Alysia Yeoh was celebrated as one of the first trans characters to appear in a mainstream comic book.
But maybe that’s what happens when production companies are praised for taking initiatives towards representation without making it the main selling point for their titles. It’s one thing to acknowledge the importance of making invisible identities seen on screen, but it’s another to do their stories justice.
Tokenism is a real issue in the entertainment industry, and it should be recognized so that inclusion is taken to a deeper level. The response to First Kill could have changed drastically if its marketing wasn’t watered down to “lesbian vampire drama.”
Meanwhile, Riverdale drags on with a bootleg Scarlet Witch arc and accusations of military propaganda hound after Purple Hearts. Netflix seems to be back to business as usual.
