13 popular shows that should’ve been left alone after season 1!

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Aishwarya Srinivasan
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Some stories should be left untouched so the magic of it all stays intact, but unfortunately, these shows started strong but didn’t quite stick the landing!

Every once in a while, there comes a show that has the whole world hooked on it like there’s no tomorrow! But we also often forget that this is, in fact, the magic of it all. The premise is fresh, the characters are interesting, and we really do not know what to expect from the story. I mean, how many of us knew that Squid Game would be a show about people being literally shot on the spot if they lose at a game? That very factor left us mind-blown. However, with seasons 2 and now 3, the very same premise starts to feel dragged, and the surprise elements slowly become predictable. Similarly, there are quite a few shows that we have loved in the past, but the seasons further either made a sudden genre switch that left us confused or just couldn’t give us a better story in terms of writing! Sometimes, even the characters whom we invested our emotions in at one point start to disappoint us with their choices overall in the show!

And then there are shows that feel so questionable that we ponder over why they exist in the first place. The ones that have a problematic plot to begin with that giving them a second season just feels too much of a stretch. The recently released 'The Royals' or 'Four More Shots Please' which has been going for decades are examples of stories that we still aren't able to understand the hype around!

Also Read: Star-studded cast, top-tier VFX, music by Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman - The Ramayana teaser creates major hype!

Here’s proof!

Squid Game

What started as Netflix’s number one show, with a never-before-seen concept, season 1 of Squid Game truly hit it out of the park. But when its next season was announced almost three whole years after its release, it felt like a story that had worked before was clearly being revived for the fame of it all and not because there was an even better story in place. Seasons 2 and 3 of Squid Game simply did not have the same edge-of-your-seat thriller experience as its first chapter, and after a point, just felt like a half-hearted story trying its best to live up to the image it has created in pop culture!

Made in Heaven

As Indians we love a good wedding and all the chaos that comes with it. Made in Heaven gave us that but with a lot more difficult conversations and mirrored everything that’s wrong with society today. It felt like an aesthetic eye opener into what weddings and marriages really are like in India and hence it became one of the most popular shows in Hindi OTT. Season 2 did not have the same charm and it took way too much time to make and lost the niche it built for itself in the process of that!

Money Heist

Similar to Squid Game, Money Heist also created a huge frenzy around the world. The fact that a team put together by a professor managed to rob a bank with a full proof plan and get away with it, had us all actually rooting for the anti-heroes for once. But after season 1 had a rather strong ending, bringing everyone out of their hiding in season 2 and making them rob a bank all over again felt like all the efforts of escaping in season 1 were down the drain! This one definitely needed to be left as is for it to be termed as one of the best there ever was!

Sacred Games

We hadn’t seen a Netflix original show with a Bollywood lead in an OTT star cast before Sacred Games. Not just the cast but even the makers were some of the biggest names in Bollywood and of course it made us see Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the talent that he was! The story was one of its kind and had us all binge a show as graphic as this one. While season 1 deserved all the love and acclaim that came its way, season 2 just took a really twisted turn that was probably just too complicated or just simply weird for us to understand!

Bandish Bandits 

While the first season took us to a whole new world of music, gharaanas and falling in love, the second season simply did not have the same excitement. Season 1’s album had us all hooked on to songs like Chedkhaniyaan, Garaj Garaj, amongst many others. And because the makers had set their own standards so high musically, season 2 just could not follow through with its album, rather the show still banked on the nostalgia from season 1. Also, Radhe and Tamanna’s story was beautiful but simple enough for it to be wrapped up in 10 episodes. Now it just feels like a constant mismatch of opinions and a confusing storyline.

Four More Shots Please

Four More Shots Please felt like an Indian version of Sex and the City. But the show wasn’t even half as entertaining as the real deal. After a point, it was difficult to figure out the direction it wanted to take and it is actually rather surprising that the show has lasted for these many seasons without any concrete arc to it.

Aashram

A sleazy baba who lures his followers into doing whatever he wants is what MX Player’s Aashram is based on. There really shouldn’t have been even a single season on a story like this let alone another one. 

13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why was about a girl who took her own life because of the extreme mental trauma and bullying she goes through in school. She made 13 tapes about each of the people who were responsible for her death and each of the tapes made for an episode of its own. As it was a one of a kind concept, season 1 immediately became popular worldwide. But with season 2 and season 3, the story digressed into darker themes that are currently faced by teens in the US. While the intentions of the makers felt honorable, the story completely taking away the edge of the seat thrill it was once known for, simply did not offer the same viewing experience as an audience.

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars revolved around four teenagers who after a fateful night, lost one of their friends. Since then they were being tortured by a certain ‘A’ about knowing their secrets and exposing them to the world. The whole show was based on finding out the identity of ‘A’ and that was dragged on for way too long that it should have!

Russian Doll

Nadia and Alan, who keep re-living the same day again and again have to start putting two and two together for why this keeps happening. There have been two seasons of the show so far and no conclusions at all. It felt like one of those thrillers who could’ve easily been wrapped up in 10 episodes or so!

Emily in Paris

Emily in Paris started as a light hearted rom-com series where the main character is literally living out every girl’s fantasy. A well paying job in Paris, a hot chef as a neighbour who she falls in love with and a wardrobe that feels like an absolute dream! But as the series went further, it started feeling more of a nightmare and less of a dream given the constant confusions in Emily’s head and a string of mishaps that happened in her love life. She went from a confident protagonist in season 1 to a constantly confused woman in season 4.

Riverdale

The first season of Riverdale screamed peak American teen series and we were here for it! Cheerleading rivalry between Cheryl and Veronica, Betty and Veronica swooning over Archie, Jughead falling in love with Betty, and we had Jason Blossom’s murder mystery in the middle of it all. It had a little bit of everything to entertain us and we were hooked every Thursday! But it was rather disappointing to see the show go downhill from there. From Betty’s mom joining a creepy cult to ghosts and supernatural creatures becoming a part of the show, it not only brought down the show’s viewership but also tainted the image of the iconic Archies’ comics for many!

The Royals

Contrary to other titles on this list, The Royals was neither a masterpiece nor something that people went crazy about. But for reasons that we’ll never know, the show has been renewed for a season 2. Sometimes shows should be left alone to not taint the name they have made for themselves so far and sometimes shows shouldn’t be taken to season 2 because season 1 itself had us rolling our eyes, The Royals definitely falls in the latter category. With the way things were left in season 1, it’s going to be a difficult redeeming arc for the makers to give us a season 2 without making either of the leads look rather toxic!

Are there any other shows that should’ve been left alone after season 1? Let us know in the comments below!

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