Syfy has cancelled George R.R. Martin’s Nightflyers after just one season

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

If you were holding out hope that Syfy would bring Nightflyers back for another season, well, it seems that you're out of luck as Syfy has cancelled the series after just one season. Based upon the novella by George R.R. Martin, Nightflyers followed eight maverick scientists and a powerful telepath have embarked on an expedition towards the edge of the solar system with the hopes of making contact with a mysterious alien life-form. However, as they race towards first contact, terrifying and violent events begin to occur, causing the once tight-knit crew to mistrust each other. It’s not long before their main mission becomes survival.

As the series was one of the most expensive which Syfy had produced, there was enormous pressure for it to succeed and the network tried a few tricks to make sure the audience would be there, including releasing the entire series at once across its digital platforms, but Nightflyers just couldn't take off. Variety said that the series brought in 623,000 live viewers for its premiere but had dropped to 420,000 by the finale. Deadline added that although Nightflyers had been conceived as an ongoing series, the higher-ups later concluded that it was better off as a one-off limited series and the cast's options were left to expire. As I never checked the series out for myself, I'm not sure whether Nightflyers came to a close with a cliffhanger or actually wrapped things up, but I suppose it doesn't matter at this point.

Reviews for the series weren't kind, and our own Alex Maidy wasn't exactly a fan either. In his review of the series, Maidy called it a "derivative and incredibly unsatisfying mash-up of too many genres." Maidy admitted that the series worked on a horror level, but the potential which could had been reached by treating the ship as the haunted house it was supposed to be was lost.

Instead, the showrunners are trying far too hard to replicate the formula of Game of Thrones by giving us a large cast whom we are expected to invest in. The problem is so many of the characters make stupid decisions or deliver cliche dialogue that you just don't care if they live or die. In fact, by the midway point of the season, a major twist is revealed that is likely going to turn off a large contingent of viewers who will groan at just how dumb it is.

Are you sad that Nightflyers will never fly again?