Westworld fans are distraught at the cancellation of the western fantasy drama after its fourth season.
HBO made the surprising announcement on Friday (4 November) that the show would not be returning for a fifth and final series.
“Over the past four seasons, [creators] Lisa [Joy] and [Jonathan Nolan] have taken viewers on a mind-bending odyssey, raising the bar at every step,” the network said in a statement.
“We are tremendously grateful to them, along with their immensely talented cast, producers and crew, and all of our partners at Kilter Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television. It’s been a thrill to join them on this journey.”
Just last month, Nolan and Joy expressed their desire to tie up the drama in one last season.
“We always planned for a fifth and final season,” Nolan said. “We are still in conversations with the network. We very much hope to make them.” Likewise, Joy said: “Jonah and I have always had an ending in mind that we hope to reach. We have not quite reached it yet.”
However, Westworld’s ratings had been in precipitous decline after season two as has its critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Nevertheless, fans mourned the drama that had notched up 54 Emmy nominations, winning nine, on Twitter after the news broke.
“HBO canceling Westworld after spending all that money and scoring all those stars with only one season to go is unhinged. NO SHOW IS SAFE!” ComicBook.com writer Jamie Jirak wrote.
“Westworld deserved a fifth and final season,” wrote one fan, alongside an image of the show’s star Evan Rachel Wood screaming.
“RIP to one of the best sci-fi shows I've ever watched. All those characters deserved a better ending,” another fan wrote.
Westworld’s fourth season, starring Wood, Thandiwe Newton and Aaron Paul, aired in August this year.
In a four-star review for The Independent, Kevin Perry wrote of the season finale: “Fittingly for a show so often concerned with the closed loops that make up our lives, Westworld ends right back where it started.”
