Fans have been left gutted after Netflix culled one of its most popular series after just one season.
It is a comedy-drama series which revolves around Taiwanese mobster Charles Sun (played by Justin Chien).
After his father is murdered, Sun travels to Los Angeles to protect his mother (Michelle Yeoh) and younger brother (Sam Song Li), who have been completely sheltered from the truth about their family until now.
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The Brothers Sun, which was released earlier this year (4 January), has received glowing reviews and a whopping 91 percent audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But, despite being called 'a thrilling, brilliant dramedy about familial obligations, buried skeletons and the bonds that can never be broken' by critic Aramide Tinubu, Netflix canned the series after just one season.
Following the news, Chien took to Instagram to respond to devastated fans.
Alongside a picture of himself and his colleagues, the actor wrote: "To all the fans of The Brothers Sun, Thank you for riding with us on this labor of love. It will take some time to digest this news, but I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your love and support for the show.
"Thank you all for your love. Without you, this wouldn’t mean nearly as much as it does. I gave everything I had to this show, and I can’t wait to do the same in the next project, whatever, whenever it may be - I promise I will give it my all."
Fans of the show were equally gutted by the news of its cancellation, taking to X (Twitter) to share how they feel.
One user wrote: "Of course Netflix has cancelled the best thing that I have watched in 2024. The team behind The Brothers Sun deserve better."
Another commented: "So sad to hear that The Brothers Sun was cancelled. The rules and structures for renewing shows these days seem a little ??????"
And a third added: "Are you kidding me!? They cancelled The Brothers Sun, it was so good, one of the best things I watched last year. Wtf Netflix."
But, for anyone who's ever wondered why the streaming platform cancels seemingly popular shows, there is a valid reason.
According to Forbes, when Netflix is choosing whether or not to renew a show, it looks at its 'completion rate' - the number of viewers who actually watched it through to the end.
This metric gives insight into whether the show would have a strong viewer base for future seasons.
The streaming service doesn't want to throw its money at new seasons if the majority of the audience couldn't even make it to the end of the current one.
So, while you may have binge-watched every episode, if most people gave up partway through, it makes sense that it ultimately got ditched.
And while The Brothers Sun spent five weeks in Netflix's Top 10 for English-language series, according to Deadline, it just couldn’t find a big enough audience.
Topics: Netflix, TV and Film, Rotten Tomatoes
Bec Oakes