‘Carnival Row’ Season 2 Will Be Its Last

It’s a bittersweet time for Carnival Row fans, who finally got a trailer for Season 2 of their favorite series, but also learned that it will be canceled after that. Last month, Amazon Prime Video announced that Carnival Row Season 2 would be its last. The show will be canceled after its next installment airs in 2023.

Prime Video released the trailer for Carnival Row Season 2 last month, but on the same day Deadline reported that the series was coming to an end. No reason was given for the cancellation, but because the show was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, few commenters seemed surprised. Carnival Row is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Legendary Television. Its stars include Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, Simon McBurney, Tamzin Merchant, David Gyasi, Andrew Gower, Karla Crome, Arty Froushan, Indira Varma and Jared Harris.

Carnival Row premiered in August of 2019, and Amazon renewed it for a second season shortly before it even premiered. Production on Season 2 began in November of 2019, but of course, the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted those plans. The show halted production in March of 2020 and started back up again in June, but it continued to suffer interruptions and inexplicable extensions. Finally, Season 2 officially finished filming in September of 2021.

The show’s viewership is unclear, but it has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, Carnival Row has 56 percent positive reviews, with critics calling it “Beautiful, but bloated,” with meticulously crafted mythology and luscious world-building – unfortunately its story of haves and have-nots simply has too much going on to create anything cohesive.”

The show is set in a fantasy world with roughly Victorian-era technology, fashion and culture. However, in this world mythological creatures exist alongside humans, and humans have been oppressing them for years when the story first begins. These two ways of life mix on the melting pot of Carnival Row, which is where most of the show took place.

The show was originally conceived as a movie, which writer Travis Beacham hoped would be directed by Guillermo del Toro. Beacham and Showrunner Erik Oleson shares executive producer duties with Bloom, Delevingne, Brad Van Arragon, Sarah Byrd, Jim Dunn, Sam Ernst and Wesley Strick.

Carnival Row Season 2 premieres on Feb. 17, 2023 on Prime Video. Season 1 is streaming there now.