Six cancelled by History: Losing Rip was the death knell
The History channel has cancelled Six during the middle of the second season. The decision may have actually been made at the end of the first season.
Recently the History channel has made the decision to cancel Six. The sophomore season show is currently airing episodes, but the writing may have been on the wall since last season.
Despite losing Walton Goggins in the starring role of Richard “Rip” Taggart, the military drama had high hopes for the second season. In fact, the end of the first season had the biggest spike in viewership for the history of the show.
The series gets cancelled
Six joins the trend of military shows getting cancelled despite significant fan support. History cancelled Six after some high profile additions were inserted for season two. Joining team leader Joe “Bear” Graves (Barry Sloane) were ruthless CIA officer Gina Cline (Olivia Munn) and a Chechen terrorist nicknamed The Prince (Nikolai Nikolaeff). Both additions were stellar, but not enough to save the show.
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The direction of season two was focused on finding Rip’s shooter. Ultimately the search would reveal Michael’s (Dominic Adams) terrorist links to the Prince, and expose the entire terrorist network. Killing off Walton Goggins deserved serious waterboarding revenge. Alas, the fact that Rip was shot, and subsequently died, might have been the coup de grâce before the search even began. Adding to the troubles, according to Deadline, the decision to end the show may have been related to “cast options expiring at the end of this week.”
Ratings
Ratings for the second season of Six have been disappointing. Not a single episode in the second season has topped one million viewers. Conversely, every single episode in the first season topped the million viewer mark. Furthermore, the end of the first season put the series on a positive trajectory, posting a 25% increase from the previous episode. The inertia wasn’t maintained, however, and the first episode of the second season had a significant drop below one million viewers. To make matters worse, the 18-49 year old demographic also took a massive stumble.
Next: Nikolai Nikolaeff deserves another show
In summary, the death knell for Six was likely when Walton Goggins was killed off. Equally important was the delay between seasons. Indeed, some fans needed a refresher before season two even started. The combo was too much to overcome.
Do you want to see more of Six? Should it be picked up by another network? Chime in with your thoughts if you’re a fan!