I sat through the season for a friend, and as a fan of one of the actresses. Acolyte wasn't canned for fear of innovation—it wanted to be mature in themes and ideas, but the execution was juvenile at best. There's only a narrow, fandom-culture audience that will tolerate this.
Our modern internet doesn't help. Since I started watching, my news feed has been full of pieces on how everyone who dislikes the show is a misogynist bigot. Do these journalists hate me? Even the creators joined in. Why do they hate me? I watched their show. It was bad. How is that my fault?
It's not your fault. I watched the show and came to the same conclusion.
In many instances, it's easier to blame outside forces for a failure instead of looking inward, and accepting the show just just wasn't popular among general audiences.
I suppose that's sensible. From the numbers, their audience dropped off hard. I don't know anyone who finished it and still thought it was good. And most of the press talks about the idea of the show, not the show itself. Fitting, maybe, for a show that had ideas, but didn't do much with them.
Comments
In many instances, it's easier to blame outside forces for a failure instead of looking inward, and accepting the show just just wasn't popular among general audiences.