According to Vulture, Amazon has canceled Forever, a wonderfully surrealist show about imperfect soulmates reconnecting in death, after just one season. I really enjoyed Forever (and wrote about it here), specifically for its secular meditations on what happens when we die and the seemingly unending sensation of grief, plus hedonistic ghosts and other ghoulish supernaturalism. Fred Armisen (Oscar) and Maya Rudolph (June) were wonderful as the show’s central couple. I’ll miss those characters, but I’m totally cool with Forever kicking the bucket after eight glorious episodes.
Forever ended (*Spoilers* in the second half of this sentence, beware) when the pair decide to rekindle their relationship purgatory and begin walking below the ocean’s surface, presumably to some new paradise. It was a beautiful, satiating ending to a show that absolutely required one, and after I watched it I remember thinking, “What could they possibly do next?” Turns out—nothing! That’s great. I look forward to revisiting the show in a couple year’s time to get caught up in the bleak magic of it all once again, and then… that’s it. More shows should do the same. There’s too much television as is, and it often feels like the most popular programs run out of material in the first few seasons and are forced to hobble their way through additional episodes in a classical, depressing case of creative supply and demand.
I’m happy Forever wasn’t given such a burden. Think of The Good Place, a fantastic show with a similar premise that absolutely began petering out after awhile, likely because viewers (me) wanted more (thankfully it, too, is coming to an end), or this season of Big Little Lies.
That said, I’m also grateful Forever is done so I can begin using the “What’s the perfect beach snack?” joke and pass it off as my own.