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“Sometimes, the best stories are the ones that never get finished,” a line that perfectly sums up the bittersweet end ofThe Serpent Queenon Starz. Fans were just beginning to sink their teeth into the tantalizing drama of Catherine de’ Medici’s reign when the unthinkable happened: the series was canceled after just two seasons.
Sigh, it just wasn’t meant to be!
The show, which aired its first season back in 2022, was based on Leonie Frieda’s bookCatherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France, and centered around the life of the power-hungry, politically savvy queen, portrayed by Samantha Morton. Think of it asGame of Thronesbut with fewer dragons and more poisoned goblets.
The first season captured hearts, and in October 2022, it earned a green light for a second season, which premiered in the summer of 2024. So far, so good, right? Well, just a few months after Season 2 aired, Starz pulled the plug on a third season. Why?
The Serpent Queen: The tragic end of a critically acclaimed drama
While it’s always a bummer when a gripping show gets the ax,The Serpent Queenwas no ordinary historical drama. From the powerhouse performance ofSamantha Mortonas the sharp-witted and ruthless queen to the opulent, tension-filled narrative that kept us hooked, this series had the kind of allure that made it hard to look away.
Justin Haythe’s show provided a close-up look at the French queen’s journey through power struggles, betrayal, and the high stakes of navigating court politics in 16th-century France. Catherine’s dramatic pursuit of power was a well-executed mix of heart-wrenching vulnerability and iron-fisted determination. Morton brought the character to life with such complexity that it’s no surprise the show garnered a whopping 100% onRotten Tomatoes.
UnlikeThe TudorsorThe Borgias, which enjoyed decent Rotten Tomatoes scores—69% and 85%, respectively—The Serpent Queenhit a home run with a perfect 100% score. This sets it apart from many other historical dramas that failed to achieve such universal praise. So what happened? Why, despite rave reviews, didThe Serpent Queenstruggle to retain its audience?
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The drama, unfortunately, suffered from a major setback—its significant two-year hiatus between seasons. When the show finally returned for Season 2 in August 2023, its viewership numbers didn’t live up to the tremendous expectations, and the network decided to end the series after its second season (viaDeadline).
In a statement to the outlet, it was confirmed thatThe Serpent Queenwould not be renewing for a third season, leaving fans grieving the loss of this acclaimed narrative that had only just begun to reach its full potential.
But wait…before you cry over spilled wine, there’s some good news on the horizon.
The Serpent Queen’s legacy lives on: Queen Elizabeth I spinoff in the works
Instead of dragging the story of Catherine de’ Medici through another season, Starz is shifting gears and developing a spinoff series. Per Deadline, this new show will focus on none other than Queen Elizabeth I, and it’ll be crafted by the same creative team behindThe Serpent Queen, including executive producer Erwin Stoff and writer Justin Haythe.
While the details are scarce at this point, it’s safe to say that the spinoff will keep the historical drama train rolling—andMinnie Driver, who played Elizabeth in Season 2, is expected to reprise her role.
While the cancellation of Season 3 is certainly a disappointment, it’s not all bad news for the cast. Season 2 wrapped up with the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, leaving fans with a dramatic but somewhat satisfying conclusion to Catherine’s story.
As for the cast, while they might not return for Season 3, they’re still receiving compensation for the unproduced episodes. We learned from Deadline that the actors will still receive their due payment for the work that unfortunately never came to be.
Minnie Driver is excited to be back as Queen Elizabeth I
The saga ofThe Serpent Queenmight be over, but the dawn of another queen’s reign on TV is on the rise. The spinoff, which will chronicle the life, rise to power, and political struggles of Queen Elizabeth I, is set in 16th-century England. And Minnie Driver is already brimming with excitement to lace back into her Victorian-era corset. In an interview withDeadline, she recounted how thrilled she was about the upcoming spinoff show:
When the conversation began around a potential spinoff – which, you know, until someone’s pointing a camera at me and shouting action, you’re not really doing anything – is the most exciting, most fantastic idea and opportunity. It’s what I want to do more than anything else. I don’t want this to end because I don’t want to stop being her.
Driver went on to describe she has been “low-key obsessed” with the story of Queen Elizabeth I her “whole life”. The actor had looked up pretty much every written material on the English queen and had spent hours looking at her paintings. Hinting at what we might be able to see in the spinoff, Driver reflected on what she had read:
The show that we really want to make is about the woman behind the crown as well as the crown and where that seeps out and who she was. There is an imagined version of who she is so I don’t know that you may never recreate what someone else has done.But when you think about women at that time, they weren’t even allowed to own property. They weren’t allowed to own anything – nothing. Not so much as a hair comb. So, for a woman to have been Queen for as long as she was, even though people were constantly trying to kill her…it’s incredible.
The actor was hoping that the spinoff would drop sometime around Christmas, but it seems like we have a lot more waiting to do.
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So, whileThe Serpent Queenmay have met its untimely end, history always has room for more stories. The forthcomingQueen Elizabethspinoff has the potential to continue the legacy, and we can only hope it does justice to the impeccable storytelling and rich historical drama we’ve grown to love. Ergo, perhaps it’s true: sometimes a show isn’t truly over; it’s just taking a different path.
The Serpent Queenis available to rent on Apple TV.
Siddhika Prajapati
Senior Journalist & Content Head
Articles Published :3310
With over 3,300 articles carved into the digital walls of FandomWire, Siddhika Prajapati excels at creating, curating, and elevating engaging stories. She takes pride in giving these stories a home and, of course, she’s got a Google Knowledge Panel to prove it!Whether it’s reviewing the latest drop on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Apple TV+, or analyzing the cultural echoes of a streaming hit on Paramount+ or Max, Siddhika is always writing three steps ahead of the discourse.
