Where is the Vampire Academy Renewal?
Fans of the Peacock fantasy series wait anxiously for news of a second season.
It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for a good vampire TV series. When I was a teen, I gobbled up The Vampire Diaries, escaping a lonely high school life by the consuming, high-stakes fantasy series. Over the years I have faithfully watched all of its spinoffs, The Originals and Legacies. A few years ago, I became an ardent Buffy the Vampire Slayer acolyte (and lost it when I saw Sarah Michelle Gellar at New York Comic Con this year!). I remain hopeful that some streamer will snap up the canceled-before-its-time First Kill. And my latest obsession? None other than Peacock’s Vampire Academy. The popular series aired its season finale on October 27, and yet, as we race towards 2023, the question has become whether we will see it renewed for another season before the end of the year, or if even at all.
The show, from Vampire Diaries folks Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre, hooked me immediately. I was one of the only people who liked the 2014 trashy, b-movie (Hey, it was college and this was the perfect distraction while I procrastinated writing my paper. I have rewatched it recently and it is…not good. Zoey Deutch basically carries the entire film on her back. I was also astonished to recognize The Crown’s Claire Foy in a small, but significant role.), but this new series does it right and with quality.
While fans of the books by Richelle Mead may notice that the actors mostly don’t look like their book counterparts (the show’s cast is far more diverse), every character is perfectly cast (proof that looks aren’t everything!). Sisi Stringer is independent, confident, and fiercely protective, while also managing to find the quiet, more vulnerable moments, as the Dhampir (half vamp, half human) guardian Rose Hathaway. Daniela Nieves is regal and empathetic as the vamp princess Lissa Dragomir. The two have so much chemistry, and their sisterly bond is the beating heart of the show.
Speaking of heartbeats, bound to raise some are Rose and Lissa’s steamy love interests–the stoic guardian Dimitri Belikov (newcomer Kieron Moore) and the misunderstood vamp Christian Ozera (André Dae Kim). A welcome surprise is Mia (Mia McKenna-Bruce), usually an antagonist, but given here a thoughtful portrayal as a vampire who has been consistently put down for not being a royal. Not to mention her burgeoning romance with Dhampir Meredith, played by Rhian Blundell shining in a minor role. All this, set against the epic and romantic backdrop of a European castle.
While the season ends where the books start, it still manages to feel like it’s not just set-up for future storylines (unlike so many other shows these days). Every episode is packed with action, big revelations, expansive world building, and is a rollercoaster with its romantic developments. Whether our heroines are fighting Strigoi (zombie-like bad vampires), making political moves against the nefarious Tatiana (Anita-Joy Uwajeh) as she runs to be the new queen, making and breaking marriage betrothals, or investigating Lissa’s strange and terrifying new powers, this series is never boring.
So, if it’s such a hit, why has the series not yet been renewed for season 2? For that, we may have to turn to the state of our current television landscape. Just because a show is popular, no longer means it’ll be renewed, and even being renewed isn’t a guarantee that a show is coming back. This week, HBO Max announced that even though its series Minx has basically finished filming its second season, they no longer had any interest in airing said season. Formerly one of HBO’s biggest shows, Westworld, has been canceled, and is reportedly being removed from streaming on HBO Max. Some recent victims of the Netflix cancellation trigger finger have been First Kill, Warrior Nun, and Half Bad: The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself, all in their 1-2 season infancy.
Vampire Academy’s own home, Peacock, is in turmoil. The streaming wars have reached their inevitable conclusion of their being too many streamers resulting in a loss in business for all. With even the big dogs like Netflix and HBO Max struggling with this reality, it’s no surprise that a smaller streamer like Peacock with less to offer in their library to entice subscribers, is actively losing money. The future of the NBCUniversal streaming counterpart is uncertain, and Vampire Academy is not cheap to make. In this case, whether Vampire Academy is renewed or not may have nothing to do with its ratings.
Still, here I am on behalf of all Vampire Academy fans, begging Peacock to please give us a series renewal. For a show to be this good, and possibly not continue on is more than my heart can take. And if they really can’t afford to continue to make the series, I better learn that in a statement saying that they have already sold it to someone else, and not to worry because the show will continue on, even if not by them. This would not be unprecedented, as the critically acclaimed Girls5eva has moved from Peacock to Netflix for its upcoming third season. We have two weeks left to 2022, and Peacock could give viewers no greater holiday gift than that of more Vampire Academy!