Third-year drama Quantico has gotten its walking papers, as ABC has confirmed that the show won’t return for a fourth season.
It’s a surprise to see Quantico taken out solely due to the show’s international sales, which were strong enough to get it over the hump last year despite poor ratings and awful retention from some of the network’s biggest lead-ins. The series underwent a showrunner change between its second and third years, with a premiere pushed all the back until April, which seemed to indicate that the show was just getting a jumpstart from airing in season but for all intents and purposes would be considered a summer show going forward.
The move is interesting given that ABC produces the show, so they saw all the rewards from keeping it on air. A cancellation was likely some combination of affiliate protests, poor ad revenue, and international deals drying up, with the show’s low in-season ratings likely too low for its international money to cover up. It also indicates that ABC is going to be more aggressive going into next season after dragging multiple shows into 2017-18 for reasons other than ratings.
Quantico is set to air into this summer this year, with a series finale date TBD.
