In what will come as a shock to those who have been following along with the show’s success, Kevin Bacon will be hanging up his handcuffs and staying away from hell’s most wanted, as Prime Video has officially given the axe to The Bondsman after just one season. Boasting an 83% critics’ approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the decision is a head-scratcher considering not only the title’s success on the online ratings platform but also on the Nielsen Top 10 streaming rankings and on Prime Video’s chart itself, where The Bondsman has held down a steady placing since its release last month. Nevertheless, the folks at the top have decided to part ways with the production, marking it as a one-season-wonder that simply won’t see the sun rise on a second season.
The project, which saw Bacon leave behind feature-length projects and appear in an ever-elusive TV role, followed the star’s murdered bounty hunter, Hub Halloran (Bacon). Destined to pay for the choices he made while alive, Hub is sent to hell, but upon his arrival, the Devil chooses to resurrect him and put him on the payroll. From that point forward, Hub’s soul belongs to Satan, and he’s tasked with bringing back Beezlebub’s most wanted to their eternal pit of damnation. Making the most of his time back amongst the living, when Hub isn’t getting his hands dirty with on-the-run demons, he’s doing his best to reconnect with his family, atone for previous sins, and fall in love again.
Joining Bacon in the eight-episode season is a call sheet that also includes Jennifer Nettles (The Righteous Gemstones), Beth Grant (Donnie Darko), Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood), Maxwell Jenkins (Arcadian), and Jolene Purdy (The White Lotus). The series hailed from Blumhouse Television with Erik Oleson (The Man in the High Castle) serving as showrunner.
The Team Behind ‘The Bondsman’ Were Hoping for a Second Season
The Season 1 finale certainly set up the series for a sophomore installment, with a demon jumping into the body of Hub’s ex, Maryanne (Nettles). Previously speaking with Collider’s Christina Radish, the actor voiced his hopes that the title would return for another chapter, revealing,
“The dream is to do another season. I would love to do another season. When it comes to building an ending, you want to have something that’s going to make people say, “Come on, we got to find out what happens here.” With everything that’s going on, one of the main things that is driving Hub is how much he still loves Maryanne and misses their relationship and their love affair, but also the music that they made together and how those two things overlapped. So, to be left with the idea that an escaped demon has now possessed my ex-wife and that I have to continue to be around her and I can’t kill her because she’s inside this woman that I love so dearly, it’s a great dilemma for Hub. It’s a really good, cool way to end the show.”
Season 1 of The Bondsman is now streaming on Prime Video.
via Collider