It’s the end of the road for the Lafleur saga : local media got the official heads-up on Thursday that the French show, masterminded by The Bureau creator Eric Rochant and Capucine Rochant, will not return for a second season. Everything – or the little – we know we here.
The drama was always a big gamble : shot almost entirely in the West Indies island of Martinique, with a local crew and a young cast to play the eleven Lafleur siblings. But it seemed like it had somewhat paid off since its launch on April 9th : in its first week, Bandi had amassed 16 million hours viewed globally (2.1 million views/CVE), but then jumped to 40.5 million views in its second week globally, as well as installing a steady presence in the Top 10 of many countries.
As rumblings on social media and local influencers were stating that the show was cancelled earlier this week, nothing was confirmed until late Thursday, when Netflix issued a statement to local radio RCI, which spans both Guadeloupe and Martinique, confirming Bandi would not return for a second season.
We reached out to Netflix, which only confirmed the statement they provided to RCI without additional comment.
Why was Bandi cancelled?
The platform stated the cancellation “was a hard decision, that was not taken lightly”, and that the viewership results were insufficient, in relation of the production costs of the show. The cancellation was also determined by the completion rates of the 8 episodes by subscribers, among other internal factors. Nevertheless, the statement highlighted the first season was “a true cultural moment putting forward local Martinique talent, carried by the vision of Éric and Capucine Rochant and the exceptional commitment of the cast and crew”. The platform added it remained “extremely proud of the show”.
The reasoning of viewership vs. costs is not exclusive to Netflix, and has been put forward many times before for other international shows ; there always are other factors in play, but Bandi had met interest from subscribers outside of France, which is always a gamble for French programming. The viewers will no doubt be frustrated they will never know the thorny fate of Kylian Lafleur, with the shocking events of the season 1 finale.
On the current French lineup, it also illustrates the woes to draw enough of an audience to warrant additional seasons of the show, as creators had stated Bandi was constructed as a family saga spanning multiple seasons. Blood Coast (Pax Massilia) is currently in production on season 3, The Cage is set to return later this year with its second season ; but many shows are officially awaiting their fate, including adventure show Néro The Assassin, comedy Represent (En Place), Cash Queens (Les Lionnes), and comedy Flunked (Recalé), which launched in late April. Last summer’s Young Millionaires can be seen as a miniseries and a close-ended story.
Are you disappointed with Bandi’s cancellation? Are you pondering what could have been for the Lafleur clan? Sound off in the comments below!