Many broadcast networks have been busy making final decisions and renewals for the 2026-2027 season, with the official upfronts only days away.
FOX has not officially renewed Murder in a Small Town for a third season, especially since the network renewed it early back in February 2025 for a second season.
In Canada, this type of blue-sky procedural will film from March through June along the coastline.
While there have been rumors that the series began filming, neither Sepia Films nor FOX has announced a renewal.
This worries me. While the ratings weren’t great, they averaged around 2.24 million viewers and 0.16 in the demo.
As with many other shows, these numbers increased due to delayed viewing and streaming, as our viewing habits have changed.
Do I think Murder in a Small Town is the best show ever? No. But I still want it to return because it was a lighter, more refreshing type of procedural.
So many procedurals focus on violent, gritty cases that it’s nice to feature some that still have messy, passionate crimes, in-depth character arcs, and even romance.
The Murder in a Small Town showrunner and EP built the series around Karl Alberg and Cassandra Lee’s relationship, which is one of the main reasons why it must return.
Leaving the Murder in a Small Town Season 2 finale on a cliffhanger with that proposal was genius since it set many stories in motion and practically begged for a renewal.
Naturally, many Karlandra fans want an answer, but there’s so much more than that.
While Holly has accepted Cassandra into their lives, the series could explore how that dynamic would shift if Cassandra moved in permanently.
I’d also like to see how Steph handles the news since she doesn’t live there full-time.
The series also only scratched the surface of Cassandra and Karl’s family, as well as the rest of the Gibsons’ team.
I like them, but I need to know more to truly care about and invest in this team. Let’s learn more about Karl and Cassandra’s childhoods and why they left and returned to the Sunshine Coast.
The series briefly explored Cassandra’s past with a troublesome stalker, but it was brushed aside again, except that she disliked Karl looking into it.
Something that traumatic needs to follow her longer and be part of her relationship history. Make it clear why she’s afraid to be in a relationship and why she needs to be in control of her life.
There’s so much more that the series can do, especially now that Cassandra is the interim Mayor following Mayor Holman’s stepping down.
It could be simpler to get approval for things with his girlfriend acting as the Mayor, or more complicated because of a conflict of interest.
Besides Karl and Cassandra, the series needs to invest more time into developing the other cops, like Sergeant Sid and Corporal Jackson.
We finally saw glimpses of Sid’s life at home with his daughters in Murder in a Small Town Season 2, but we wanted more.
It felt like almost everyone on the show has a past with demons to chase, but there isn’t enough time to explore them until the characters hit rock bottom, like Laila losing her sobriety after shooting someone.
Increasing the episode count to 10 helped, but Murder in a Small Town really needs 12-13 episodes to fully explore character arcs.
Here’s hoping we’ll hear something soon and return to Gibsons and the Sunshine Coast this fall.
Over to you, TV Fanatics. Do you want another season of Murder in a Small Town? What would you like to see in Season 3?
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you’re moved to, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
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