Netflix’s ‘Grand Army’ cancelled after one season
(Credit: Netflix)

Netflix News

Netflix's ‘Grand Army’ cancelled after one season

Bad news for all fans of Netflix’s Grand Army as it has been announced that the series will be cancelled after only one season. 

Debuting on the streaming service in October 2020, Grand Army was created by Katie Cappiello, and was based loosely on the writer’s own stage play Slut: The Play. From executive producers Joshua Donen, of Gone Girl fame, and Beau Willimon, of House of Cards, Grand Army enjoyed a healthy critical and commercial response upon its release, currently holding a 71% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

The show itself followed five high school students as they navigated the complicated landscape of school, struggling with sexual, racial and economic politics. Set at Grand Army High School in Brooklyn, New York, the series was known to be one tackling contemporary issues with perseverance, following the lives of friends Joey Del Marco (Odessa A’zion), Dom Pierre (Odley Jean), Sid Pakam (Amir Bageria), Jayson Jackson (Maliq Johnson), and Leila Kwan Zimmer (Amalia Yoo). 

As the series’ own logline describes the show: Grand Army “tunnels into a generation that’s raging and rising. Five students at the largest public high school in Brooklyn take on our chaotic world as they fight to succeed, survive, wild out, break free and seize the future”.

Hitting a major setback in September 2020, three writers quit the production of the series due to “racist exploit and abuse”. It was all revealed by playwright and screenwriter Ming Peiffer who reported the following on Twitter: “Me and the 3 writers of colour who worked on the show quit due to racist exploitation and abuse”. Continuing, Peiffer commented, “the showrunner and creator went full Karen and called Netflix hr on the Black writer in the room for getting a haircut. Yes you read that correctly. Who wants to interview us?”