Wolf King: The latest victim of the eight-episode epidemic
By Scarlett Rose Binder - News Editor on September 19, 2025
Graphic by Audrey Garcia
It’s the end of the line for Netflix’s “Wolf King,” another show cut short before it had the chance to breathe.
The British animated series’ second season premiered last Thursday, a swift follow-up to the first, released in March. But before viewers could even press play, the diagnosis was in.
Drew Ferran and his friends will not see season three.
This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s the latest casualty of a growing pop-culture plague: the eight-episode epidemic.
Once upon a time, 24-episode seasons were standard. Now, stories of the same scope are being shoved into just eight parts–maybe ten or twelve, if audiences are lucky. Both seasons of “Wolf King” fall victim to this trend, running eight episodes at an average of just 25 minutes each.
The result is a good show with the potential to have a great run, if only it wasn’t forced to sprint.
Adapted from Curtis Jobling’s “Wereworld” novels, “Wolf King” flaunts a unique animation style that breathes life into a beautifully developed fantastical world. The characters are vividly expressive; it’s easy to forget they’re not real.
They have to be established quickly, though. Their relationships spark and collapse at a pace that strains believability. That’s the price of eight short episodes. Jobling, who helped write most of the show, and his team cram a remarkable amount of story into each installment.
The upside to this pacing is there’s hardly a dull moment. “Wolf King” is action-packed and engaging from the start. If the first episode doesn’t grab you, the end of the third certainly will.
But constant action, however thrilling, can come at the expense of depth.
Some might argue that there can be too much of a good thing. That the eight-episode epidemic is just damage control. It’s fair to say; just look at “Grey’s Anatomy,” a show that’s lived on long past what should have been its time of death. But it was born in another era–one where television didn’t have to prove itself so quickly, one that valued the art of the filler episode.
A few filler episodes never hurt anybody. That’s where shows build character, yearning, tension, relief and laughter. Some of the most iconic episodes of all time are filler.
“Wolf King” can’t afford this luxury. There is some character development, some yearning, but I can’t stop thinking about what could have been and will never be.
Season two ends on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved. It’s a tragic display of this epidemic’s power, to which numerous others have succumbed. Netflix’s “The Society,” cancelled after one season, left audiences with a hundred questions. “My Lady Jane” on Amazon Prime was also taken well before its time.
And now, “Wolf King” joins the pile—another unfinished story, sacrificed at the altar of the algorithm.
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Wolf King: The latest victim of the eight-episode epidemic
It’s the end of the line for Netflix’s “Wolf King,” another show cut short before it had the chance to breathe.
The British animated series’ second season premiered last Thursday, a swift follow-up to the first, released in March. But before viewers could even press play, the diagnosis was in.
Drew Ferran and his friends will not see season three.
This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s the latest casualty of a growing pop-culture plague: the eight-episode epidemic.
Once upon a time, 24-episode seasons were standard. Now, stories of the same scope are being shoved into just eight parts–maybe ten or twelve, if audiences are lucky. Both seasons of “Wolf King” fall victim to this trend, running eight episodes at an average of just 25 minutes each.
The result is a good show with the potential to have a great run, if only it wasn’t forced to sprint.
Adapted from Curtis Jobling’s “Wereworld” novels, “Wolf King” flaunts a unique animation style that breathes life into a beautifully developed fantastical world. The characters are vividly expressive; it’s easy to forget they’re not real.
They have to be established quickly, though. Their relationships spark and collapse at a pace that strains believability. That’s the price of eight short episodes. Jobling, who helped write most of the show, and his team cram a remarkable amount of story into each installment.
The upside to this pacing is there’s hardly a dull moment. “Wolf King” is action-packed and engaging from the start. If the first episode doesn’t grab you, the end of the third certainly will.
But constant action, however thrilling, can come at the expense of depth.
Some might argue that there can be too much of a good thing. That the eight-episode epidemic is just damage control. It’s fair to say; just look at “Grey’s Anatomy,” a show that’s lived on long past what should have been its time of death. But it was born in another era–one where television didn’t have to prove itself so quickly, one that valued the art of the filler episode.
A few filler episodes never hurt anybody. That’s where shows build character, yearning, tension, relief and laughter. Some of the most iconic episodes of all time are filler.
“Wolf King” can’t afford this luxury. There is some character development, some yearning, but I can’t stop thinking about what could have been and will never be.
Season two ends on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved. It’s a tragic display of this epidemic’s power, to which numerous others have succumbed. Netflix’s “The Society,” cancelled after one season, left audiences with a hundred questions. “My Lady Jane” on Amazon Prime was also taken well before its time.
And now, “Wolf King” joins the pile—another unfinished story, sacrificed at the altar of the algorithm.