Why was On My Block spinoff Freeridge canceled?

Although Netflix users had to bid a somber farewell to On My Block, their sadness didn’t last for long since Freeridge, the spinoff for the Netflix original series, was right behind the series finale for the 2018 release.

The 2023 title was watched by plenty of people. Some loved every second of the series, while others seemed to have preferred its predecessor more. Sadly, it seems that the latter opinion for the series became the majority, as the series just couldn’t find its footing amongst most fans, resulting in a very expected yet saddening cancellation of Freeridge.

Check out the official news below (via Rolling Stone’s official Twitter).

Why were most Netflix users fine with seeing this show go? How did the viewership numbers hurt the future of the series? Read on to learn everything we know so far about the fate of Freeridge season 2.

On April 12, 2023, Netflix announced that Freeridge season 2 wasn’t in the cards for fans. This news came almost two months after the series’ debut, leading many to believe the decision was a no-brainer. Even so, we believe that the show’s cancellation wasn’t an instant decision, as some fans really did adore every aspect of the title, including the story, the vibes, and, most importantly, the characters.

“If On My Block is a 9 out of 10, Freeridge is an 8 out of 10, for bringing new and familiar characters, new plot, and extremely funny moments back on the screen,” an IMDb user review stated. Another expressed, “I would love to see a second season! I feel like it has the same heartwarming comedic feel with an undercurrent of dark reality that the original did. I’ll give it a second watch for sure.”

Of course, these sentiments simply couldn’t overshadow the many gripes people had about the show:

“I watched this because I enjoyed On My Block a lot, but this was plain ridiculous and cringy to watch,” one IMDb review commented, while another held the same sentiments, writing, “I was so bored with the show we gave up watching. I hope they don’t waste time on a season 2. [I don’t know] why they thought it was smart to close out On My Block in general. The show was epic.”

Outside of the disapproving comments, we believe that Freeridge‘s viewership may give us a tad more insight into why this decision was made.

According to What’s On Netflix, Freeridge had one of the “worst Netflix original debuts” of all time, garnering approximately 8.27 million viewers in its first week. While this number seems large, compared to other shows like The Night Agent, which received a whopping 20.8 million estimated viewers only four days after its release on the service. Having this in mind, it’s clear to see that the show was underperforming, so much so that a cancellation was needed.

It’s never fun to see a Netflix original series receive a cancellation. But, like many, we’re glad Netflix gave the On My Block spinoff a chance to tell this story. And who knows? Maybe we’ll see the title return in some other fashion in the future.

Freeridge streams exclusively on Netflix.