AMC Cancels Low Winter Sun

AMC has confirmed that low-rated crime drama Low Winter Sun won’t be returning for a second season. The series, from Criminal Minds‘ Chris Mundy, starred Mark Strong and Lennie James as Detroit detectives Frank Agnew and Joe Geddes dealing with the loss of one of their own – at the hands of Joe.

It’s not exactly a surprise that Low Winter Sun was dealt a cancellation blow, as the drama bled quite a bit of audience from the final season of Breaking Bad and was decisively ignored by the critic community that helped buoy the latter until audiences caught on. Whatever tiny shred of possibility that the show would receive a surprise renewal, if only as schedule filler, was dismissed when the network not only renewed western drama Hell on Wheels, it gave the Anson Mount vehicle three extra episodes for its next season.

It’s a time of great upheaval at AMC. While Hell was renewed for a fourth season and The Walking Dead continued to break ratings records in its own fourth season, Breaking Bad concluded its acclaimed run this past September and The Killing was cancelled for a second time, only to be resurrected for a final season on Netflix. With Mad Men on its last legs, heading for the start of its final season this coming spring, AMC has ordered two new dramas to series – Halt & Catch Fire, a period drama that centers on the technology industry and stars Lee Pace; and Turn, based on Alexander Rose’s novel Washington’s Spies. Both are set to make their debuts sometime in 2014.

Do you think that AMC made the right decision in cancelling Low Winter Sun? Was the show’s series finale conclusive enough for you or would you have liked at least one additional season? Will you be watching either of AMC’s upcoming new dramas?