The original post: /r/television by /u/TryingToBeReallyCool on 2025-06-07 04:34:55.
Light spoilers but nothing too serious. If you haven’t seen the show, you should 100% go watch it and come back to read this, but it isn’t necessary and reading this wont ruin the show for you
Idk if this is the right place for this post but I just finished my 4th rewatch of this show over the years and it upsets me deeply that this show did not get a 2nd season.
For context, the show was cancelled due to low viewership, and yeah it had low viewership on network TV. Because it was in the Tuesday 10pm slot to make room for CBS’ other proven programming. It was also released in 2015 at what I’d consider to be the peak of the TV cable cutting epidemic in favor of streaming. There’s a reason it landed on netflix in 2016-17 (one of the two that’s when I first watched it)
This show is nothing short of excellent, if not entirely from a plot perspective (though I still enjoy it but it has some contrivances), then from a premise and character one. The idea that a complete moron can stumble into a drug that makes them smarter and get entrapped in a complex plot covering politics, crime, and interpersonal relationships, is fucking fantastic as a premise alone and offers so many avenues of approach which the show plays with. Not only that though, the show avoids the trap of seriousness. It doesn’t take itself entirely seriously and even sets aside episodes to be entirely joke/reference based (the Ferris Bueler parody episode being a personal favorite) while still being able to execute serious episodes with drama and intrigue but with a consistent comedic undertone that somehow doesn’t feel out of place. The writing is absolutely excellent in these episodes in particular with Jake McDorman and Jennifer Carpenter elevating it with incredible and fun performances.
The show is a sequel to the movie of the same name, and while that movie wasn’t incredible, it was good and had an interesting premise which they transfer over to the show. And in terms of a persistent narrative between the two, it fucking nails it. Our scrappy MC from the movie is now a quasai-villain in the show, which is just great as a premise. Sadly while this is explored somewhat we never get to see where this thread leads as its clear the climax of the confrontation was left for a season 2 that never came. However, I watched the show before the movie and going in without the context of the movie, it still stands on its own. You absolutely do not need the knowledge of the movie to understand and appreciate the show.
What really bothers me though is the show knew it was good, and knew there was far more to explore with the premise especially with how the season concludes setting up a showdown with Senator Morra, and as a result the ending does feel sort of flat knowing we’ll never see the conclusion of these characters arcs. Its so well set up that it really pisses me off that we never got to see this writing team tackle it. The show was sabotaged by a poor time slot and overshadowed by other NBC properties (of much lower quality imo, at least for some) so the show wasn’t given a second shot, and given how long its been, never will. And that bothers me because this is a show with a great premise, great writing, and plain fun execution that never got the appreciation it deserved at the time.
A big part of me hopes that a spiritual successor series can be made, but knowing NBC, I doubt it’ll happen. Nonetheless, Limitless is a cult classic to me and always will be. It’s excellent TV overshadowed by lesser works and foiled by a poor time slot, changing market for cable TV, and corporate greed. In my opinion its one of the best shows of the mid 2010s, and I really wish we could’ve gotten more of it