Prime Video's No. 1 show starring Kevin Bacon has been cancelled after one season

A cropped version of "The Bondsman" poster showing Hal (Kevin Bacon) holding a chainsaw. — (Image credit: Prime Video)

Even reaching the No. 1 spot isn't enough to keep a show off the chopping block these days. Prime Video has pulled the plug on "The Bondsman," its new supernatural action drama starring Kevin Bacon, after just one season, TVLine confirmed this week.

The show dethroned "Reacher" in the streamer's top 10 list when all eight episodes of season 1 debuted on April 3. It's remained there ever since, though it's dropped to the No. 2 spot in the U.S. after "Reacher" reclaimed its throne. Now, a little over a month after its premiere, Prime Video has revealed it's opted not to proceed with a second season.

The series from Blumhouse Television stars Bacon as Hub Halloran, a washed-up bounty hunter murdered on the job only to be resurrected by the Devil himself to hunt down demons who have escaped Hell. Tracking down Hell’s fugitives is a bloody task, but it's his only shot at redemption.

Kevin Bacon (Hub Halloran) and Jolene Purdy (Midge) in "The Bondsman" — (Image credit: Tina Rowden / Prime)

As the hunt continues, he must face estranged family, long-buried secrets, and the messy legacy of his time among the living. Threaded throughout is the familiar twang of country music, and the show comes by it honestly: Hub and his ex-wife (Jennifer Nettles) were once a hit duo before things soured.

Fans have been calling "The Bondsman" one of Bacon's most entertaining roles in years. He's joined by an all-star ensemble that includes Jolene Purdy ("The White Lotus"), Beth Grant ("The Mindy Project"), Maxwell Jenkins ("Lost in Space") and Damon Herriman ("Justified").

I've been meaning to check it out since it sounds cut from the same cloth as one of my favorite guilty pleasure movie series, "R.I.P.D." Reading my colleague Alix Blackburn's assessment of "The Bondsman" had me sold when she called it "part horror, part dark comedy, part Southern Gothic fever dream, and somehow, it works."

She's far from the only one who enjoyed Prime Video's latest supernatural outing. Season 1 earned a respectable 83% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences gave it a similarly solid 77% rating.

Reviews alone weren't enough to convince Prime Video to order up a second season, though. Exactly why Amazon pulled the plug remains unclear, but considering how many people are still tuning in, I'm sure many will be disheartened to learn there won't be more once they finish binge-watching the first season. C'est la vie in this era of streaming we're in.

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Alyse Stanley is a news editor at Tom’s Guide, overseeing weekend coverage and writing about the latest in tech, gaming, and entertainment. Before Tom’s Guide, Alyse worked as an editor for the Washington Post’s sunsetted video game section, Launcher. She previously led Gizmodo’s weekend news desk and has written game reviews and features for outlets like Polygon, Unwinnable, and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. She’s a big fan of horror movies, cartoons, and roller skating. She's also a puzzle fan and can often be found contributing to the NYT Connections coverage on Tom's Guide

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