Will Netflix or Amazon Prime Pick Up Six Season 3?

Did you watch the History Channel’s series Six? It was about SEAL Team Six, the guys we get to hear so little about in real life and was a scripted drama supposedly outlining some of their exploits across the world. After being canceled by History, will Netflix pick up Six? Will anyone?

Right now we don’t know if Netflix or anyone will pick up Six. There have been no press releases and no announcements of any kind about the series. History has said it has definitely dropped it, the actors have all said thanks and goodbye and all is quiet right now.

Six TV series

Six was a drama series about Navy SEAL Team Six and follows the team as they go on a rescue mission to Africa. Former team leader Rip has gone private and is a contractor protecting a principal in the African jungle and is attacked by militia. He is taken prisoner and tries to escape. Meanwhile, his old team form a plan to extract him and two other Americans.

Series one of Six sets the scene with the kidnap and rescue attempt. There is a lot of location work in the jungle and behind the scenes as the SEALs develop a plan and attempt to rescue him. Along the way, they realize who Rip really was and why he was no longer team leader. This causes some of the team to question the efforts they are going to in order to rescue him.

The series introduces us to Nasri, a protégé of a jihadi leader and a mastermind behind conversion of westerners to jihadi philosophy. The team follows the trail through Africa and Afghanistan and undertake various missions to track down and eliminate the people behind the jihadi network.

The series did a good job of showing us that SEALs and other special forces are people underneath the camouflage. That they have their own strengths, weaknesses, families and lives back home. While it follows the usual military tropes, it was written by William Broyles and David Broyles. David was a former special operations soldier who has really been there and done that. Some of that comes through in the idea to create fuller characters than usual for an action series.

Series two of Six continues the storyline of the first series but through a different arc. This time they are still on the trail of Nasri but this time they are in Chechnya and Russia instead of Africa. They deal with local warlords and an eastern bloc jihadi network run by Tamerlin Shishoni.

The second series is as well written and as well paced as the first. Action scenes are well shot and draw you in from the moment the episode begins. You are inducted further into the lives of the main protagonists and like them just a little more as they battle enemies from without and their own personal ones.

Why did Six end?

According to History EVP Programming Eli Lehrer, Six was not renewed for series three purely because of competition. At the time when renewal was considered, three other TV shows were released along similar lines. CBS’ SEAL Team, NBC’s Brave and the CW’s Valor were all military drama shows showing very similar characteristics and storylines.

Lehrer said;

“We were very happy with the show creatively; if I anything I think Season 2 was even better than Season 1,” he said. “But I think in such a crowded marketplace, it is harder to get people’s attention as they had spent a season watching SEAL Team on CBS, Valor and The Brave. As a result, our show felt less unique in the marketplace.”

History apparently thought there was too much competition and despite the quality of writing and acting, didn’t think Six would compete. Plus, during series two the audience was down to half what it was in series one.

What are the chances of Netflix picking up Six?

Netflix has not mentioned Six at all during the various conversations about resurrecting old TV shows. I suspect it will not pick up Six for the same reasons History dropped it. For now at least, there is a little too much competition. Even though Brave and Valor were also canned, Seal Team with David Boreanaz is still going and has his star quality to pull it along.

Seal Team does a very similar job to Six in portraying SEALs as more than just shooters. It is perhaps for this that Six would remain in the shadow of that show. It’s a shame but I think while Seal Team is running, Six will not be renewed. However, I also think this is fertile ground for resurrection at a later date when the appetite is still there but the competition isn’t.