AMC just sent Rubicon a four-leaf clover: The critically lauded-but-low-rated conspiracy thriller will not be renewed for a second season, the network announced Thursday.
Exclusive: Rubicon boss makes a case for second season
"Rubicon gave us an opportunity to tell a rich and compelling story, and we're proud of the series," AMC said in a statement. "This was not an easy decision, but we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a phenomenally talented and dedicated team."
The series told the story of intelligence analyst Will Travers...
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From the beginning, AMC's Rubicon was a slow burn.
Although the show eventually won the approval of many critics, the show's pacing and complicated conspiracy storytelling resulted in a very small — but passionate — viewership, leading to the assumption that last week's Season 1 finale would double as a series finale.
Rubicon: Conspiracy or commentary? "Democracy is a very fragile vessel," producer says
But based on how that episode ended, executive producer Henry Bromell didn't get the memo. American Policy Institute analyst Will Travers (James Badge Dale) finally gathered enough evidence to suggest that his boss, Truxton Spangler (Michael Cristofer), was using API intelligence to manipulate world events for profit. And though Will was convinced Truxton was behind the explosion of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico that could create war with Iran, Will was unable to take Truxton down.
"I just don't believe in wrapping it up that simply," Bromell tells TVGuide.com...
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It's a few hours into a June day of shooting on the New York set of AMC's Rubicon. The set is breathlessly quiet, and the show's star, James Badge Dale, is staring at a photograph.
The quiet is finally broken when Dale's character, Will Travers, begins jotting down notes on index cards with a Sharpie. That's right: With four episodes of the conspiracy thriller's first season left to shoot, there are no car bombs, no sniper fire, no creepy phone calls — just the squeak of the marker moving over paper.
Rubicon's James Badge Dale: "Our show is not for everybody"
"We're spinning a yarn. We're trying to do something different than what's normally done on television, and it's not going to be for everybody," Dale tells TVGuide.com during a break. "We want to do something subtle. ... We're asking people to sit down and be taken on a ride, albeit not a very fast one...
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