Why is this show doing so bad!? I hear it's getting cancelled!!

I just finished bingewatching it. Liked season 1 better than season 2, specifically because the storytelling/writing seemed to get a little more soapy and heavyhanded, particularly with the cartoony villain. compared to the subtle and elegant storytelling of the first season. Perhaps a bit more nudity (and disproportionately female of course) than seemed strictly required, but that didn't bother me that much.

I felt the same way about Game of Thrones, that season 1 was better crafted and I had to seriously adjust my expectations after that. But I still liked season 2 of Marco Polo and really wish we'd gotten a third season. I'll miss the actors (LOTS of excellent work by many), the characters, the world that was easy to escape into. Very sad that this is all there will be. I guess I'm curious about the new thing they're basing on this, but it sounds like it's going to be even more about the political scheming and so on. And I wasn't sure about that John Prester story line. I also would have appreciated it being just a little closer to real history, as having Kublai, for example, kill the boy emperor (who did not die as a boy) simply to turn up the volume on Ahmad's treachery was a questionable choice, although Benedict Wong did a great job with it as he did everywhere else in the show.

On a baser note, holy hell there were some beautiful men in this thing. I could just sit and stare at, among others, Remy Hii and especially Uli Latukefu for days. I guess that's what I kind of did, in the bingewatching. Didn't expect Uli to be such a good actor, as I figured he was just there to be Big Action Dude but his expressions were a symphony played on a glorious stage. Woof. Hope his role in the upcoming Aliens movie is more than a short bit part.

An executive story editor and writer were added in season 2 episode 2. The storyline became feminist, where female characters were seen as wise and the male characters were rather buffoonish. The dialogue deteriorated in poorly crafted trash talking using American English idioms. A good show is becoming pablum for the masses.

According to articles of recent note, Season 3 is due to be made, but it's going to aim for premiere in the fall. There's speculative rumors about Benedict Wong (Kublai) leaving the show due to the low ratings of Season 2. Even the budget that went into Season 2 was among the biggest that Netflix committed to.

Season 1's ratings were mixed to negative. While I felt that the show was a bit slow early on, it did get better in later episodes (for me, Kublai was the most watchable character, and seeing the Cricket Minister was a good second). The show really represented Asian and Middle Eastern characters quite well and put them at the forefront. While Marco is the only one from the West who is present in the show, he's no different than Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus in Rome or C-3PO and R2-D2 in Star Wars. It's the story based on events he is telling, his memoirs, showing us these characters.

Season 2 definitely got deeper and more exciting. There wasn't an episode where something significant wasn't happening. But has it failed to perform? No. Critic rating is trashing the show, but the fan ratings are still strong. IMDB has it at 8.1, and Metacritic grades Season 1 at 7.9 out of 460 ratings, and 7.5 out of 19 ratings.

I think a couple of things that hit the show hard are Season 1 came out December 2014, while Season 2 was July of this year. For them to move to Season 3 and aim for a Fall airing date, within the next six months, is rather tight to fulfill. It's hopeful. Even the rumors with Benedict Wong departing the show are just rumors. He's a strong element there, and his latest project (Doctor Strange) is in post-production. Until something official gets announced, either Kublai will return for Season 3 or he won't...but either way, they mean to try and get one more season out of it.

They have a treasure trove of material, Marco Polo's writings.

But they decided to make everything up, using some names and settings as a mere teaser to their own show.

Some viewers must've been disappointed.

They're definitely not advertising this enough. I'd never heard of it before until I stumbled on it today on Netflix during my free trial. I like it, it's interesting and enjoyable so far (I've only just watched the first episode) and I just love the cast, setting; etc. I hope they give this show a chance and promote it better instead of just killing it.

I actually don't like Game of Thrones, I tried the first episode and it just didn't draw me in. This is much more up my alley.

PS. I'm halfway through the first season and I can't stop watching. I love it!

Here's a thought: since it's already been announced that Netflix is planning to break out on its own, stop investing in any new licenses to redistribute content made by others and focus all future investment in the production of originals, the rest of the industry (through "critics" who are its paid shills) is trying to nip that in the bud by burying their original productions (and especially their most expensive one) under bogus poor reviews.

Just a possibility.

LE:
Oh, and another possible explanation: on Metacritic when you open the show's page you're actually on the page for Season 1, and if you register a rating it will be counted just for Season 1. A lot of people have rated and reviewed the show as a whole but attached their ratings to Season 1 because they didn't realize this was how things worked on Metacritic. So you have very few reviews and ratings, and a skewed and strange average rating, for Season 2, when in actuality many say it's better than Season 1.

netflix doesnt go by ratings they go by how many people they can get to sub some of these shows bring in the subs i know the mcu shows they do bringin in alot of subs.

it was absolutely good TV series. I become anxious of this NEWS. is there any hope yet?