The famously, uh, mercurial Sons of Anarchy creator may not have figured out how to start The Bastard Executioner, but he certainly knows how to end it.
After ratings steadily declined over the course of the critically panned period drama’s ten episodes, Sutter apparently read the writing on the wall and opted to cut his losses. His decision—signed off on by FX network head John Landgraf, of course, but apparently made of Sutter’s own volition—was announced with an advertisement in the print edition of the Hollywood Reporter. It reads, in part:
The audience has spoken, and unfortunately the word is, ‘meh.’ So with due respect, we bring our mythology to an epic and fiery close.
In a follow-up interview run on the Reporter‘s website, Sutter, who once called THR TV editor and interviewer Lacey Rose a “c***” on Twitter, described himself as “heartbroken.” Though he’s still moving forward with producing a Sons of Anarchy spinoff and a film script centering on “a love story between a junkie and a hit man,” Sutter seems dismayed he wasn’t able to replicate his last series’ massive, seven-season success:
Oh, I’m heartbroken. Beside the obvious — pride and all that shit — it’s an epic mythology, and I really love the themes and every place that we were going to go with it. So I’m going to miss that.
Unfortunately, 14th-century Welsh Christians and bikers didn’t turn out to share a demo.