When most television shows come to an end, that is final. But that is not true for all shows. Some live on in future versions and forms.
At this point there have been three seasons of Motherland Fort Salem and the third season is supposedly the final season. However the fan campaign to get one of the big streaming platforms to commission a fourth season is very strong. There is a lot of activity, a lot of trending and season three spreading out round the world. The fan base is growing. Will it succeed? At this point it is hard to tell.
I do believe that at some point there will be a return to Fort Salem. Whether it will be another season, or a sequel or prequel or a spinoff or a TV movie(s) or theatrical film or even a reboot in the future, it is too early to predict. Maybe several of them. How long it will take, I have no idea.
When most TV shows finish they usually die, but some don’t. It tends to be the most original that don’t die, especially those who create their own universe. With a rich story telling potential there is so much more to explore. Motherland Fort Salem is definitely original – we have not seen anything like this before.
Fan campaigns have always been a big part of those shows that continue after first cancellation.
The first time that a fan campaign was successful in getting another season for a show was the original Star Trek series in the 1960s. That was originally cancelled after just two seasons, but the determined fan campaign got a third and final season. Then it just stopped until the Star Wars movie came along in 1977. Suddenly big sci-fi epics were back and every studio wanted their own big movie so the Star Trek revival happened. With nine further films and ten spin off series, five currently in production, Star Trek is still going strong.
Babylon 5’s planned five season story arc had to be cut short when they were renewed for a fourth and final season. Except that the show was picked up by another studio to make a TV movie and there was so much interest that they commissioned the fifth season to finish the story.
Firefly only lasted one season, but came back as the theatrical movie Serenity and even now is still alive with five tie-in novels published in the last year.
Battlestar Galactica was originally a one season wonder. But in 2004 it was rebooted. It lasted five seasons and led to TV movies as well. This reboot did make some significant changes from the original, most controversially was casting Starbuck as a woman. The reboot proved to be far more successful that the original.
Imagine a Motherland Fort Salem reboot, there would be changes to reflect the new times. One thing that reboots like to do is to use original cast members in the new reboot, playing other parts. I can just see Jessica Sutton in a reboot playing Sarah Alder or Ashley Nicole Williams playing Petra Bellweather. Taylor Hickson and Amalia Holm would have to be in there for at least an episode if a reboot stays true to form.
Where does that leave the fans now? One thing about the powerful shows is that they leave a legacy, which is part of why they are attractive to future studios. There will be a demand for convention appearances for a long time to come. One legacy of the pandemic is that few fans have actually met any of the cast, so there is a huge untapped market there. With that comes the relationships and friendships that form and last. I have friends form previous fandoms that I have known for twenty plus years. Shared experiences and shared values matter. When twitter and Instagram have stopped trending Motherland Fort Salem, the fans will still be there. New people will discover the show in years to come and one day the time will be right to come back.
For now, we want season 4, but we have to be realistic, shows saved by fan campaigns only get one more season. What do we want after that? Sequel? Prequel? Books? Webisodes? What do the cast want? What does Eliot Laurence want?
In the meantime we have the Starfury convention Witchbomb to look forward to. Details at Witchbomb – A Motherland: Fort Salem Convention – Starfury Conventions (seanharry.com) With Gold tickets selling out in about 9 days the demand to meet the cast and crew is strong. So is the desire for Switches to have the chance to meet each other, which the pandemic has largely denied us.
For the time being we have to create our own new content and demand. This blog site is offered in that spirit. We may not have new on screen content, but there is always fanfic to sustain the interest and explore some of the stories not told onscreen. The main site for Motherland Fort Salem fanfic is at www.archiveofourown.org Motherland: Fort Salem (TV) – Works | Archive of Our Own
So, let’s enjoy what we have, fight for more and never shut up about our show. One day they will be back.
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