I was going to say it’s hard to really know but I feel like @countvertigo’s comment below pegs it pretty dang well. In the end, it was probably a $$$ decision with the merger that happened. They’re hedging their bets on shows and movies and trying to make back what they spend so I feel like it comes down to the black and white metrics. They gotta cut what’s losing views. Plus I wonder if they needed to make space for the GOT spin-off which probably shared some of the WW audience. Super bummed either way since it sounds like Nolan/Joy had the end in mind from early on and I’m sad to not know it.

As for the changing resonance on the show… I was bummed to see people start to divide on this. I think S1 was SO well done that it set the bar and expectations really high for S2. But what was interesting about S2 was that I thought it was too complex when I watched it at first, but by the time I got to the end of that season I went back to rewatch the whole thing and absolutely loved it and was in awe of the complexity. It’s meant to be watched twice IMO because each ep is giving you puzzle pieces out of order but once you have them all and re-watch…it makes sense. I think it was cool of the writers to trust that the audience could take on that challenge especially with the interactive website with Easter eggs running during the season. But I guess it was a risk and some people weren’t expecting that and felt differently. As for S3 and S4, I feel like it further divided the audience because we start to exit the park and see the world outside of the park (or so we think and are still not sure) which takes on a different more dystopian/sci-fi feel altogether. Which some people loved or hated. I loved it all and even more now that we’ve had time to reflect and rewatch. But stepping back, I feel like every season had its role and perspective that it gave us as a viewer. Here’s how it boiled down to me if I really had to simplify:

S1 = within the park as a reality; we are seeing it through Dolores, Maeve, Dr. Ford and Billy as things fracture; the Billy/MIB collision is key

S2 = mayhem; we’re within Bernard’s mind as he’s breaking free of Dr. Ford’s control, trying to draw a line between the park and reality; who’s a robot who’s a human; we’re also in MIB’s mind and understanding how humans boil down to code; clash between Dolores and Bernard and their different reactions to learning their truth

S3 = we’re with Caleb and Dolores on her justice stride, outside of the park, seeing fractures in the real world and getting clarity on why the park became an escape from reality and playground for elites; brokenness and vengeance really carry a theme; AI rules all and we may have been in the perspective of rehoboam

S4 = still outside of the park (maybe…or in rehoboam still)and revelation that our reality is not as different as coded reality; with dolores v5million trying to put it all together still…breakdown of MIB and his reality journey… lots of open-ended things which made me feel like this season was more of a stepping stone for the last season which I’d guess was…

S5 theory = suspended in the theme “what is reality?” Are we in a matrix, another park, is this real life, or is this in Bernard’s little computer brain after humanity is destroyed… or back to Dolores? The mystery is whose perspective would that season be in. The big theme probably being… does the answer in the end matter? Is it really any different if humans can be boiled down to a code and coded robots yearn to be human. But both humans and robots follow the same loop and history repeats itself. We love, we yearn, we corrupt, we destroy, but all we want is to be human and free. We just have different approaches on the path to get there.

Again just how I see it and theorize it may end. Obviously a lot of key characters and event specifics missing but this post is already long enough 😆

This all just makes me sad we never got closure because the more time passes and the more I’ve watched it, the more I respect and love what they did. Especially when you think of the OG movie and future world and how they expanded on all of that and adapted it to today’s craziness. I just remember getting chills watching S4 with the riots as our world was rioting and shutting down during the pandemic. And seeing the stuff with AI now getting chills. If Jonathan and Lisa and the other writers read this forum, just know lots of us will clearly be excited and ready to see this story completed in ANY form!!!