Even though it was barely marketed and didn’t make a splash in terms of audience engagement or viewership data, the removal of $50 million sci-fi blockbuster Crater from Disney Plus seven weeks to the day since it premiered underlined just how drastic the cost-cutting measures on Disney Plus had become.
While the whimsical intergalactic adventure was only available to stream on a solitary platform, the company’s ruthless wielding of the axe has extended across every on-demand outfit under its umbrella, with The Watchful Eye being an alarming case in point. Sure, it wasn’t a ratings juggernaut or a critical darling, but the speed at which it was wiped off the face of the planet continues setting a treacherous precedent for anything that isn’t an immediate smash hit.
The 10-episode mystery thriller only wrapped up its run back in March on Freeform, with the news of its cancellation being made public on Friday. While that’s fair enough in and of itself, what happened next was a damning indictment of just how fast Disney is moving in an effort to shave pennies off the budget.
24 hours later, and The Watchful Eye wasn’t just removed from Freeform, but it was also gone from Hulu, Disney Plus, and Star Plus, meaning that nobody on the planet who subscribes to a Disney-owned streamer anymore can revisit or watch the show for the first time.
One minor positive is that you can still purchase the one-season run of Mariel Molino’s Elena Santos being drawn into a wide-ranging conspiracy on both iTunes and Amazon, a fate many other excised exclusives can’t claim.