Showtime is renewing its Chicago-set drama “The Chi” for a fifth season. The announcement came less than 24 hours after the Season 4 finale aired Sunday.
According to the cable network, the show created by Chicago native Lena Waithe has averaged 4.2 million weekly viewers and “is on pace to become the most-streamed Showtime series ever.” The fifth season will air in 2022.
From a creative standpoint, the news comes as a surprise. As I wrote last week — and as Will Lee, my partner in recapping, and I have pointed out all season — the show has increasingly moved away from its slice-of-life approach in favor of melodrama and an overabundance of only partially developed storylines that feel disconnected from reality.
I’ve heard from a number of viewers disappointed with the show’s evolution. One emailed to say that she was initially drawn to the series because it captured “1) how community connectedness was explored and displayed, and 2) characters were not portrayed as simply good or bad, they were the sum of their life experiences, good and bad.”
But watching the most recent season, she has accepted that the show “will never again be the great, groundbreaking, intriguing, classic show it started out as. The show has no heart anymore … there’s no consistency in anything anymore.”
That’s been the overwhelming sentiment I’ve heard from viewers. But a new season means new possibilities and maybe better writing.
Last week, Showtime donated $500,000 to beautification projects on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
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