Sci-Fi & Fantasy

When Does Resurrection Season 3 Come Out? Is It Renewed?

What if someone you lost... returned?

Resurrection was cancelled — there is no Season 3.

IMDb

7.2/10

Seasons

2

Episodes

21

Resurrection poster

Diagnostics

Network
ABC
First aired
2014-05-15
Last aired
2015-09-10
Runtime
Rated
TV-14

Awards 2 nominations total

Predictive Logic Analysis

Resurrection has been cancelled. The series will not continue, and Season 3 is not in development.

What is Resurrection about?

Resurrection begins with a simple, unsettling premise: people who have been dead for years wake up alive in Arcadia, Missouri, and no one, including the returnees themselves, understands why or how. The show treats this impossible event as a mystery to be investigated rather than a puzzle to be solved, which gives it weight. Omar Epps plays the federal agent called to town to make sense of the phenomenon, while the townspeople grapple with the emotional chaos of having their grief rewritten overnight. If you're drawn to shows that explore what it means to come back wrong, or what the people left behind owe to ghosts made flesh, this is the kind of premise that could keep you watching.

The tone is somber and grounded, closer to Twilight Zone than to the supernatural soap opera the premise might suggest. There's no winking at the camera or horror-movie escalation. Instead, the show sits with the awkwardness and pain of reunion: a woman returns to find her husband has remarried, a child comes back aged differently than expected, a man who left his wife must confront her years of grief transformed into confusion. The early episodes work because they ask uncomfortable questions about obligation and identity instead of reaching for easy answers.

Critics were divided. Some found the mystery engaging enough to sustain interest, while others felt the show moved too slowly or repeated its central tension without deepening it. Audiences seemed to agree the concept was intriguing but struggled to stay invested as the series went on. The show lasted two seasons before ABC cancelled it, a runtime that suggests it found a modest but not overwhelming following.

What makes Resurrection hard to pin down is that it's better in isolated episodes than it is across a full arc. A single hour exploring one returnee's family feels more complete than the larger mythology the show keeps trying to build. The mystery of the resurrections themselves may have been the wrong question to ask.

Created by Aaron Zelman

Themes

Is Resurrection renewed or cancelled?

Working against it

high

The series is listed as cancelled

Why was Resurrection cancelled?

Resurrection arrived on ABC with a genuinely intriguing premise: people who had been dead for years were coming back to life in a small town, and nobody understood why. The show had the bones of something that could sustain interest across multiple seasons, and it managed to attract a solid audience initially. But by its second season, the appeal had worn thin, and ABC made the decision to cancel the series rather than commit to a third year.

The problem was one that plagues many mystery-box shows: the longer Resurrection went on without delivering meaningful answers, the harder it became to keep viewers invested. The show had spent its first twenty-one episodes raising questions faster than it could answer them, and audiences began to lose patience. Ratings declined noticeably between the first and second seasons, and the momentum that had carried the show through its freshman year had largely evaporated by the time season two ended. For a network like ABC, which relies on stable viewership and advertising revenue, a show in decline is difficult to justify, especially when it's also capital-intensive and demands the kind of long-form storytelling that requires viewers to stay committed across multiple seasons.

ABC ultimately decided not to renew the show, leaving its central mysteries unresolved. The cancellation reflected both the show's declining numbers and a broader truth about serialized drama on network television: audiences will only wait so long for payoff, and when a show can't provide clarity or momentum, even a good premise and decent ratings aren't enough to keep it alive.

Resurrection Season 3 Release Date

No release is expected. Resurrection was cancelled, ending the series.

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Best & worst episodes

Resurrection seasons

Season 12014 · 8 ep
  • 1. The Returned2014-05-15 · ★ 8.0
  • 2. Unearth2014-05-15 · ★ 7.8
  • 3. Two Rivers2014-05-22 · ★ 7.8
  • 4. Us Against the World2014-05-22 · ★ 7.7
  • 5. Insomnia2014-05-29 · ★ 7.8
  • 6. Home2014-05-29 · ★ 7.7
  • 7. Schemes of the Devil2014-06-05 · ★ 8.0
  • 8. Torn Apart2014-06-05 · ★ 8.1
Season 22015 · 13 ep
  • 1. Revelation2015-07-23 · ★ 7.6
  • 2. Echoes2015-07-23 · ★ 7.5
  • 3. Multiple2015-07-30 · ★ 7.7
  • 4. Old Scars2015-08-06 · ★ 7.7
  • 5. Will2015-08-06 · ★ 7.6
  • 6. Afflictions2015-08-13 · ★ 7.6
  • 7. Miracles2015-08-13 · ★ 7.6
  • 8. Forsaken2015-08-20 · ★ 7.6
  • 9. Aftermath2015-08-27 · ★ 7.7
  • 10. Prophecy2015-09-03 · ★ 7.4
  • 11. True Believer2015-09-03 · ★ 7.4
  • 12. Steal Away2015-09-10 · ★ 7.4
  • 13. Love in Return2015-09-10 · ★ 7.4

Resurrection cast

View all cast →
Omar Epps

Omar Epps

J. Martin Bellamy

Frances Fisher

Frances Fisher

Lucille Langston

Matt Craven

Matt Craven

Sheriff Fred Langston

Devin Kelley

Devin Kelley

Maggie Langston

Mark Hildreth

Mark Hildreth

Pastor Tom Hale

Samaire Armstrong

Samaire Armstrong

Elaine Richards

Landon Gimenez

Landon Gimenez

Jacob Langston

Kurtwood Smith

Kurtwood Smith

Henry Langston

Michelle Fairley

Michelle Fairley

Margaret Langston

Where to watch Resurrection

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AI Verdict

Cancelled0%high confidence
0%renewal
renewal probability
Verdict history0% → 0%
May 16Jul 15

Resurrection has been cancelled. No further seasons are planned.

Verdict updated 4 weeks ago · based on 1 renewal-signal article and 1 other mention

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    Frequently asked

    When does Resurrection Season 3 come out?
    Resurrection was cancelled — there is no Season 3.
    Is Resurrection renewed or cancelled?
    Resurrection has been cancelled. No further seasons are planned.
    Why was Resurrection cancelled?
    Resurrection arrived on ABC with a genuinely intriguing premise: people who had been dead for years were coming back to life in a small town, and nobody understood why. The show had the bones of something that could sustain interest across multiple seasons, and it managed to attract a solid audience initially. But by its second season, the appeal had worn thin, and ABC made the decision to cancel the series rather than commit to a third year.
    How many seasons of Resurrection are there?
    Resurrection has aired 2 seasons so far.
    How many episodes of Resurrection are there?
    There are 21 episodes of Resurrection across 2 seasons.
    Who created Resurrection?
    Resurrection was created by Aaron Zelman.
    Where can I watch Resurrection?
    Resurrection is available to stream on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and Fandango At Home.
    What is Resurrection's IMDb rating?
    Resurrection holds an IMDb rating of 7.2/10 from 15,734 votes.