Will 'Recovery Road' Get A Second Season?

If there's one new teen show of the season that is important viewing, it's Recovery Road. The series, which debuted its first season on Freeform back in January, tells the story of Maddie, a 16-year-old girl who doesn't see a problem with her partying ways — until those habits land her in a sober living facility. As Maddie struggles with some of life's bigger questions (is she really an addict?) she somewhat reluctantly leans on her brand-new "sober buddies," many of whom already answered those questions and are now working towards living substance-free lives. Maddie's teenage problems (like falling for a guy who is decidedly not her boyfriend) are heightened due to her sober living situation, and though partying, drugs, and alcohol have all been staples of teen shows, Recovery Road explores them in ways that are more nuanced and thoughtful than I initially expected of a teen show. Needless to say, I'm hoping hard that Recovery Road will be renewed for Season 2.

Fans, like myself, will have to wait to find out whether we will get more of Maddie and the other Springtime Meadows residents' stories. Though the Season 1 finale will air on March 28, Freeform has yet to renew the show or officially announce plans for cancellation. Right now, all fans can do is speculate about Recovery Road's fate. Fortunately, Recovery Road has one great thing going for it: the series has been consistently well-reviewed, and boasts a 100 percent fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. With that kind of support, Freeform would do well to continue the series' streak of rich storytelling.

Unfortunately, plenty of awesome shows have bit the dust despite fantastic reviews and vocal fans. While it's not all about the ratings, the ratings do matter for keeping a show on the air. Recovery Road averages roughly 0.46 million viewers weekly, which is considerably less than fellow freshman series Shadowhunters , which averages closer to 0.80 million viewers weekly. Shadowhunters received a Season 2 renewal — despite having significantly less favorable reviews — so it's unclear whether Freeform will take a chance on a show that pulls fewer numbers but is overall better liked by critics. And while ratings are important, they're also not the only way to gauge viewers — online streaming can skew the numbers for how many people are actually watching the series, and perhaps Recovery Road is pulling in more viewers than the broadcast numbers can show us.

As a fan of the series, so I'm hoping that Freeform gives Recovery Road another shot to prove itself. It's a smart, heartwarming show that deals with real issues, and one that Freeform should be proud to have on its schedule.

Image: Freeform/Mitch Haaseth