Cancellation
Originally, Reunion was intended to last for 22 episodes, with each episode chronicling one year in the life of the six main characters—from their graduation in 1986 to the murder of one of them the day of their high school reunion in 2006. However, after a promising start, the show's ratings dropped, failing to hold the viewers from its lead in, The O.C., whereupon Fox announced the series would not be continued beyond the thirteen episodes already ordered.
While it was speculated the cancellation might lead to a change of the format—possibly skipping or combining some years to reach 2006 and reveal the murderer by the now-final thirteenth episode—series creator Jon Harmon Feldman originally announced the show would simply end with 1998, with the identity of the murderer unrevealed. However, after ratings continued to fall in December 2005, Fox announced - both in the media and on their official website - that the "1994" episode eventually would be the last, and the remaining four episodes filmed would not air. Fox later gave away outlines the episodes "1995", "1996", "1997" and "1998" to websites. On June 7, 2006, the episode "1998" was shown in many countries, but not the USA.
During the Television Critics Association press tour, FOX Entertainment president Peter Ligouri addressed reporters regarding the show's abrupt end. Ligouri stated there were several ways to go with the killer's identity. However, "the best guess was that particular time that it was going to be Sam's daughter", whom she gave up for adoption early in the series. The reason why the murder occurred still remains a mystery.
The Brazilian channel SBT, at the end of episode 13, inserted a narrator telling an alternative end (freely invented) for the drama: the killer would be Craig's father, Russell Brewster.
Read more about this topic: Reunion (TV Series)