‘Mistresses’ Season 5 No Longer Happening; EP Reveals Why Yunjin Kim Left Even Before Show’s Cancellation

Up to the last episode of "Mistresses" Season 4 and a couple of days after that, there were hopes that the show is moving on to its fifth season. However, ABC has decided to pull the plug and put the series into rest. What could've happened in "Mistresses" Season 5 if it was renewed?

"Mistresses" Season 5 is no longer happening, ABC has canceled the show after running for four seasons, Deadline reported. While it was not clear what was the real reason behind the cancellation of the summer soap, the publication noted the cast and location changes the show went through over the past years to cut costs. "Mistresses" Season 4 finale aired last Tuesday, and the story that revolved around the death of Karen, played by Yunjin Kim, is now the series finale. The final episode finished with 0.6 rating and attracted 2.6 million viewers. However, despite having stable performance, the network seems to have decided to shift its focus on its game shows, which have been a success in the past two summers.

Earlier last week, "Mistresses" executive producer Rina Mimoun told TVLine that they were not told to write a series finale. At that time, they were in the process of pitching another 13-episode season that would wrap up the series in 2017. "We really feel like there's one more year of story to tell, but we're also looking for a graceful way to wrap up the series," Mimoun said. "There'd be some new hot messes in the mix, and we'd be moving back toward the kind of racy romp that Mistresses was when it began."

Before the cancellation was announced, reports emerged that Yunjin Kim was not returning for another season. When TVLine asked Mimoun what prompted the writers to kill off Karen, the executive producer revealed that it was actually a mutual decision. Yunjin Kim wanted to leave the soap to pursue other opportunities while the writers wanted to make something big for the fourth season. "We loved the hot mess that was Karen, but the character felt like she'd gone as far as we wanted to take her and as far as Yunjin wanted to play her, so it felt like the right time," Mimoun added.