Endlings (TV series)

Lore & Background

The series begins in the year 2040 when an alien abducts the last elephant on Earth, Tuko, but its ship malfunctions and crash-lands on a farm in North America. The crash occurs just as foster parent Mr. Leopold is about to take in a new foster child, Julia, who joins his other wards: Johnny, Tabby, and Finn. The children discover the injured alien and an escaped insect alien loose on the farm, and they learn to work together to help the alien in its mission to save endangered species, known as endlings. Wildlife activist Abiona Maina, who cared for Tuko, tracks the elephant to the farm and uses her knowledge of animals to save the alien's life.

Reader's Guide

Endlings is significant as a Canadian science fiction series that blends family drama with environmental themes about endangered species. The show's premise—children helping an alien save the last of various species—offers a unique take on both foster family dynamics and conservation. The series was renewed for a second twelve-episode season in October 2019, with production of the second season commencing that same month. Filming took place in and around Guelph, Ontario. The series also aired on multiple international networks including Universal Kids in the US, CBBC in the UK, and ABC Me in Australia, indicating broad appeal. Its legacy lies in its combination of speculative fiction with real-world ecological concerns, presented through the lens of a found family.

Did You Know?

• The series premiered on Hulu on January 17, 2020, before its CBC premiere on January 5, 2020.
• The alien's ship crash-lands on a farm in North America after abducting the last elephant on Earth.
• The second season was announced and filmed later, not immediately after the series premiere.
• The series aired on Universal Kids in the US, CBBC in the UK, and ABC Me in Australia.

The Alien Mission at the Heart of the Story

Endlings is a Canadian science fiction series that places its narrative in the year 2040, a future where biodiversity has dwindled to the point that a single elephant named Tuko represents the last of her kind. When an extraterrestrial being abducts Tuko from her African wildlife refuge, the resulting mission to save endangered species becomes the driving force of the entire show. The alien's spacecraft malfunctions before it can escape Earth's atmosphere and crash-lands on a North American farm, depositing an injured alien and a loose insect creature into the lives of four foster children and their caretaker, Mr. Leopold. What begins as a chaotic discovery in a cornfield and barn quickly evolves into a collaborative effort: the kids must learn to work together, track down the escaped endlings, and help their wounded extraterrestrial friend recover. Wildlife activist Abiona Maina, who had been caring for Tuko, eventually arrives and uses her deep knowledge of animals to pull the alien back from the brink. The entire premise weaves together themes of foster family, environmental stewardship, and interstellar cooperation in a way that feels both fantastical and deeply personal.

A Found Family Built on Wounds and Wonder

Each of the four children at the Leopold farm carries a distinct emotional wound that shapes how they engage with the alien mission. Johnny, played by Edison Grant, is the eldest and the first to arrive; he pours his energy into making the farm feel like a genuine home for everyone. Julia, portrayed by Kamaia Fairburn, arrives last and is defined by a raw, all-consuming anger born from the sudden loss of her father. Tabby, played by Michela Luci, serves as the group's engineer and sharp-tongued strategist, a persona she built after repeated disappointments from the people around her. Finn, the youngest, is entirely nonverbal, expressing love and understanding through vivid drawings, facial expressions, and embraces. Their foster father, Mr. Kenneth Leopold (Neil Crone), anchors the household with a simple conviction: these children need someone who believes in them when the rest of the world does not. Rounding out the ensemble are Abiona Maina (Oyin Oladejo), the wildlife activist whose bond with Tuko draws her to the farm, and Tresa Hewes (Lisa Ryder), a government operative tracking unexplained phenomena. Together, these characters form a mosaic of trust, vulnerability, and hard-won belonging.

From Survival to Defying Fate: The Two-Season Arc

Season One, set in 2040, is fundamentally a story of survival and bonding. The four children stumble upon the crashed alien, must coordinate to recapture the various endlings scattered across the farm, and slowly open up to one another about the painful histories that brought them to the Leopold household. The season builds toward the children combining their individual talents to complete the alien's mission. Season Two, set in 2041, raises the stakes dramatically. The alien, now named Ling, possesses powers that can reveal not only pasts but futures. When Ling accidentally shows Tabby a vision of their quest failing, the group discovers that Tresa Hewes, CEO of Infinitum Corporation, has been tracking them with her own hidden agenda. The vision reveals a future in which Ling and the endlings are captured and the foster family is torn apart. Rather than surrender to that prophecy, the children choose to confront the pain of their pasts head-on, using their hopes rather than their hurts to reshape what is to come. The series was renewed for this second twelve-episode season in October 2019, and it aired in 2021.

Production, Broadcast, and Global Footprint

Endlings was produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment and filmed in and around the city of Guelph, Ontario. Production for the second season commenced in October 2019, with filming scheduled to begin in Guelph on January 6, 2020. The series first aired on Canada's CBC Television on January 5, 2020, and found its American audience on Hulu, where it premiered on January 17, 2019. Beyond its home and US markets, the show achieved a remarkably wide international footprint. It was broadcast on Universal Kids in the United States, CBBC in the United Kingdom, Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Germany, ABC Me in Australia, Sveriges Television in Sweden, NRK in Norway, and Gloob in Brazil. This global distribution across seven additional territories in five different countries underscores the show's appeal as a family-oriented science fiction property that transcended its Canadian origins. The series' two seasons were available to audiences on multiple continents, making it one of the more broadly distributed Canadian youth-oriented sci-fi productions of its era.