We may know who killed Kate (Jordana Brewster), but we may never learn what happened with Cornell (Juliette Lewis) in those final moments of the Secrets and Lies season 2 finale if ABC lets the ratings determine the show's fate.

The entire second season of the show, which debuted a year and a half after the first season closed, was down in viewers throughout, and now, it numbers for the two-hour finale are also in, and things still don't look good for the show, as ABC ranked fourth in the ratings for Sunday night's viewing, with NBC, FOX and CBS all winning out with numbers of viewers for the night.

According to The Wrap, NBC came in first in the ratings with Sunday Night Football, with a 4.4 ratings in the 18-49 demographic and an average of 13 million viewers. Fox came in second with a 2.7 and 7.8 million viewers for their own NFL coverage, The Simpsons, Son of Zorn, Family Guy and The Last Man on Earth.

The real sign of trouble for Secrets and Lies is that CBS beat ABC even with all reruns airing, and the lowest numbers of the night for ABC came during the two-hour block for Secrets and Lies, which had a 0.7 share compared to the 0.9 share that America's Funniest Home Videos and Once Upon a Time got. However, it did get more viewers overall than Once Upon a Time, with 3.4 million viewers total compared to 3.2, though AFHV had 5.2 million total viewers.

ABC has not yet revealed any decisions regarding a third season renewal or a cancellation for the series just yet, but after the delay they had in airing the second season for so long, it may not be surprising for them to decide the show should come to an end. Giving it a home during the main fall season (it was previously an off-season series) was a risky move, one that the network may decide didn't pay off in the long run.

If that does wind up being the case, it would mean that fans dying to know what happened in the shocking cliffhanger in the finale's final minutes (which was not addressed in the Cornell: Confidential online addition), may never actually get their closure.

Tags: secrets and lies ABC television