Netflix Renews Dark TV Series for Season 2

Netflix has renewed its first German-language original series, Dark, for a second season, due to strong viewership numbers and critical sentiment. While the streaming giant’s homebase – and biggest single audience – is still obviously the U.S., Netflix has begun to branch out into original series targeted at its many worldwide subscribers whose primary language isn’t English. If said series due well stateside too, all the better, and that’s exactly what has happened with Dark.

Similar to Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, Dark combines elements of sci-fi, horror, and drama to create a complex story that defies easy categorization. Dark is set in a German town called Winden, and the plot is propelled into motion by the disappearance of two young children. This worrying event begins to expose the secrets kept by four local families, as well as the fractured relationships they share. Things really get interesting by way of a mysterious supernatural twist that serves to tie the present day narrative back to events that occurred in Winden in 1986. Due to the small town setting, 1980s involvement, and aforementioned genre-blending, it’s easy to see why Dark has been compared to Stranger Things by many.

Now, THR reports that Netflix has renewed Dark for season 2. While the company remains averse to releasing statistics on how many people watch its shows, Netflix says that Dark is one of the most-streamed non-English series on the service, and has performed well with subscribers all over the world. Critics are also big fans of Dark, with the series achieving positive marks on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

It’s unclear at the moment how many episodes will comprise Dark season 2, although season 1 had 10, so that number seems likely. Also yet to be revealed is when fans can expect Dark season 2 to premiere on Netflix, although the service has shown a penchant for not announcing release dates very far in advance. For example, the long-awaited Black Mirror season 4 will arrive on December 29, but that date wasn’t announced until earlier this month. With Dark season 1 having premiered on December 1, it’s likely that a date for season 2 won’t be known for quite some time to come.

With Dark’s success, one wonders how many more non-English Netflix originals will end up catching on with the service’s subscribers. One thing seems clear at least: Netflix users don’t mind reading subtitles in order to understand a show with an interesting enough concept.