Archive 81 Photo: Netflix
Another week, another dead show at Netflix – your one-stop streaming shop for TV programs you probably shouldn’t get too attached to. This time around, the streaming reaper has arrived for the found footage horror series Archive 81, which Deadline reports the streamer has declined to pick up for a second season.
That’s both a bummer and a bit of a surprise — or as much of one as Netflix can be these days for pulling the plug on a show. After all, Archive 81 has not only been acclaimed by critics, it has reportedly done pretty well for service, making it into the company’s top 10 for original program reviews.
For the unknown, Archive 81 starred Mamoudou Athie as the archivist who was asked to restore some old video footage and Dina Shihabi as the woman who filmed it as she tried to investigate the oddities surrounding an apartment building. Things get spooky fast, in a way that pays homage to horror classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Ring, and more.
Series creator Rebecca Sonnenshine, who adapted Archive 81 from an existing podcast by Daniel Powell and Marc Sollinger, confirmed the news on Twitter today, reporting that she was “surprised and disappointed that we won’t be doing another season,” and briefly hinted at some of the storylines the show would have followed had it been picked up from its season one cliffhanger.
For what it’s worth, we’ve been fans of Archive 81, which has often managed to outperform the base tributes it was built from. In her review of the show’s first (now only) season, Saloni Gajjar writes:
While iterating through an assortment of supernatural concepts, the show remains interesting primarily for its exploration of intergenerational trauma. The sentimental familial hook is the continuous line for each character, past and present. The motivation of Dan, Melody, Virgil and almost all other supporting players stems from the grief of losing loved ones. Archive 81 just manages to connect their suffering in a slow-burning but rewarding way.