Netflix Cancels Thrilling Mystery Series After One Season

The mystery thriller series 1899 has been canceled after only one season on Netflix. The streamer first revealed 1899 during its big Tudum fan event in September, which follows a group of passengers traveling across the Atlantic Ocean. 1899 officially landed on the streamer November 17th with all eight episodes of its freshman season. Unfortunately, there won’t be a Season 2 of 1899, as co-showrunners Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese confirmed on social media. As with most of Netflix’s controversial cancellations, there is always the possibility that another network or streaming service makes moves to pick up and continue the genre-bending mystery-horror series.

“With a heavy heart we have to tell you that 1899 will not be renewed,” Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, who are also behind Netflix’s Dark, wrote on Odar’s Instagram account. “We would have loved to finish this incredible journey with a 2nd and 3rd season as we did with Dark. But sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned. That’s life. We know this will disappoint millions of fans out there. But we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you were a part of this wonderful adventure. We love you. Never forget. Bo & Jantje.”

What Is Netflix’s 1899?

In 1899, a group of European migrants leave London on a steamship to start new lives in New York City. But when they encounter another migrant ship adrift on the open sea, their journey begins to turn into a nightmare. The series stars Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, Miguel Bernardeau, Maciej Musiał, Anton Lesser, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Rosalie Craig, Clara Rosager, Maria Erwolter, Martin Greis-Rosenthal, Yann Gael, Mathilde Ollivier, José Pimentão, Isabella Wei, Gabby Wong, Jonas Bloquet, Fflyn Edwards, and Alexandre Willaume.

“There is a lot in the DNA that is kind of close to Dark in terms of the puzzle and needing an engaged active audience,” Friese explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “But there are also things that are quite different in terms of atmosphere and tonality, but also pacing and more action-y stuff happening. So it is truly a beast of its own, but shares a lot of the same maybe mechanisms as Dark does. Hopefully it feels like something really fresh and new, while still [being] exactly what Dark fans would like to watch.”

“We do love to play with genres and expectations,” Odar echoed. “I think you have to watch carefully, because every little piece means something.”

Odar and Friese also indicated that 1899 is a story that won’t be able to be told within a single sitting.

“It’s structured again as a three-season mystery puzzle just like Dark,” Friese explained. “And obviously, this will only happen if enough people watch, but the way that we approached development and how season 1 is ending, you kind of want to have another one. So hopefully, ultimately, that is happening. That’s how we laid it out as a plan, and let’s see if the world agrees.”