Netflix horror series, Archive 81, ended on a rather confusing note, leaving the series room to explore new storylines with the possibility of a second season.
Overview
In January 2022, Netflix released the first season of its original horror series Archive 81. Through eight episodes fans watched as the series explored multiple twists and turns until the season finale, which had its fair share of twists and turns leaving some viewers confused.
For fans of the series, the belief was that the season finale was deliberately concluded with multiple open-ended storylines to allow for a second season. However, show creator, Rebecca Sonnenshine has kept mum on how the second season might pan out in light of the cryptic ending.
What is Archive 81?
Archive 81 marked its premiere on Netflix in January 2022. Initially a slow burn with fans, the series has since garnered a large following in the month since its release.
Created by showrunner, Rebecca Sonnenshine, the premise of the series is shared as, “An archivist hired to restore a collection of tapes finds himself reconstructing the work of a filmmaker and her investigation into a dangerous cult.”
Mamoudou Athie and Dina Shihabi lead the cast playing the title characters of Dan Turner and Melody Pendras respectively. The two characters stumble upon their intertwined fate, after Turner finds Melody’s tapes.
Archive 81: Ending explained
The premise of the first season of Archive 81 centred on Dan Turner and Melody Pendras, two people who are separated by time, end up finding the truth by undercovering the source of the tragedies in the series, that are ultimately all because of Kaelego.
He is a powerful demonic entity, who has followers to do his bidding. The season finale setup three possible storylines for the second season.
First, it was Melody rescuing Jess from being used in the final ritual by Samuel, in turn, placing herself in danger. Her life being in danger resulted in Dan forging ahead with the ritual to attempt to try to help Melody. A ritual which was conducted by Bobbi, who is revealed as a Baldung and Melody’s mother.
Due to her being a witch intertwined with the Vos Society and Kaelego lore, she is able to successfully conduct the ritual. Dan is transported to the dimension and after resisting Kaelego’s temptation, is able to rescue Melody.
However, they are intercepted by Samuel, resulting in Melody returning to Dan’s dimension, but Dan wakes up in a hospital in what looks like the 1990s. Thus, ending season one.
Rebecca Sonnenshine on Archive 81 ending
Following the ending which saw Dan wake up in what looks like the 1990s and being informed that he had just survived the fire from the Visser, fans wondered what had gone wrong with the time travelling.
In response to the ending, show creator, Rebecca Sonnenshine explained, “This is, for us, just a new spin on time travel.”
Going on to add “Which is, it’s kind of going through another dimension. It’s not what we think of as time travel. But there’s so much of this show that’s about time and how it moves and what is it and is it a flat circle? Is it an expanding universe? Is it a block universe? We don’t know. But the adage of having this alternate dimension puts a new playground in play.”
Will there be a second season of Archive 81?
Considering that the season finale of Archive 81 left multiple open-ended storylines, it alluded to the possibility of a second season. However, to date, Netflix has not confirmed the matter.
Rebecca Sonnenshine was hopeful on the matter when she stated, “It wasn’t conceived as a one-season show. I think there are more stories to tell. I think we end on a good cliffhanger that needs to be addressed. We introduce a lot of characters that surround Dan and Melody that have very rich and interesting lives to explore further. So yeah, we hope to keep going.”
What can be expected from Archive 81 season 2?
Considering that season one’s final episode introduced new chapters to explore and left some matters still ambiguous, there seems to be a lot that season two can explore.
Firstly, the matter of Virgil Davenport’s motive is still not clear. Secondly, we found out that Bobbi is Melody’s mother and the two finally reconnected during the final moments of season one.
Moreover, the series finally let fans see what The Otherworld looks like, which leaves room to explore more of The Otherworld and the temperament of the dimension in the second season.
However, with Netflix yet to confirm a second season, there is no telling when that will be.
Final Thoughts
Archive 81 is the suspense-horror series which Netflix introduced in January 2022. Initially an underrated series, Archive 81 has since garnered a fan base as more watch the eight-episode season one since its availability on the leading paid subscription video-on-demand platform.
While the first season managed to tie together the plot points introduced during the first episodes of the season by the end of season one, the series did begin to tease the possible storylines with the confusing ending, which saw Melody return to the now, and Dan travel back in time to the 1990s.