Archive 81 Season 2 Risks Falling Into A Classic Sci-Fi Trap
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Archive 81.
Netflix's Archive 81 season 1 ending means season 2 risks falling into a classic sci-fi trap. First released on January 14th, 2022, James Wan's podcast adaptation Archive 81 was a runaway success for Netflix in its first month of streaming, with the series watched for 128.47 million hours across the world per Netflix's own Top 10 site. Archive 81's twisting narrative keeps audiences guessing throughout its initial eight episodes, with the Netflix series' season 1 finale throwing up far more questions than answers.
Archive 81 episode 8, "What Lies Beneath," sees Dan Turner (Mamadou Athie) enter Kaelego's realm, the Otherworld, in an attempt to save Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi). While inside the Otherworld, Dan shrugs off Kaelego's temptations via visions of his family, but before he can jump through the portal with Melody, Samuel Spare (Evan Jonigkeit) ambushes the pair and drags Melody back into the present day. A confused Dan then wakes up in 1994, a month after the Visser fire, with the conservator appearing to have time traveled by unknown means.
Yet with this cliffhanger ending, Archive 81 season 2 risks falling into a classic sci-fi trap via its time travel mechanics. A big part of Archive 81's commercial success is built upon its blend of horror and noir from master of chills James Wan, but season 1's ending teleporting Dan risks undoing this quality atmospheric work and reducing Archive 81 to a more sci-fi based narrative. Archive 81 works best when delving into the mythos surrounding Kaelego and the human horrors that accompany it, meaning a time-travel-based second season would go against what made the Netflix series so compelling in the first place.
Archive 81's season 1 ending sees Melody finally brought back to the present day to be reunited with her mother, albeit at a high cost. Samuel's actions in the Otherworld result in Dan waking up in a hospital dazed before a television opposite him reveals he is in 1994, a mere month after the Visser fire he has become obsessed with from the tapes. These climactic events seem to cement that time travel is now canon in Archive 81, threatening to take James Wan's series in a very different direction for season 2.
This potential change in focus will pose a problem for Archive 81 should it come to pass, given the series' reliance on fictional yet grounded lore. The mythos Archive 81 establishes surrounding Kaelego, Baldung witches, and the Kharon comet feel decidedly real, drawing on common elements found in many legends to create an immersive otherwordly threat. The attention to detail and depth on Kaelego's lore, in particular, presents chillingly and gives Archive 81's protagonists genuine narrative stakes to overcome in the real world that do not feel forced in a way season 1's teleportation-based finale does.
Furthermore, Archive 81 is made all the more engrossing by the human reactions to the horrors unfolding in front of Melody's camera lens. These human touches, such as Dan and Melody's yearning for family even in the face of a demonic threat, make their actions more believable and therefore more compelling to audiences and balance Archive 81's otherworldly elements in a way that keeps the Netflix series from appearing far-fetched. Making Archive 81 season 2 a time travel series strips these carefully layered elements away from the show, detracting from the rich lore that season 1 painstakingly sets up. Archive 81's cliffhanger ending certainly whets the appetite for more from Dan and Melody, but its sci-fi elements may also cheapen season 2 in the process.