Netflix hasn't greenlit it yet, but 'Archive 81' showrunner is already planning Season 2

Don't relegate Netflix's latest hit Archive 81 to the VHS graveyard just yet! If showrunner/executive producer/director Rebecca Sonnenshine gets her way, the series (loosely based on the horror podcast of the same name) will return for a sophomore outing on Netflix.

"I hope so, but I actually have no idea," she told Entertainment Weekly when asked if the show had been picked up for another batch of episodes. "But I hope so. It was always meant to keep going. We are always thinking about Season 2."

Motion to call it Archive 82! You can have that one at no charge, Netflix.

**Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of Archive 81 on Netflix**

It'd be pretty rude to leave viewers hanging after the first eight episodes ended on a pretty major cliffhanger, with archivist Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie) trapped in 1994 after successfully freeing Melody (Dina Shihabi) from her extra-dimensional prison. Not only does Dan need to get back to the present, he also needs to discover the truth about the deadly fire that killed his entire family. Per Virgil Davenport (Martin Donovan), they were simply a casualty of two factions warring over the release of the demon-god known as Kaelego.

"We definitely know who [started the fire], and that is Season 2," Sonnenshine teased. "There are a lot of little Easter eggs or little things like that, that if you're like, 'I wonder if that's something that is part of the mythology and that will be explored further?' And, yes. Some things just didn't actually make it into the season. When you build a mythology series, you build out all this mythology, and then you're like, 'Oh, we don't have room for all that.' So that was a piece that we ended up saving for Season 2."

Credit: QUANTRELL D. COLBERT/NETFLIX

The showunner went on to assure EW that a second installment will explain where cult charismatic leader Samuel (Evan Jonigkeit) ended up after interfering with Dan's rescue mission: "When or where he is, that is part of Season 2."

Moreover, a continuation of the story would give us further insight into Virgil's motivations. Despite hiring Mr. Turner to restore a bunch of old video tapes concerning a sinister religious cabal in order to find out what really happened to Samuel — who turns out to be Virgil's brother — the secretive billionaire gives an uncharacteristically apathetic response when an answer finally presents itself.

"I think, whereas Samuel very much was a believer — he's a believer in the possibilities and he had a great faith in what he was doing — Virgil is a scientist, he's a businessman, and he doesn't share that space. So it's not like a calling [for Virgil], it's just something else," Sonnenshine added. "So that is something that we will be delving deeper into. It's kind of at the top of our list for Season 2, because we didn't quite get to it, but also I can say that everyone in the show is doing something that they think is right. There's no mustache-twirling going on here. So there is a very sort of deep reason why he's doing what he's doing. We just won't find out until Season 2."

Produced by James Wan, all eight episodes of Archive 81 are now streaming on Netflix.