The Boroughs is one of the hottest Netflix shows of the month, but it’s not all good news.
Netflix’s first big sci-fi drama since Stranger Things premiered on Thursday, May 21, right before Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, The Boroughs only racked up 5.6 million views during the show’s first few days, which is not a good sign for season 2.
We all know by now that one of the big indicators for Netflix renewing a show is the ratings over the show’s first few weeks after release. Do enough viewers tune in to offset budget costs? Is there a viral or word-of-mouth component? Do fans actually finish the season in a relatively short period of time after viewers start watching? All of those things matter.
There are plans for The Boroughs season 2
The Boroughs season 1 ending definitely leans into the setup for another season. There’s more to this story, but the ratings will need to improve if creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews have plans for season 2.
And, it seems like there are plans for season 2 in place.
According to an IGN interview with Addiss and Matthews, Addiss had this to say about that final scene with Sam (Alfred Molina).
“That we have ideas for season two [and] know where [it] goes, and it builds directly off that moment, and nothing about that shot was done idly. It was a tip of the cap to where we want to go, which means we can’t give away what it means, because that’s going to be the fun, knock on wood, should we get a second season.”
So, it’s great to know there are plans for a second season, but we need to see some improvement with those viewership numbers to guarantee Netflix picks up The Boroughs for season 2.
The Boroughs need more viewers to pick up a renewal
While The Boroughs’ 5-plus million views is a decent opening weekend, it’s probably not exactly what Netflix was hoping for. With a big sci-fi show like this, a fantastic cast, and the Duffer Brothers producing, The Boroughs seemed like it was going to be a big hit on Netflix. The opening weekend numbers don’t suggest we have a massive hit in The Boroughs on our hands yet, though.
For reference, Man on Fire, one of the biggest Netflix shows of the spring so far, opened with 11 million views over its first few days on Netflix, basically double the number of The Boroughs. Nemesis, which had the biggest opening for a Netflix TV show in May, opened with 7.1 million views.
Right now, it’s looking like The Boroughs won’t be one of the biggest Netflix shows of the year, and it might not even be one of the biggest shows of the month.
What we have here is a little bit of a good news, bad news, good news situation. Obviously, it’s great that there’s more story for season 2 and the creative team wants to make another season. The bad news is the numbers aren’t great, and that leads up to our last bit of good news.
The Boroughs just needs to reach a larger audience during its first full week on Netflix. If we see The Boroughs pull in 8-10 million viewers next week, then I won’t be too concerned about the future of the series on Netflix. If we see another 5 million viewers, or, gulp, even lower, well, then The Boroughs might be on the chopping block.
Look, I’m an optimistic person when it comes to these things. A show like The Boroughs should be able to find an audience on Netflix; it just might take a little while longer to make that happen. It doesn’t have that same Stranger Things’ level of fun, in my opinion, but few shows do.
I’m still hopeful we’ll see more people tune in for The Boroughs season 1. Then, hopefully, that will give Netflix all the information it needs to make the decision to renew this great series.
We’ll continue to monitor the situation and share more information about the future of The Boroughs on Netflix when we find out.
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