Picture: Netflix
In 2020, Netflix premiered perhaps one of its most underrated zombie series ever in the form of To The Lake. While a second season was produced and released, it has never been released on Netflix and won’t be. Furthermore, our intel suggests the first season is set to leave Netflix later this year. Here’s what we know.
To The Lake (or Epidemiya, essentially meaning Epidemic) is an apocalypse series created by Yana Vagner that’s about an unknown new virus turns Moscow into a city of the dead.
When we first covered the future of the show, things looked optimistic. Local reporting had confirmed that a second season was in the works, which premiered in Russia in the Spring of 2022.
Why didn’t Netflix pick up season 2 of the show? That comes down to the fact that Netflix purposely severed all ties with Russia following the start of the Ukraine invasion and war, which is tragically still ongoing to this day. I won’t delve into the politics of it all, but along with many Western companies, Netflix ceased doing business in the country, meaning all subscribers were removed from Netflix, in addition to any upcoming projects, such as Anna K, being canceled, and future licensing being put on permanent hold. One of the consequences of this severing of ties is that To The Lake season 2 will not be available on Netflix.
While season 2 won’t be on Netflix, it can be found online. While we won’t link to any particular sites here, using your preferred search engine will easily find a subtitled version. We’ll leave the moral and legal ethics of watching it to you, although it’s, at least for the moment, the only way you’ll be able to watch the show outside of Russia anytime soon.
When will To The Lake leave Netflix?
Despite severing ties with Russia, the series, like a few others from the country, has remained on Netflix over the past few years. However, its time will soon be coming to an end later this year. This isn’t Netflix terminating the license early but rather it naturally ending after its five year exclusivity window.
As we first hinted late last year, To The Lake is among the removals planned for 2025. Our current intel indicates that all 10 episodes of Season 1 will be removed from Netflix in October 2025, with your last day to watch being October 6th, before its actual removal a day later. As with all removals, there’s a chance that Netflix could opt to renew the license, but given the circumstances in this particular case, the chances of that happening are remote to none.
The show will join a growing list of Netflix Originals that have departed over the years, with many being in the same category as To The Lake, in that they were only exclusively licensed for a limited period.