We've got good news for Money Heist fans: Berlin, the spinoff prequel series focusing on charismatic criminal Andrés de Fonollosa, aka Berlin, has been greenlit for a second season that will no doubt take your breath away. The terminally ill robber, jewel thief and safe cracker, played by Pedro Alonso, will return "with a new heist and more love", Netflix says.
The show was a big Netflix hit. When it premiered, it rocketed to the top of the global top 10 in 91 different countries, making it the most-watched Netflix series globally that week. Since then, it has amassed 348 million viewing hours and 53 million views, which makes it the 9th most-watched non-English language series in Netflix's history.
You'll have to wait for a while to see season two to land on the best streaming service, though, as filming doesn't begin until 2025. In the meantime, the entire first season is streaming on Netflix now.
What the critics said about Berlin season one
The reviews of season one have been very mixed – we don't even rate the series among the best Netflix shows (even though Money Heist is one of our favorites). While the critics generally agree that fans of the franchise will find a lot to like here that doesn't mean they particularly liked it. The Washington Post said that "the spinoff tries without success to repeat an old formula with a charming but amoral protagonist," while Collider said that "not even Berlin is interested in this heist... [it's] defined by poor writing and illogical story choices".
Other reviews were more positive. The Houston Chronicle said that while it "doesn't quite live up to the novelty of the original [it] is still binge-worthy... Berlin might not be as much of a knockout as the first season of its predecessor, [but] it still manages to pack a punch." And while The Daily Beast felt that it lacked the quality of Money Heist, it said that the show's "mini-twists are always fun, especially when set against the pretty European scenery".
Over at Decider, the answer to the eternal question "stream it or skip it?" is to stream it: "While Berlin doesn’t bring anything new to the heist genre, the charm of Alonzo as Berlin makes the prequel worth watching for both fans of Money Heist and newcomers to the franchise."
