Fans Want More 'Unorthodox,' Here's How Likely A Second Season Is
As the streaming wars take off with the introduction of Peacock, HBO Max, and Quibi all in eight weeks, it seems that Netflix is still king. From the viral hit Tiger King to the adaptation of Unorthodox, everything is hitting for the long-time streaming service. Netflix has jumped on the Tiger King bandwagon, releasing an extra episode three weeks after the series initial drop. It's led fans to wonder, will Unorthodox get a Season 2 or at least some kind of follow up? Sadly, the answer seems to be no.
Based on Deborah Feldman's memoir of the same name, Unorthodox tells a fictionalized version of her story. In it, Esty, born and raised within the insular Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, breaks away from her upbringing. It's been a huge hit for Netflix, with a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The four-part adaptation begins when Esty discovers she is pregnant from her loveless marriage and that her husband, Yanky, is secretly planning to divorce her. (Divorce in the Hasidic community can be extremely unfair to the wife, depending on how it proceeds and can take the children away from the mother for good.) Instead of accepting her fate, Esty flees Brooklyn, boarding a plane for Berlin. In her new city, she discovers a new world outside the sheltered and rigid one she left behind.
Upon learning about the pregnancy, Yanky follows Esty to Germany along with his cousin Moishe, determined to drag her back home. They fail, and the series ends with Esty determinedly facing a new future where she is free to live as she wishes, as a single mother.
And yet, so many questions are left unanswered. Esty has auditioned to join a prestigious music conservatory. Her baby is still on the way, she's forming friendships with new people, and opening her eyes to new possibilities. But even though all these loose ends aren't tied up, it seems that the series will leave them that way.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk, producer Anna Winger stated the show’s creative team considers the story finished.
We’re not doing a sequel to this because we feel that we really told this story. It was always designed as a mini-series. I suspect that I will work with these actors again, and with many of my collaborators from this project. We have a lot of new things in development. So it’s not the end of the road for this constellation, but I don’t think we’ll tell this story again. We’ve told it.
On the one hand, viewers will never know what Esty's next steps are. But on the other, it leaves the story on a hopeful note, and fans can believe that whatever happens next for Esty, it will be better than what came before.
