If you asked me in January 2023 what my most anticipated show of the year was, the answer was simple: Babylon Berlin season 4. There were several reasons why it topped my list, from the way the show built a glorious and grounded mystery in its previous seasons to the way it charted the crumbling Weimar Republic. Annoyingly, it was also my most anticipated show of 2022, and 2021 before that.
But here we are staring ahead another year, another sneak peek, another list of the hottest TV shows yet to come where is season 4? As with Rihanna’s next album, we’re constantly surfing the peak of wonder, anticipating a drop at any moment. Unlike Robyn Fenty’s highly anticipated ninth album, Babylon Berlin is, mind-bogglingly… already out? It’s just not over here.
(Ed. remark: We’re writing from the US, so our use of “here” means “the US, where we are aching with anticipation and self-righteousness.” If you’re somewhere this isn’t true, we’re genuinely jealous.)
In a time when so much is so accessible, that is a fact Babylon Berlin season 4 has been released – in full – in Germany, but not in the US, seems tempting and confusing. The mystery is one worthy of the curiosity of Gereon (Volker Bruch) and Charlotte (Liv Lisa Fries). As with their adventures in the Weimar Republic in the late 1920s, there seemed to be an obvious injustice thanks to bureaucratic nonsense that could be rectified.
But the answer frankly resembles much of the corruption that Gereon and Charlotte expose Babylon Berlin – is much more commonplace. And sadly, for those of us who have hopes of it Babylon Berlin to suddenly get that “New Episode” tile on Netflix is just as precarious.
Did Netflix cancel Babylon Berlin or something?
No! That’s part of it! Not only Babylon Berlin season 4 aired – again, with all the US rights I can muster: In! Full! – it’s already been greenlit for Season 5.
Okay, then what’s the delay?
Image: Netflix
Story as old as time, or at least as long as time has flowed: corporate rights.
Babylon Berlin is a co-production between ARD Degeto (a German free TV network) and Sky Deutschland, a Comcast subsidiary and satellite TV provider. The licensing deal will allow Sky to broadcast the show first, as in autumn 2022, with ARD later getting the rights before it can be seen on both channels’ platforms. Of course, this is exactly how rights work in Germany; in the dozens of other territories, the rights run through different networks, such as in the US where it goes through Netflix.
But this year there was a plot twist: Sky announced it was closing its German script originals department. While seasons already in production were allowed to end (such as the boat season 4 or Heligoland 513), no new shows would take place.
Satisfying, Babylon Berlin escaped the reaper’s scythe here, with ARD and production partners X Filme and Beta Film are committing to a fifth season. In their statement, they specifically pointed to the international success of the show, which aired in 140 territories, in addition to millions of views on ARD. They didn’t specify how the Sky portion of the budget would be covered, but… Sources report this to Deadline Sky was not the “lead partner” of the production anyway. Anyway, new Babylon Berlin is the goal here.
So when is the Babylon Berlin season 4 release date in the US?
Image: Netflix
The answer is complicated. As best we can tell, Babylon Berlin won’t come to the US until after it airs on ARD. From May this year it came to the channel on October 1, which should happen hopefully means that the Netflix rights will be secured some time after.
Whether that will be right away or later in the fall, or even winter, or even (ugh) 2024, no one knows for sure yet. Netflix did not respond to Polygon’s request for comment on whether a date was in the works. When it does, it will probably lose its way Babylon Berlin has appeared on Netflix in the past, that is, in full and without any ceremony.
Anyway, here’s the most anticipated show of the year – whatever year that may be.