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Netflix has officially released its viewership data for the first half of 2025. The four-part limited series Adolescence is the most-watched show from January to June 2025. The chilling drama series even beat Squid Game season 2, which was released in late December 2024, by a pretty wide margin.

Adolescence accrued a total of 145 million views during the first half of 2025, besting Squid Game season 2’s total of 117 million. The series was just nominated for 13 2025 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor for the 15-year-old Owen Cooper, who remarkably made his professional acting debut in Adolescence.

What Adolescence’s Netflix Dominance Means For The Series

It’s A Great Sign For Adolescence’s Upcoming Emmy Chances

Adolescence Trailer

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Netflix has a very interesting situation on its hands with the somewhat surprising megahit, Adolescence. The miniseries became the streamer’s second most-viewed original season of TV ever made, falling short only to the unprecedented success of Wednesday season 1 (which accrued a groundbreaking 252 million views).

Adolescence is phenomenal in just about every aspect, from the story and characters to the technical achievements that resulted in four nearly hour-long episodes that were each captured in one take. It’s an early favorite to win Outstanding Limited Series and could play a primary role in Netflix’s 2025 Emmy success.

Adolescence, however, was not designed to be a multi-season show for Netflix, based on its story with a very definitive ending. Most of Netflix’s Top 10 most-viewed TV seasons of all time are part of a TV show with multiple seasons, although there are a few exceptions (The Queen’s Gambit at #6 and Fool Me Once at #9).

Adolescence is by far the shortest season on Netflix’s Top 10 all-time TV list with a runtime of just 3 hours and 50 minutes. This might have been a factor in its massive total viewership, since the 2025 feature film Back in Action was Netflix’s most-viewed original of 2025 so far, with a whopping 165 million views.

Our Take On Adolescence’s Massive Streaming Success

Netflix Has Got To Figure Out A Way To Make Season 2

Adolescence was a true feat for everyone involved, from co-creators Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, series director Philip Barantini and his masterful production crew, and the remarkable efforts of each actor, knowing the cost of just one missed cue or forgotten line.

A second season of Adolescence wouldn’t be complete without matching or even outdoing the incredible camerawork and technical aspects of the original series.

A second season of Adolescence was always unlikely, since pulling off such a cinematic achievement was already so rare. Adolescence could take the Monster approach after the enormous streaming viewership of Dahmer (number 4 on the all-time TV list) by becoming an anthology show.

That said, a second season of Adolescence wouldn’t be complete without matching or even outdoing the incredible camerawork and technical aspects of the original series. Adolescence’s story is also culturally relevant and raises awareness of real-world issues, so season 2’s story would also have to achieve the same effect.

It will not be easy, but the undeniable popularity and acclaim of Adolescence are likely too big for Netflix not to expand and capitalize on.