Here's why there won't be a One Day season 2 on Netflix

Whenever a new Netflix original series premieres and becomes a hit, the first question on everyone's mind has to do with the future of the show. Will there be another season? Will the show be canceled? What's going to happen?! For some shows, the answers seem obvious, but for others, you simply just have to play the waiting game.

When it comes to One Day, the series that made its debut on Netflix on Feb. 8, the answer is rather obvious. For a very particular and upfront reason, the romantic dramedy won't have a second season. Still, these days, where there's a will there's a way. We're breaking down why One Day season 2 is unlikely, but also sharing how Netflix could make it work.

Warning: Spoilers from One Day ahead!

Why One Day season 2 is highly unlikely

Here's the key reason why One Day will more than likely not be renewed for a second season by Netflix: It's a limited series. From the very beginning, the streamer has designated the series a limited series, which by nature means that there will only be one season that tells a complete story. That's exactly what One Day accomplished across its 14-episode season.

By the end of the series, there's really nowhere for the story to go that's particularly compelling. Since it's a story about Emma and Dexter's lives colliding over the years, that had been accomplished prior to SPOILER ALERT her death. Nicholls only wrote one book about Emma and Dexter, so their story, as far as the source material is concerned, has ended. Netflix has only indicated one, single season for the limited series.

How a second season could potentially happen

However, there have been a number of shows that began as limited series that went on for additional seasons. Big Little Lies was marketed as a limited series before its popularity prompted HBO to renewed the series for a second (and now third) season. The White Lotus, another HBO hit that One Day star Leo Woodall also appeared in, was intended as a limited series, but its popularity spawned it into an anthology series with a returning character connecting each season. The list could likely go on.

Apart from turning Ryan Murphy's Monsters into an anthology series and also renewing Murphy's The Watcher for a second season, Netflix has mostly kept its limited series limited. That seems to be the case here with One Day, though in the event that its overwhelmingly popular worldwide, there's a way Netflix could renew One Day for a second season.

Even though we don't need to keep up with Dexter Mayhew on July 15 through the 2000s and beyond, the series could pick up with another couple and track the evolution of their relationship one day per year for as many years as necessary. In that sense, One Day could become an anthology series in the same vein as Max's Love Life. That could be an interesting way to keep the series going, but the chances are pretty slim and it's not necessary. The series is perfect as is anyway.

Watch One Day only on Netflix.