‘Dash and Lily’ Season 2: Why Netflix Isn’t Making Another Season

Netflix has fans covered when it comes to Christmas content during the holidays. One of the streaming service’s beloved Christmas romances, Dash & Lily, was a major fan-favorite. However, the show’s first and, now, only season premiered in November 2020. Even though it brought some Christmas magic, fans will have to resign themselves to re-watching the sole season of the show, as Netflix won’t be moving forward with Season 2. 

Back in 2021, TV Line reported that Netflix decided not to move forward with another season of the series. The show starred Austin Abrams and Midori Francis as the titular Dash and Lily pair. The two teens communicated with one another by exchanging messages and dares in a notebook. Dash & Lily took place in New York City and showcased that background up close and personal during the now series finale of the series, which featured the duo finally exchanging a kiss at the iconic Strand bookstore. 

Dash & Lily was based on a young adult book series titled Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares published by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn. Before it was announced that the show was canceled, the cast and crew did express their interest in producing another season. Shortly after the show premiered in November 2020, series creator Joe Tracz told TV Line that they envisioned a future of Dash & Lily given that both Levithan and Cohn were in the midst of expanding the YA series with another novel,

“I would love to be able to go back and do the second book and third book [in Cohn and Levithan’s series],” Tracz said at the time. “The third book was actually written on set. David and Rachel would visit the set, and they’d be working on their chapters for the third book. I love these characters so much and the city that they live in. Knowing that there is more story to be told, those are stories I’d love to tell.”

Although, in the months following Dash & Lily‘s release, it seemed that the show was facing cancellation. During a conversation with Collider, published in August 2021, producer Shawn Levy compared the show with another that he produced, I Am Not Okay With This. While I Am Not Okay With This was originally renewed for Season 2, the decision was reversed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Levy highlighted the fact that Dash & Lily sparked awards attention, but it didn’t seem to be enough to garner a second season. He said, “We made the show we wanted. Not enough people watched and it is a cruel metric in the age of the streaming wars. And sometimes, if you don’t get the eyeballs, you don’t get to make more of the thing. That’s what happened there.”