Amazon Orders Season Two of ‘Absentia’

Amazon has picked up thriller Absentia for a second season, which will start on Prime Video in 2019. In production in Bulgaria, Absentia was commissioned for Sony Pictures Television’s international networks. It is produced by Masha Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

Starring and executive produced by Stana Katic, Absentia centers on FBI agent Emily Byrne. In season one, she disappeared and was declared dead after hunting one of Boston’s most notorious serial killers. Six years later, Emily was found in a cabin in the woods, barely alive, with no memory of the years she was missing. Returning home to learn her husband had remarried and her son was being raised by another woman, she found herself implicated in a new series of murders.

In season two, after tracking down and killing her abductor, Emily struggles for a new normal with son Flynn and ex-husband Nick. But her investigation into the questions that haunt her uncovers a serial killer and spiraling conspiracy.

Absentia really resonated with our Prime Video audience who were enthralled by the thrilling storyline and complicated characters,” said Vernon Sanders, co-head of television, Amazon Studios. “Stana Katic is immensely talented and we look forward to her peeling away the layers of a twisted conspiracy that is deeper than her character Emily could have ever imagined in season two.”

The series is executive produced and directed by Oded Ruskin. Katic, Julie Glucksman and Maria Feldman also executive produce. Absentia was created by Gaia Violo and Matt Cirulnick and is based on a pilot script originally written by Violo.

“From its inception on Sony’s international networks, Absentia has been a hit with global audiences,” said Marie Jacobson, executive VP, programming & production, Sony Pictures Television Networks. “We’re thrilled to push our story forward into season two and couldn’t ask for a better home than Amazon for our signature Sony Networks series.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.