From its first trailer right up to, and even after, its release Netflix’s Insatiable has been surrounded by controversy. Eyebrows were first raised when an online petition calling on the show to be cancelled due to body-shaming concerns gained over 100,000 signatures. Controversy lead to people questioning why the show even got made, especially considering the show’s premise suggested women value themselves by their bodies and men’s perceptions of them. As if that wasn’t bad enough, upon release the series was largely slammed by critics — simply for being a bad show. Which is what makes Netflix’s decision to renew the show for a second season so peculiar.
Insatiable‘s renewal was announced by the show’s Twitter account, hyping up its second season which will be released in 2019. The news surprised many who had only heard negative things about the show. On social media people have suggested that hate-watching might have bolstered the show’s number of viewers. The largely negative buzz around the show before its release might have actually increased viewership, at least for a few episodes anyway.
Since Netflix doesn’t release ratings we’ll never know for sure how many people tuned in to Insatiable. But it looks like there’s enough of a fanbase that Netflix is willing to invest in the show, something they wouldn’t do if they didn’t think it would be successful — they are a business after all.