'Beat' Season 2 Could Reveal The Horrifying Realities Of Human Organ Trafficking

Imagine the daily antics of a techno club promoter — the booze, the drugs, the music, the people. Then imagine an organ trafficking operation taking place beneath the chaos, unbeknownst to the inebriated dancers on the floor. It's kind of the perfect nightmare, and it's a titillating story that unravels in Beat, a series new to Amazon Prime. The first season is packed with risky action in every form, so adrenaline junkies who've already finished all of the episodes are probably dying to know if Beat will return for Season 2.

Amazon has yet to confirm a renewal for the show, but that's no reason for fans to give up hope. As it's still a pretty new program, the service probably just wants to wait to evaluate viewership and reception before green-lighting a second installment.

“It’s always our goal with Prime Video to provide Prime members with unique series and films of the highest caliber that tell surprising and exciting stories,” said Christoph Schneider, managing director of Prime Video Germany, according to Variety. “Beat is a breathtaking adventure in Berlin’s club scene with some of the best German-speaking actors.”

The series stars Jannis Niewöhner (Berlin Station), Karoline Herfurth (You Are Wanted), Christian Berkel (Inglourious Basterds), Alexander Fehling (Labyrinth of Lies), and Kostja Ullmann (My Blind Date With Life). It marks the fifth German series to be added to the Amazon Prime Video gallery, following Pastewka, Der Lack ist ab, You Are Wanted, and Deutschland 83, per Variety.

The show's title, though an obvious nod to techno music, is actually the nickname of main character Robert Schlag (Niewöhner). He's a drug and sex-addicted promoter who is best friends with the owner of Sonar, the series' central club. The catch? The club's new co-owner, Phillip, is running a human — yes, human — organ trafficking operation within the same walls. European Security Intelligence (ESI) catches wind of the scandal, and recruits Beat as an undercover agent in their efforts to bust the crime. It's not a safe journey for anyone involved, but it's especially unsafe for Beat. Everyone in the Berlin nightlife scene knows his name and his face, and it's unlikely anyone would take kindly to the fact that he's now in cahoots with police.

According to The Local, director and filmmaker Marco Kreuzpaintner dreamt up the series' plot, but it's more realistic than you might realize. Herfurth, who portrays Emilia, a member of the ESI who leads the show's criminal investigation, told the European outlet that the premise is "terrifyingly timely" in the face of a real organ trafficking issue across the continent. In fact, in March of this year, the Council of Europe established a convention against trafficking in human organs to aid in its prevention.

So although a second season has not yet been confirmed, Kreuzpaintner should (unfortunately) still have plenty of inspiration and material to draw from for future seasons. They could even potentially feature other European cities as the crime drama's backdrop, because Berlin certainly isn't the only place this is happening.