Picture: Netflix
The Brazilian crime drama series Criminal Code will be returning for another outing at Netflix after securing a season 2 renewal soon after its season 1 release in late 2023. Here’s an updated guide to what we know about season 2 of Criminal Code, including the fact it’s been confirmed for a 2025 release.
Produced by Paranoid Filmes and created by Heitor Dhalia, with Bernardo Barcellos and Aly Muritiba writing, the show followed the work of federal police officers who had to get creative to crack an elaborate robbery. All eight episodes premiered on Netflix globally on November 14th, 2023.
Netflix Brazil confirmed the renewal in a post on X just shy of a month after its season 1 debut on December 5th, saying (translated into English):
“So proud of my first Brazilian police action series. DNA do Crime is renewed for a 2nd season.”
Renewal poster for Criminal Code / DNA Do Crime
What to Expect from Criminal Code Season 2
At a presentation in November 2024, Netflix confirmed that the new season of the show will be coming in 2025, with some fresh new details and a first-look picture (see below). Maeve Jinkings, Rômulo Braga, Thomás Aquino, Alex Nader, and Pedro Caetano are confirmed to star in season 2 with Heitor Dhalia, Pedro Morelli, and Felipe Vellasco directing.
What can you expect from season 2 of Criminal Code? Here’s the new synopsis:
“After helping Embaixador break out of prison, Isaac and his Phantom Gang become the federal police’s main targets. With even more daring robberies, they become a legend among thugs. Chasing a criminal mind like that will demand everything from the agents and during this hard investigation, Suellen will have to prove her leadership skills, while Benício goes into a crisis after losing another friend and learning that Sem Alma has escaped prison.”
DNA DO CRIME 2. Alex Nader as Isaac, Thomas Aquino as Sem Alma in DNA do Crime Season 2. Cr. Alexandre Schneider/Netflix © 2024
How well did Criminal Code perform on Netflix?
Netflix reveals viewing stats for 40 top-performing shows and movies (split by English and non-English) every Tuesday. From that, we know Criminal Code scooped 134.2M viewing hours globally for four weeks, equating to 17.3M views.
| Week in Top 10 | Week Period | Hours Viewed | Views / CVE | Weekly Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 12th, 2023 to November 19th, 2023 | 50,800,000 (New) | 6,500,000 | 1 |
| 2 | November 19th, 2023 to November 26th, 2023 | 41,000,000 (-19%) | 5,300,000 | 2 |
| 3 | November 26th, 2023 to December 3rd, 2023 | 27,100,000 (-34%) | 3,500,000 | 3 |
| 4 | December 3rd, 2023 to December 10th, 2023 | 15,300,000 (-44%) | 2,000,000 | 6 |
Breaking these hourly figures down into Completed Viewing Equivalents (CVE for short – the hours viewed divided by the runtime) breaks down to 6.5M viewers in week one and 5.3M in week two. In its debut week using CVE, we noted in our top 10 report that the series managed to break a record for being the biggest launch for any Tuesday launch, beating out The Tailor, In Love All Over Again, and Suburraeterna.
Looking deeper into the top 10s via FlixPatrol, we can see that the show has and continues to have significant appeal in Brazil, surrounding countries, and worldwide. According to their data, the show featured in 84 Netflix countries’ top 10s, with 50 of those still featuring it at the time of writing. In Brazil, again, at the time of publishing, the show still ranks third three weeks after release.
Heatmap of popularity for Criminal Code as of December 5th – Picture: FlixPatrol
We’ll soon be including Criminal Code in our list of renewed Netflix Original series, which also features other Brazillian shows like Sintonia returning for a final season and Back to 15 returning for a third season.
Are you looking forward to the return of Criminal Code for a second season? Let us know in the comments below.
