It's official. Just days after "Maxton Hall — The World Between Us" premiered on Prime Video May 9, the streaming platform renewed the hit series for Season Two, production company UFA Fiction announced May 17.
Fans immediately celebrated the renewal online, and on TikTok, users have posted more than 100 million videos about the series. Already, the enemies-to-lovers teen drama has drawn comparisons to hits like "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and "My Life With the Walter Boys."
All the social media discourse has also translated to performance on the platform.
The German-language show is Prime Video's most watched international original series of all time, the platform announced June 5. To celebrate, the first episode of the show will soon be able to stream for free on both YouTube and Freevee.
So what is "Maxton Hall," and why can't viewers get enough? Here's everything to know about the show and its upcoming second season.
What is ‘Maxton Hall’ about?
Season One of the German-language show, which was adapted from "Save Me," the first book in Mona Kasten's "Maxton Hall" series of young adult novels, follows an intelligent young student named Ruby Bell, played by Harriet Herbig-Matten.
As a scholarship student, Ruby's primary focus is to secure a coveted spot at Oxford University, but when she witnesses a shocking secret, she finds herself face-to-face, reluctantly, with the infamous James Beaufort (Damian Hardung), a millionaire heir whose goal is to make sure Ruby keeps quiet on what she saw.
While Ruby has to grapple with becoming an unwanted target of James' efforts to keep her from spilling the secret she wishes she never witnessed, an unexpected romance blooms between the two "enemies" from opposite ends of the tracks.
How to watch ‘Maxton Hall’
All six episodes of "Maxton Hall" are available to stream on Prime Video. Users can get a 30-day free trial, and after, a subscription costs $14.99 per month.
The first episode of "Maxton Hall" is also available to stream for free on YouTube from June 5 to June 18 and on Freevee, Prime Video's free streaming service, starting June 7.
For English speakers, “Maxton Hall” is available in German with English subtitles or dubbed in English.
How to read the ‘Maxton Hall’ book series
Kasten wrote three books in the "Maxton Hall" series — "Save Me," "Save You" and "Save Us." The books are currently available in German.
The author said on Instagram in April that "there's no English translation yet," adding, "maybe a publisher will pick it up in the future!"
Some fans have found workarounds by using the "translate" function page-by-page on their e-readers.
When will ‘Maxton Hall’ Season 2 premiere?
Prime Video has yet to share a release date for Season Two.
‘Maxton Hall’ Season 1 recap
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season One of "Maxton Hall."
The series opens with the immediate fallout from Ruby witnessing an explosive secret: a secret relationship between her favorite teacher, Professor Sutton (Eidin Jalali), and her classmate, Lydia (Sonja Weißer), who just so happens to be James' twin sister.
A desperate James tries to bribe Ruby with money to stop her from sharing what she saw, but she rejects every advance and maintains that she has no interest in exposing the truth.
The two strike up a feud that boils over when James ruins Maxton Hall's welcome party, which Ruby planned in the hopes of landing a letter of recommendation for Oxford University from their headmaster.
After the headmaster learns that James was responsible for ruining the party, he pairs him and Ruby up to plan an upcoming fundraiser, which gives Ruby another chance to earn his recommendation.
James is also suspended from the lacrosse team, and his participation on the event planning committee leads the two to form an unlikely bond. James and Ruby slowly become allies in an effort to each get what they want —Ruby, her letter, and James, his spot back on the team.
Their hatred for each other soon gives way to chemistry and intense feelings. But James' father, Mortimer (Fedja van Huêt), disapproves of the whirlwind romance due to Ruby's lower social status.
James and Ruby finally kiss in Episode Four, but James' father catches them and forbids his son to see her again, threatening to financially ruin the Bell family.
James cuts off contact with Ruby — until they find themselves staying in rooms directly across from each other while attending Oxford's interview weekend.
How does 'Maxton Hall' Season 1 end?
In the final episode, Lydia lets it slip that James still has feelings for Ruby, even though he broke up with her.
Then, after a vicious public fight at an Oxford student Q&A session, Ruby runs out of the lecture hall, James hot on her heels. They argue in the stairwell of the dormitory they are staying in before passionately reconciling. James then comes clean about his dad's threats, and the couple vows there will be no more secrets between them before they have sex for the first time.
James has a few days of happiness with Ruby, but he and Lydia receive tragic news when they return from Oxford: Their mother, Cordelia (Clelia Sarto), died after having a stroke.
James attacks his father after his unfeeling reaction to Cordelia's death. He then stumbles, teary and bleeding, to Ruby's house and peeks through her window, witnessing the love and laughter of her family. The show ends with Ruby looking outside, and James, gone.
What can we expect for Season 2?
Prime Video confirmed in a press release that Hardung and Herbig-Matten will return for Season Two of “Maxton Hall,” which will follow the events of Kasten’s “Save You,” the second book in the series.
In “Save You,” James has to come to terms with his family’s tragedy and how it affects his relationship with Ruby.
Fans on social media have already been sharing their predictions for what else could happen. Some hope for a love triangle involving Ruby, James and Jude, an Oxford student who took a liking to Ruby in Season One.
Other storylines include Lydia's pregnancy, presumably with Professor Sutton's baby, that was revealed at the end of Episode Five.
After Lydia gave a longing look at a mother-daughter duo at Oxford and told Ruby that she already loves her baby, Lydia will seemingly go through with the pregnancy.
Jennamichelle Merolla
Jennamichelle Merolla is part of the TODAY Page program and graduated with her master's in integrated marketing communication this past December.
