Spoiler Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for The Eternaut. If you’ve yet to watch the sci-fi series, please check it out with a Netflix subscription.
When the year started and I took a look at all the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations, I had no idea that an Argentine sci-fi, The Eternaut (El Eternauta in Spanish), would come out of nowhere on the 2025 TV schedule and catch me off guard like this. But that’s exactly what happened when I checked out the 2025 Netflix series about the residents of Buenos Aires struggling to survive an apocalyptic city after a mysterious snowstorm killed most of the population before being invaded by aliens.
The series, which was adapted from Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López’s landmark comic of the same name, was extraordinarily engaging from start to finish, with its story of survival, community, and rising up against evil. But after blowing through the binge-worthy Netflix show over the course of a couple of nights, I have some major questions I need answered if we get a second season.
Again, spoilers follow...
Where Are The Aliens From And What Do They Want With Earth?
Though you don’t find out until the fourth episode, The Eternaut is about an alien invasion by a mysterious extraterrestrial species hellbent on taking over the planet (or at least the South American continent). For the most part, these aliens look like giant beetles that you’d see in Starship Troopers (ironically enough, both take place in Buenos Aires, but I digress), outside of a mysterious leader with all those fingers and hands controlling everything seen in the last few moments of the sixth and final episode.
Never in The Eternaut is it revealed where these giant bugs came from, what’s up with the all-controlling leader, or what they want to do with the planet. At first, I thought they wanted to kill everyone with that toxic snow shown in the show's trailer, but then it’s revealed that they can take control of humans and have them do their bidding. If we get a second season, I hope that the aliens’ origins and motivations are explored in great detail.
Were Juan Salvo's Visions Hallucinations Or Forgotten Memories?
Throughout The Eternaut, Juan Salvo (Ricardo Darín), essentially the main character of the series, goes to great lengths to find his wife, reunite with his daughter, and ensure that humanity survives the ensuing alien invasion. Every now and again, Juan has what appear to be either hallucinations or memories he’s long forgotten about, or a combination of the two. Just about every episode has Juan witnessing crashing asteroids (later revealed to be the aliens), nightmarish environments, and so much death.
And while one section is revealed to be Juan uncovering a deep-buried memory of his days in the military (this explains how he remains so calm and takes so many great shots with an old rifle or handgun), the others are left ambiguous. There’s a moment at the end of the season finale where the protagonist tells another survivor that he had been through this before, but it’s never stated explicitly if this was from an experience or a vision. If a second season joins the ranks of upcoming horror TV shows at some point, I hope the character’s mysterious origins are further explored, or at least made more clear.
Is Clara Just Another Person Under The Aliens' Control, Or Is She Part Of Something Bigger?
Near the end of The Eternaut’s fifth episode, it is revealed that the aliens have taken control over some of the humans and are using them to do their bidding (like the attack on the shopping-mall-turned-refugee-camp). And in the final episode, it is implied that Juan Salvo’s daughter, Clara (Mora Fisz), is one of those chosen by the invaders. Though she never outright confirms anything or tries to kill anyone like the others under their mind control, Clara does have an ominous look on her face just before the credits roll in the finale.
So, this got me thinking – is Clara just another survivor being controlled by the aliens, or is she part of something bigger? The way the show focuses on her character, as well as all the strange occurrences and lapses in her memory, leads me to believe that there are bigger things in store for Clara moving forward.
Though nothing has been confirmed regarding a second season of The Eternaut, it’s hard to imagine Netflix would end a story at what seems to be the halfway point. But when more information is announced, I’ll be there to dig through it.
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