One of Netflix’s favorite sleeper hits has returned in the form of The Diplomat, where season 2 has just gone live, and so far, it’s reviewing better than season 1 did. We’ll see if that extends to fans as well.
The Diplomat season 2 currently has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, a decent upgrade from the 84% of season 1, albeit with fewer reviews in so far, so we’ll see if it goes up or down. The previous season had a 54% from audiences, which frankly surprises me, as that’s pretty poor in the context of most shows, and I don’t really get what would have made people dislike it to that degree. Audience scores for season 2 are not in yet.
Perhaps the biggest issue with the second season is that it’s short, just six episodes compared to season 1’s eight, but that’s not due to any sort of Netflix budget cuts, as its showrunner Debora Cahn recently explained:
“It was my decision,” Cahn told TVLine, “[Netflix] was not happy. They wanted the full eight….I was really tired. It was a time thing. It felt like there wasn’t enough time to turn around eight of them. It was a lot to do in what appeared to be a short period of time.”
Cahn ended up getting more time than she initially thought she would, but it was too late to change things up to make it eight episodes by that point.
I would expect The Diplomat will hit #1 on Netflix’s top 10 list soon enough, but there’s no need to worry about how it performs in terms of viewership, as two weeks before release here, Netflix already announced that it was renewed for a third season, which will move the action to NYC instead of DC. I believe it’s starting production imminently, so perhaps it will be less of a wait between seasons this time, and we will get a full eight episodes in, which seems likely after Netflix was “not happy” with six this time.
I would put The Diplomat in the “Lincoln Lawyer” tier of Netflix shows, a solid performer that is not setting any records but decent quality and a low cost and good viewership means it’s something they’re happy to continue on indefinitely. And it was high profile enough to land Keri Russell a Best Actress nomination at the Emmys, Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes.
I am excited to sit down and watch the new season, and see how things lead into the storyline that heads to New York next time around. I’ll report back soon.
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