Diplomat
Netflix
This article was published on 10/31 and republished on 11/2.
One of Netflix’s best sleeper favorites is back in the form of The Diplomat, with Season 2 just premiering, and so far it’s being reviewed better than Season 1. We’ll see if this extends to the fans as well.
Diplomat Season 2 currently has a score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a good upgrade from Season 1’s 84%, albeit with fewer reviews so far, so we’ll see if the score goes up or down. The previous season had an audience rating of 54%, which honestly surprised me, as that’s pretty poor in the context of most shows, and I don’t really understand what would make people hate it so much. Audience results for Season 2 have not yet arrived.
Perhaps the biggest problem with Season 2 is that it’s short, just six episodes compared to Season 8 of Season 1, but that’s not due to any kind of Netflix budget cuts, as showrunner Deborah Kahn recently explained:
“It was my decision,” Kahn told TVLine.[Netflix] He wasn’t happy. They wanted the whole eight….I was really tired. It was a temporal thing. I felt like there wasn’t enough time to get around eight of them. There was a lot to do in a seemingly short period of time.
It ended up getting longer than I initially thought, but it was too late to change things up to make it eight episodes by that point.
Diplomat
Rotten tomatoes
I expect The Diplomat to hit the top 10 list on Netflix soon enough, but I don’t need to worry about how it will perform in terms of viewership, as two weeks before its release here, Netflix has already announced that it has been renewed for a third season. , which will move the action to New York City instead of DC. I think production will start soon, so maybe there will be less waiting between seasons this time, and we’ll get a full eight episodes, which seems likely after Netflix “wasn’t happy” with six episodes this time.
I would put The Diplomat in the ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ category of Netflix shows, a solid performer that doesn’t break any records but the decent quality, low cost and good viewership means it’s something they’re happy to keep going indefinitely. The film was high profile enough to earn Keri Russell nominations for Best Actress at the Emmys, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Golden Globes.
I’m excited to sit back and watch the new season, and see how things will lead to the story heading to New York next. I will report back soon.
Update (11/2): Now up to 25 reviews, The Diplomat is now “Certified Fresh” and has maintained the same score of 92%, beating the first season. It’s also worth noting that the audience score is now sitting at 89%, which is much higher than the (somewhat inexplicable) 55% in the first season.
I started the season myself and found it to be very compelling indeed, even if it feels like I’m beating it with only six episodes in total here. I’ll talk a little bit about what I’ve seen so far, so come back and see if you haven’t gotten past Episode 2 yet.
While it was clear that the traitorous British MP would die in the explosion, the show also decided to sacrifice Ronnie, which wasn’t a huge shock given the importance of the other two to the larger story. I mean, even the trailers made it clear that Hal survived, and he’s 40% of the show on his own, given the dynamic between him and his wife.
It’s as if the show is going to have some sort of twist, where even though everything points to the Prime Minister running a false flag operation, the fact that they can’t prove it yet seems significant, and I’m wondering if there’s something else going on. Happening here. They seem to be focusing too much on his wife this time… Maybe he did, but it was her idea? I’m not sure, I’ll keep watching.
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