This article was published on October 31st. published and on November 2nd. republished.

One of Netflix's most popular sleeper hits has returned with “The Diplomat”. Season 2 just went live and so far has received better reviews than Season 1. We'll see if that has an impact on fans too.

Diplomat Season 2 currently has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a decent improvement over Season 1's 84%, although with fewer reviews so far, so we'll see if it goes up or down. The previous season had a 54% viewership rating, which honestly surprises me as that's pretty poor compared to most shows and I don't really understand why people wouldn't like it to that extent. The viewership numbers for season 2 are not yet available.

Perhaps the biggest problem with season two is that it's short, just six episodes compared to the first season's eight episodes, but that's not due to any Netflix budget cuts, as showrunner Debora Cahn recently explained:

“It was my decision,” Cahn told TVLine, “(Netflix) wasn't 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 eight of them around. There was a lot to do in what seemed like a short amount of time.”

Cahn ended up getting more screen time than she originally thought, but it was too late to change things and make it eight episodes at that point.

I expect The Diplomat to land at number 1 on Netflix's top 10 list soon, but there's no need to worry about how it performs in terms of viewership since Netflix is ​​already two weeks out from release announced the renewal for a third season here, moving the action to NYC instead of DC. I expect production to start soon, so perhaps there will be less wait between seasons this time and we'll get a full eight episodes, which seems likely after Netflix was “not happy” with six this time.

I would place The Diplomat in the Lincoln Lawyer series of Netflix series, a solid performer that doesn't set any records, but good quality, low cost and good viewership means they're happy to keep it going indefinitely. And it was so well known that Keri Russell received a Best Actress nomination at the Emmys, Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globes.

I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching the new season and seeing how things flow into the plot leading up to New York next time. I'll get back to you soon.

Update (November 2nd): With 25 reviews now under its belt, The Diplomat is now certified “fresh” and has maintained the same score of 92%, surpassing the first season. Also worth noting is that the audience rating is now increasing and is at 89%, well above the first season's (somewhat inexplicable) 55%.

I started the season myself and found it quite compelling already, even though it feels like I'm rushing through the season with only six episodes total. I'll go into a bit of spoilers from what I've seen so far. So check back if you haven't finished Episode 2 yet.

While it was clear that the treacherous British MP would die in the explosion, the show also decided to sacrifice Ronny, which wasn't a huge surprise given the other two's relevance to the larger story. I mean, even the trailers made it clear that Hal had survived, and given the dynamic between him and his wife, he's alone for about 40% of the show.

It feels like the show is taking some sort of turn 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 ask I wonder if there's anything else going on here. This time they seem to be focusing heavily on his wife… Maybe he did it, but it was her idea? I'm not sure and will keep watching.

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