Yahoo News Allison Janney and Her Blonde Bob Mean Business in the 'Diplomat' Season 2 Trailer
Spoilers for season 1 of The Diplomat ahead.
The smooth-but-addicting Netflix political thriller The Diplomat not only delivers Keri Russell another well-deserved starring role, but also one of the better cliffhanger finales in recent memory. It’s tough to make government in-fighting feel anything other than satirical, overwrought, or outright boring, but The Diplomat pulls off the balance with aplomb: The series is wild enough to remain engaging, serious enough to inch its way in the general direction of prestige, and accessible enough not to deter those unaware of the difference between the FBI and the CIA. As such, a second season seemed imminent from the moment the finale aired. Now, that promise is official—especially given showrunner Debora Cahn’s ongoing relationship with Netflix. Here’s what we know so far.
Will The Diplomat get a season 2?
On May 1, 2023, Netflix officially announced a second season of The Diplomat is forthcoming. Because Cahn has signed an overall Netflix deal, it seemed likely from the beginning that the show would continue. (“I’ve seen firsthand Deb’s incredible work on shows including The West Wing,” said Netflix Vice President and head of Drama Development Jinny Howe, per Deadline. “She knows how to tell an amazing story, with character depth, stakes and surprises, all of which she’ll bring to The Diplomat. We’re thrilled to welcome Deb to Netflix.”)
And Cahn herself is eager to do more, as she told ELLE.com in an interview. “I have been fortunate in my life to work on a lot of long-running series, so I think that’s how I think,” she says. “I look for stories that can go on for a long time because, for me, the excitement of being able to go in really deep with characters you already know and you have a relationship with is fantastic.... You plan for the best version and hope for the best version and we’ll see what happens.”
Russell similarly shared her interests in returning, telling ELLE.com, “[Actors] all have different jobs and some are good and some are okay or some are really serious, and this is a really fun one to be a part of. And I would love to do more. So we’ll see.”
After the season 2 announcement was made, Cahn had this to say, per Netflix’s editorial site Tudum: “We had such a great time making The Diplomat. And it’s a thrill to see how much people are enjoying it. We’re so glad we get to do it again!”
What will season 2 be about?
An explosive season 1 finale ended on a cliffhanger, leaving the fate of Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), Stuart Heyford (Ato Essandoh), and Ronnie (Jess Chanliau) unclear. After U.S. Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) and Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) infer that Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) was the real source of the attack on the HMS Courageous, and that he hired the Russian Lenkov Group to kill his own countrymen, a bomb goes off in the car of Tory MP Merritt Grove. Hal, Stuart, Ronnie, and Merritt are all within range of the blast, and when Kate and Austin get the news, the camera cuts to black before we can learn what happens next.
The direction for season 2, then, is clear: The story will follow the recovery of these characters while fleshing out Kate and Austin’s case against Trowbridge. (They can’t exactly accuse the PM of treason without the requisite evidence.) In the meantime, the White House’s efforts to slot Kate into the soon-to-be-vacant role of Vice President are sure to accelerate, especially as Allison Janney’s Vice President Grace Penn steps into the picture.
Cahn teased to Tudum that part of Kate’s challenge this season will be proving the British prime minister was behind the warship attack. “The US and the UK don’t spy on each other,” she said. “In fact, they share all their intelligence. So how do you investigate the PM? Who do you trust?”
She added that “everything we thought we knew about the Wylers changes, as does everything they think they know about each other.” And there’ll also be some conflict between Kate and U.S. vice president Grace Penn (Janney). “The VP thinks Kate’s after her job,” Cahn said. “She’s not entirely wrong. Kate thinks she understands the VP. She is mistaken.”
Who will be in the cast?
Part of what makes the series work is the easy charisma of its ensemble; a second season needs all these players to return to create the same effect. Thus far, it seems likely the cast will remain the same, and will feature Russell, Sewell, Ali Ahn, Essandoh, Gyasi, Kinnear, Miguel Sandoval, and more.
Janney will also join in season 2 as Vice President Grace Penn, Netflix announced.
When will season 2 come out?
Netflix confirmed that The Diplomat season 2 will arrive on Oct. 31, 2024.
Can I see a trailer or photos?
You can watch the full season 2 trailer below.
The first teaser, released on September 5, shows Kate and Hal arriving to an event to find Vice President Grace Penn, played by Janney, at the top of the stairs.
And you can check out more first-look photos below.
David Gyasi as Austin Dennison
Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler
Ali Ahn as Eidra Graham
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler
Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge
Celia Imrie as Margaret Roylin
Ato Essandoh as Stuart Heyford
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler
You Might Also Like
