Netflix says The Diplomat season 2 is coming later this year

We won't have to wait too much longer to watch The Diplomat season 2 on Netflix! Earlier this year, we heard The Diplomat season 2 would arrive on Netflix sometime in 2024.

Well, now, the big boss at Netflix has confirmed the 2024 release of the new season of the hit Netflix original series starring Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, and David Gyasi.

During the Q2 Netflix earnings call, Ted Sarandos, Netflix CEO, teased some of the new and returning Netflix shows coming later this year. The Diplomat season 2 made the list!

"Just before the end of this year we’ve got Squid Game’s return, Emily in Paris’s return, a new season of Selling Sunset, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Diplomat, Virgin River, Love is Blind, Ryan Murphy has an incredible new season of Monsters. That’s all just coming up before the end of the year. "

Sarandos, of course, did not reveal the release date for The Diplomat season 2, but it's great that we're getting confirmation that the political thriller is coming back for season 2 soon.

As mentioned, that's not the first time we've heard The Diplomat season 2 is coming to Netflix this year. Netflix confirmed The Diplomat was expected to return in 2024 back in January. Netflix revealed in a letter to shareholders that The Diplomat season 2, among other popular titles like Squid Game and The Empress, will return in 2024.

More recently, Nana Mensah, who stars as Billie Appiah, revealed to TV Line that they'd finished filming earlier this year and teased the release coming in 2024!

Has Netflix announced The Diplomat season 2 release date?

Unfortunately, we don't have a release date for The Diplomat season 2 yet, but we should have one on the way soon!

Rumor has it that The Diplomat season 2 is only going to be six episodes, so they should have less to do for post-production than most Netflix shows. We know production wrapped this spring, so there's definitely reason to believe that we'll see The Diplomat season 2 on Netflix this fall.

Usually, the new seasons of Netflix shows have at least a fourth-month gap from the end of production until the new season is released. Realistically, it's more like a six to eight-month wait. If that happens for The Diplomat season 2, we could see the new season on Netflix sometime between September and November 2024.

We're predicting a fall release date for The Diplomat season 2! Of course, we'll share the official release date when Netflix announces the news.

Prediction: Fall 2024

Cast

Returning to lead the cast in the starring role, Emmy Award-nominee Keri Russell will once again be playing the iconic Kate Wyler. For her performance in the first season, Russell landed a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. What an impressive feat!

Netflix confirmed a few cast members would return in The Diplomat season 2, but there are a few others with their fate up in the air. We shared the cast of The Diplomat season 2 below:

• Keri Russell as Kate Wyler
• Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler
• David Gyasi as Austin Dennison
• Ali Ahn as Eidra Park
• Rory Kinnear as Nicol Trowbridge
• Ato Essandoh as Stuart Heyford
• Nana Mensah as Billie Appiah
• Celia Imrie as Margaret Roylin
• Michael McKean as President William Rayburn
• Allison Janney as Vice President Grace Penn

On Jan. 25, Netflix announced that Academy Award winner Allison Janney had joined the season 2 cast and that she'll guest-starring in the role of Vice President Grace Penn. You might recognize Janney from her other roles in I, Tonya, The West Wing, and Mom.

Obviously, with how the first season ended, there are a few characters whose fates are up in the air. Those include Hal Wyler and Ato Essandoh’s characters, so there’s a chance that they could be killed off. I don’t think that would happen, though!

I expect we’ll meet a lot more big stars in the second season. Russell even mentioned she wants her real-life husband, Matthew Rhys, to be involved in the second season. The pair starred together on The Americans. 

However, Rufus Sewll is the cast member that fans are concerned about most. Hal Wyler’s fate is left up in the air, as mentioned, but we have reason to believe that, yes, Sewell will be in season 2. As mentioned above in the filming section of this update, Sewell was spotted filming season 2 with Russell earlier this summer.

The series isn’t based on a true story

No, The Diplomat is not based on a true story, but it’s inspired by things that actually happened to those working in the State Department, ambassadors, and other diplomats in the government. Cahn told The Los Angeles Times that she felt inspired to make the show after meeting a former ambassador, Beth Jones, while Cahn was working on Homeland. 

Cahn told The LA Times:

"“A lot of the stuff that seems the most far-fetched is 100% real. Like the guy dying in [the British foreign secretary’s] office? That happened to Susan Rice, and they had to sneak him out of the building, because he can’t have died there. And still, people from his country are convinced she poisoned him.”"

So, the show is using real events and pulling them into the series, but it’s not based on any one particular person or event.

What happened at the end of season 1?

At the end of the first season, Kate and Dennison realized that Nicol Trowbridge is actually the one responsible for the attack on the British aircraft carrier. He hired Lenkov to pull off the attack to likely unite the United Kingdom under the banner of a cause with an important election looming.

Just after they realize what’s happening, Hal was on his way to meet with a person who claimed to have important information, Merritt Grove. Stuart tried to intervene, and Meritt got spooked, so he fled to his car, which blows up when he gets close to it. Who ordered the car bomb? We don’t know yet, but it appears to be connected to Margaret Roylin and possibly Nicol Trowbridge.

This will likely be the focus of the second season.

What to expect in season 2

Spoilers below for The Diplomat season 1! 

According to TV Line, The Diplomat season 2 will pick up immediately after the events of the first season. There will not be a time jump or anything like that. It’s all happening right where the first season ends.

The source told TV Line that The Diplomat “has a really compressed timeline. Something like three weeks pass in Season 1. So it makes sense that Season 2 would start moments later.”

Here’s what Cahn said about season 2:

"“I wanted to bring together all of the different dynamics of the political relationships and the personal relationships in one event that splits apart all at the same time.”"

We should see the fallout of the explosion and Dennison and Kate learning that Trowbridge was involved. The trio of Kate, Hal, and Dennison now have to navigate corruption, attempted murder, and even bigger problems involving the US-UK relationship.

It will be really interesting what this means for Kate and Hal, Kate and Dennison, and the potential for more intriguing plot points in the future.

That’s all we know about The Diplomat season 2 so far! Stay tuned for more information about the new season.