Here's why The Diplomat season 2 only has six episodes

When The Diplomat season 2 makes its premiere on Thursday, Oct. 31 on Netflix, there will be less of the show to love. While the first season of the political thriller series contained eight episodes, technically a full season order these days, the follow-up season only contains six episodes.

Coming off of dual writer's and actor's strikes, you'd think they would be the culprit. However, there's more to the story of the hit Netflix series reducing its episode count for season 2. The strikes can account for the delay of the season's release but not for the decrease in episodes.

The Diplomat creator, executive producer, and writer Debora Cahn caught up with TV Line ahead of the release of the highly anticipated second season to reveal to fans the truth about the shorter binge-watch. As she revealed, it all came down to her choice as a writer.

The creator chose to cut The Diplomat season 2 episode count

Don't get mad at Netflix for season 2 only having six episodes! Cahn takes credit for the episode count reduction, explaining the after powering through the eight-episode first season, she was a bit fatigued and felt as though she didn't have enough time to produce eight more episodes.

For additional context, The Diplomat's first season premiered on Netflix on April 20, 2023. Netflix renewed the series for a second season on May 1, and by late June of the same year, the second season was already in production. It was at that point that the strikes impacted production.

Here's creator and showrunner Debora Cahn's full explanation to TV Line about the choice:

"It was my decision. [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. Had we known it was going to be a year and a half before we got back on the air, it would’ve been different."

- Debora Cahn, creator

Being so, if the strikes hadn't happened, we still likely would have only gotten six episodes in season 2, but they would have been released sooner. In hindsight, Cahn seems to wish she and the writing team would have written those two additional episodes given the extended hiatus after season 1.

Thankfully, Netflix opted to renew The Diplomat season 3 before season 2 even premiered, which has given Cahn and the writing team plenty of lead up to outline and write the season before cameras started rolling. And as the creator confirmed to TV Line, season 3 will again have eight episodes.

As luck would have it, filming has already started on The Diplomat season 3 and will take place in New York City as well as London. We can only imagine what Kate will be getting herself into next season, but first, we'll have to see what happens in the six action-packed episodes of season 2 on Oct. 31.

Watch The Diplomat only on Netflix.