Why The Diplomat season 2 was cut to just six episodes on Netflix

One of the best Netflix sleeper series in a long time, The Diplomat, returns for its second season next Thursday on Halloween, although it lacks spookiness. But when viewers log in, they'll notice something unfortunate: the second season has been shortened to just six episodes, less than the eight we had for the first season.

Of course, everyone's first instinct will be to blame Netflix, as it wouldn't be the first time we'd see episode orders cut, likely for budget reasons. This is an understandable conclusion. However, that is not what happened here. This is actually a judgment from the show's creator Debora Cahn, who actually said a lot to Netflix not want this:

“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.”

However, as it turns out, that didn't actually have to happen. Cahn was originally told they would have less time to complete the second season, but in the end the schedule was extended to a new, somewhat industry-standard 18 months. Cahn says that from the beginning, if she knew that, maybe she would could made the eight episodes that Netflix (and the fans) wanted. So something has clearly gotten mixed up here.

Hopefully that won't be the case with Season 3, and yes, there will be a Season 3 as Netflix really likes the series and it was already renewed two weeks ago ahead of the Season 2 premiere this Thursday. Production has already begun, suggesting that things may be back on track and with a proper schedule, an eight-episode season will likely return. Apparently Season 3 will also go to New York City instead of DC.

This also shows how strange television has become, where it still seems almost impossible for these showrunners to shoot eight episodes of a show in over a year that doesn't require extensive VFX work. The creator of Bridgerton has also said that at least this is really only possible every two years. Times have certainly changed compared to the 22 episode seasons each year in the broadcast era, and it doesn't look like we'll ever go back.

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