Netflix just released its latest dramedy, The Chair, and here's what to expect for season 2. The series was created by longtime actress Amanda Peet and her creative partner Annie Wyman, and thus far, it's gotten solid critical reviews and a warm audience reception.
The series stars Grey's Anatomy and Killing Eve star Sandra Oh as Ji-Yoon Kim, the first-ever woman and person of color to become the Chair of the English department at the fictional Pembroke University. Once a prestigious and renowned school, Pembroke's English department is hemorrhaging students thanks to half its faculty being dinosaurs who refuse to change: Dean Paul Larson (David Morse), who is more concerned about money and optics than actually transforming the school, Profesor Elliot Rentz (Bob Balaban), who has outsized influence, and Professor Joan Hambling (Holland Taylor), who is brilliant but embittered that she's been undermined and passed over for so many opportunities over her long career due to her being a woman.
There are a few bright spots in Pembroke's English department, including Ji-Yoon herself, as well as brilliant young professor Yaz McKay (Nana Mensah), who struggles to become the first Black woman to ever gain tenure at Pembroke, and rockstar professor Bill Dobson (The Mindy Project's Jay Duplass), who is beloved by the students and serves as the love interest for Ji-Yoon. Unfortunately, Bill's been an absolute trainwreck ever since his wife died a year ago and a thoughtless moment in one of his lectures he gives while hungover blows up into an enormous PR scandal for the school. Ji-Yoon's new role as Chair quickly transforms into a nightmare as the stresses of the job take hold and she struggles to fix it all while finding time for her adopted daughter, Ju-Hee (Everly Carganilla) and her hen-pecking dad, Habi (Ji-yong Lee).
With so much going on, The Chair season 1 covered a lot of ground in one short season, leaving lots of story left to explore in a season 2. Here's what to expect from Netflix's The Chair season 2.
The Chair Season 2 Renewal
At the moment, The Chair has not yet been renewed for a second season. Initially, it was conceived as a miniseries, which puts context around the first season being so extremely short with just six half-hour episodes. If it only ever gets one season, the storylines were sufficiently closed out for it to be a standalone. But there was also more than enough setup to easily make a second season. As is Netflix's M.O., the streaming platform will likely give it at least a month from The Chair's release before making any decisions regarding a second season, but if they like the numbers they see, there's no reason The Chair season 2 couldn't happen.
The Chair Season 2 Release Date
Even if Netflix announces a second season for The Chair in a month's time, there's no telling when it will be released. Lead Sandra Oh is likely to be the biggest question mark in regard to when a second season of The Chair might begin production. Currently, she still has to shoot Killing Eve season 4 and she has two movies coming out next year that may take up her time with press tours. But it's entirely possible that, assuming Peet and Wyman have a story for a second season, The Chair season 2 could be filmed in the first half of next year, meaning a release of a second season a year from now, in August 2o22, wouldn't be out of the question.
The Chair Season 2 Cast
Almost all of the main and supporting cast would be likely to return for The Chair season 2. Since the show hinges upon the blossoming romance between Sandra Oh's Ji-Yoon and Jay Duplass' Bill, they'd certainly remain the focal point of a second season. Likewise, Everly Carganilla and Ji-yong Lee are sure to return as Ji-Yoon's daughter and father. Of the cast who play faculty members at Pembroke, it's likely that most of them also return, including David Morse, Nana Mensah, and Bob Balaban. Holland Taylor most certainly will, as Joan was arguably the tritagonist of the first season and ended it as the new department chair. That said, The Chair season 1 involved older faculty members being urged to retire, so it's possible some of them might depart the series either before or during season 2.
The Chair Season 2 Story
Even though The Chair season 1 was satisfying, there are some criticisms that it set up a lot of story that went largely unexplored. The Chair season 2 can continue these stories, the most central being, of course, the developing romance between Ji-Yoon and Bill. As he slowly started overcoming his grief, he moved into a role of becoming a father figure to Ju-Hee and got Ji-Yoon's complex and prickly daughter to warm up to her in the Netflix TV show.
The constantly falling apart ship that is the Pembroke English department will also be a big focus. Ji-Yoon, Yaz and Bill have big plans to change the department and bring it into the 21st century, but it's left ambiguous at the end of season 1 if there's a chance of accomplishing that. Likewise, Joan's time as the new chair will be addressed as she learns to balance old with new. The question of whether Yaz will get tenure or leave for a better offer at another Ivy League is also up in the air. In all, there's still a lot more story to tell, so if The Chair season 2 gets the green light, audiences will surely tune in.