Image credit: Netflix
After a two-and-a-half-year wait, Guy Ritchie’s aristocratic weed empire is finally back on our screens. But despite the massive success of its 2024 debut, the highly anticipated second season of The Gentlemen has gotten off to a noticeably rocky start on Netflix.
According to Netflix’s New Global Top 10 Shows data, The Gentlemen season 2 suffered a significant drop in viewership over its opening weekend, debuting at number three on the English TV charts and attracting nearly half the viewership of its predecessor.
Was the decline due to a decline in quality, or did the long gap between seasons kill momentum? As we are It was referenced in our review of Season 2the show takes some huge stylistic swings this time around. This color shift is no coincidence either; Just last month, the series’ cinematographer spoke to us about pitching a film A darker twist to the new batch of episodes. Reviews across the board were once again strong for the return, with the series grabbing plenty of headlines thanks to Meghan Markle at one point (or perhaps still) eyeing a role in season three.
Whatever the reason for the slow start, let’s dive into the numbers and see exactly how Season 2 compares to Season 1, and the rest of Netflix’s returning slate.
Apples-to-apples comparison: Season 1 vs. Season 2
When analyzing Netflix data, we’re always looking for a comprehensive comparison, and fortunately, both seasons of The Gentlemen give us just that. Both seasons were released on Thursdays (March 7, 2024 and September 3, 2026, respectively), meaning they both had an identical four-day opening weekend window.
Here’s how the opening weekends compare:
- The Gentlemen: Season 1 (Opening Weekend): 81.5 million hours watched / 12.2 million views (CVE) /debuted at #1
- The Gentlemen: Season 2 (Opening Weekend): 49.8 million hours watched / 6.7 million views (CVE) /debuted at #3
This is amazing 45% decrease in CVE for Season 2 compared to Season 1.
Furthermore, while the first season went off strong to comfortably secure the top spot on the global charts, the second season had to settle for a disappointing third place. Even with a slightly longer runtime (7 hours and 26 minutes compared to the first season’s consistent 7 hours), total viewing hours saw a sharp decline of approximately 39%.
Part of a broader trend: “Season 2 stagnation”
As brutal as the 45% drop is, The Gentlemen isn’t the only show to suffer this fate.
As we did recently Explored in our deep dive into Netflix’s season 2 viewership decline metricthe streamer has been battling a platform-wide trend in which sophomore outings struggle to capture the viewership share of their debut seasons. This is something that Netflix recently flagged as an industry-wide issue, and that Netflix is already working on improving this metric.
When we compare The Gentlemen to other returning English-language series, its 45% drop puts it firmly in the lower middle group, alongside shows like Running Point and The Recruit. Very few shows actually managed to grow their audience in their second season, as you can see in the table below:
| Jenny and Georgia Part 2 | +23% |
| Bridgerton S2 | +13% |
| My Life with Walter Boys Season 2 | +6% |
| 13 Reasons Why S2 | +3% |
| The Witcher S2 | -6% |
| Lincoln Attorney S2 | -11% |
| xo, kitty s2 | -15% |
| Tires S2 | -21% |
| Sex/Life Part 2 | -23% |
| Wednesday S2 | -32% |
| One piece S2 | -32% |
| Nobody wants this S2 | -34% |
| Diplomat Q2 | -38% |
| I woke up from Vampire S2 | -39% |
| Night Agent S2 | -40% |
| Vikings: Valhalla Part 2 | -42% |
| Recruiter S2 | -43% |
| Messrs S2 | -45% |
| Operating point S2 | -45% |
| Survival of thicker S2 | -48% |
| Man Inside Part 2 | -50% |
| Sandman S2 | -56% |
| The Vince Staples Show Season 2 | -56% |
| The Four Seasons S2 | -58% |
| Beef S2 | -63% |
| Unstable S2 | -73% |
| Fubar S2 | -77% |
| That ’90s Show Season 2 | -79% |
If there’s any good news to be gleaned from this week’s data dump, it’s that the original season has seen a massive resurgence.
The first season of The Gentlemen spent 10 consecutive weeks in the global top 10 in early 2024, garnering 72.7 million completed viewers during its initial run. Now, thanks to the release of Season 2, Season 1 is back on the global charts.
For the week of August 30 to September 6, 2026, The first season returned to the top ten in fifth place, It achieved 21.2 million hours of viewing 3.2 million views.
This tells us several things. First, there is still an active audience for the franchise. Second, the two-and-a-half-year gap between seasons forced a significant portion of the audience to rewatch Season 1 to remember where the sprawling story left off. This “catch-up” show could significantly cannibalize Season 2’s opening weekend numbers.
What to expect for the second week?
Historically, Thursday releases peak in their second week on the platform, where they get their first full viewing window from Monday to Sunday.
When the first season reached its second week, it was terrible 65% increase In viewership, it jumped from 12.2 million views to 20.1 million views. In order for Season 2 to avoid being labeled a complete letdown, it desperately needs a similar — or even greater — shock in the second week. If the 3.2 million people who just rewatched Season 1 transition seamlessly into Season 2 over the next few days, we could see a very strong stabilization next Tuesday.
Normally, an opening weekend drop of this size would have us sounding cancellation alerts. Fortunately for fans, Netflix has already pulled the trigger early on the future of the show. As we recently reported, Gentlemen It has already been renewed for a third season. So, while the world of Guy Ritchie’s television is safe from being chopped up for now, Netflix executives are no doubt hoping those viewing numbers will bounce back in the second week. Another bright spot – we won’t have to wait long for Season 3, and filming is expected to start soon.