Netflix Top 10s: ‘The Diplomat’ S4 Returns Strong While ‘Hollywood Arts’ and’ ‘Sacrifice’ Miss

Picture Credit: Netflix
Welcome to your weekly rundown of the biggest stories from Netflix’s top 10s for the week ending October 18th, 2026. This week, returning favorites and sophomore-week holds dominate the headlines as Below and Animals both post solid double-digit uplifts to retain their global crowns, while Keri Russell’s The Diplomat proves the enduring power of an annual release cadence with a confident Season 4 debut.
Elsewhere, it’s a mixed bag of fortunes across the catalog. While Mike Tyson lands another punchy docuseries debut and Love Is Blind returns for its eleventh outing, high-profile projects like Romain Gavras’s star-studded Sacrifice and the YA hopeful Hollywood Arts found themselves on the outside looking in. We’ll break down why those rollouts missed the mark, dive into new international hits from Germany and Argentina, and crunch the numbers on everything moving the needle this week.
Also, a quick note on Haunted Hotel: Season 2 featured in the top 10s this week (it failed to register in Week 1), and views were about on par with Season 1 for the second week, so depending on whether Netflix thinks this is good or bad, we should get a Season 3 renewal, which—full props to the creator—he’s ready to roll with. 

The Diplomat Season 4 Returns Strong
The Diplomat. (L to R) Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler in episode 401 of The Diplomat. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
If you’re in the camp that Netflix needs to release its series on an annual cadence, you’ll very much like the debut of The Diplomat Season 4, which debuted at #5 on the weekly charts with 4.8M views and hitting 58 countries’ top 10s. That should put at ease anyone who thinks Netflix might not bring the show back. With its awards prowess and now this strong return, it suggests people are sticking with it and that the pool of viewers is expanding. A positive note for a returning English-language series in 2026!

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Netflix Viewership Comparison – The Diplomat – Season 1, The Diplomat – Season 2, The Diplomat – Season 4 and The Diplomat – Season 3 (1-week analysis)
Cumulative views over 1 weeks for 4 Netflix titles: The Diplomat – Season 1, The Diplomat – Season 2, The Diplomat – Season 4, The Diplomat – Season 3. Combined total: 23,700,000 views.

Netflix cumulative views ranking for The Diplomat – Season 1, The Diplomat – Season 2, The Diplomat – Season 4 and The Diplomat – Season 3 over 1 weeks.

Title
Opening Week Views
Rank

The Diplomat – Season 1
8,500,000
1

The Diplomat – Season 2
5,600,000
2

The Diplomat – Season 4
4,800,000
3

The Diplomat – Season 3
4,800,000
4

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