Don't Hold Your Breath For A Grand Army Season 2

There are a few things working against a potential Season 2 for Grand Army, Netflix's newly debuted teen drama. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the streaming service has been on a canceling spree, having recently axed similar YA shows like Teenage Bounty Hunters, I Am Not Okay with This, and The Society (the latter two of which were initially renewed for second seasons).

Grand Army also stirred up controversy before it even premiered. One of the series' writers, Ming Peiffer, claimed in a tweet on Sept. 2 that she and two other writers of color all quit the show over "racist exploitation and abuse." Peiffer further alleged that Grand Army showrunner Katie Cappiello, who is white, "went full Karen and called Netflix hr on the Black writer in the room for getting a haircut," though Peiffer didn't mention Cappielo by name. In a second tweet, Peiffer claimed that Netflix knew about the accusations, but simply hired more writers of color to replace them and didn't reach out until two years later to hear her and the other writers' original concerns. (Cappiello, Peiffer, and Netflix all declined to comment to Bustle).

This runs antithetical to what Grand Army — which features a diverse cast and covers issues like intersectionality, racism, and the school-to-prison pipeline — is meant to represent, leading some people to preemptively boycott the show. That could in turn affect viewing numbers — a key metric for Netflix when deciding whether or not to grant a second season.

Then again, controversy hasn't stopped Netflix in the past: its polarizing teen drama 13 Reasons Why ran for four seasons. Given that Grand Army only just premiered, it's unsurprising that there hasn't been any news about Season 2. But at this point, it really could go either way.