‘The Chair’ Season 2 — Will Sandra Oh Return as Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim?

Sandra Oh is Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim in Netflix's 'The Chair'. The six-episode series premiered in August 2021 and the streamer has yet to announce 'The Chair' Season 2. Meanwhile, Oh is filming the final season on 'Killing Eve'.

by Mandi Kerr

Published on September 1, 2021

2 min read

‘The Chair’ Season 1 wrapped up the story but also left room for the possibility of ‘The Chair’ Season 2

David Morse, Sandra Oh, Cliff Chamberlain, and Ian Lithgow sit at a table in 'The Chair' Season 1 Episode 6 — (L-R) David Morse, Sandra Oh, Cliff Chamberlain, and Ian Lithgow in ‘The Chair’ Season 1 | Eliza Morse/Netlfix

Created by Amanda Peet and Annie Julia Wyman, The Chair follows Oh’s Ji-Yoon as she becomes the first woman to head up the English department at a prestigious New England university. There are challenges from the get-go including shrinking class sizes, office politics, and campus scandal.

Her friend, colleague, and love interest, Professor Bill Dobson (Jay Duplass), does a Nazi salute in class and immediately gets taken down on social media. There’s a disastrous town hall meeting that only makes the situation worse and, later, a disciplinary-turned-termination hearing.

At the end of six, 30-minute episodes Ji-Yoon is no longer the chair of the department. Faculty members vote on her removal before she nominates Professor Joan Hambling (Holland Taylor) for the job. Spoiler, she gets it.

As for Bill, his relationship with Ji-Yoon survived the Nazi salute scandal. His teaching job, on the other hand, is in jeopardy. Bill turned down the university’s settlement offer and is now engaged in a legal battle to get his job back.

Netflix has yet to make an announcement about ‘The Chair’ Season 2

Sandra Oh and Jay Duplass sit at a bench holding cups of coffee in 'The Chair' Season 1 Episode 6 — Sandra Oh and Jay Duplass in ‘The Chair’ Season 1 | Eliza Morse/Netflix

Seeing as The Chair hasn’t even been streaming for two weeks at the time of writing it’s no surprise Netflix hasn’t moved forward with the series. It’s typical of the streamer to wait a month or two before making such an announcement so The Chair will have to wait.

Although The Chair’s future looks promising. Not only did season 1 leave room for more but by in large reviews have been positive. Plus, The Chair made it in Netflix’s Top 10 list after it premiered. It’s also important to note that The Chair isn’t listed as a miniseries on Netflix’s website. Does that mean there’s more to the story? Perhaps.

Sandra Oh’s currently filming the final season of ‘Killing Eve’

Nana Mensah wears a pink turtleneck sweater as she stands across from Sandra Oh in a brown suit in 'The Chair' Season 1 — Nana Mensah and Sandra Oh in ‘The Chair’ Season 1 | Eliza Morse/Netflix

All of the aforementioned factors will undoubtedly play a role in The Chair’s future but the actors’ availability is another big part of it. The Chair isn’t really The Chair without Oh, Taylor, Duplass, or Nana Mensah (Yaz McKay) and the rest.

Currently, Oh’s filming Killing Eve Season 4. So that means if The Chair were to get renewed, season 2 would have to be filmed around Killing Eve and any other projects Oh has in the works. That could make getting new episodes of the series filmed that much harder. Plus, there are the other actors’ schedules to consider which could also be a determining factor in whether or not season 2 happens.

For now, fans of The Chair can watch the series (again and again) on Netflix.