The Paper Season 2 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes and Streaming Details

If you found The Paper (or Novine, as the series is known in Croatia) through Netflix and thought the first season was already cynical enough, season 2 has a very clear answer: things get nastier when the newsroom stops being the center of the battlefield and politics takes over.

There is one detail worth clearing up before getting into the story. Unlike some listings that give a different number, The Paper Season 2 has 11 episodes, not 10. Croatian Radiotelevision confirmed the 11-episode order when the second season went into production, and HRT later announced the season as an 11-episode run.

That extra episode actually makes sense once you watch the season. The story is packed with political maneuvering, newsroom conflicts, personal compromises and enough backroom scheming to make a normal political drama feel almost polite.

The Paper Season 2 Release Date, Peacock Trailer, and The Office Spinoff Rumors

How Many Episodes Are in The Paper Season 2?

The Paper Season 2 consists of 11 episodes.

The episodes continue the story of the journalists and editors working for the Rijeka newspaper Novine, but the writers shift the dramatic emphasis toward Croatian politics. HRT described the new season as moving its focus toward the presidential campaign while keeping journalism and newsroom intrigue at the center.

The first season had 12 episodes, so season 2 is slightly shorter. That doesn’t mean the story feels smaller. Quite the opposite.

The second season compresses its political storyline around a presidential election, with the plot unfolding over a remarkably tight period of 14 days between the first and second rounds of voting.

That ticking-clock structure is one of the things I like most about this season. There isn’t much room for characters to sit around explaining what everyone already knows. Deals have to happen. Information has to move. People have to choose sides.

And, naturally, some of those choices are terrible.

The Paper Season 2 Episode Structure

HRT premiered the second season on September 24, 2018, while Netflix planned its international release for early 2019. The series had already achieved an unusually wide international reach for a Croatian-language drama, with HRT noting that the first season was distributed through Netflix in 190 countries.

So if you’re watching The Paper now on a streaming service, you’re not looking at some obscure one-season experiment. There is a full political thriller here, and season 2 is a major step in the larger story.

What Is The Paper Season 2 About?

The first season was heavily concerned with the newspaper itself: ownership, money, influence, corruption and the question of whether journalism can remain independent when powerful people decide they want control.

Season 2 takes that idea and pushes it outward.

The newspaper is still crucial, but now the political machine is much closer to the center of the story. Ludvig Tomašević, the controversial mayor, is campaigning for the presidency. His opponent is incumbent president Jelena Krsnik. The campaign becomes a playground for manipulation, ambition and information warfare.

And this is where The Paper becomes particularly uncomfortable.

There isn’t a neat division between journalists and politicians. The two worlds constantly collide. Political figures need media coverage. Journalists need access. Campaign teams need favorable stories. Newspapers need money. Everyone needs something from somebody else.

You can probably guess where that leads.

Why the 11-Episode Format Works

I actually prefer this structure to a huge 20-plus-episode television season.

Political dramas can become exhausting when every subplot gets stretched beyond its natural lifespan. The Paper avoids that problem by giving the second season a fairly specific narrative window. The election is approaching, the pressure is rising, and the characters don’t have unlimited time to maneuver.

The result is a season that feels less like a collection of unrelated episodes and more like one long political crisis.

The production team itself described the second season as having more political focus, while still maintaining the criticism of journalism and the weaknesses of the media system that defined the first season.

That distinction matters.

This isn’t a season where the writers simply decided, ‘Let’s make a show about politicians now.’ The politics are an extension of what the series was already saying about newspapers, influence and power.

Does Season 2 Still Focus on Journalism?

Absolutely.

This is probably the biggest misconception you can have going into season 2.

The setting may expand and the presidential race may dominate the headlines, but the journalists of Novine remain essential to the story. HRT specifically noted that journalism and newsroom intrigue remain at the heart of the season even as the political storyline becomes more prominent.

That balance is what keeps the show from turning into a generic election thriller.

The reporters aren’t simply observers. Their decisions affect the campaign. Their investigations can damage careers. Their loyalties can be questioned. And every piece of information has a potential price.

Watching the newsroom scenes, I kept coming back to the same uncomfortable thought: what happens when telling the truth is no longer enough to protect you?

That’s where the show is strongest.

A More Political and More Dangerous Season

The second season introduces a number of new characters from the political and media worlds, while bringing back the major players from the first season. HRT reported that around a dozen new characters were introduced during production.

That gives the season a different rhythm.

There are more political operators. More competing interests. More people who know exactly how the system works and aren’t particularly interested in changing it.

The presidential campaign also gives the writers an excuse to explore something the first season only approached from the side: how media influence and political power feed each other.

A politician can manipulate the news cycle.

A newspaper can influence public opinion.

A journalist can expose corruption.

And then the person exposed can attempt to destroy the journalist’s career.

Nobody needs to pull a gun for the situation to feel dangerous.

Where Was Season 2 Filmed?

Rijeka remains a major visual and narrative presence, but the production expanded its locations for the second season.

Filming took place around Rijeka, with production also moving to Zagreb. HRT reported filming in places including Krk, Grobnik and Kastav before the production moved further into Zagreb.

That expansion works nicely because the story itself becomes larger.

The first season feels deeply tied to the newspaper and its local environment. Season 2 still has that recognizable Croatian atmosphere, but the characters are now moving through a bigger political landscape.

Rijeka isn’t just a backdrop, either. The city continues to have a personality of its own.

Is The Paper Season 2 Worth Watching?

For me, yes — especially if you enjoyed the first season.

The appeal isn’t really about shocking twists every five minutes. The Paper is more interested in watching people negotiate power. Sometimes a quiet conversation in an office carries more weight than a dramatic confrontation.

That’s also why I wouldn’t recommend treating the show as background television.

There are names to remember. Alliances change. Political relationships matter. A seemingly minor conversation can become important later.

The reward is that the season feels increasingly tense as the election approaches.

And because the story is built around such a short period, the pressure keeps accumulating rather than resetting at the end of each episode.

How The Paper Season 2 Compares With Season 1

The difference between the two seasons is pretty straightforward:

• Season 1: newspaper ownership, corporate influence, newsroom power struggles and the fight for journalistic independence.
• Season 2: presidential politics, campaign manipulation, political-media relationships and the consequences of information warfare.
• Both seasons: corruption, compromised institutions and journalists trying to operate inside a system that rarely rewards honesty.

I wouldn’t call season 2 a complete reinvention. It’s more like the show zooms out.

The first season asks who controls the newspaper.

The second asks what happens when that same struggle becomes part of a much bigger political game.

That’s a more interesting question, honestly.

Streaming Details for International Viewers

For international audiences, The Paper became particularly notable because Netflix brought the Croatian-language series to a global audience. HRT described it as the first Croatian-language series to reach Netflix’s international service, with the first season available across 190 countries.

The second season followed the Croatian broadcast and was scheduled for Netflix internationally in early 2019.

Availability can vary depending on your country and current streaming licenses, so Netflix’s catalog is the safest place to check for your region.

The Bottom Line on The Paper Season 2

If you’re searching for The Paper Season 2 episode count, the answer is 11 episodes.

And that number is worth remembering because some online listings can be inconsistent. Official Croatian broadcaster material confirms the 11-episode structure, while HRT’s season premiere announcement also explicitly describes the second season as having 11 episodes.

More importantly, the season uses those 11 episodes well.

The story moves away from being primarily about the ownership crisis surrounding a newspaper and toward a tense presidential campaign, but it never abandons the show’s central obsession with journalism and power. The election storyline gives the writers a tighter deadline, a larger political arena and plenty of opportunities to show how easily information can become another weapon.

If you liked season 1 for its cold atmosphere, morally compromised characters and uncomfortable view of the media business, season 2 is not a detour. It’s the logical escalation.

And personally, that’s what makes The Paper worth seeking out. It doesn’t pretend that journalism exists in some clean little bubble separate from money and politics. Everyone has an agenda. Everyone has something to lose. Sometimes the person holding the story has just as much power as the person trying to bury it.

That makes the 11-episode second season a particularly sharp watch for anyone who enjoys political thrillers that are more interested in messy systems than easy heroes.