Diary Of A Future President – Season 2 | Disney+ Review
“Diary Of A Future President” is returning for a second season on Disney+ and continues the origin story of Cuban American and future leader Elena Cañero-Reed as she enters the seventh grade. Told using the narration of excerpts from Elena’s diary, this coming-of-age series and family comedy follows Elena through the ups and downs of middle school, which set her on the path to becoming the president of the United States.
If you enjoyed the first season, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the second and personally, the second season has leaned in on what worked and changed things up a little. One of the biggest problems with the first season, was they tried too hard to cover too many hot topics at once, which turned some people off. In the second season, they’ve toned down that aspect of the show, dealing with important issues, but more subtly.
While each episode has its own self contained storyline, there are multiple season-long story arcs going on throughout the series. Elena is trying to get elected as student president, which is preparing her for her future job. As an adult viewer, seeing Elena’s mother, Gabi, and her boyfriend, Sam, relationship growing, with him moving in and the issues that brings as they all get used to a new family dynamic.
But the biggest story of this series, is seeing Bobby struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. We get to see him learning to deal with his first crush, not fitting in, dealing with his parents and other issues. This was one of the best aspects of the first season, and I’m really glad they started to deal with the situation much more openly. I think it’s so important that this storyline is part of the show, especially in the second half, when things start ramping up. There is plenty of teenage awkwardness, but also just full acceptance, there is never any negativity brought into this story, which might not be realistic when compared to real life, but for this series, it’s nice to see Disney covering this storyline so well.
The biggest change from the first season, is that we rarely got to see President Elena, who was played by Gina Rodriguez, but that’s been fixed as she now pops up in episodes as Elena’s future self and conscience, where she helps guides her through middle school and towards the White House. It’s a massive improvement, and her scenes are a highlight of each episode.
“Diary Of A Future President” is still very much aimed at a younger audience; a family can watch it together. But older viewers might still find this show too childish, but parents might also enjoy aspects of the show at least.
The show is returning to Disney+ on Wednesday 18th August, and unlike the first season, Disney is releasing the entire season at once. So you can binge-watch the entire season in one go, rather than having to wait for weekly episodes. On the one hand, this does mean you can watch it at your leisure, or just go for it. The binge format might help keep engagement in this series, though I think the episode recaps at the start of the episodes seem unnecessary when it’s released like this.
Overall, the second season is an improvement over the first, fixing and tweaking some of the show’s issues, making it a much more enjoyable show to watch. I still find Elena to be the less interesting character from the show, which isn’t great since the show is supposed to be about her, but Bobby’s issues are just more interesting, and the parents also are more relatable as an adult viewer. “Diary Of A Future President” is a high-quality drama series that feels a step up in maturity from a Disney Channel show, making Disney+ a perfect place for the series to be. And for any youngster trying to come to terms with their sexuality, this is a really important series to watch.
Rating 3.5 out of 5.
All 10 episodes of the second season, “Diary Of A Future President”, will be coming to Disney+ on Wednesday 18th August.