Season 1 of The Diplomat certainly felt like a broadcast network show, and that was on purpose. There’s no antiheroes on this show, or intriguing villains; this is about diplomacy and foreign policy, with well-delineated good and bad guys. But it’s also a solid show with intricate-enough plotting to make the viewer at least feel like they’re watching something smart.
THE DIPLOMAT SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: In the immediate aftermath of a car bombing, Stuart Heyford (Ato Essandoh) and Ronnie Buckhurst (Jess Chanliau) are being attended to by paramedics.
The Gist: Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the US Ambassador to the UK, is attending a reception in France along with British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), are both on their phones trying to get information after word of the bombing reaches them. It’s personal for Kate, as well, because her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) was severely injured in the explosion.
Hal was meeting with Merritt Grove (Simon Chandler), a diplomat who had information on who hired Roman Lenkov (Sam Douglas), the man whom Kate and Austin think was hired to execute the bombing of the British aircraft carrier that precipitated Kate’s assignment to the embassy in London. While Kate is getting information from her staff, she finds out that Grove was killed in the explosion.
Both Kate and Austin maintain their theory that “the call is coming from inside the house,” meaning that British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) actually planned the bombing and hired Lenkov. As shocking as that may seem, the pressing issue is that Lenkov needs be reached before the Brits get to him. Kate tells her right-hand person, CIA operative Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) when she gets to the hospital in London where Hal, Stuart and Ronnie are being treated; Eidra is incredulous about the theory until Kate gives the context, with the help of a hospital room white board.
Meanwhile, Austin is getting pushback from Trowbridge that he and MI6 should be looking into the usual suspects: Russia, China, Syria. It’s only at an all-hands meeting, which includes Kate and Eidra, is it revealed that forensics thinks that the source of both bombs is domestic, not international.
Someone who might have information about all this is Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie), who is nowhere to be found.
As all of this is going on, Kate deals with Hal’s recovery, and Eidra is concerned for Stuart; when it’s revealed that the two of them are dating, Kate is shocked. Ronnie fights for his life.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Diplomat is a cross between The West Wing, a previous credit of creator Debora Cahn, and Madam Secretary.
Our Take: Last season, we called The Diplomat a “sturdy” show, and we meant it as a compliment. It’s a well-acted show with some reasonably intricate foreign relations plotting at its core that would have been right at home on network television in the 2000s or 2010s, save for a few f-bombs here and there. Our opinion of the show hasn’t really changed in that regard, though we do think that the plot is now getting so intricate, the show may be nudging itself more towards the “prestige TV’ end of the spectrum.
In reality, the complexity of the series comes from the massive cast that wasn’t there at the beginning of the first season. We’ve got Kate and all of her staff at the embassy, along with Hal, an experienced diplomatic hand who is constantly going over Kate’s head to get information. There’s President William Rayburn (Michael McKean), Secretary of State Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval) and Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah). On the British side there’s Austin, Trowbridge, his wife Lydia (Pandora Colin), Roylin and all manner of British officials whom Austin has to figure out are looking to get to the truth or are loyal to the PM.
It tends to get overwhelming in the first episode, especially since Cahn is still exploring the personal lives of the main characters, like Hal being threatened by Kate’s close working relationship with Austin, plus Eidra and Stuart and others. But the plot that’s going to overlay everything is Kate, Austin and their confidants trying to nail Trowbridge for both the bombings, and while a plot like that seems like one that’s tailor-made for TV and not real life, it’s also a very intriguing one to follow.
We got to speak with the stars of #thediplomat at the Season 2 premiere in NYC last night! #newyorkcity #kerirussell #rufussewell #rorykinnear #aliahn #atoessandoh #thediplomatnetflix #netflix
Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.
Parting Shot: A call comes into the hospital, and the person calling gives the name of a former ambassador who’s long since passed away. But it’s someone Kate has been wanting to hear from since the car bomb went off.
Sleeper Star: We’ll give this again to Ali Ahn as Eidra, mainly because she has become such a close confidant for Kate, and she can take on pieces of the investigation of Trowbridge that Kate can’t because of her public job.
Most Pilot-y Line: We get that Kate is a jeans type of person, but she goes from a gown to a suit while flying back to London with Austin, then immediately drops trou outside of her SUV to put on jeans when going to the hospital. Why not just put on jeans for the short flight? Is protocol that rigid in an emergency?
Our Call: STREAM IT. Things are certainly getting complicated in Season 2 of The Diplomat, but it’s fundamentals are still intact: Russell is fantastic as the war-trained diplomat, and the cast around her are all solid.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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