Susan Granger’s review of “The Diplomat: Season 2” (Netflix)
If you’re like me, you wait until the entire season is streaming before watching many episodic television shows – like “The Diplomat: Season 2,” a political thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat – from beginning to shocking conclusion.
Don’t let anyone tell you what happens!
First, let’s recognize showrunner/writer Debora Cahn (“The West Wing,” Grey’s Anatomy,” “Homeland”) whose ingenuity and imagination knows no bounds. Cahn ‘created’ the character of intelligent, outspoken, fashion-phobic career diplomat Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) who reluctantly left her pivotal post in Kabul to become U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James (England).
Second, let’s laud versatile Keri Russell, acclaimed as teenage “Felicity,” then “The Americans,” in which she played a 1980s Soviet spy. Now her Kate Wyler becomes intimately involved in a game of geo-political chess, the outcome of which could affect the fate of the free world.
An international crisis has erupted with an attack on a British warship, involving Russia, Iran and the United States. The twisty storyline is complex; it’s often hard to decipher the intricate plot involving London politician Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie), Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear), Foreign Minister Austin Dennison (David Gyasias), along with Kate’s crew: Stuart Heyford (Ato Essandohl) and Eidra Pak (Ali Ahn).
Concurrently, Kate’s under consideration by U.S. President William Rayburn (Michael McKeon) to replace contentious Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney), whose reputation is under scrutiny because of a brewing scandal.
Then there’s Kate’s clever, conniving husband Hal Wyler (charismatic Rufus Sewell), a former Ambassador who ruffled too many feathers in the Middle East.
Kate once considered divorcing Hal because he made immoral deals that were deadly for a few in order to save the many. Now they know they need one another and have each other’s backs, no matter what choices and mistakes they make.
Time and resource limitations, along with production delays, shortened Season 2 to just six episodes but – with Season 3 – things will only get more complicated.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Diplomat: Season 2” is a tension-filled 10, streaming on Netflix.
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