The Diplomat Is Just as Successful in Its Second Term

The primary season of Netflix’s The Diplomat, a political thriller-cum-marital dramedy from creator Debora Cahn, was an sudden pleasure. It was smarter than it wanted to be, however not gravely critical. It featured absolutely dedicated, simply barely outsized performances from Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, and others. Most significantly, possibly, the present’s model of geopolitical intrigue—Russell performs a profession diplomat used to working in conflict zones who unexpectedly lands the comfortable appointment of US ambassador to the UK—was credible sufficient, whereas additionally permitting room for soapy gildings.

Season two, now accessible on Netflix, thus confronted the difficult job of increasing on what made the present work the primary time round whereas not leaning too exhausting by itself idiosyncrasy. We’ve all seen the dreaded doubling down between first and second seasons, when a collection figures a thicker coat of the identical paint will preserve holding issues collectively.

By some measure, Cahn does unsettle the steadiness of The Diplomat in these six new episodes. This season, which picks up instantly after season one’s surprising bombing—which left Sewell’s character in mortal peril—is, maybe understandably, extra within the fallout of that occasion than something so gentle as interpersonal drama. Romance, or lack thereof, is eschewed for thriller and machination, as Russell’s Kate Wyler and her workforce of state division officers and CIA brokers attempt to uncover the nefarious forces behind the assault.

The Diplomat shrewdly traffics in a form of ethical ambivalence that feels true to our actual world, with out tilting into utter condemnation of American overseas coverage. (A lot as that coverage actually does deserve condemnation, I’m undecided this largely ethereal present is the one to dig into all that.) Characters, together with Kate, act each intelligently and rashly as they discover a troubling morass of shadowy connections and insinuations. Their strategies are solid in an uneasy gentle, their certitudes pretty questioned. Hanging over season two is the matter of necessity: what value are we keen to pay, how a lot precept and decency will we barter away, in pursuit of safety (imagined or not)?

And but, all that probing is finished in the identical sprightly trend as the primary season. Episodes finish on well-staged cliffhangers; sideways comedy darts by the assorted stuffy rooms of the ambassador’s stately residence. Not the entire humor lands—at instances The Diplomat’s banter is just not fairly as nimble because it thinks—however sufficient of it does.

However, sure, the attractive will-they/gained’t-they pull of the primary season—between Kate and British overseas secretary Austin (David Gyasi)—has been sidelined. A few of that stress and power is missed, maybe notably as a result of it gave Russell, so alert and vulpine in her efficiency, further layers to play. Nonetheless, she has lots to take care of within the spiky, vigorous rapport shared by Kate and her husband, slippery and ever-mutating. Within the span of a single scene, they traverse between ailing married couple greedy for an outdated ardour and contentedly steely and loveless co-conspirators in a challenge to avoid wasting, or at the very least reshape, the world.

Kate meets a formidable challenger with the arrival of the US Vice President, performed with elegant mettle by Allison Janney. Hers is a witty little bit of casting, virtually a fanfic reverie wherein Janney’s West Wing character, press secretary C.J., went on to even increased workplace within the years since that present ended. (It must be no shock that Cahn as soon as wrote for The West Wing.) Of their scenes of sparring, Kate and the VP do a cautious dance—two highly effective girls circling each other, undecided if they need to assist or thwart the opposite. It’s good enjoyable, as is that this present’s final mission.

Which isn’t to downplay The Diplomat’s usually understated sophistication, its sharp and welcome aversion to sentiment. A prodigious mind whirs on the middle of The Diplomat, which elevates the present above a lot of its Netflix kin. The collection satisfies a maybe beforehand unknown itch for one thing higher-grade than mere streaming chum, however not so demanding as a dense, cerebral premium-cable collection. Getting that calibration proper, easily treading that liminal area, might be far more tough than Cahn and firm make it look.

It’s fairly refreshing that The Diplomat’s second season retains itself so compact. Perhaps that merely needed to do with the Hollywood strikes final yr, however regardless of the reasoning behind the discount to 6 episodes, it’s a alternative that pays off. We’re whisked away into embassy journey after which, with a merry swiftness, are served a good higher finale shocker than the primary season’s. Although this time the shock is extra playful than the primary season’s large bang, giddily pushing the present towards an already-ordered third season, for which I can hardly wait. There isn’t any true escape from our personal political issues, however some mid-stakes distraction would possibly do for a number of hours.