REVIEW: ‘The Diplomat’ Season 2 Is What Political Dramas Should Be

Picking up immediately where the first season left off, The Diplomat Season 2 opens with he aftermath of the deadly car explosion in the heart of London.While it cause political ripples throughout the UK and US relationships, it absolutely shatters US Ambassador Kate Wyler’s world (Keri Russell). Struggling to rebuild the lives that broke and the team that split apart, Kate’s worst fears start to unfold as she struggles to find someone to trust.

The attack that brought her to the UK and almost claimed the life of what she thought would be her soon ex-husband Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) and her right-hand man Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh) wasn’t a result of a foreign advisory. Instead, it came from inside the British government.

Unable to leave her marriage now, she has to maneuver personal relationships between her now very involved and fraught marriage and a newly complex dynamic with British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) since she confessed her feelings. Last season also set her up to take on the role of the Vice President after Grace Penn (Allison Janney), but now that she’s ready to take on the role, it’s all gotten more complicated.

The Diplomat is the best political drama on television, and its only fault is that it’s only six episodes. The series scratches the itch for politicking terror plots, filling a void in the TV landscape. But it’s not just the tight ability to craft a mystery with ever-increasing depth; it’s the series’ actors that capture its audience. Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Ato Essandoh, and David Gyasi are a core cast that absolutely stuns. Every emotion they go through as danger increases is something you can grab onto. This is because of the relationships.

Political thrillers can often buckle under the weight of global politics by forgetting to invest in and grow their characters. That’s not the case with this series, especially The Diplomat Season 2. Every character has motivations driven and connected to a larger narrative and other people too. No one exists or acts in a vacuum. The script perfectly captures the ripples of actions and reactions as they collide. Once you think something is controlled, a dam breaks and runs forward to crush everything.

The Diplomat Season 2 makes an already fantastic series even more captivating. With Kate coming into her own, the story shifts. Kate is still the same in her dedicated and intelligent approach to people and events, but with her foundation shifting and danger mounting, we get to see who she is when she’s cornered.

We get to see Kerri Russell expand her character’s depth through vulnerability but never wear it on the surface. Where Kate was more timid and steadfast in her presumed morality, the circumstances of the bombing and the larger plot surrounding it allow her to become more forceful.

As one of Netflix’s best American series, The Diplomat deserves well beyond a Season 2. With a transfixing cast and intrigue that carries into the last minutes of the season, The Diplomat Season 2 is the return of a political drama series on any platform.

The Diplomat Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.