REVIEW: ‘The Diplomat’ Season 3 Is All About Marriage

” The Diplomat has been one of Netflix’s best series. A political drama starring Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Ato Essandoh, and Allison Janney, the series focuses on Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. She is good at her job, and because of that, it has led her into multiple conspiracies, and, for The Diplomat Season 3, she is primed to take on the role of Vice President now that the president has died and the order of power has switched. 

To start The Diplomat Season 3, Kate has just accused Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) of hatching a terrorist plot and admitted she’s after the VP’s job. Then the president died, thanks to Hal (Rufus Sewell) telling him about the plot, and Grace is now the president. 

Still, the devil works hard, but Hal works harder and immediately begins pushing Kate’s campaign for VP. But, The Diplomat is a success because it doesn’t often go exactly how you think it will. The Diplomat Season 3 opens strong with a big choice: Hal, Kate’s husband, will be the VP, not her.

Rufus Sewell’s Hal remains the wheeling and dealing character we’ve come to know in The Diplomat Season 3.

While Kate has repeatedly found herself on the wrong side of Grace, she is at the very least extremely qualified to step in. Her husband, on the other hand, well, he’s the epitome of the “behind every man” saying. With Hal chosen instead of her, Kate has to navigate her roles as Ambassador Wyler and Mrs. Wyler, the Second Lady.

It’s a situation that puts Kate in the backseat, Hal on a pedestal, and pushes the couple to work with Grace Penn instead of calling out the terrorist plot. Kate gets closer to First Gentleman Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford), navigates increasing sexual tension with Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), gets with an old flame to handle her stress, and ultimately winds up making sure that Hal looks good in front of everyone. 

The Diplomat Season 3 also focuses more on Kate’s personal life. While Hal and Kate are in love with the world outside, between them, they’re only still married because of optics; otherwise, they’re divorced. That means that where Kate would like to just pursue her flings, she has to come back to the center, pose with Hal, give interviews that talk about how deeply in love they are, and try not to betray that public image. 

Keri Russell’s Kate can’t seem to catch a break, and now that she’s Second Lady, that isn’t changing.

The Diplomat Season 3 delves into intrigue, particularly in the aftermath of the assassination plot that concluded the previous season. Still, what makes this season of the series entirely engrossing is how we see Kate navigate the world she has found herself in as her husband begins to embrace his new power and Grace remains a wild card. Sure, she helped orchestrate a terrorist attack, but they’re all on the same team, right?

What makes the season all the more interesting is that she is still Ambassador Wyler. She keeps her role and keeps working abroad, but at the same time, she opens herself to shaking hands, kissing babies, and standing behind Hal. 

This season, Kate is trying to force herself to be a wife first. Yes, she got to keep her role as an Ambassador, but ultimately, the Second Lady duties keep popping into her life. Not only that, but the scrutiny she now falls under because she is a wife affects even her diplomatic meetings, not just a fluff interview to say she loves her husband. As she’s negotiating reducing drilling, a cameraman moves her hair behind her ear; in other situations, she has to be seen and not heard, and all of that grates on her, shaving away pieces of herself. 

The Diplomat Season 3 offers a romantic power struggle that leaves both characters shaped by their separation.

As for his part, this is a big season for Hal. As our new Vice President, Allison Janney plays a man who is enamored with his wife’s intelligence but also intimidated by how he looks standing next to her. Together, they match each other to the point that they make themselves a power couple. And despite his indiscretions, it’s clear how much more Hal loves his wife than she loves him.

Apart, their choices lack the context of the outside world to make much sense. As Hal leans into his newfound position, he tries to bat Kate back. She’s not supposed to undermine him when it comes to his political choices; she’s not supposed to be too cold toward him; Kate is supposed to be dutiful. Still, Hal is man enough to understand when she makes him better, even if he continuously loses control of his mouth and lambasts people in public. 

While he does attempt multiple times to do things alone, the reality of their relationship is that they make each other better. They know each other’s weaknesses, where they will slip up, and they know how to push each other’s buttons. The fascinating thing about The Diplomat Season 3 is how they play off of each other, and specifically how deeply in love Hal is with his wife. 

The Diplomat Season 3 captures why this Netflix Original Series is one of the best.

That said, the love and care are a noose for Kate. As she explores who she is as a wife when she sincerely doesn’t want to be one, and how she strives to maintain the respect of those around her as an Ambassador, she becomes more complex. And the reliance on one another stops being as one-sided as it was in the beginning.

None of this is to say that the political intrigue of the season isn’t titillating. I mean, sitting President Grace Penn escapes the blame for the terrorist plot she was a part of because the late president winds up as the fall guy. As an Ambassador, Kate is pushing inroads diplomatically, and all of this is happening while relationships are falling apart and being rebuilt. 

The Diplomat Season 3 is fantastic because of its characters, the actors who bring them to life, and how it invests time in crafting the web connecting them as the larger political scandals. A balanced series that keeps you coming back, The Diplomat remains one of the few standout offerings in the genre on television today. Still, I’m once again just craving more. 

The Diplomat Season 3 is streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.

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