If you are looking for a show to binge this weekend, and you fancy well made political dramas, #TheDiplomat on #Netflix comes highly recommended. Great acting, magnetic faces and personalities, sophisticated, great humour and wit that make up for some loopholes in the script. A show that will keep you hooked and one that will genuinely make you long for the second season!
#KeriRussel (#TheAmericans) stars in this new show, playing a career diplomat ( Kate Wyler) who has been thrust into the job of the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom. A British aircraft carrier in the Gulf has been blown up and the Iranians are the prime suspect. Her task is cut out - alleviate tensions, manage hot headed politicians and work through the bureaucratic protocols to arrive at a solution that is acceptable to all stakeholders. There is a special joy to watching smart people adept at their jobs solving complex and high stakes issues. What makes it even more engaging is the talented #KeriRussel and she looks authentic all through the show, whether she is sitting at her chair, or walking through rooms, digging at a snack or trying on a new shirt.
There is an internal tension as well. Her marriage to Hal (#RufusSewell) is fast failing. Hal is an accomplished diplomat and everyone knows him. His methods are different and more manipulative and his refusal to play second fiddle to his wife results in complications. They sleep in different rooms, but Kate is quite comfortable to dig into his leftover plate and nibble at the snacks. She thrusts her bare arm pit into Hal’s face for a sniff test before her meeting with the British foreign secretary,Austin Dennison, played by the charming #DavidGyasi.
#TheDiplomat is created, written and showrun by #DeborahCahn (#Homeland). This is big game, high power drama - references to the Ukraine war and the Iraq misadventure, closed door plush embassy offices, imposing buildings across cities, Iran, Russia, Afghanistan all in the mix. And beyond the good looks and glamor is the wit and the intelligence that is a turn-on for sure. As one of the senior diplomats makes a reference to an Arab proverb and quips “ It’s good to know the truth and speak it. It’s better to know the truth and speak of palm trees”.
#KeriRussel holds the show together on her own steam as she brings a fine combination of ferocious energy and a self-deprecating outlook to the table. She is the veritable competent over-achiever battling bureaucracy, geo-political crisis, a manipulating successful husband, a failing marriage, egoistic political heads of state and a new job. The bureaucracy is suspicious of her and in awe of her husband. She has no time for small talk, is business-like, wears only black since the stains wont show and has no interest in furthering her image in the media. She just wants to get the job done. The protocols are downright silly at times and it is this divide between the unrelenting administrative machinery and Kate’s unassuming forthright practical approach that sets up many a laugh, a lot of admiration and the eventual buy-in from her team.
#RufusSewell is suave and charming. His character Hal is supposed to have been modeled on the late Richard Holbrooke. #RoryKinnear plays the UK Prime Minister Trowbridge and the end of the season clearly sets him up for more than what we bargained for. #AtoEssandoh plays Stuart, the second in command to Kate. He is sleeping with the CIA station chief Eidra Park ( #AliAhn) and both are very skeptical of Kate’s methods. #MichaelMckean plays President Rayburn.
#TheDiplomat is a refreshing political drama with a crisp pace, fine acting and strikes a neat little balance between intense drama, smart wit and shades of rom-com. The plot does not hold up very well on a lot of counts but the character based, story driven intelligent writing and the suave and sophistication of the leads makes for a heady watch!
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