TL;DR – A fantastic follow-up from the first season that had me on the edge of my seat at times and ended on one of the most bonkers moments I have seen all year.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

The Diplomat Review –

My background is in International Relations, and it does not come up here as much as I would like, other than the occasional The Hitman’s Bodyguard jaunt. Well, today, I get to dive back into a series that plays on a lot of those themes, so much so that we get a deep dive into Australian defence policy that I never thought I would see on the big screen.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Season One, Ambassador Katherine “Kate” Wyler (Keri Russell) and Austin Dennison, UK Foreign Secretary (David Gyasi), discovered that while they know which terrorist undertook the attack on the British Aircraft Carrier. It was not the Russians who paid for the attack but Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear), the UK Prime Minister. What do you do when you discover the head of one of your most trusted allies might have undertaken a false flag operation, killing thirty of their own military personnel? A secret that not only could sink at least one government but could fracture alliances, and destabilise the world. Who do you trust when your main allies could be the ones not only stirring the pot but could be targeting you as well? Now, from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

The one thing this season shows, if you didn’t already know before, is how good an actor Keri Russell is. That opening episode, where she is working through one of the biggest potential betrayals in modern political history while also trying to find out if her husband just got murdered, was a masterclass in emotional exploration. She is the lynchpin that holds the season together, and it is good that they let her have a complete range, from the tender moments by the fireworks to absolute calamity, such as at the end of the last episode.  

Then, we add to the equation an excellent supporting cast. Rufus Sewell perfectly plays the agent of chaos where you don’t know if he is helping or actively undermining the ambassador as her potential vice president appointment is his last chance at power. Ali Ahn gets a lot more to do this season as she has to work on not spying on an ally while setting up the PM to see if he is rotten. Rory Kinnear is fascinating in how he acts both before and after we know he is innocent. He is a volcano trying to stop exploding its bluster at every turn that could erupt with the slightest provocation.

Adding an interesting twist to this season was the addition of Allison Janney as Grace Penn, Vice President of the United States, the person who is about to get replaced. Allison Janney brings a fascinating presence to the show that is walking in the shadow of The West Wing. She works as the awkward ‘you are about to replace me’ VP, who has some good advice for Kate. But she also works as a menacing adversary who probably gets to have the best speech in the entire show up to this point and is clearly set up to be the main point of contention next season. Which I am very much looking forward to.

It was honestly a delight to see the show dive into some very real issues. One of the chief concerns during the last Scotland vote was both the flow-on effects on other independence movements and nuclear security in the North Atlantic, and it was good to see them nail that here. Also, I don’t think I ever expected to see Australia’s decision to ditch the French Submarine deal depicted on any screen, especially from a non-Australian production. Also, the original false flag operation scope, before it all went to the dogs, felt like a step that the government would actually take in this day and age.

Once again, the production of this show is very much elevated because they can film in these stunning old buildings across England and now this season Scotland. The ebb and flow of the season worked well, given we get the whole arc of the PM being a murderer to the PM being a fool, and it is our VP that is the murderer; oh no, wait, they are the president now. However, one central plot point that I did not like was honestly nearly everything they got Ato Essandoh to do as Stuart Heyford. It felt that they didn’t know what to do with the character, and you felt that in the real world, he would have been sent back to the States, given some of his actions here.

In the end, do we recommend the second season of The Diplomat? Yes, we do. I think it absolutely nailed the chaotic energy of the first season and brought new shades of chaos this time around. While it is clear that it is dabbling in fantasy quite a bit of the time, it still makes sure to anchor it in reality. So, what you get is a fun blast, but one that never strays so far that it gets silly. Have you seen The Diplomat yet ? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Diplomat
Directed by – Alex Graves & Tucker Gates
Written by – Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Peter Ackerman, Peter Noah & Julianna Dudley Meagher
Created by – Debora Cahn
Production/Distribution Companies – Let’s Not Turn This Into a Whole Big Production,     Well Red & Netflix
Starring – Keri Russell, Rufus Sewll, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear & Ato Essandoh with Allison Janney, Celia Imrie, Michael McKean, Nana Mensah, Rosaline Elbay, Alysia Reiner, Miguel Sandoval & Adrienne Warren and Jess Chanliau, Pearl Mackie, Graham Miller, Adam Silver, Penny Downie, Georgie Henley, Bhav Joshi, Tim Delap, Kenichiro Thomson, Sandy Amon-Schwartz, Elijah Cook, Clare Burt, Simon Hepworth,  Rupert Vansittart, Pandora Colin, Richard Dillane, Laurel Lefkow, Nancy Carroll, David Bark-Jones, David Alan Basche, Richard Huw, Sam Douglas, Grant Gillespie, James Ashton, Ansko Pitkänen, Maggie Daniels, George Potts, Akbar Kurtha, James Payton, Miriam Lucia, Alan Mahon, John Schwab, Joey Eden, Eric Underwood, Jammy Kasongo, Paul Tylak, Mo Sesay, Allen Watts, Jonathan Watson, John MacNeill, Gordon Kennedy, Lauren Davidson, Sally Davey, Jeremy Todd, Marcus Hutton, Claire Lacey, Peter Harding, Zoe-Anne Phillips, Lucia Mcanespie, Meg Lake & Simon Hepworth  
Episodes Covered – When a Stranger Calls, St. Paul’s, The Ides of March, The Other Army, Our Lady of Immaculate Deception & Dreadnought