Binge-worthy: Power play between states and spouses in addictive drama The Diplomat

The Diplomat

Netflix

4 out of 5 stars

If you miss espionage hit Homeland (2011 to 2020) or fly-on-the-wall political dramas such as Borgen (2010 to 2022) and The West Wing (1999 to 2006), The Diplomat – Netflix’s most watched English-language series since its debut on April 20 – is just the ticket.

The eight-episode series casts Keri Russell as a newly minted American ambassador navigating the fragile web of relationships among nation-states as she tries to avert a military crisis.

Here are three reasons to catch it.

1. Backchannel diplomacy and spy games

Russell, star of spy thriller The Americans (2013 to 2018), is Kate Wyler, a career diplomat who has defused many crises from behind the scenes.

She is headed for a new post in Afghanistan when she is abruptly appointed as the United States’ ambassador to Great Britain.

This is usually a cushy, boring job, and Kate accepts it reluctantly. But she then decides to shake things up and use her skills to stop the US from being dragged by its allies into a conflict with Iran, the prime suspect in a deadly attack on a British ship.

And she finds herself making moves on a high-stakes chessboard, using everything she knows about statecraft and spy games.

2. Power plays between states and spouses

As she navigates these murky geopolitical waters, Kate must contend with an insecure British prime minister and an ageing US president, both with something to prove.

Then there is her charming but untrustworthy husband Hal (Rufus Sewell), with whom she has a tender but complicated relationship.

Hal was once the US ambassador to Lebanon and Kate, his deputy. Now the roles are reversed and Hal is the “wife”, but cannot stop interfering and stealing her thunder.

The delicate dance of diplomacy is thus echoed in their marriage – a balance of egos and self-interest, and genuine bonds underscoring it all.

3. The West Wing – minus the pomposity

The Diplomat occasionally strains the bounds of plausibility, but the mix of political and personal is judicious and well-paced.

The dialogue crackles with tension – political, sexual and comedic – and the policy spiel and speechifying recall American screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing, minus the pomposity.

The eight episodes fly by and end with a cliffhanger that makes the second season, which is already in the works, very much welcome.