SPOILER ALERT: This review accommodates a plot detail from the Season 3 premiere of “The Diplomat,” now streaming on Netflix. There are not any other spoilers concerning the remainder of the season.
Season 3 of “The Diplomat” is the primary installment of the Netflix political drama to return out because the 2024 presidential election, which implies the series is now much more of an escapist fantasy than it already was. Watching Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) stalk the halls of america embassy in London, earnestly working to satisfy Danish concerns over British oil drilling within the North Sea and gushing over bipartisan treaties as the important thing to domestic popularity, it’s hard not to think about Elon Musk’s minions laying waste to USAID or trade wars conducted via Truth Social. These pangs are only compounded by the cliffhanger that concluded Season 2, by which President William Rayburn (Michael McKean) suffered a fatal heart attack and elevated his vp, Grace Penn (Allison Janney), to the highest of the decision sheet. If a female VP struggling to gauge how much distance to put between herself and her now-former boss while she attempts to fill his shoes gives you a sinking feeling, this season could also be a tricky sit.
The excellent news is that “The Diplomat,” still under the leadership of creator Debora Cahn, makes other changes that bring the series back to its core strengths. At just six episodes, and with a fast-paced plot unfolding within the immediate aftermath of an explosion that injured multiple major characters, Season 2 diverted its focus from the volatile marriage between Kate and her husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), also a veteran of the foreign service. The accelerated momentum was helpful in stabilizing — or perhaps acclimating viewers to — the show’s mishmash of tones, which staple together motormouthed policy wonkery and flamable romantic chemistry. But Season 3 goes beyond extending the pre-existing story and meaningfully alters the established order. Paradoxically, shaking up “The Diplomat” also returns the series to its roots: the tug-of-war between the aspirations of two ambitious people, each straining against the gender dynamics of monogamous heterosexual marriage.
Grace’s sudden promotion creates many job openings in the brand new administration, chief amongst them her old gig. Hal spent the primary two seasons of “The Diplomat” scheming, together with White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah), to get Kate promoted to VP. To Hal’s mind, the plan was — together with moving to London — a mea culpa for subordinating his wife’s profession to his own for a few years, although she’s a capable skilled in her own right; to Kate, Hal’s maneuvering behind her back was her husband once more going rogue to serve his own agenda. The query of just how sincere Hal is in wanting Kate to take the lead for once is one in all the animating tensions of “The Diplomat.” Which is why Grace offering the job to Hal over his higher half is so good for the health of the show.
The concept that Hal’s Richard Holbrooke-esque résumé would land him within the line of succession is an element of the series’ alternate reality, where the one skill that matters is wielding American influence abroad with an authority knowledge of protocol. (The complete season premiere is devoted to the minutiae and optics of Grace’s swearing-in: where to stage the event, which Bible to make use of and who to manage the oath of office.) This institutionalist worldview, inherited from Cahn’s old workplace “The West Wing,” can grate in light of recent events; an informal mention of the Jared Kushner-negotiated Abraham Accords of the primary Trump administration raised my eyebrows given ensuing developments within the Israel-Palestine conflict. It’s also less tenable with Hal understanding of the White House, an office with a wider portfolio than that of a diplomatic mission — including domestic issues “The Diplomat” still largely avoids.
Regardless, there are real advantages to Hal’s recent workplace. One is solely expanding the world of the show, which has added a production outpost in Latest York (where Russell and Cahn each live) that permits setpieces like a “Succession”-esque interlude at Grace’s Hamptons retreat. Mensah, once confined largely to Zoom, FaceTime and phone calls as her character patched in from D.C., gets to affix the ensemble in earnest as she spars with the Wylers face-to-face. Each she and the brand new environs are breaths of fresh air.
The shock to Hal and Kate’s equilibrium, already unsteady to start with, is much more rewarding. For 2 seasons, Hal tried and mostly did not occupy the role of “ambassador’s wife,” as he introduces himself to Grace’s husband Todd (Bradley Whitford). (With Whitford joining Janney and Cahn within the “West Wing” reunion, one wonders if Richard Schiff is waiting within the wings for Season 4.) Now, he’s once more within the higher-profile position, a shift Kate tries to spin as “all upside” — he can negotiate a much bigger role for her! she will get a gathering with any foreign dignitary she wants! — before admitting how she really feels. When asked if playing second fiddle is what she actually wants, Kate sighs: “Apparently. It’s what I keep selecting.”
The season’s second episode looks back on the early days of Hal and Kate’s relationship as they contemplate this major change. It’s, to this critic’s mind, the best chapter of “The Diplomat” so far, since it centers the unhappy power couple that’s the show’s most singular creation. Sewell gives Hal a childlike quality for each good and for unwell; he’s as sincerely enthusiastic as he’s reflexively selfish and petulant. Russell, for her part, can match Sewell’s intensity without uttering a word, as in a scene where Kate silently unpins her hair while Hal spirals out over Grace’s VP offer. And with Grace and Todd, “The Diplomat” gives Kate and Hal a mutual foil, and maybe a glance into their future. Kate finds commonality with Todd because the spouse shut out of the room where it happens, but she doesn’t need to be him.
Ultimately, “The Diplomat” doesn’t have much to say about diplomacy, being too in love with surface pageantry and process to dive into the actual power dynamics beneath. Somewhat, it’s a story concerning the messy intersection of affection, work and the battle of the sexes, with a setting grand enough to heighten each the stakes and the eroticism. In Season 3, “The Diplomat” recommits to this core mission, a pivot that pays dividends.
“The Diplomat” Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.