‘The Diplomat’ Season 2 Review: A Sophomore Slump, But Still A Passing Grade

The Diplomat is one of the few Netflix shows to really stick after its premiere, having already been renewed for a third season ahead of Season 2’s arrival. In the midst of mass cancellations and IP-driven churn, a successful, well-made original drama is a balm for the TV lover’s soul. So, even when Season 2 doesn’t quite meet the standards set by the first, The Diplomat remains an arresting watch.

Things pick up immediately after last season’s finale, with American ambassador to the UK Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) dealing with the aftermath of a targeted car bombing in London while away in Paris. The blast was reserved for a particularly weasley British MP, but her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell), deputy Stuart (Ato Essandoh) and embassy officer Ronnie (Jess Chanliau) were collateral damage after a meeting gone awry. As Kate and British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) concluded at the end of Season 1, all signs point to Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) as the perpetrator—not just of the car bombing or the attack on the British aircraft carrier that started it all, but of a massive political conspiracy to bolster the United Kingdom, no matter the cost.

There is plenty more at play, from the pesky Tory Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie) to the White House checking in on Kate as VP-in-training to CIA chief Eidra (Ali Ahn) conducting some not-quite-kosher surveillance on British allies. The series boasts many moving parts, sometimes too many, and you’ll be on your toes and/or scratching your head by the time Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney, in a cutthroat platinum blonde bob) arrives on the scene.

At only six episodes (compared to last season’s eight, thanks to an initially crunched production timeline), The Diplomat Season 2 can feel rushed and bloated. In a series where loyalties shift nearly every scene, motivations and relationships get muddled; the show blitzes through beats before repeating them later, to diminishing returns. Hal goes too far, Kate asks something nearly impossible of Dennison, Trowbridge is a petulant politician—rinse, lather, repeat. And, unfortunately, there are only so many ways to shoot important people walking down important hallways, so despite the gorgeous filming locations, the visuals grow a bit stale after a while. While the second season tries to go full speed ahead, it just loses some of its steam.

That’s due, in part, to a tricky habit of jumping the shark. While this review will remain as spoiler-free as the powers that be at Netflix request, it must be said that The Diplomat takes some truly wild swings this season. Season 1 had its share of melodramatic moments, what with Kate and Hal’s crumbling marriage and temperamental politicians everywhere, but it felt relevant and contained in a The West Wing sort of way. At times, Season 2 feels like a Shonda Rhimes production—not a bad thing, but one that makes for a decidedly different, discordant viewing experience. The very end of the season, especially, feels ripped from another series entirely, setting up the conflict of the third season with all the subtlety of the Embassy’s 4th of July party.

But if Season 2 is a step back, The Diplomat is hardly a bad show because of it. Keri Russell continues to project both confident competence and scrappy charm as Kate, a foreign policy expert but a political figure whose edges need smoothing. The scenes she shares with Ahn are dynamic and refreshing, given that it’s still a rarity to see two skilled women have high-stakes exchanges on TV. Kinnear is another standout, with PM Trowbridge’s role in the saga changing constantly; watching other characters try their best to manipulate him is a treat.

The codependent personal and professional relationship between Hal and Kate also stays one of the series’ biggest draws, with Hal taking the whole getting-blown-up thing much better than his wife. They’re a difficult dream team, but a damn productive one when it comes to getting to the bottom of an international conspiracy.

All that said, The Diplomat does suffer from a sophomore slump in its second season, but it still gets a passing grade. It’ll be interesting to see how a third (and, hopefully, a fourth) season evolves from here—whether the show continues to swing for the sensational or contains itself to the political drama that it so excels at.