There was the bombing at the end of the first season, when a British MP seemed to want to uncover a conspiracy to attack a British aircraft carrier. This time, in the second season of the TV series The Diplomaton Netflix, the American ambassador in London will try to clarify all this… and perhaps avoid further assassinations.
Keri Russell therefore takes over the role of Kate Wyler, this representative of Washington on British territory who, under the cover of normal diplomatic activities, finds herself plunged into a particularly explosive situation, where accusations made against the wrong person could well lead to new disappearances, even the Third World War.
Time is running out, and the six episodes of this second batch seem to pass at full speed, between suspicions, small and big dramas, anger and fear, innuendoes and half-revealed secrets…
We will appreciate, moreover, to rediscover the sometimes poignant, sometimes particularly acerbic exchanges between Kate Weyler and her husband, Hal (the always in good form Rufus Sewell), but also to reconnect with Rory Kinnear, who plays an astonishing British Prime Minister by its depth, or even David Gyasi, the interpreter of the British Minister of Foreign Affairs who blows hot and cold.
But one of the nicest surprises of this season, apart from the unfolding of the plot at a rapid pace, with blows, ripostes, heartbreaking moral choices and other explorations of this nebulous gray zone encompassing diplomacy and politics, is the the appearance of Allison Janney, very well known for her interpretation of CJ Craig, the spokesperson for the White House in the excellent series The West Wing.
Finally, is it really a surprise, since Deborah Cahn, at the head of The Diplomatalso worked on Aaron Sorkin's seminal work?
So here's Ms. Janney playing the vice president of the United States, a political figure largely in the shadow of the tenant of the Oval Office, which can be both a curse and… an advantage.
You have to see this character navigate brilliantly through the minefields of not one, but two different political universes, while ensuring that he maintains flawless poise and ease. To say that the actress is good in this role is almost an understatement.
We will regret, however, that after a new season made of numerous reversals – but always with a certain restraint, due to the nature of the work of a diplomat -, we end all this with an unexpected event so important, so major, that it is nothing but particularly far-fetched. Certainly, this advances the plot, while royally paving the way for a third season, but The Diplomat wanders here much closer to the territory ofHouse of Cards than the intellectual reflection of The West Wing. Is this a good or bad thing?
Effective, satisfying, at times frankly surprising, the second season of The Diplomat will certainly please fans of behind-the-scenes dealings and political drama. To discover on Netflix.
