Are we ready for fictional political intrigue in a time of real-life political intrigue? Fiction that concerns a powerful woman who also happens to be vice president – and a powerful woman who might replace her?
Are we ready for season two of “The Diplomat?”
The second season of the highly regarded 2023 series begins streaming on October 31st and I’m honestly not sure if Netflix and series creator Deborah Cahn were ingenious in this scheduling or not. Those of us who loved the twisty initial season are primed for the second no doubt, but will we be watching it with one eye on our newsfeed, waiting for 11th-hour developments in the presidential election? (The answer is yes.) Will those who don’t know the series even consider jumping into a show that plays with machinations at the highest levels of political power? (Maybe.)
You can read my take on the first season here, but here are some thoughts in advance of Season 2, which I have not seen. Needless to say, spoilers ahead.
Political and marital tension
On Netflix’s site, the main article about “The Diplomat” is headlined, “Does Hal Survive?” That in itself is a pretty big potential spoiler if you haven’t seen the first season. Netflix answers its own question with its 30-second teaser trailer for the new season that shows Kate (Keri Russell) and Hal (Rufus Sewell) Wyler getting out of a limo and walking up a staircase, only to encounter Vice President Grace Penn, a character cited in the first season and now embodied by Allison Janney, the wonderful actress possibly best known as C.J., the press secretary to President Jed Bartlet in “The West Wing.”
So the teaser trailer seems to answer two questions: Hal apparently survived the London car bomb at the climax of the first season unless this is a dream sequence, or nightmare really, in which Kate confronts the vice president. “Nightmare” because Kate was being groomed to replace Penn on the ticket as running mate to President William Rayburn, played in season one by Michael McKean as kind of a goof. So an encounter between Kate and the vice president would be … awkward.
A big part of what made season one of “The Diplomat” so good was its perfect mix of political and marital tension. These tensions were milked for all they were worth throughout the first season’s eight episodes. Some people – me included – cited the blend of political and martial tensions as echoes of thrillers like “House of Cards” and the real-world public lives of couples like Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Driving “The Diplomat” is the relationship between the Wylers. Hal is a former U.S. ambassador, a political genius and master tactician. Kate is the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Kate is undoubtedly a genius but finds herself a fish out of water when thrown into diplomacy on a global scale.
When Kate is posted to England, Hal comes along. But his inclination to be “hands on” in political circles and not “just” an ambassador’s spouse causes concern for nearly everyone in the Wylers’ circle, from the White House to Austin Dennison, played by David Gyasi as the compelling U.K. Foreign Secretary, Ali Ahn as Edira Park, the CIA station chief and Ato Essandoh as Stuart Hayford, Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. Embassy in London, who finds himself shepherding Kate through her mission as ambassador.
When a purported terror attack on the U.K. inflames Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kennear), Kate must help guide Dennison as he counsels the PM.
And because Kate and Hal are the people they are, Kate finds herself with significant other considerations: Can she trust Hal, who she’s always on the verge of divorcing, regarding his advice on how to be a diplomat? Can she trust Hal at all?
Can we have more of ‘The Diplomat’-verse?
So much rings true about “The Diplomat” in spite of the lofty circles the Wylers move in. Truths range from the perpetually sweaty – by her own admission – Kate asking Hal to smell her armpits to the complicated feelings they have for each other. There’s a dance of attraction, frustration, annoyance and love going on between the two and we can hope that’ll continue in the new season.
On the Netflix site, show creator Cahn has one of those cryptic comments about the second season that’s along the lines of “everything we thought we knew about the Wylers changes and everything they thought they knew about each other changes too.”
Not that we want spoilers for the new season, but holy moly, that’s vague. Remember those “Mad Men” previews of the next episode that mostly consisted of the cast saying non-sequiturs that didn’t give any meaningful information about what was coming up?
When I wrote about the first season for CrimeReads, I was struck by a few things: How great the uneasy relationship between the Wylers was; how much “The Diplomat” was not a Jack Ryan-style thriller, with people getting shot in the kneecaps and helicopters swooping in; and how fun it would be to see more of some of the supporting characters, especially Michael McKean’s president.
I didn’t cite Janney’s vice president because she hadn’t been cast yet – the second season hadn’t even been announced yet – but seeing Janney in the preview for the new season makes me hope they give her VP character some screentime without distracting us too much from the Wylers and their intrigue.
Also, I now wish Netflix would greenlight a separate White House-set series featuring McKean and Janney in a modern-day “West Wing”-style drama with absurd touches.
Seeing those two at the pinnacle of Washington would be a balm to the soul these days. Because I’m so, so tired of living in extraordinary political times. Even as fractious and uncertain as the world of “The Diplomat” is, right now it feels like comfort food compared to the real political world.
So I’ll be watching. See you on the other side, I hope.
