THE STORY – A catastrophe shatters the fragile peace Kate Wyler brokered between the US and UK, as well as the crumbling marriage she’s trying to save.
THE CAST – Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Ali Ahn, Ato Essandoh, Nana Mensah & Rory Kinnear
THE TEAM – Deborah Cahn (Showrunner/Creator)
Negotiations are about compromise, about finding a middle ground that lets both sides walk away feeling like they won. But when dealing with large foreign powers and even larger egos, diplomacy becomes murkier. How far can you appease the other side before it becomes utter capitulation? How much can you insist on your own perspective before discussions become demands? Following the bombshell revelation that President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) and Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) decided to remove a nuclear weapon from a sunken Russian submarine without the permission of the United Kingdom, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) finds herself caught between her duties as an ambassador, her fealty to the presidency, her love for her husband, and her fundamental belief system.
“The Diplomat” season 4 is the natural escalation of the show’s narrative so far, balancing sky-high geopolitical stakes with immensely tense interpersonal relationships, with the same flair that made the show so addicting in the first place. The latter is on another level this season, due in no small part to the main quartet of Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Allison Janney, and Bradley Whitford. Wisely, the show elevated Janney and Whitford from scene-stealing guest stars to main cast members, creating countless new dynamics that the writers and actors alike feast on. The psychosexual nature of Grace and Hal’s spontaneous subterfuge alone could have a lesser show focused entirely around it! Equally entertaining is Kate and Todd’s (Bradley Whitford) awkward bond as the overlooked spouses of the two ticking time bombs running the United States of America. The show may be best known for its political intrigue and jaw-dropping cliffhangers every episode. Still, by now, the writers clearly understand that the show’s best attribute is its fascinating character dynamics.
The bulk of the show’s drama stems from Kate and Hal’s marriage perpetually being on the rocks. Betrayal is a part of their love language at this point! The best scenes this season are the ones where they can steal a moment of privacy to air out their grievances. Yet this relationship remains the crux of the show because, at its core, we root for them to work things out. Kate’s attempts to subdue herself to make their relationship healthier are sorely misguided, but they prove she still sees something worth fighting for. Watching her quietly simmer and hold in the biting barbs audiences love her for adds tension to the smallest scenes, makes the moments when her frustrations finally spill out all the more exciting, and lets Russell give her best performance to date. If you are going to parallel an international conflict with a marriage, it had better be with one as dynamic as the Wylers.
“The Diplomat’s” greatest strength has always been its pacing. Every episode zips by, and every season is ridiculously easy to binge-watch while still having enough substance to keep you thinking long afterward. So much happens in each season of “The Diplomat”—and season 4 is no different—but it is presented in a reassuringly digestible, constantly compelling way. The series has always been unafraid to change the status quo at the drop of a hat, to the point that several episodes this season could have served as season finales.
Yet this goes hand in hand with “The Diplomat’s” biggest weakness: its formulaic nature. This may seem like an odd critique for a show as iconically unpredictable as this one. Make no mistake, the events that unfold in the narrative are shocking. But the way they unfold episode to episode is a bit standard. The most egregious example is the insistence on ending every single episode with some kind of reveal. This gets to the point where, even if you didn’t guess a twist from the beginning of the episode, it is so telegraphed that something shocking will happen by the end that you can call the surprise more than half the time. Of course, when the show breaks the formula and experiments with how it presents information, it is all the better for it.
Still, “The Diplomat” is such a fun watch that this flaw hardly detracts from the experience. As easy as it is to rave about the intense performances from its main quartet, the whole ensemble dazzles. In fact, certain supporting characters surprisingly walk away with the season after their subtler arcs are brought under a magnifying glass. Ironically, the theme of fraught compromise this season revolves around is an excellent unifying factor for the various storylines it juggles. And in typical “The Diplomat” fashion, the season finale is a stunner, with a final scene that makes you ache for the next season.
THE GOOD – The season doubles down on everything that makes “The Diplomat” so compelling: the tight pacing, the tumultuous relationships, and the terrific acting.
THE BAD – The show has a formula from episode to episode that it sticks by to a fault.
THE EMMY PROSPECTS – Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Direction for a Drama Series & Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
THE FINAL SCORE – 8/10
