Netflix: “The Diplomat” season 2

What happened to “The Diplomat” in Season 2? I used to love that show. With a heroine as slick and smart as Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), I had every expectation that this girl-boss would rule the world.

Instead, “Diplo” devolved into a twisty, turny, talky series that bounced back and forth between thriller and soap opera.

Wyler herself has become kind of a drag; she brags that she cares only about the work, and hates when a former colleague describes her as “geo-strategy Barbie.”

The main plot point in Season 2 is the mystery of who’s behind the attacks that kicked off Season 1 (the naval explosion that killed dozens of British sailors) and led to a car bomb involving an American agent and a British MP. Was it the Russians, as the boorish British PM Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) so eagerly claims? Or someone he delegated to do the dirty deed, like his advisor Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie)? What did the Americans know about it?

Such tension causes a lot of brow-furrowing from every character, even at the moment when Wyler has a meltdown about how much it will cost to serve lobster rolls at a July 4 celebration.

The most interesting dynamic is the love-hate connection Kate has with her daddy-af almost-ex-husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) as well as her heavy flirtation with the British foreign secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi).

It seems like an eternity before Allison Janney (as US Vice-President Grace Penn) shows up and injects some panache into the proceedings. Her appearance as a blond Mean Girl comes as something of a shocker. As does the cat fight between her and Wyler in the finale which actually is pretty exciting.

I can hardly wait (please note heavy sarcasm) to see what Season 3 will bring in light of the incoming administration’s friendliness towards Russia. A guest appearance by Putin? Will he get paid double-scale? Don’t put anything past Netflix. My two cents.

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