The Diplomat is — how to put this diplomatically? — not quite all that it could have been. The eight-part Netflix thriller, about a newly appointed US ambassador to the UK, brings with it the promise of arcane international intrigue and glamour befitting a Ferrero Rocher ad. It also boasts the involvement of storied names with (geo) political drama pedigree, from showrunner Debora Cahn (a writer/producer on The West Wing and Homeland) to lead Keri Russell (The Americans) and Rory Kinnear, whose previous outing as a TV prime minister (in Black Mirror) was memorably, er, hammy.
And yet the series spurns the opportunity to provide a considered look at international relations in favour of a generic and improbably-plotted yarn. It follows Kate Wyler (Russell), a starchy career diplomat who must almost single-handedly avert a global catastrophe after a British warship is bombed in the Gulf. Despite having no ambassadorial experience to speak of, Kate is offhandedly chosen by the US president (Michael McKean) to head up the London embassy thanks to her Middle East expertise and the simple fact that there’s a significant vacancy that urgently needs to be filled.
Kate’s arrival leads to strained relationships, both special and spousal. Not only does she distrust the intentions of the bellicose, populist prime minister (Kinnear), but also those of her husband (Rufus Sewell), a recently decommissioned diplomat who holds political ambitions grander than hosting soirées. Within two days in the job, one has threatened to unleash “hellfire” while the other risks getting her fired.
Though Kate talks about gossamer threads that hold the world in place, the show itself lacks delicacy and nuance. Its problem is that it’s at once too light and too heavy: so exaggerated that it has little to say about actual statecraft (despite vague allusions to current affairs) and so dry and insistently talky that it struggles to entertain.
There’s enough serviceable acting and production value to make this passable viewing, but you expect it won’t be too long before The Diplomat is reassigned from the Netflix homepage to some far-flung spot in its ever-expanding library.
★★☆☆☆
On Netflix now
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