The Diplomat follows a new US ambassador to the United Kingdom at a time of crisis in this thrilling love letter to American foreign service.

I have to admit that I was late to watching The Diplomat. But as soon as I pressed play on the first episode–before Derby Day–I couldn’t stop watching. I couldn’t get enough of the Debora Cahn-created series. Days after, I immediately consumed up the entire second season and find myself awaiting the premiere of the upcoming third and fourth seasons. There’s no excuse for my being so late to the series–launched in April 2023–especially since I have an interest in American politics. Well, when real-world politics isn’t doing its best to burn me out. As for any dramatic liberties being undertaken in the Netflix series, this wouldn’t surprise me.

When The Diplomat starts, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) had been recently appointed as the new US Ambassador to the United Kingdom. There’s a portrait showing all the previous ambassadors and none of them were women…so as far as The Diplomat is concerned, she’s the first. In real life, Yael Lempert was the first woman to serve as U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to the United Kingdom–a position where one acts as the U.S. ambassador–during the first half of 2021. President Joe Biden would later appoint Jane D. Hartley as the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Amb. Hartley served in the role from July 19, 2022 through the end of the Biden administration. But I digress.

What stands Kate Wyler apart from her predecessors in The Diplomat is that she isn’t a wealthy political donor being rewarded with an ambassadorship in London. She’s a career foreign service worker and her husband, Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), is also a former ambassador. Both are–as Cahn later told me in an interview–career foreign service officers, not the wealthy donors. But in appointing Kate, it’s the equivalent of getting two for the price of one, so to speak. Hal knows what’s expected of Kate in the position, but he also knows that the White House is considering her as a replacement for Vice President Grace Penn (mentioned only during season 1).

Thankfully, Cahn and company avoid letting The Diplomat get bogged down in confirmation hearings. That’s what would usually transpire for any ambassador being appointed by the president. Senatorial staffers would dig up whatever dirt they could find and it could be a while being an ambassador is officially confirmed. This is one of the dramatic liberties that I’m fine with the series taking, otherwise we’d be looking at an additional three episodes that might struggle to keep audiences engaged or entertained. I mean, have you watched confirmation hearings?!?

Amb. Kate Wyler thought she was going to Afghanistan because she does her best while working through a crisis. After an attack on a British carrier in the Person Gulf, Wyler rises up to the occasion and after President William Rayburn (Michael McKean) and White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) make the request. There are three things that drive the plot of the first season and carry over into season 2 of The Diplomat (more when I review season 2). The first is the aforementioned terrorist attack, the second is the White House considering Kate Wyler as a replacement for Vice President Grace Penn, and the third is the Wylers’ marriage.

Kate’s first 48 hours on the job, again, takes a lot of dramatic liberties compared to what many ambassadors hope to accomplish during their entire term. Arriving in London allows audiences to be introduced to both deputy chief of mission Stuart Heyford (Ato Essandoh) and CIA station chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn). Meanwhile, the new ambassador holds meetings with both Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) and Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear). But again, unless one is familiar with the inside baseball of it all, it’s easy to forgive the dramatic liberties taken for binge-worthy entertainment.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is an immediate suspect of the attack. In her new role, Kate is able to convinces Secretary of State Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval) to prevent the president from making any sort of statement. The US mission is doing its due diligence in getting to the bottom of the attack and find out who was behind it. The US and UK have a history of sharing intelligence and things get tricky when it comes to one country investigating the other. There is the possibility that Russia is behind it–the Russian ambassador turns over Roman Lenkov’s name to Kate. All will be uncovered in due time as audiences watch The Diplomat.

Major politicians have the one person they depend on for advice and for Prime Minister Trowbridge, that person is Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie). Roylin is a former campaign manager of the British Conservative Party. Dennison’s sister, Cecilia (T’Nia Miller), introduces Kate to Roylin. Kate uses Roylin as a way of advising Trowbridge on what to do in response to Lenkov being behind the attack.

It all comes to a climax in the season finale of The Diplomat. While Kate joins Dennison in Paris to get approval for a British special operation, Hal stays behind and delivers a speech at Chatham House. Merrit Grove, a Tory MP, approaches him afterwards. Whatever he has to say…somebody wants him quiet because everything happens so quickly! Even binge-watching all eight episodes in a row, you still can’t believe that they went with a cliffhanger for a finale. If you think they can’t find a way to top this ending, just wait for the end of season 2!

The Diplomat has very high production values. I love how they are able to utilize actual places whenever possible. That’s the thing that just blew me away–like, how could you get this as a location and was it a workday?!?  The fact that they got permission to film inside the American embassy in Nine Elms and the Foreign Office in Westminster–including The Durbar Court and the Foreign Secretary’s office–is just astounding. A month after watching and I still can’t believe it! They could have easily rebuilt these places on a set rather than use the real deal. But in utilizing the real places, it really ups the authenticity factor.

But for everything that is authentic, there are times where the series is unable to utilize the real locations and makes do with alternatives. Two of these instances include the United States Ambassador’s residence and the Foreign Secretary’s residence. Unless one is a stickler for knowing these things, you wouldn’t know that Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire is standing in for Winfield House as the Ambassador’s Residence. Similarly, Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire stands in for Chevening, a mansion that is usually used as the foreign secretary’s country residence.

The Diplomat may contain its share of dramatic liberties for entertainment purposes, but the first season features no shortage of thrills, drama, and diplomacy.

CREATOR/SHOWRUNNER: Debora Cahn
DIRECTORS: Simon Cellan Jones (Eps. 101-102), Andrew Bernstein (Eps. 103-104), Liza Johnson (Eps. 105-106), Alex Graves (Eps. 107-108)
WRITERS: Debora Cahn (Eps. 101, 103, 108), Peter Noah (Eps. 102, 107), Amanda Johnson-Zetterström (Ep. 104), Mia Chung and Anna Hagen and Debora Cahn (Ep. 105), Anna Hagen (Ep. 106)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Debora Cahn, Janice Williams, Keri Russell, Simon Cellan Jones (Eps. 101-102)
CAST: Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear, and Ato Essandoh
GUEST STARRING: Celia Imrie, Michael McKean, Nana Mensah, T’Nia Miller, Miguel Sandoval

Netflix released all eight episodes of The Diplomat Season 1 on April 20, 2023. Grade: 5/5

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