Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Diplomat’ On Netflix, Where Keri Russell Is A War Zone Diplomat Who Is The Reluctant Ambassador To The UK

It feels like we’ve entered a period where the streaming services, especially the larger ones like Netflix, are programming broader-appealing shows, doesn’t it? We knew it was coming, with all of the services’ executives acknowledging that they can no longer afford to throw billions at niche “prestige” ideas that few people will watch. A new Netflix series with Keri Russell might be the best example of this new era, at least ad far as scripted shows are concerned.

THE DIPLOMAT: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The middle of the ocean. In the picture, we see a British aircraft carrier, and hear air traffic chatter. Suddenly there’s an explosion.

The Gist: Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), an experienced diplomat who’s worked in trouble zones her whole career, is packing to go to Kabul and start her new job as the U.S.’s ambassador to Afghanistan. Her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell), another experienced diplomat and former ambassador himself, wants to go with her to help the transition, but she wants him to stay back a week and think of his next move.

Then Hal gets a call from a contact about the British carrier explosion, and Kate gets a call from the White House. When she gets there, Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) ushers her into the Oval Office; there, she and President Rayburn (Michael McKean) tell her that they want her to fill the vacant ambassadorship in the United Kingdom. Rayburn feels that the UK needs a competent and experienced hand there now that there’s a possibility Iran may be escalating conflict with the British government.

Of course, Kate resists. She’s a boots-on-the-ground diplomat, not interested in a post that will force her to go to ceremonies and other events she considers to be fluff. But when the president asks you to serve, that’s what you do.

At the embassy in London, the Deputy Chief of station, Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh), gets a call from Appiah, who tells him that the other reason why Kate is being assigned there is that she thinks she might be a good replacement for the outgoing vice president, something not many people know about. She wants Stuart to polish Kate’s rough edges and get her in a place where she could become a legitimate choice.

Kate and Hal arrive at the ambassador’s residence in London, to a grandiose welcome that makes Kate roll her eyes and curse under her breath. She just wants to do what she came there to do, which was find out more about the bombing and make sure tensions don’t escalate with Iran. It doesn’t help that her boss, Secretary of State Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval) has been mostly incommunicado to his UK counterpart, foreign secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi). She takes a phone briefing with Rayburn and Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear), where Rayburn throws around a lot of “bomb ’em all” rhetoric. In order to cool things off, Dennison squirrels Kate away when she visits 10 Downing Street to turn over the papers regarding her posting and has her meet with Nicol behind Gagnon’s back.

In the meantime, Hal, who humbly tells people to not call him “Ambassador” out of respect to Kate, has used his contacts and charm to help her get that meeting with Nicol. But Kate certainly doesn’t want that kind of help, or Hal standing at a memorial and getting photographed as the ambassador. This is when she confirms to Stuart that their marriage is on the rocks and Hal isn’t staying. Hal thinks otherwise, and he knows what Appiah’s plans are for Kate.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Diplomat‘s creator, Debora Cahn, was a writer on The West Wing, and the show has a similar feel, if you cross WW with Madam Secretary.

Our Take: Cahn’s pedigree — she also spent years on Grey’s Anatomy — gives The Diplomat a definitive broadcast network feel, albeit with a bit more cursing. It’s a show that doesn’t go particularly deep into the mechanics of Kate’s job, or even subtle geopolitical issues; the first story basically starts with the possibility that Iran blew up a British carrier, for heaven’s sake.

It’s more about Kate having to get used to being in a political position that normally a patronage appointment, and how she has to adjust to this high profile job and vice versa. She’s not a charmer like Hal is; she’s all business with little tolerance for ceremonial BS. We can see multiple episodes where Kate has to chafe at putting on a dress or standing and smiling during a speech, as well as the walk-and-talks about diplomatic business that Cahn has borrowed from her old boss, Aaron Sorkin.

The Diplomat also feels like it’s going to be more about interpersonal relationships — that’s Cahn’s Grey’s experience coming through. We already know that Kate is looking to divorce Hal. But there will be other relationships developing, at least as far as we can see.

It’s a formula that’s worked well for years, but it doesn’t exactly scream “prestige streaming series” to us. Russell does her best to give Kate some gravity, striding through scenes with authority and definitely looking like the type of person who hasn’t used a blow dryer in a long time. The supporting cast is solid, from Sewell’s smarmy Hal on down. The show has a mild sense of humor that can alleviate some of the seriousness. But there’s nothing about the show that makes it a buzzy must-watch.

Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode.

Parting Shot: During a magazine photo shoot — a concession that Kate has made in order to keep Gagnon from replacing her during her first few days — Hal gets in a car with who he thinks is a stylist; instead, she injects him with a sedative and the car they’re in drives away.

Sleeper Star: Ali Ahn plays Eidra Park, the head of the CIA station in the UK, which means that she’s the interface between Kate and MI6. She only has a quip or two in the first episode but it seems like she’ll play a bigger role later on.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Even I can get it up for averting another bloodbath in the motherfucking Gulf,” Kate tells Stuart when he expresses doubts that she wants to be in London.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Diplomat is a sturdy, solid show with a fine lead performance from Russell, but we can’t shake the nagging feeling that the show would have worked better on NBC in 2003 than on Netflix in 2023.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.