The Diplomat was on my watch list when I first heard about it last year, starring Keri Russel and Rufus Sewell. But as it goes, I’ve only now started watching. And halfway through the first episode I was hooked. This has aspects of what made The West Wing and The Good Wife and The Americans great, but is its own show.
Keri Russel plays Kate Wyler, soon to be ambassador to Kuwait. Not a prestigious posting, but one she very much wants, to actively work important issues where The United States can help effect positive change. But the day before she’s to leave D.C. for her new post, a British carrier explodes in an apparent attack by the Iranians as a proxy for retaliating against the Americans. Inexplicable, Kate is called up by the President to fill the recently vacated British Ambassador position: now is not the time for a captain of industry / political donor having a holiday, but to have a serious career civil servant in the position.
A position she doesn’t want because that one is all photographs and formalities, and doesn’t have her getting into the actual work as she intends in Kuwait.
Also, her husband Hal, played by Rufus Sewell, is a former Ambassador. Now politically disgraced and barred from ever working again for some unstated indiscretion. And Kate can’t bear to be in the same nation as him anymore, except he’s utterly involved in helping (“helping”) her navigate her new role.
That’s roughly the first 20 minutes of the first episode. Then it starts getting really fun.
www.themoviedb.org
Keri Russel plays Kate Wyler, soon to be ambassador to Kuwait. Not a prestigious posting, but one she very much wants, to actively work important issues where The United States can help effect positive change. But the day before she’s to leave D.C. for her new post, a British carrier explodes in an apparent attack by the Iranians as a proxy for retaliating against the Americans. Inexplicable, Kate is called up by the President to fill the recently vacated British Ambassador position: now is not the time for a captain of industry / political donor having a holiday, but to have a serious career civil servant in the position.
A position she doesn’t want because that one is all photographs and formalities, and doesn’t have her getting into the actual work as she intends in Kuwait.
Also, her husband Hal, played by Rufus Sewell, is a former Ambassador. Now politically disgraced and barred from ever working again for some unstated indiscretion. And Kate can’t bear to be in the same nation as him anymore, except he’s utterly involved in helping (“helping”) her navigate her new role.
That’s roughly the first 20 minutes of the first episode. Then it starts getting really fun.
The Diplomat
In the midst of an international crisis, a career diplomat lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for, with tectonic implications for her marriage and her political future.
www.themoviedb.org
