Netflix’s The Diplomat is a thrilling political drama with tense situations and marital drama that has viewers on the edge of their seats as they work to find who is behind the explosion that could start World War III. With an 8/10 IMDB rating, The Diplomat has to be one of the best Netflix series of 2023. It drew in millions of viewers in its opening week, reaching the top of the list of most-watched series on the streaming platform.
The Diplomat follows a career diplomat and former CIA operative as she takes on an impromptu role as the US ambassador to the UK at the request of the President. While dealing with an international terror crisis makes for exciting television, there are some issues with this series that writers could rectify in the upcoming season. The Diplomat was renewed for a second season thanks to the talented cast, superb writing, and slow pacing which enticed viewers worldwide. Here is what The Diplomat needs to fix for a better Season 2.
Kate Wyler’s Portrayal in The Diplomat
The misconstrued girlboss stereotype strikes again. For a while, this stereotypical portrayal of the hardworking and accomplished woman was thought gone and forgotten, but The Diplomat brought it back. And not for the better. The Netflix show views Kate as fierce, formidable, angry most of the time, but super focused on her work. According to the writers, these traits make her good at her job and nothing else. Kate played by the talented Keri Russell is a slob, doesn’t interact well with people, has no sense of style or manners, and is sometimes cold even to her husband. For most viewers, Kate is almost unbelievable as a potential candidate to become the next Vice president even though her behavior isn’t alien to some women. It’s just unbelievable that she is sometimes unprofessional despite working in government for the last ten years. Her behavior wouldn’t fly in most offices, not to mention political settings. While understandably, the point is to make Kate Wyler a person with flaws, those flaws have to be believable within the context of the story. So hopefully, by Season 2 of The Diplomat, fans will have better version of Kate Wyler, one who is ready to be VP.
America Doesn’t Always Have to Save the Day
So many political and military TV shows and movies always portray Americans as saviors, which isn’t always the case in reality. The white savior trope is done very well in American media from shows like The Blacklist, Jack Ryan and The Terminal List. In The Diplomat, Britain is dealing with an international crisis when British soldiers are killed and the US sends Kate to help. Kate is seemingly there to put everything in order but doesn’t achieve it without ruffling some feathers. Even the UK Foreign Minister admits that being an ally to the Americans is detrimental to any country. With the British prime minister being revealed to be the mastermind of the explosion, Kate and her country will come to the rescue yet again. Maybe in The Diplomat Season 2, the writers could do a better job of not making America seem like the only country in the world that can best deal with terrorism.
Kate’s Professional Relationship with Austin
While its fun to watch Austin and Kate’s romance blossom on The Diplomat, there are some problematic issues in their new relationship already. Austin is the UK Foreign Minister, a respectable and top British government position. However, new to the ambassadorial world, Kate sometimes acts like she knows everything. The major problem is she treats Austin like he is a child with no experience in handling foreign affairs despite all his talents. But this could set him up to break free from the Prime Minister’s hold and find his voice with more authority instead of being a yes-man to the PM. Hopefully, Dennison’s character arc in The Diplomat Season 2 will be much better, and his dynamic with Kate will be much healthier now that they’ve both revealed their feelings.
The Diplomat Is Often Unrealistic
While the staff on this Netflix show sat down with officials from the U.S. embassy to learn more about their work, the series sometimes exaggerates some things. While this is the Netflix treatment, the second season could benefit by making some aspects more realistic. A career diplomat would be the last choice for vice president, especially one like Kate, who seems not to have any party affiliations. For the VP job, a candidate without any legislative history wouldn’t be ideal either. She has no experience or support from voters because she has never been elected. Most of her years have been spent implementing policies made by those in government. And where is NATO? While the show acknowledges that Britain left the EU, they seem to forget that it is still part of the NATO alliance that would aid them in a crisis like this. While some exaggeration makes for great entertainment, the show’s writers could benefit from adding realistic elements to the story in the second season. Here’s everything you need to know about Season 2.