Netflix loves its sleeper hits and one has now returned for another season, building on snowballing audience interest for a rather unique concept compared to other shows on the service. Now, it’s returned for season 3 with stellar critic reviews.
The show is The Diplomat, the political series starring The Americans’ veteran Keri Russell as a US diplomat and Rufus Sewell as her ambitious husband. Season 3 has just arrived on Netflix, boasting a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score. That’s well above season 1’s 84%, and just shy of season 2’s 96%. Overall, the show has a 91% critic score, though a somewhat lower 72% audience score. Audiences were a bit more on board with Russell’s six seasons of The Americans, which had a 94% score across all of them (and a 96% critic score). It’s no real surprise that Russell has been able to channel that same energy into The Diplomat on arguably a larger stage, given Netflix’s reach and how this is about to be the most-watched series on the service this week.
Here’s the Netflix summary of season 3 of The Diplomat, and how it opens. Spoilers for previous seasons follow:
“When we pick up for Season 3 of The Diplomat, Kate has just accused Vice President Grace Penn of hatching a terrorist plot and admitted she’s after the VP’s job. But now the president is dead, Kate’s husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) may have inadvertently killed him, and Grace Penn is leader of the free world.”
Hal is still trying to make Kate vice president, a role she really does not want to have, and a factor this season is going to be the “First Gentleman,” Todd Whiteman, played by Bradley Whitford, newly added to the show. It also has him reuniting with former West Wing star Allison Janey, which is cool to see.
The Diplomat season 3 is back up to eight episodes after season 2 went down to six. What’s very interesting to note here is that despite being a Netflix hit, the service has decided not to split season 3 in half, four episodes a month apart, as it does with so many of its other popular shows, most recently Wednesday, soon, Stranger Things, which is cut into three parts. I am glad Netflix decided against that this time around, as that remains the most annoying release schedule in the streaming space.
Why is season 3 so good? Here’s a quick excerpt from a recent review from TV Insider: “The third season of The Diplomat is the very definition of a breakneck binge bonanza. It’s also the most sensationally entertaining political drama since The West Wing.”
There are indeed many comparisons between The Diplomat and The West Wing, bolstered now by the Whitford-Janey reunion, but it lacks the frenetic scripts of Aaron Sorkin, despite fast-paced action. It’s also a lot more cynical than The West Wing, I’d argue, but such is the politics of the day. Stream it now.
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