Netflix stated a goal of creating TV shows that are like “gourmet cheeseburgers,” but those patties often come off the grill more McDonald’s and less Five Guys. However, returning drama “The Diplomat” is that Netflix rarity: A great show.
Now streaming all six episodes of its second season, “The Diplomat” builds on its first-season cliffhanger that saw a bombing in central London potentially take out Hal (Rufus Sewell), almost ex-husband of the U.S. Ambassador to England Kate Wyler (Keri Russell).
It’s no spoiler to say Hal survives given that the show is as much about a marriage (like Russell’s “The Americans” on FX was, too) as it is a political drama. But it’s the interplay between the personal and the political that so often drives the plot this season, including a wildly unpredictable cliffhanger season-ender.
As the second season begins, events characterized as terrorism may have been committed by leaders of the British government, leading Kate to question where the truth lies. Can she trust prime minister whisperer Margaret “Meg” Roylin (Celia Imrie)? What about British Foreign Secretary (and potential love interest) Austin Dennison (David Gyasi)?
Kate also has complicated relationships with American colleagues, especially CIA station chief Eidra Park (scene-stealing Ali Ahn) and second-guessing deputy chief of mission Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh).
In addition, “The West Wing” alum Allison Janney joins the cast as U.S. Vice President Grace Penn. Although Janney swims in the same geopolitical waters as on that NBC classic – she even gets one scene with a chalkboard where she’s the smartest person in the room, akin to her “West Wing” character, C.J. Cregg – Janney’s veep displays sharper edges, critiquing Kate’s appearance, including her hair, which has to be a 25-years-in-the-making meta reference to Russell’s “Felicity” hair debacle.
In a virtual press conference for “The Diplomat” last month, series creator Debora Cahn (“Homeland,” “The West Wing,” “Paterno”) revealed the events of season two were intended to take place in season one.
“I got two-thirds of the way through season one and I realized I can’t get through this story in the allotted time, so it was lopped off,” she said. “We were able to take what was coming at the climax of season one and turn it into all of season two.”
Russell said season one was about Kate as a fish-out-of-water in her new role as U.S. ambassador to England, but season two mostly leaves that theme behind.
“Something traumatic has happened,” Russell said, “so we’re just moving into it. There’s not as much time for self-reflection and all the things she’s doing wrong.”
And Hal’s injury interrupts the couple’s planned divorce.
“There’s a lot of emotional dust in the air,” Sewell said of Kate and Hal. “There is reconciliation. That happens. But it doesn’t mean all those other changes have gone away.”
Kate’s experience in her new job gives her greater insight into Hal’s choices when he was U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon.
“She is in a position where she can see parts of herself in him,” Sewell said. “She thought it was him, but it might be the job.”
Russell said her favorite moments in the show are the little ones, like ripping off her husband’s band-aid in the midst of a high-stakes geopolitical crisis.
“It’s like two real, generally crappy, brilliant people and our goal is to pull off those real moments with this giant backdrop,” she said.
Cahn said she was glad to get the chance to work with Janney again (Cahn was a writer on “The West Wing”) but she was also nervous.
“I was terrified into complete inability to write for a long time, because I’d worked with her a long time ago, and it was really, really great. And 20 years later, was it gonna be as good?” Cahn said. “I didn’t want it to just be ‘West Wing’-y. I wanted it to be its own thing. I wanted the character to be something new and germane to this ecosystem that we built.”
By the final seconds of the season, Janney’s Penn proves to be that and more.
‘Music by John Williams’
Fans of film scores of the past 50 years may want to check out “Music by John Williams,” a 105-minute documentary streaming Nov. 1 on Disney about the genius composer behind the themes from “Star Wars,” “Jaws,” “ET” and the Indiana Jones and Harry Potter series.
Even if you think you remember all of Williams’ scores, it’s still a shock in the first five minutes of the documentary to hear brief clips from so many pieces of entertainment and realize just how much of Williams’ recognizable music dominates American culture, from the original “Superman” theme to “Home Alone” to “Jurassic Park” to NBC’s Olympic fanfare.
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“It seems like these themes have been with us forever,” says Seth McFarlane, one of more than a dozen interview subjects in the documentary. “He sat down and figured them out and now they’re part of our collective psyches.”
RIP Anne Linaberger
Condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of former KDKA-TV news director Anne Linaberger, who died last week at age 62 after a brief illness.
Prior to her 20-year stint at KDKA as an executive producer and newsroom executive, Linaberger worked at WTAE-AM and WTAE-TV as a news reporter and producer. A celebration of Linaberger’s life will be held at 11 a.m. Nov. 16 at Northmont Presbyterian Church.
Channel surfing
SportsNet Pittsburgh will offer alternate broadcasts of Penguins game, hosted by Hannah Mears and Max Talbot and titled “Unobstructed Views,” on streaming via SportsNet Pittsburgh and SNP 360 for games airing at 7 p.m. Nov. 23, Dec. 17, Jan. 11, Feb. 4 and March 11. … WQED-TV has made Rick Sebak’s 1991 documentary “George Romero the City of the Living Dead” available on streaming for the first time via WQED Passport. … Jon Stewart extended his return to “The Daily Show.” He’ll continue to host Monday nights through 2025. … Netflix renewed “Virgin River” for a seventh season. … Amazon’s Prime Video renewed “The Legend of Vox Machina” for a fourth season. … Prime Video reduced the third and final season of “Good Omens” to a single, 90-minute episode. … The National Comedy Center in Jamestown, N.Y., has a new exhibit, on display through 2025, celebrating the comedy and civic engagement legacy of the late TV writer Norman Lear. It includes rare archival material and curated excerpts from Lear’s TV comedies.