La Diplomate

I'm sure anyone with the slightest knowledge of the inner workings of an ambassador's role will find this far fetched, but the characters are interesting, the dialogue is sharp and the plot is propulsive.

Season one sets up the characters and the situation, season two raises the stakes even higher and leaves us on a cliffhanger revelation that begs for a season 3.

One minor quibble for season 2 is the choice of actor to play the Scottish first minister.. Someone who could pull of the accent would have been a better choice . They might also have been able to point out that fire in Scots, much like in the US has two syllables ( fye ur) rendering the witty exchange on the subject rather flat ..

There's a moment, I think it was about mid-way through Season 1 of the series, that one of the sub-plots went slightly in a different direction than I had expected, and it was a good thing.

Otherwise, the dysfunctional relationships - both personal and professional - among the major characters somehow works and I like it. The writers did a good job of keeping the action tightly focused.

Both the characters and plots work. Sure, it's not very believable but it's fun and at times tense. "Madam Secretary" this is not; nor is it "Veep". And that's a very good thing.

I should also mention that the acting and dialogues are also quite good. The casting was well done. Are they believable? Again, no. But that's ok. Very fast I understood that this is a fantasy, not reality.

Netflix did a good job on this one. I'm really looking forward to Season 2. Please don't f--- it up.

Oh my goodness! Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger with of gigantic proportions. Season 2 had me almost in a heart attack in the closing few minutes of Season 2.

I do not know if my heart can take a Season 3.

I initially thought this was a lo key, slow burn political drama. Maybe another kind of *feel good* tv drama like Madame Secretary.

Boy, was I wrong. The Diplomat will have you on the edge of your seat each episode. Binge watching them like a starved animal.

This is political theatre at its very finest. It's even more cut throat than my wildest dreams.

And, even if it's only 1 tenth true of what REALLY happens in USA politics and the various agencies (CIA, Secret Service, Diplomacy) it is still a wild ride.

Keri Russell is once again in a strong female protagonist role that reminded me why I loved her performance so much in "The Americans" She is outstanding!

Absolutely top tier production and acting throughout. The screenplay is clever and interesting, engaging and well-paced. Character development is pretty robust, and the players aren't simple caricatures. Again and again a character at first appears to be one-dimensional, but then the story develops and they actually are much more complex than the first blush.

My only complaint is that some of the injected "romance" storylines are so ham-fisted and out of place they are disjointed and jarring. Professional situations that suddenly devolve into "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy" seemingly out of nowhere. Someone decided to soap opera the show up a bit and it does not improve the result.

This was so good I binged all 8 eps and started screaming in frustration at the tv when the last one ended. I would have happily sat and watched another 8 eps.

One of those rare gems where every character in the quality ensemble cast has a well-developed personality, where every plot twist, even the most complex, can be followed.

This is original, clever and really, really well made.

~~~~ Thats all I want to say but apparently I have to write 600 characters, which seems like a lot at this late time of night, especially after 8 hours solid of wonderful television when I really want to go and get some sleep.