The Diplomat

Netflix

With the fact that The Diplomat has higher critic and audience scores for season 2 than season 1, I find myself needing to ask, did people actually finish this season?

I have many issues with season 2. Even though I can accept that it was not the seemingly-evil PM that ordered the false flag attack against his country, the “conspirators” seemingly include some random guy that is just named and never seen or heard from for the entirety of the season, despite being a key force in how that attack unfolded.

Second, I do not understand how the Vice President remotely has the ability to backchannel and set up this kind of massively important attack with this collection of UK miscreants, though I suppose I am willing to suspend disbelief for that one just so the show has a real villain again.

But that ending? Come on.

The end of season 1 with the car bombing to attempt to cover up the plot made at least some amount of sense and was a solid cliffhanger to end on, even if you knew which main characters would survive (RIP Ronnie).

The end of season 2? Again, I realize this is a TV show that puts let’s say, much higher stakes on a normal ambassadorship compared to real life, but the turn here did not seem grounded in the world established here at all. Hal takes the information about the scheming Vice President to the President directly who…then apparently has a heart attack and dies on the spot. This makes the villainous Vice President, President immediately. I get that it raises the stakes and gives the show the most powerful villain of all now, but that was a ridiculous way to set up that situation.
Hal literally killing the President with a piece of news, however unsettling, at that exact, ultra-convenient moment for the plot is just a bridge too far in terms of plausibility. Not to mention what, Hal actually saw him die and be pronounced dead on a Zoom call when obviously he would be rushed to a hospital? Granted we didn’t see the call, and maybe we will next season, but come on.
I like this show, but elements of this season just did not work for me, culminating in a finale that I cannot describe as anything but bizarre. While yes, I think it’s interesting to change the dynamic of the show and now have the President be a sworn enemy to Kate, the way this unfolded was nonsensical. The President dying? Okay. That exact moment? Killed by Hal’s news? No, I don’t like that (even if of course I will watch next season).