Netflix's 'The Diplomat' Season 2 is the political fantasy of the moment: Review

The world is in flames, countries are at each others’ throats and politicians are screaming in rage.

No, I’m not talking about the 2024 presidential race, but rather the second season of Netflix’s Keri Russell political thriller, “The Diplomat” ( ★★★ out of four), aptly streaming now, at the climax of this election year.

Because if you’re the kind of person who wants distraction from the real world of politics with a fake one that has more ridiculous conspiracies and government officials in nice suits making flirty eyes at one another, “Diplomat” happily delivers. And it does so with the help of this year’s coup d’etat of a guest star: Allison Janney of “The West Wing” fame. If you want to level up from casting Russell, who played everyone’s favorite Russian spy for years on “The Americans,” you can really only do it with the likes of C.J. Cregg.

“Diplomat” Season 2 begins immediately after the big Season 1 cliffhanger, in which four characters were standing next to a car when it exploded on a London street. That's because ever since career foreign service officer Kate Wyler (Russell) took the job as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom amid a crisis for our friends across the pond, things have gone from bad to worse.

Kate, her meddling husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) and U.K. foreign minister Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) have tried to uncover those responsible for an attack on a British aircraft carrier, and all signs point to an inside job involving Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear).

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As Hal, Kate’s deputy Stuart (Ato Essandoh) and another embassy officer head into emergency surgery after getting caught in the blast, Kate and her CIA chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) try to unravel the conspiracy. They do so in the same messy, harried manner that Kate did everything in Season 1, but this time the stakes seem even higher. “Diplomat," like all the best talky thrillers, can make a cocktail party as tense as a battle scene. Each twist that unfolds feels both deeply shocking and inevitable.

Janney appears midseason as Vice President Grace Penn, who unexpectedly arrives in London and shakes things up in an aggressive manner that marks a deliberate callback to Janney’s “Wing” character. It is tantalizing to see the Emmy-winning actress dressed in pantsuits yelling at government officials again, so “Diplomat” gets points for the nostalgia bait as well as the very good plot twist that comes with her appearance (don’t worry, no spoilers here).

Aside from its guest star, everything that was great about “Diplomat” remains so, and even a smidge better. Russell is dynamic, magnetic and surprisingly hilarious, still the main draw even as her co-stars get deeper backstories and plots.

Sewell is a smarmy charmer all over again, only slightly humbled by his brush with death at the end of Season 1. And Ahn is a delightful standout as the unluckiest CIA station chief on the globe, as Eidra is dragged into Kate’s diplomatic kerfuffles, risking her career. Ahn gives her spy character a buttoned-up rage so convincing you might forget the same actress plays a free-spirit rocker witch on Disney+’s “Agatha All Along.” This time the material meets Ahn's talent.

“Diplomat” will never be a realistic representation of international relations, but the series is fun and engrossing. The pace is fast, and so is the dialogue. The characters are appealing and the actors are talented. The episodes aren’t too long and the settings are gorgeous. And the ludicrous twists of diplomacy that make up the roller-coaster plot only make it that much more addictive.

It might just be exactly the kind of political fantasy to match our current moment: it feels authentic and enthralling, but the developments are too outlandish to be a part of real life.

Well, at least for now.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Diplomat' Season 2 review: A political fantasy