Diplomat - drama series

The latest season of Diplomat was probably the slowest and most inconsequential it felt to start with. There are 3 power couples, the president and her husband, the vice president and his wife and the deputy chief of mission with the CIA head of station for UK. It felt like a regular soap opera with so many cribbings and spouse quarrels and never felt like watching a story with politics as its theme. Like the previous season, the series picks up midway when it finally realizes its theme and the second half of the series shoots off vertically. In fact of all the four seasons, this one felt actually true to its title and dealt with more diplomacy than all of the previous 24 episodes put together. In many ways, it felt like a hat tip to the incumbent and his belligerence. Having been shot at early in the series, the American president is airlifted to their warship where she is operated upon successfully. Even before her VP could have a taste of the powerful position she is back in no time to pursue her role and goal. A near blackmail threat by the US ambassador for UK, who is also the titular leading lady of the series, results in the UK PM resigning and the lady who succeeds him, gives the coldest of shoulder possible to US. With the ever looming threat of how the US stole the deadly Russian missle from right under the noses of British and how they were cooly trying to cover it up, being made nastily public, only to be compounded by the new British PM's promise to Russia to pick the bodies of their dead soldiers, which is met with an over aggressive stand by the US president who rushes warships, resulting in a mexican standoff like situation with UK surprisingly finding itself favoring Russia. Add the chaos, a first gentleman of US, who feels emasculated by the president and decides to take up the something worthwhile to puruse, ending up as special envoy to UK. His lack of diplomacy results in near dissolution of Nato at the G7 summit, with the entire entourage of the US president, right from her VP, secretary of state, chief of staff and ambassador to UK all of them submitting their resignation in front of the entire G7 summit members, unable to come to terms with the over aggressive stance of their president, resulting in the series ending in a cliff hanger.

The way they've gone ahead and setup the G7 summit or be it the detailing with which they go about the meetings between top level government delegates, the series is super charged and well researched to say the least. It does takes its time to find its feet but once they are set it is all rocket charge to the finish and typical to every other season, the ending is a cliff hanger that makes the wait for the next season all the more worthy. I liked the way wordings play a crucial role on diplomacy which is their literal bread and butter. The message of the American president to send warships is conveyed thrice by three different people, with three different roles - Ambassador and VP who are well versed in diplomacy and by the husband of the president as special envoy. The choice of wordings, the way it is conveyed and the varying levels of confidence with which each of them deliver it, is all class. The final sequence where they resign en masse is pure mass. Eagerlly looking forward to next season.