The Diplomat Season 3 Hooks You Fast — Keri Russell Powers a Slick, Addictive Thriller

Netflix dragged me back into the Situation Room. The Diplomat is back for season 3, and it is somehow sharper, juicier, and more fun than last time. It is the rare political thriller that is tense and witty at the same time, and this run is easily the show firing on all cylinders: writing that snaps, performances that never wobble, and episodes that make you say 'ok, just one more' and then it is 2 a.m.

Where season 2 left us (and why everyone is mad)

Quick reset: Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) and her husband/chaos engine Hal (Rufus Sewell, 'Dark City') uncovered that Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney, yes, the Oscar winner) was behind the bombing of a British warship and the subsequent cover-up. Hal took that intel to President Rayburn (Michael McKean, 'Better Call Saul'). Rayburn promptly suffered a fatal heart attack. Penn became President. Awkward.

The kicker: Penn already had reasons to resent Kate. Rayburn had tried to bump Penn from his reelection ticket and slide Kate in as his new running mate. So now the person in the Oval believes Kate and Hal essentially ended her boss’s life and almost ended her career. Not exactly a forgiving setup.

Season 3 setup: secrets, leverage, and very thin ice

Kate and Hal now sit on the grenade: proof that President Penn orchestrated an attack on a British ship. Use it, and they might protect global stability. Use it wrong, and they blow up American politics, the UK alliance, and their own lives. They are trying to keep a moral compass in a game where morality is usually optional.

To keep the fallout contained, they hide the truth from almost everyone around them, including Kate’s deputy chief of mission Stuart (Ato Essandoh, 'Evil') and CIA London station chief Eidra (Ali Ahn). Across the pond, they have to keep the secret from the UK Prime Minister (Rory Kinnear) and foreign secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi, 'The Rings of Power') — who is also Kate’s not-so-secret crush — to avoid a historic diplomatic implosion.

Complication on top of complication: President Penn’s husband, Todd (Bradley Whitford, 'The West Wing'), is a First Gentleman working the quiet channels. He is smart, restless, and increasingly threatened by how much influence Kate and Hal wield in his wife’s world.

Who is playing which chess piece this season

• Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, the US ambassador whose instincts are lethal and heart inconveniently attached
• Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler, the brilliant meddler who charms and destabilizes in equal measure
• Allison Janney as President Grace Penn, newly in power and sitting on a combustible secret
• Michael McKean as the late President Rayburn, whose death still drives the gameboard
• Rory Kinnear as the UK Prime Minister, a critical ally kept dangerously in the dark
• David Gyasi as Austin Dennison, the UK foreign secretary who might be the only person who gets Kate
• Bradley Whitford as Todd Penn, First Gentleman and very motivated backroom operator
• Ato Essandoh as Stuart Heyford, Kate’s trusted deputy who is not getting the whole story
• Ali Ahn as Eidra Park, the CIA station chief with antennae up

How the season plays

Created by Debora Cahn, the show keeps its trademark: fast, flinty dialogue attached to people who are too smart for their own good. Season 3 nudges the tone a hair darker and makes loyalty a moving target. Allegiances flip, principles bend, and every phone call feels like a trap and a lifeline at the same time.

The writing is meticulous without feeling fussy, spinning ideology, ego, and policy into something that actually cooks. It is funny when it wants to be, low-key romantic when it can afford to be, and then suddenly very tense. It unfolds like a genuinely propulsive novel — chapter by chapter, revelation by revelation — but retains TV snap.

The secret sauce is still Kate and Hal

As addictive as the plot is, the series lives or dies on the marriage at its center. Russell and Sewell are superb. Her Kate is all steel and frayed edges; his Hal is charisma mixed with manipulation. Together, they feel like a real couple: drawn to each other’s brains and bodies, undone by each other’s blind spots. Russell is doing the best work of her career here, and Sewell matches her beat for beat.

Bottom line: should you watch?

Absolutely. Season 3 is lean, suspenseful, and weirdly sexy, anchored by knockout performances and razor-sharp writing. It is one of the few streaming shows that manages to be high-stakes and human at the same time.

Release details

The Diplomat season 3 premieres on Netflix on October 16. There are eight episodes this season; I screened all eight for this review.