TV Talk: The Diplomat is Netflix’s best current drama

Netflix has said it aims to create TV shows that are similar to “gourmet cheeseburgers,” but those patties tend to come off the grill at McDonald’s rather than Five Guys. However, the return of drama The Diplomat is that Netflix rarity: a great show.

Now streaming all six episodes of its second season, The Diplomat picks up the cliffhanger from the first season, in which an explosion in central London potentially claimed the life of Hal (Rufus Sewell), the near-ex-husband of US Ambassador to England Kate Wyler (Keri Russell).

It wouldn’t be a spoiler to say that Hal survived, considering the show is as much about marriage (like Russell’s The Americans on FX) as it is about political drama. But it’s the interplay between the personal and the political that so often drives this season’s plot, including the wildly unpredictable season finale.

At the start of season two, events that qualify as terrorism may have been carried out by leaders of the British government, leaving Kate to wonder what the truth is. Can she trust the whispers of Prime Minister Margaret “Meg” Roelin (Celia Imrie)? What about British Foreign Secretary (and potential love interest) Austin Dennison (David Gyasi)?

Kate also has complicated relationships with her American colleagues, especially CIA station chief Aidra Park (the scene-stealing Ali Ahn) and shady deputy chief of mission Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh).

Additionally, West Wing alum Allison Janney will join the cast as US Vice President Grace Penn. Although Jenny navigates the same geopolitical waters as the NBC classic – she even has one chalkboard scene where she’s the smartest person in the room, akin to her West Wing character C.J. Cragg – Jenny’s Vice President shows harsher edges by criticizing Kate’s look, including her hair, which must be a meta-reference to 25 years of work on Russell’s hair fiasco in Felicity.

At The Diplomat’s virtual press conference last month, series creator Deborah Kahn (Homeland, The West Wing, Paterno) revealed that the events of the second season were supposed to take place in the first season.

“I was two-thirds of the way through the first season and realized I couldn’t get through the story in the time allotted, so it was cut,” she said. “We were able to take what was in the climax of the first season and turn it into the entire second season.”

Russell said that in the first season, Kate was a fish out of water in her new role as US ambassador to England, but the second season largely leaves that theme behind.

“Something traumatic happened,” Russell said, “so we’re just moving towards it. She doesn’t have a lot of time to introspect and think about all the things she’s doing wrong.”

Hal’s injury interrupts the couple’s planned divorce.

“There’s a lot of emotional dust in the air,” Sewell said of Kate and Hal. “There is reconciliation. This happens. But this does not mean that all other changes have disappeared.”

Kate’s experiences in her new job give her insight into Hal’s choices when he was U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon.

“She’s in a position where she can see parts of herself in him,” Sewell said. “She thought it was him, but it could be work.”

Russell said her favorite moments in the series are the small ones, like when she rips a Band-Aid off her husband in the midst of a high-stakes geopolitical crisis.

“It’s like two real, basically trashy, brilliant people, and our goal is to capture these real moments against this giant backdrop,” she said.

Kahn said she was excited to work with Jenny again (Kahn was a writer on “The West Wing”), but she was also nervous.

“I was terrified of not being able to write for a long time because I had been working with her for a long time and it was really, really great. And 20 years later, will everything still be as good?” – said Kahn. “I didn’t want it to just be West Wing style.” I wanted it to stand on its own. I wanted this character to be something new and relevant to the ecosystem we’ve created.”

By the final seconds of the season, Jenny Penn proves that and much more.

“The Music of John Williams”

Fans of film scores from the last 50 years may want to check out The Music of John Williams, a 105-minute documentary streaming November 1 on Disney+ about the genius composer behind the themes from Star Wars, Jaws. ET” and the Indiana Jones and Harry Potter series.

Even if you think you remember all of Williams’ scores, in the first five minutes of the documentary it will still be a shock to hear short snippets of so much entertainment and realize just how recognizable Williams’ music has dominated American culture, starting with the original “Superman” theme, ” Home Alone,” “Jurassic Park” and the NBC Olympic Fanfare.

“It feels like these themes have been with us forever,” says Seth MacFarlane, one of more than a dozen interviewees in the documentary. “He sat down and sorted them out, and now they are part of our collective psyche.”

Rest in peace, Anne Linaberger

Condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of former KDKA-TV news director Anna Linaberger, who died last week at age 62 after a short illness.

Prior to her 20-year tenure at KDKA as an executive producer and news director, Linaberger worked at WTAE-AM and WTAE-TV as a reporter and producer. A celebration of Linaberger’s life will be held at 11 a.m. Nov. 16 at Northmont Presbyterian Church.

View channels

SportsNet Pittsburgh will offer alternative coverage of the Penguins game hosted by Hannah Mears and Max Talbot called “Unobstructed Viewing” streaming via SportsNet Pittsburgh+ and SNP 360 for games airing at 7:00 pm on November 23, December 17 , January 11. February 4 and March 11… WQED-TV has made Rick Sebak’s 1991 documentary “George Romero, City of the Living Dead” available for streaming for the first time via WQED Passport. … Jon Stewart has extended his return to “The Daily Show.” He will continue to host Monday nights until 2025. … Netflix has renewed Virgin River for a seventh season. … Amazon’s Prime Video has renewed The Legend of Vox Machina for a fourth season. …Prime Video has cut the third and final season of Good Omens to one 90-minute episode. … National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York, new exhibitionwhich will be on display until 2025, celebrating the comedic and civic legacy of the late television writer Norman Lear. It includes rare archival material and carefully selected clips from Lear’s television comedies.