‘The Diplomat’ Works Best When You Give It Your Full Attention
It is not, by any means, easy to dip into a show like The Diplomat, Netflix’s imposing new political drama (premiering April 20). The series seems to pride itself on its density, making no effort to ingratiate itself to viewers that need a little hand-holding. From the jump, The Diplomat is shifting pieces around the board at a brisk pace, with characters entrenched in layers-upon-layers of complex detail before they’ve even had a chance to tell us what their names are. Its rapidly flying geopolitical buzzwords would be hard enough to follow, if the show’s velocity weren’t already challenging audiences not to get distracted by a barking dog or a push notification.
That’s as deliberate as it is surprising. The Diplomat was created by Debora Cahn, who co-produced and wrote similarly daunting shows like The West Wing and Homeland. Now, Cahn brings the narrative intricacies of those shows to Netflix, a streamer beloved for its conceptual programming—which isn’t exactly designed to be viewed with much intention. Netflix produces and distributes hits that are great for viewers with a short attention span.
Its product even affirms this, with options to watch shows at 1.5 times the speed of their normal rate. That's not to mention that ever-frustrating autoplay interface, which screams content previews at you until you choose a selection or become so irate, you close the app and move somewhere else.