The Diplomat Season 4 No Spoiler Review: Still One of the Best Shows Ever Made, With a Season Ender That Will Take Your Breath Away

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The Diplomat is one of the best shows to ever exist, and four seasons in, it’s still growing strong.

Debora Cahn created it for Netflix, and all eight episodes of Season 4 dropped on October 15. It’s very Sorkin, and it makes sense: Cahn was a writer on The West Wing (1999), and two of her leads, Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford, came from that show too. For me, it’s right up there with the best series of all time: The Newsroom (2012), True Detective: Night Country (2024), and Midnight Mass (2021).

Some series try to copy the formula. Mix heightened global stakes with interpersonal, and really personal, interactions and relationships. But a lot of the newer ones fail. The Diplomat delivers it the best.

Consider that this season, the President and the Vice President, along with both their spouses, are all in action. That’s President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) and her husband Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford), and Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) and his wife, Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell). It took them four seasons to get here, but here we are.

There’s also a slight allusion to the current state of some of the most influential nations in the world. What if the heads of state are not fit for office? Are we all doomed to war and global destruction? The stakes couldn’t be any higher.

The season starts out steady (I almost feel like Season 3 was just okay), but it builds up to a really powerful and interesting season ender, one that will take your breath away. I had tears welling up, and my heart was pounding. And now they’re going to make me wait another year for closure.

A truly amazing series. Binge it all; it’s worth it. All four seasons are streaming on Netflix.

★★★★★ for me.

If you want to see what else I’ve been watching, I’m on Letterboxd.