“There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.” This quote by Baron de Montesquieu is one I thought of often while watching The Diplomat Season 4, as Keri Russell’s Kate Wyler takes on her biggest challenge yet: a President that flagrantly crosses lines and flouts order. 

It’s not entirely a spoiler to give away the fact that this new season of Debora Cahn’s Emmy-nominated drama sees U.S. President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) taking liberties with rules and procedures, especially after Season 3 ended with the discovery that Penn and her VP, Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), organized a covert operation into an ally’s territory to steal a nuclear weapon off a sunken Russian vessel. The discovery has catastrophic implications for the U.S.-UK relationship and for the world at large, especially if Russia were to discover that the apocalypse weapon is missing and turn their head to Britain as the possible culprit. 

It’s the mess of that mission that kicks off Season 4 and leads viewers into the show’s most ambitious installment yet, which challenges Kate in new and completely unexpected ways. At the heart of the season is the question: what do you do when the leader of the free world is uncooperative with allies and outright combative with opponents… sound at all familiar? Despite touching on issues that might hit a little too close to home for some viewers, the show magnificently balances the domestic and international concerns while weaving in characters and storylines that cross continents, and does it with the signature levity that the audience has become accustomed to. 

In allowing Grace Penn to become the most levelheaded appearing authoritarian she can be — a role Janney executes flawlessly — The Diplomat Season 4 puts Kate in her most precarious situation yet, as she manages the internal fallout, a husband that she seemingly cannot trust to keep her home country out of war, and a rising tide of anti-American sentiment from the last time Grace Penn overstepped. And given that “overstepped” in this context references her authorizing a deadly attack on a UK vessel, the scale of Penn’s actions cannot be overstated. That raising of the stakes, however, pushes the stellar cast — which also includes Bradley Whitford, Ato Essandoh, Ali Ahn, and Nana Mensah — to the edge in an exciting takedown of overzealous politicians and complicit bystanders. 

Once again, the series excels at setting up pulse-raising moments that leave you on the edge of your seat, with more than half of this season’s episodes ending on a high note that requires swiftly starting the next episode. To call The Diplomat one of the most dramatic series on television is an understatement, as few shows have resulted in receiving an elevated heart rate notification from my Apple Watch. Trust that if you found the first three seasons of this political thriller intriguing and intellectually stimulating, you haven’t seen anything yet. 

One particular high point of the season happens to be the back-and-forth between Kate and Hal in the U.S. and the UK, as they navigate attempting to mend a severely damaged relationship and a love that just won’t seem to die. That effort is in spite of growing tension in their professional lives, especially with Grace Penn’s reckless and dangerous constitution when it comes to the country’s relationship, both positive and negative, with other nations. Effortlessly, the show manages to manipulate the stakes of both the personal and the professional problems to feel as global as can be, resulting in a nonstop thrill ride that will keep fans guessing on what happens next. It’s an installment like The Diplomat Season 4 that sets the bar for other TV shows, becomes the gold standard for excellent storytelling, and proves why it deserves the moniker of best show on television. 

Unsurprisingly, given the heightened stakes of Season 4’s unexpected arms conflict, Russell, Sewell, Janney, and Whitford craft four of the most nuanced and delightful characters on Netflix at the moment. With the show’s outright refusal to make any one person a hero or an unjustified villain — one particular storyline at the beginning of the season contributes heavily to the audience understanding Grace Penn’s slide into the role of tyrant — The Diplomat requires its fans to carefully examine all actions and motivations before making any judgments. This, in turn, allows the core actors to play with characters who experience every emotion and feeling and take it to extremes, which is a seamless task for arguably the most phenomenal cast on television. It’s rare that a promotional photo gets me excited, but even the Season 4 poster — which features Janney, Russell, Sewell, and Whitford’s characters hunched over and seemingly in cahoots — speaks to the magic that these actors create together. 

Make no mistake, though, the supporting cast holds their own. While every season is bolstered by the underlings, Season 4 is made immeasurably better by powerful performances from new and returning stars. Special flowers this season go to Essandoh, the actor behind the role of Stuart, who has always been a point of levity for the show, but truly steals the scene in every moment this season. Stellar comedic timing and a seriousness that waxes and wanes from moment to moment make Essandoh an underrated highlight of The Diplomat Season 4. 

Excellent reviews for The Diplomat are certainly nothing new for the show that is (at least critically speaking) one of the highest-rated programs around. It’s not groundbreaking for me to say that the team is making a seriously distinguishable show in a sea of mediocre series and shoddy content. But by looking to the real world for inspiration and tapping into its deep well of talent both in front of the camera and behind, the show goes to a new level, making it as important and necessary for the time as it is entertaining. It’s safe to say that The Diplomat Season 4 is a feat of true storytelling. 

The Diplomat is now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix offers three subscription plans to fit your streaming needs. The plans start at $7.99/month for standard with ads and go up to $24.99/month for unlimited ad-free streaming in up to 4K UHD quality.