2950

Diplomat is a new show starring Kery Russell and a bunch of other recognizable faces. First episode going along well. It feels well done with a bunch of different dimensions (departamental infighting, coalition building, geopolitics, optics, media appearances, marriage woes.)

2951

I was curious about that, Russell was brilliant in Americans.

2952

The Diplomat is really good. Thematically kind of like an inverse House of Cards, with the main character is trying to be selfless and good. In addition to back room backstabbing also a bigger focus on the greater workings and working together parts of diplomacy and politics.

There is a risk and a bunch of setup of that heinous American crime, turning everything into a soap opera. So far very interesting and entertaining though.

2953

I started the first episode of The Diplomat being uncomfortable with two things: Rufus Sewell being all happy, relaxed and quippy, and a crucial plot point that made absolutely no sense given the character involved (i.e. the plan to make a conscientious policy wonk who hates ceremony VP.) Fortunately both are addressed quite promptly, and in interesting and unexpected ways.

2954

That struck me, too, but they explain the reasoning in a subsequent episode. They intend her to take a very different approach to the role. It made sense to me.

I like The Diplomat. I’ll watch Keri Russell and Rufus Sewel in anything, as both are good in everything. This may not measure up to The Americans or Man in the High Castle, but it’s still one of the better shows Netflix has put out this year. I hope we get another season or two.

2955

We had better, after the way it ends.

2956

I’ll put in another vote for The Diplomat. Just finished Episode 1 and thought it was really good.

2957

So, cliffhanger, no satisfying season conclusion that can serve as finale?

2958

That about covers it. Hopefully it indicates their confidence they’re doing another.

2959

I tried Beef based on what was written here, but I had to turn it off after about 10 minutes. Watching a show about people who are miserable and everything in the world conspires to grind them down is not something I need in my life now. Or, really, ever.

I think the last thing like this I liked was I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.

Weirdly, I also tried to watch Fired on Mars this weekend (not on Netflix, HBO Max), and it was the same thing, just misery porn. Not sure why that’s such a popular genre these days!

2960

To be fair, Beef calms down after the first two episodes. Episode 3 is much less misery, and then the show ends up in a less miserable place at the end as well.

2961

Well, that’s good to know. Who knows, maybe I will go back to it when I am in a different mood.

2963

Ya…even after the first 5 minutes, I was stressed and dont need any extra in my head.

2964

I highly recommend Maestro or Maestro in Blue, it is a Greek drama set on the island of Paxos. Very well acted and well written. I won’t say anymore to avoid spoilers.

@tomchick you will definitely appreciate this.

2965

The Brits in this are like the Americans in Squid Game :)

2966

I watched the first couple episodes of Florida Man and it just seems… mediocre? Not enough Clark Gregg, for one thing. The male lead just has no charisma at all. He seems like a schlub, it is totally unbelievable that the female lead gives him the time of day (although maybe she’s just using him, who knows). And why does he have this strong accent that his sister and father don’t have?

2967

Thank goodness. I really like the show, and it ended on a monster-size cliffhanger.

2968

Yeah, that bugged me too about the accent. He is not a good lead for a show. Like you said, no real charisma. I watched two episodes and ditched it.

2969

Yeah, that was a big relief to see the renewal. My favorite show in quite a while.

I’m assuming it’s relatively cheap to make compared to an action series, but I could be completely wrong on that. I am curious as to how much of the show is green screened (I assume they aren’t actually filming in front of the actual US Embassy even though the building looks right). Are there pre-made high-quality CGI models of London that everyone can just buy and reuse or are they actually flying a drone around to get the aerial footage?

Also the UK carrier looked pretty awful (particularly with the completely flat sea as far as the eye could see), so clearly they didn’t spend much budget on that — which is fine, that’s not the shows focus and it was good enough to get the idea across.