The role of the American ambassador in this The diplomat (Netflix) was described by Foreign Policy magazine as “uncovering devious international conspiracies while surrounded by good-looking people who all know the president personally.” This is true, although the most popular person here is Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) herself, who is a total knockout.

Series one offered fish-out-of-water fun as Wyler, a serious type hoping for a post in Kabul, was instead sent to London and immediately donned designer eveningwear for a Vogue photo shoot on the lawns of Winfield House . This was accompanied by Homeland-style intrigue about an attack on a British aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran, but it was the personal matters, including Wyler’s troubled relationship with her husband (Rufus Sewell), that provided the most entertainment.

Series two reduces the fun and focuses on the terrorism plot. It starts right where the last episode left us: with the aftermath of a deadly car bomb. One person is dead and the others are physically and psychologically scarred. The sound of fireworks at a Fourth of July party is triggering.

Once again, the cartoon villains here are not the Iranians or the Russians, but the dastardly British. Wyler suspects that the Royal Navy attack could have been a false flag operation orchestrated by none other than British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear).