- [Kate] We don't have anyone in London right now.
- A bad time not to have anyone in London.
25 of their sailors get killed
because Iran wants to send me a message.
- The president is asking you
to serve as ambassador to the United Kingdom.
We have a plane waiting, we'd like you to get on it.
- There are two kinds of ambassadors.
There are those who are
what are called political ambassadors and they go
to beautiful places like London and Paris and Rome.
And then there are people
who are career foreign service officers who go
to Afghanistan and Beirut and crisis zones
and Kate's one of those people.
(camera clicks)
- Kate is definitely a reluctant volunteer.
She is plucked from doing what she deems is important work
and placed in London, which tends to be more
about dinner parties and the pageantry.
Jesus Christ.
- She doesn't like that stuff.
She's not suited for that stuff.
She doesn't have any experience with it.
It's also the first time that she and her husband have gone
to a place where she's the one sort of out
in front end in the spotlight and he's in the back seat.
- Her husband was a kind of big shot ambassador
but also a liability and he comes along to help.
You're here to patch things up with the bridge.
You gotta keep the focus tight.
- I'm not doing this the way you would.
- Well that's fine.
Just don't do it wrong.
- The Diplomat is a show about long-term relationships
about marriages between people and marriages
between countries and it gets hard to keep that going
for a long time.
- It might be dangerous to be America's enemy, but
to be its friend is fatal.
(camera clicks)
Within this political landscape
what the creators have done really well is write
some really interesting relational drama.
(cup clinks)
You think they'll say that I poisoned him.
- You didn't, did you?
- Did you?
- Not my style.
- [Stuart] We gotta get you to your speech.
- Kill it.
I hate speeches.
- The job is like 80% speeches.
(camera clicks)
Because of the way the script moves,
because of the relationships, because
of the dynamics, it's something
that I think is very compelling.
- We are talking to every intelligence service on the map.
We'll figure out who did it.
(camera clinks)
I think what makes this show special is
these are big personalities.
So I'm excited for the audience to get to know the people
behind the political machine.
- There's a lot going on in this world.
We have an incredible ensemble.
We have a whole cast of people
who are just shockingly versatile and playful.
- Welcome.
- Sir, it's an honor to meet you.
- Ah, honor to be met.
- Rory Kinnear is just a powerhouse and like so much
of our cast able to play drama
and comedy in the same moment.
- [Stuart] The Russians blew up our warship.
- We need a bomb.
Something that smells like herring.
- And Michael McKean is obviously a comedy god
and also an incredible dramatic actor.
And this is a role where he can bring it all
to the table and in a way that's so satisfying.
- An attack on one is an attack on all.
One just got attacked.
- You're scared your enemies think you're too old
and frail to put Americans in the line of fire.
- Do people like you?
- The world is real but it's
all the stupid immature things that happen within the world.
I can't think straight if you are
within a hundred mile radius.
I am begging you go.
- Hopefully this is a funny and moving depiction
of a marriage and an alliance with a bunch of people
who are infuriating and irresistible at the same time.
- Katie, the vice president is gonna resign
and they want you to replace her.
- I am not cut out for this.
- Someone should watch her.
She looks ridiculous.
(atmospheric sounds)