Netflix’s original series The Diplomat ,season one episode five entitled “The Dogcatcher,” starts with Keri Russell’s Kate Wyler as she deals with the aftermath following the death of the Iranian ambassador. From what the viewer can see, Kate is stuck in a meeting with the rest of the British government as she was somewhat involved in the incident. This is due to her arranging a meeting to deal with the crisis. The surprising part about this is how everyone quickly shows her respect as she is the one who helped find the truth about the culprit of the British Navy ship bombings. This demonstrates how Kate is finally finding her footing as now people will start to acknowledge that she knows what she is doing. Unfortunately, as the meeting progresses, they seem to push her to the side when she has a different opinion on how to deal with things.
Additionally, the viewer sees everyone at the meeting holding in their frustrations as Rory Kinnear’s Prime Minister Trowbridge comes to see what everyone has come up with for his new statement addressing the crisis. However, from what the viewer can see, the Prime Minister is an arrogant man who only wants to do what he wants to look good. This is demonstrated by how he only wants to accuse Russia following the new evidence gathered by Kate and issue an apology to Iran. In his mind, he wants to show everyone that he is a man of action that focuses on keeping his people safe. He believes that taking time to apologize to Iran will show people that he is weak. Deep down it would seem that he is scared of others realizing that he does not know what he is doing. This is demonstrated by how he first shows up in a fancy car that gives off the feeling of him overcompensating for him not being the smartest person. Another example is how he demands to get what he wants in a manner that he tries to play it off as him being firm. However, it comes off as him acting as if he is in control of the meeting and the situation.
Towards the end of the episode, Rufus Sewell’s Hal Wyler is seen by the viewer settling into his role as the husband wife as he is taking a step back. This is a result of him wanting to let Kate have her time in the spotlight. Unfortunately, by the look on his face he is having a hard time adjusting to this. This is demonstrated by how bored he is as he sits around waiting for the meeting to be over. The interesting part about this is how the viewer expects Hal to step in at any moment and do something to undermine Kate. This is demonstrated by how the Prime Minister asks him for his advice. At that moment it is clear to see on his face that he really wants to say something. Unfortunately, he decides to remain silent on the matter as he wants Kate to have her time.
At end of the episode, things come to a hectic end as the Prime Minister continues to undermine everyone in favor of issuing an apology. From the way he speaks, it seems as if he wants to bomb something to show that Britain means business went it comes to defending and avenging its people. The fascinating part about this is how Kate gives him a choice of Russian objects to bomb. In her mind, she sees how arrogant he is when it comes to serious manners. She knows that he does not care about how many lives he will ruin in the process of expanding his ego. Which is why she decided to call his bluff to see if he really will rain hellfire on everyone as he promised. Deep down she knows she is playing a dangerous game when it comes to this bluff. However, she is pretty confident that he is just all talk as she has dealt with other people like him before in her line of work.
Rating: 9.5/10