The role of the US ambassador in The diplomat (Netflix) was summed up by Foreign Policy magazine as: “Exposing insidious international conspiracies surrounded by attractive people who all know the president personally.” That’s right, although the hottest person here is Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) herself, who is an absolute badass.

The first season was a blast as Wyler, a serious guy hoping to be posted to Kabul, was sent to London instead and immediately donned designer evening wear for a Vogue photo shoot on the lawn of Winfield House. There was also Homeland -style intrigue about an attack on a British aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran, but it was the personal stuff, including Wyler’s difficult relationship with her husband (Rufus Sewell), that provided most of the entertainment.

The second season reduces the fun and focuses on the terrorist attack. It begins exactly where the last episode left us: with the aftermath of a deadly car bomb. One person is dead, the others are left with physical and psychological scars. The sound of fireworks at a 4th of July party is the trigger.

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