The Diplomat, season 3, showed its love for the binge watchers by uploading all 8 episodes of the new season on the same day. So naturally, I watched them all immediately! This series, created by Debora Cahn, is irresistible. It’s so good! High stakes drama, humor, interesting relationships, brilliant characters, sharp dialog, and outstanding actors add up to great television.

The Diplomat, starts off hot with a mad rush to swear in Grace Penn (Allison Janney) as the new POTUS because the last one (Michael McKean) dropped dead in the middle of a video call with Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) at the end of season 2.

At least in fiction, we can have a woman POTUS.

Hal thinks his wife Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) will be named Vice-President. So does Kate. But Grace picks Hal as her VP.

Kate tells Hal to take the job, but secretly it kills her. She thought she had it. It opens a rift in their already rocky relationship when she decides to be Second Wife while spending most of her time in London as the American Ambassador. When they do see each other in person, they agree to be married in public and divorced in private.

Kate’s love/hate drama with Hal opens up a space for her to have an affair with British spy Callum Ellis (Aidan Turner). He adds to the international drama by bringing info about a Russian sub carrying a nuclear device that has sunk off the coast of England.

Grace and Hal in the U.S., British Prime Minister Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) and his team in the U.K., plus Kate and Callum all work to recover the sunken submarine. This storyline ends on a cliffhanger and revelation that will lead us into season 4.

The storyline that began the series in season one, the bombing of the HMS Courageous that killed 41 British sailors continues in season 3.

At a meeting in Amagansett to discuss what to do about the bombing story, we meet Grace Penn’s husband Todd (Bradley Whitford). Kate gets the idea that if Grace and Trowbridge blame the bombing on former President Bradley the whole situation will be defused. He’s dead, so he can’t complain. But Trowbridge never acts the way anyone wants him to, in this situation or in the sunken submarine situation.

Who else is in season 3? Dennison (David Gyasi), the fellow Kate was crushing on for two seasons, is still Trowbridge’s main man. Stuart (Ato Essandoh) still works in the American Embassy. Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) is still in place with the CIA. White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) still runs things in D.C.

Season 3 worked on two levels. There was the high stakes international political and diplomatic drama that could mean wars or lots of deaths. Kate and Hal in particular love the power and adrenaline of being involved in these situations. One of the genius things about this series is the way it transfers the drive and adrenaline to the audience. It’s propulsive.

The second level is about relationships. Kate realizes by the end of the season that the things she hates about Hal are the things she loves about him. Her fling with Callum made her realize that he was another Hal. I think she sees, in the last few moments of the season, that the intoxication with power that drives her can also affect Hal and his relationships.

It isn’t all drama. There are moments of humor. One of my favorites was when Kate explains her hair “style,” but there are many others. It was fun looking into the loving marriage of Grace and Todd Penn, especially since these two actors were so good together in The West Wing. We’ve seen Kate and Hal have plenty of nasty arguments. That does define a relationship. But seeing Grace and Todd climb into bed and assume their spooning positions while holding hands is a whole other level of demonstrating a relationship in 30 seconds or less.

There are quiet moments when characters actually confess their truth and show some vulnerability. These moments aren’t frequent; they do help develop character. They are a nice break from the tension of the international dramas.

Another season is already in the works. I for one will continue to watch this excellent drama for as many seasons as it can continue.

The Diplomat is streaming on Netflix.