“diplomat,” the hit Netflix drama starring Keri Russell as a career stateswoman, has an ever-changing tone that keeps you on your toes. Creator Debora Cahn is an alumnus of “The West Wing” and “Homeland”; of course, “The Diplomat” has the international intrigue of the latter and the workplace drudgery of the former. But there’s also a hint of “Scandal” in Russell’s hyper-capable professional navigation affairs of both heart and state, and a genuine, transcendental weirdness that’s entirely this series’ own. Most of that X-factor can be found in the dynamic between Russell’s Kate Wyler, the newly appointed American ambassador to the United Kingdom, and her husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), a handsome maverick who gets used to the passenger seat after what led the american embassy. in Beirut.

In Season 1, these sometimes clashing elements could be more of a lumpy blend than a smooth blend — or maybe it just took the viewer that long to adjust to the show’s singular frequency. Season 2, which picks up right after the London car bombing that left fans on a cliffhanger a year and a half ago, is more focused in a literal sense: the number of episodes has been reduced to just six. But the new season is also a more confident and compelling version of himself. It’s still not without its flaws, chief among them an uncritical reverence for both the American security state and Kate as its avatar. (The former is a political concern, which may be beyond the scope of a review; the latter is a dramatic one, and therefore fair game.) But “The Diplomat” now satisfies its own mandate more successfully than ever.

Some urgency helps. In the wake of the bombing, which injures both Hal’s deputy and Kate’s deputy Stuart (Ato Essandoh), the ambassador is in full-blown crisis mode, which is clearly her state—and apparently, her her favorite show. Everything from her marriage to her political future is on the back burner as she tries to establish who ordered the bombing and confirm her suspicion that Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear), a Tory with hawk, staged a false flag attack on a British naval vessel. ship to provoke a war with Russia. In these early episodes, “The Diplomat” is impressively adept at refreshing the viewer with its dense and twisty plot. Exposition is unsexy work, but it’s the kind of fare that shows off Cahn’s experience as a showrunner — and it suits a story about a seasoned hand looking to put his experience to good use.

Ball by ball, “The Diplomat” resumes its juggling act as the initial conflict settles. Once the embassy resumes its daily activities, “The Diplomat” can lean back into the sitcom of Kate – who once dreamed of a mission in Kabul – being forced to deal with the social intricacies of a ceremonial post, such as planning a lavish 4th of July party. And once Hal is back on his feet, we get more of the Wylers’ volatile marriage, as well as a performance from Sewell that lives on the same spectrum of charm, grand vision and self-serving scheming as Billy Crudup’s in “The Morning Show”. “

Some of the best scenes in “The Diplomat” involve a tense argument interrupted by unpredictable chaos. Kate makes a vulnerable mid-fight confession to Hal while urinating and interrupts another exchange by breaking a teapot with her bare hand. Not to be outdone, one of Kate’s interlocutors makes her case by dragging a massive map of unclear origin across the floor to make a point. “The Diplomat” fills the space between these moments with competent porn that’s simpler but no less satisfying. The diplomatic jargon makes the viewer feel involved in an obscure, acronym-filled profession, and the high-level espionage evokes Russell’s last starring role in “The Americans.” An informant is smuggled out of a funeral with a wave of decoys, allowing “The Diplomat” to show off both its filming packages and an increased location budget. The funeral takes place at St. Paul’s Cathedral; later, a subplot about potential Scottish secession takes the entire production north.

These pleasures distract from some problems with “The Diplomat” as a character study, though not indefinitely. It was never plausible to portray the bright Russell as a scruffy little boy who couldn’t be bothered to brush his hair. (“The Diplomat” may not make Russell any less handsome, but it might match Kate’s clothes a little less impeccably.) More importantly, there’s something false about how much “The Diplomat” idealizes Kate, often implying that her lack of traditional femininity. it symbolizes her pure-hearted virtue. Season 2 tempts the viewer with an opposite point of view as a traumatized Stuart begins to resent his new boss, leading to some richly layered arguments with his recent ex, CIA station chief Eidra (Ali Ahn). All too quickly, he reverses his position, once again lumping all the characters into an adulation of Kate that is as unrealistic as it is uninteresting.

Season 2’s most prominent addition is Allison Janney as incumbent Vice President Grace Penn, marking a reunion of sorts with her “The West Wing” co-star Cahn. Penn is about to be deposed in a brewing scandal, and the attempt to position a reluctant Kate as her successor sees her as the messianic chosen one. (Like Paul Atreides in “Dune,” Kate’s initial refusal makes those who help her more certain that she is the woman for the job.) Despite looking down on her potential replacement, Penn is introduced not as an adversary to Kate, but as a role model. Just as the show worships Kate, Kate worships this older woman who embodies the pragmatic leadership she aspires to. In their scenes together, “The Diplomat” reveals his truest self. The show is less about a specific person than about an abstract ideal of women in power. Whether one shares this ideal or not, “The Diplomat” is as serious as its cynical characters can be.

All six episodes of “The Diplomat” Season 2 will premiere on Netflix on October 31.