Drama
House of David
‘House of David’ brings David’s dramatic story to life, recounting the rise of his house and the downfall of King Saul’s.
All it took was one explosion hundreds of miles away to change Kate Wyler’s trajectory.
She was to be the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan in Kabul, but then—BOOM. A foreign entity blew up part of a British aircraft carrier, killing 41 servicemen, and everyone suspects Iran. After all, only two days prior, the U.S. had angered the country.
And so now, President Rayburn has decided to send Kate to fill in the role as U.S. ambassador to the U.K. as a show of solidarity.
Normally, Kate’s husband, Hal, would be the perfect fit for the position. After all, he’s an experienced ambassador himself. But he recently called the Secretary of State a war criminal, so the President isn’t willing to send Kate’s controversial husband to fill in anywhere.
Of course, Hal isn’t the kind of man to just sit back and watch. Before Kate is even officially situated into the position, he takes it upon himself to start talking with his connections. He’s a backseat driver who’s going to grab the wheel unless you swat his hand away—or better yet, tie him up and throw him in the trunk. And that interference just might ruin things for Kate (which would be doubly bad, since they’re secretly vetting her as a replacement for the soon-to-be resigned Vice President).
But all of that is minimal compared to this exploded carrier debacle. Nations are starting to toss not-so-idle threats around, and war looms on the horizon. And unless Kate can use her newfound position to quench the growing fires, the whole world just might go up in flames.
The Diplomat is a thriller with few action scenes and fewer moments when diplomacy doesn’t require jumping over a thousand hurdles. And as boring as a diplomatic thriller may sound, the Netflix series dives into the genre well. In that regard, I’d explain it as such: The Diplomat is not the dread of a malfunctioning roller coaster; it’s the slow burn of being forced to wait in the broken coaster’s line, unable to leave and knowing that the danger is only one turnstile away.
But despite the engaging plot, let’s address the screws falling off the side of this thrill ride. Viewers following the eight-episode first season will need to grow accustomed to a rampant amount of heavy swearing and sexual references. And as the season progresses, we’ll see a few sex scenes where the rears of the men and women involved are visible. An actress identifies as non-binary. Finally, though the actual action is minimal, a couple episodes may give way to an explosion or two.
If you’re brought in by the plot, be my guest. But know that the content concerns are nonnegotiable.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When an unknown adversary causes an explosion upon a British carrier, Kate Wyler is suddenly thrust into the role of U.S. ambassador to the U.K.
An explosion is seen upon an aircraft carrier, and we’re told it’s killed 41 servicemen. We hear a joke about committing ritual suicide. Someone is forcefully drugged.
Kate is seen in her bra. Hal sniffs Kate’s crotch through her pants. We hear a crude reference to sex. A painting displays the rear of a naked boy, and another painting shows the rears of a couple women. There’s a reference to male arousal, and we hear another person joke about oral sex.
The f-word is used nearly 25 times. The s-word is heard nine times. We also hear “a–” used nine times. “P-ss” is used twice, and “d–k” is used once. God’s name is abused seven times, including once in the form of “g-dd–n.” Jesus’ name is used in vain four times—one of which is interrupted by an f-word.
Because a car bombing is linked to a dead British MP, Kate begins to investigate whether the terrorist attack was instigated by someone inside the British government.
We see a burning car following a car bomb explosion. We also see a few people being wheeled away by paramedics, their faces covered in soot and blood. We’re told that one victim of this attack was killed, and surgeons operate on another victim. The camera shows the surgical wound on the man. Someone dies in surgery.
Kate changes out of her dress, and she later swaps pants. In both cases, nothing is shown.
The f-word is used eight times. “H—” is used twice. God’s name is used in vain once, and Jesus’ name is likewise abused three times.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
‘House of David’ brings David’s dramatic story to life, recounting the rise of his house and the downfall of King Saul’s.
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