Someone Call the Embassy—I’m Not Okay After That Ending
Someone Call the Embassy—I’m Not Okay After That Ending
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Politics, power, and a cliffhanger that broke me. Read my Season 3 thoughts on The Diplomat.
October 29, 2025
I’ve been hooked on The Diplomat since Season 1, and a few days ago, I wrapped up Season 3 and honestly, I’m still reeling.
What makes this series stand out isn’t just the political intrigue (though there’s plenty of that). It’s the writing. The plot is meticulously layered, each twist landing with precision. The characters aren’t just pieces on a geopolitical chessboard—they’re messy, brilliant, deeply flawed human beings. Their arcs feel earned, their choices believable, and their dynamics electric. And the cast? Absolute perfection. They don’t just play their roles; they embody them.
What I love most is the blurred line between good and bad. No one is entirely a hero or villain here, least of all Hal. The moral ambiguity runs so deep that you start questioning your own sense of right and wrong. It’s unsettling in the best way, a reminder that in real life, we might be someone’s hero and someone else’s antagonist. Context shapes perception, and this show leans into that beautifully.
⚠️ Spoilers ahead. Proceed with diplomatic caution.
Season 2 ended with a gut-punch of a cliffhanger. The President is dead after Hal revealed the Vice President’s involvement in the HMS Courageous incident. The Vice President steps into the Oval Office as President Grace Penn. In a stunning twist, Hal becomes her Vice President instead of Kate. This power shift creates another fracture in Hal and Kate’s already strained marriage, which has withered into a public performance and a private separation. Months later, Kate is dating again. It’s not Dennison this time, but Callum Ellis, a British spy with charm, timing, and complicated loyalties.
When Eidra brings forward intel from a walk-in informant, Kate, Hal, and Grace are forced to reckon with the events leading to the HMS Courageous attack. A political firestorm is inevitable. Admitting the truth could bring down Grace Penn’s presidency before it stabilizes, so they opt for a calculated lie, shifting the blame to the now-deceased former president. But political lies do not stay buried for long. The British Prime Minister, furious at the deceit, blows up the carefully crafted narrative in public.
Meanwhile, a Russian submarine poses a threat on Britain’s coast. Callum implores Kate to warn the Prime Minister, but with the crisis over the HMS, diplomatic channels are frozen. The show peels back the curtain on diplomacy, revealing it as a delicate balance of truth, strategy, and survival. It is gripping to watch.
And then there's that ending. That cliffhanger. It left me wondering, "Did that just happen?"
Season 4 cannot come fast enough. In the meantime, I will be pacing imaginary embassy halls, waiting for the next political explosion.
A Puzzle of Hearts and Minds: Alice in Borderland S3
A Puzzle of Hearts and Minds: Alice in Borderland S3
September 28, 2025
I really thought Season 2 was the end of the line. They won the games, it felt wrapped up, and I was satisfied. So when Netflix dropped the news about Season 3, I was genuinely surprised (and hyped). I knew the manga still had more story, but I figured the series would just end where it did. Glad I was wrong!
⚠️ Spoilers ahead—don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Arisu & Usagi
Seeing Arisu and Usagi together in Episode 1 made me happy, but honestly? I was disappointed that they didn’t have more time as a couple. Even in the final game, they met at the finals but still kept getting split apart. At the same time, I get it. It forced them to face the games on their own, and that really showed off their strengths and weaknesses. Both of them shone separately.
I liked how the show cut between their perspectives too, like little windows into what each one was going through. But I’m still side-eyeing that train puzzle. Like… how exactly did Arisu solve it? It felt like a game based on pure luck or a lazy game master.
I’m glad Usagi found closure with her father’s death in the end. Banda's schemes and Ryuji's sickening fixation on her dragged her into this situation, but she emerged stronger.
The Characters
I really liked Kazuya. Yeah, he’s a yakuza, but he had this sense of honor that made him super likable. I was quite sad when he didn’t make it.
Now, Professor Ryuji… ugh. He gave me bad vibes from the start. The professor's obsession with death and the afterlife was already concerning, and then we discovered that it actually led to a student's death. Nope. And then his fixation on Usagi? Creepy. I think he was more drawn to her trauma than anything else, but the jealous looks he threw at Arisu—like, excuse me, sir, who even gave you that right? And don’t get me started on the whole “my dream is to reach the land of death” deal and bring Usagi along. If you’re so desperate to go there, just go yourself! Even if he changed his mind in the end, there's nothing he can say or do to change my negative impression of his character.
Banda, as game master, continued to be annoying, just as he had been last season. His whole motivation was to drag Arisu back. Like, why? Arisu was already enjoying his happy ending! But yeah, he’s a psychopath, so of course he wasn’t going to let it go.
The Games
This season’s games actually felt different. In the past, so many of them forced players to turn on each other, which was brutal. This time, there was more focus on teamwork, and I really liked that shift. The fights were still intense, but that sense of camaraderie was refreshing. It reminded me of when Arisu’s friends were still around.
The games kept me on the edge of my seat, though. I legit had to pause sometimes when it got too intense. The final game, especially. It wasn’t even physical, but it was so much harder because it was mental and emotional torture. The girl was also right: people are selfish and choose what they think is best for them. The hardest fight is often the one against yourself.
That Ending
And then… the finale. Twisted. It felt like the show was laughing at us—like, plot twist, the joke’s on you. And then boom, Ken Watanabe shows up! Did not see that coming at all. I love that surprise!
But at least Arisu and Usagi got their happy ending, along with their fellow survivors. And seeing the past seasons' survivors again gave it this bittersweet, full-circle feeling.
The Heart of It All
If there’s one takeaway from this season, it’s this: always choose life—even when life is filled with pain or suffering. As Arisu pointed out, death has no pain or suffering, but it also has no happiness.
(As a side note, while the show frames death as empty and painless, Christianity teaches that if we are not in Christ, death results in real pain and eternal suffering—the second death and the lake of fire. But since this is a work of fiction, I’m setting that aside for a moment and taking the story for what it is.)
Final Thoughts
It was such a satisfying weekend binge-watch. And it seems, however, that there’s still going to be a Season 4. 👀 Now I can’t help but wonder… what else is left in the deck of cards?
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