Keri Russell's Current Era is Spy / Diplomat

Keri Russell's evolution, why you should watch "The Diplomat" plus other shows that have caught my attention this week.

ZERO Spoilers in this drop.

Keri Russell and I are the same age, so I've watched her career unfold. She has stood out from her early days as a child actress to her iconic role in Felicity. Her signature corkscrew curls and olive complexion have become synonymous with her image, and her ability to transition seamlessly between genres, evolving her craft and the types of characters she inhabits, is impressive, especially as it spans 30+ years, which is a lifetime in Hollywood.

In a nod to my love of Taylor Swift and because all of us have “Eras” or iconic characters/roles we’ve played at different times in our lives, I’ve mapped Keri Russell’s trajectory to Swift’s “Eras.”

No clue what I mean? See [complete list] of Taylor’s “Eras”

Keri’s Eras (It’s not just Taylor Swift who gets to role-play)

The 90s: Disney Performer, Teen Drama Star, and Babysitter who compromises the Dad from Seventh Heaven

Taylor Swift’s “Eras” equivalent: “Taylor Swift,” “1989,” and “Reputation”

Keri Russell breezed onto the teen scene at 15 in The Mickey Mouse Club as a “Mouseketeer” proving she was a bonafide performer alongside the likes of J.C. Chasez (N’Sync band member). From there, she took roles in the relationship drama Malibu Shores with her then-real-life boyfriend from The Mickey Mouse Club, Tony Lucca, and transitioned into more adult roles, like in the Lifetime TV movie The Babysitter’s Seduction (Think: Slightly less risque, tamer version of the Poison Ivy anthology in which Drew Barrymore seduces a vulnerable father, manipulating him into killing his fragile wife). Here, it’s a gender reversal because (spoilers) it turns out the dad is seducing her malevolently.

Russell with her Mouseketeers and in 90s Lifetime made-for-TV movie which I still remember

Late 90s, early 00s: The “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”

Taylor Swift's “Eras” equivalent: “Folklore” and “Evermore” and Childless Cat Lady

Felicity, the titular pensive, introverted girl with that hair who follows her high school crush, Ben, to New York City for college and finds herself and her people in the process, was one of the top WB shows of its time. Russell's breakout role solidified her place in the pop culture zeitgeist. Thankfully, she didn’t end up with the guy she followed across the country to college who forgot her name. Or did she?

The haircut (before and after). In fairness, the “before” is not how long it was in the first season, but you get the point.

2010s-Present: Hitting her Joan Allen Stride

Taylor Swift's “Eras” equivalent: “Midnights” and “The Tortured Poets Department”

She’s a Diplomat, Kinda Like a Spy (Or Is It?)

In the 2010s, Keri Russell starred in the hit Cold War-era show The Americans for FX. The show was about KBG agents posing as an American couple living in D.C. with their two children in the early 1980s. It ran for five seasons and earned its share of well-earned Emmy nominations. It’s also worth noting that Russell co-starred with Matthew Rhys, her real-life partner on the show.

Here, Russell demonstrated her acting range in a more mature role that afforded her the ability to show a range of emotions - the kind needed to pull off playing Elizabeth Jennings, a discerning partner (most of the time), conflicted mother, friendly neighbor, and steely covert spy who could transform herself in an instant, in chameleon-like ways depending on what the job called for. It's comparable to Tatiana Maslany's ability to effortlessly embody diverse characters in Orphan Black (curly hair similarities aside).

Fast forward to the present day, and Russell is wowing audiences by playing a reluctant diplomat and U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., Kate Wyler, in The Diplomat on Netflix. [Trailer] Once more, Russell is paired with an equally strong male lead with palpable personality conflicts - this time played by Rufus Sewell (Man in the High Castle, The Pale Horse). For much of the first season, we see Hal (Sewell), Kate’s husband, who was previously a big-shot diplomat, now playing second fiddle to her career. The pairing and its fraught interpersonal dynamic is not unlike Russell’s Elizabeth Jennings and Rhys’ Philip Jennings in The Americans. The show takes time to develop our understanding of what makes them tick, both together and apart. Their collaborative efforts are marked by a unique synergy. When the two of them work together, which happens a few times in both seasons, despite distinct approaches, their intimate knowledge of each other's habits and behaviors facilitates a dynamic partnership that comes with some hard-earned truths. It’s satisfying to watch.

This may or may not be AI Keri at Kate Wyler in “The Diplomat”

The second season, which launched on Halloween, contains six episodes, and it’s better than the first, even with that S1 finale cliffhanger that had us all doing jawdrops (ah c’mon - that’s NOT a spoiler).

The West Wing’s CJ has been promoted to VP (the Press Secretary was an “experience"/ VP a “lifestyle”). I’m only half joking. Allison Janey, the actress who played CJ, is now on The Diplomat, playing a character, Vice President Grace Penn, who is one of this season’s high points, and there are many. As Penn, Janney is formidable - at once daunting, yet fair, and with some impressive political prowess, not without EQ. She also does a really good job of sizing up and articulating how Kate’s laissez-faire attitude about her slovenly attire, which has been a running theme on this show, is at odds with her political ambitions.

Kate and her Chief of Mission, Stuart (on the left) with one of her signature suits

The spy thriller premise is that attacks and threats to the U.K.’s national security are putting Kate, newly appointed to her role as Ambassador to the U.K. after stints in the Middle East, and who thought this role would be a cakewalk, into emergency response mode as crises unfold. As with any good spy show (Slow Horses), it’s all about dissecting motives, thwarting attacks, balancing acts between self and national interests, and discerning who your allies and enemies are. The cast here is outstanding, and the pacing of this show almost begs for the “Next Episode” at each episode’s close to be tapped.

If you aren’t yet convinced that The Diplomat is worth it, maybe you’ll believe THIS GUY:

Learn about the differences between agents, intelligence officers, and spooks spies (MI5 Version)

Other Shows I’m Watching

HYSTERIA on Peacock [Trailer] - 80s Stranger Things feel, but add in more Death Metal, a gruesome murder, one emerging Satanic Cult led by a nice high school kid, and a religious zealot mother (Anna Camp) staging a Witch Hunt to rid the town of it “blasphemous kids” and you have this show. It came out in time for Halloween. I’m just late to the party. And Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) is here playing a cop.

My Brilliant Friend on HBO/Max [Trailer] The adaptation of the acclaimed Elena Ferrante series about two childhood friends in 1950s Naples and their lives spans 60 years of tumultuous times in Italy and even more so in the episodic saga of Lenu and Lila. With its stunning cinematography and moving storytelling, this series is ultimately a story about female connection (mother and daughter relationships), fraught friendships that are real and gripping, and how both violence and silence can give way to tragedy.

Somebody, Somewhere on HBO/Max (Season 3 - first two episodes out). This show is the soul-giving/soul-nourishing show you need to be watching. This season seems to be shaping up to be about Sam being a little more on her own, as her friend group couples off, and she’s left to sort out other forms of relationship fulfillment. Sam (Bridget Everett) singing along to Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” in the season opener is a must-watch.

Let’s Discuss

• Are you a Russell fan? What’s your favorite “era” of hers?

• Have you finished Season 2 of The Diplomat? If yes, let’s chat about it where we can talk freely.

• Are you a Swiftie? I hope so.