Stephen King Officially Endorses Netflix Thriller With Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

After returning with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, a Netflix thriller is also being praised by Stephen King.

While the author uses social media to promote his books and adaptations, such as The Institute and Mike Flanagan’s Carrie, he also uses it to review movies and shows that are not part of his work. Alien: Earth, From, The End of Oak Street, Paradise, House of Dynamite, The Sheep Detectives, and Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed are among the titles that he has spoken highly of within the past year or two, with his reviews always bringing further recognition to these projects.

On X, King has now endorsed Netflix’s The Diplomat after it returned for season 4. His review commends the show while also connecting to his frustration with modern politics: “Listening to people who know what they’re talking about and articulate themselves in actual sentences makes me homesick for politicians who are both smart and compassionate and love their country more than $$$.”

This is not the first time that he has spoken positively about the show, as King praised The Diplomat season 2 in 2024, reposting “S1 of The Diplomat (Netflix) was really good, but S2 is jaw-droppingly fantastic” and then adding his own sentiment: “Agreed. That final scene!” Two years later, King continues to make it known that he is a fan of the show. His reaction also serves as a clear criticism of President Donald Trump and his administration, which is what many of the author’s other social media posts focus on.

The protagonist of The Diplomat is Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), who becomes the new US ambassador to the UK as she contends with international crises and developing foreign relations. In season 4, Grace Penn (Allison Janney) is President of the United States while Kate’s husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), is Vice President of the United States. Amid worries about their spouses’ political machinations, Kate forms an alliance with First Gentleman Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford). White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) also is a series regular and plays a key role in season 4.

Among the 15 reviews leading to a 100% score is ScreenRant‘s The Diplomat season 4 review by Angel Shaw, which gives the new season eight out of 10 stars. Shaw writes that “The Diplomat has managed to make itself better with every installment, and with season 4’s ambitious balance and chaotically structured message, there’s every reason to believe that there’s still nowhere to go but up.” The show’s overall Rotten Tomatoes score across its four seasons is 94% with critics and 76% with audiences. The audience score for season 4 is 83%.

While speaking with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, series creator and showrunner Debora Cahn discussed The Diplomat avoiding the streaming complaint of long hiatuses between seasons. The political thriller has released new seasons on an annual basis since first debuting in 2023, an accomplishment that most hit streaming shows have not been able to achieve in recent years.

The series has not been renewed for season 5 yet, and Cahn told ScreeRant, “You can ask, but I won’t answer” in regard to its status. With King, critics, and the majority of the audience still fully on board, along with being number two on Netflix’s global chart as of this writing, there appears to be a strong case for a renewal.

The Diplomat won its first Emmy Award during this year’s ceremony for Janney’s season 3 performance in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category. The show has also received nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Russell), Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Sewell), Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Whitford), Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (Cahan and Peter Ackerman), and Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series.

All episodes of The Diplomat are streaming on Netflix.

Release Date

April 20, 2023

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Debora Cahn

Directors

Alex Graves, Andrew Bernstein, Simon Cellan Jones, Tucker Gates

Writers

Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Julianna Meagher, Mia Chung, Peter Noah, Eli Attie