The marriage depicted in Netflix series The Diplomat is hardly ideal. In fact, it’s so deeply damaged we don’t know if it will survive from series to series. The wife, reluctant United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) – can hardly stand to be in the same room with her husband, the charming and pragmatic career diplomat, Hal (Rufus Sewell). She is frequently furious with him and often visibly disgusted – though occasionally she throws herself at him with lust.
In turn, Hal frustrated by Kate’s naivety, her lack of humour and misguided idealism that may just cause an international incident of dangerous proportions. Hal gets his revenge in devious ways and she’s never quite sure what he’s plotting with his underground network of contacts.
But when the chips are down and the danger is real (Bombs! War! PTSD! — it’s a political espionage thriller after all) it’s obvious to us viewers how perfectly matched the Wylers really are. These two insanely driven and very smart workaholics actually need each other desperately. Yes, they irritate the hell out of each other, but they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses – when they actually manage to work in sync. Broadly speaking, they both want the same thing: a better, safer world.
There’s so much history in the Wyler marriage. Decades of it, including betrayals and wounds that still bleed when knocked. But it seems like Kate and Hal would die for each other, if it comes to that…
Sounds like most marriages really.
Watching complicated marriages – or happy marriages that are believably complex and a little bit fraught – is one of my favourite TV pastimes. I’m always looking for the ways in which couples get it right or wrong, managing to bump along together despite some marked difference.
Created by writer Deborah Cahn (The West Wing, Homeland) The Diplomat is a mostly great combination of walk-and-talk politics, thriller and romance. Sometimes it doesn’t quite work and veers off into silliness or near-incoherence. But when it stays with the marriage plot – or its version of the classic comedy of remarriage – it’s a winner. Watching the Wylers in the cliffhanger conclusion of Season 2 of The Diplomat made me search my memory for a few of my other favourite TV marriages.
The Diplomat (Seasons 1 and 2) is on Netflix.
Coach Taylor and Tami – Friday Night Lights
Who would’ve thought a small town drama about a high school football team would be so full of heart, humour and domestic romance? This critically acclaimed series first premiered in 2006 and ran to five seasons. Through it all, the handsome and Truly Good Man, Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and high-haired huge-hearted Tami (Connie Britton) showed what a truly great marriage looked like. Trust, communication, support and kindness flowed like honey between these two, yet they also faced their share of challenges with work, parenting and miscommunications.
Friday Night Lights (Seasons 1-5) is on 7Plus, Prime, AppleTV+
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Claire and Jamie – Outlander
Nothing can keep these two apart, not the time differences of centuries, nor bigamy, geography or the French and American Revolutions. Claire (CaitrÃona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) have a sexual and emotional connection that ultimately transcends all barriers and truly steams up the screen. The writers across seven seasons put them through their paces and test them with ever more fantastical challenges, but the tenderness and humour remain.
Outlander (Seasons 1-7) is on Binge and Foxtel One.
Jim and Pam – The Office
Spanning nine seasons, the romance between Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) is one of the reasons we kept tuning in to the US version of The Office, the mockumentary series set in the bland midwestern branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The chemistry between Jim and Pam is just so damn cute as it grows from shy friendship, to courting, marriage and parenthood. (Admittedly, it all gets less funny and romantic when a baby comes along – just like real life.) But at the heart of this connection is humour. Jim and Pam love a prank and their willingness to enter into each other’s roleplay comedy games and petty quests make their dull office work life bearable and fun.
Where to watch: The Office US (Seasons 1-9) is available on Stan.
Charlie and Julia – Love My Way
This cult drama series created by John Edwards and Claudia Karvan – the first Foxtel Australian production – first aired in 2004 and it now looks like a vintage production. It was at the forefront of classy, intelligent Australian streaming dramas about contemporary complex families. I’ve written extensively elsewhere about my deep love for all three seasons of Love My Way, but here I want to call out the particular marriage between larrikin Charlie (Dan Wyllie) and uptight Julia (Asher Keddie). For many viewers, this was their first experience of Keddie’s genius for playing a particular kind of nervy, lovable modern woman. The series begins with Charlie and Julia getting ready to birth their first child, with Charlie’s daughter from a previous relationship (to Claudia Karvan’s Frankie). They’re in for a wild ride, and I won’t tell you if they make it in the long run. Like most real marriages, it’s touch and go and there are no guarantees.
Watch Love My Way (Seasons 1-3) on Stan and AppleTV+.
