The Diplomat is one of those rare shows that respects your intelligence on minute one and never lets up. Keri Russell plays Kate Wyler, a career diplomat suddenly parachuted into the U.S. Ambassador role in London — and into a brewing international crisis she didn't sign up for.

What makes the show sing is the marriage. Rufus Sewell, as Hal Wyler, is a former ambassador himself, and the two of them fight like only people who genuinely love each other can. The political plot is the scaffolding; the marriage is the building.

The writing trusts you. There are no expository monologues explaining the geopolitics — you're expected to keep up, and somehow you always do. The pacing is more West Wing than House of Cards: long walks, sharp turns, and the constant feeling that one wrong sentence will detonate something.

Three seasons in and it's still finding new gears. If you love political drama with grown-up dialogue and zero filler, start tonight. The season three finale is the best episode of TV this year.