Netflix’s “The Diplomat” is a blisteringly fun political drama that leans into the melodrama of international politics — and like in its first season, season two concludes with yet another cliffhanger season finale.
The series follows “The Americans” star Keri Russell‘s Ambassador Kate Wyler, a brash career diplomat tapped to serve as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom. When she arrives, she’s thrust into managing the fallout of an attack on a British aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.
Her diplomatic appointment serves a secondary purpose, however: the White House is grooming her to potentially step in as the new vice president, because the current one has a scandal hanging over her head that will force her to resign.
The series, helmed by “The West Wing” and “Homeland” vet Debora Cahn, plays like a familiar, soapy political drama. And it clearly resonates with viewers — according to Netflix’s engagement data, it racked up over 214 million hours of viewing time in the first half of 2023. It’s also a player on the awards scene, picking up Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for its first season.
Season two arrives just days before the United States election, and digs deeper into Kate’s secondary purpose in London. As she unravels the conspiracy behind the aircraft attack, she also has to contend with Vice President Grace Penn (an excellent Allison Janney) showing up in London. By the end of the season, Kate and Grace have gotten to know each other — but a development in the series finale fundamentally changes their relationship.
Warning: Major spoilers for the season two finale of “The Diplomat” ahead.
A major death in the season finale throws Grace and Kate into chaos
Kate learns that the aircraft carrier attack, which was executed by a Russian mercenary, was a false flag. Right-wing figure Margaret Roylin confesses to Tory Prime Minister Nicolas Trowbridge, whom she previously advised, that she orchestrated the entire incident to help the United Kingdom rally behind Trowbridge — and specifically, to prevent Scottish succession. The attack, however, was much more severe than intended, killing British sailors in the process, and Trowbridge reacts with abject fury and attempts to choke Roylin with his own hands.
Meanwhile, Kate warms to Grace Penn, the vice president, after she arrives in London. After seeing Grace interact with Trowbridge, Kate decides to stop pursuing the vice presidency, and moves to recommend that Grace stay in office. Her husband Hal stops her from doing so, and delivers a devastating bit of information: Roylin didn’t mastermind the attack on the aircraft carrier — Grace Penn did.
In the season finale, Kate signals to Grace that she’s aware of her involvement in the incident. In turn, Grace explains that she had no other choice. Like Roylin, she wished to prevent Scottish secession, but not for the same reasons.
Scotland, Grace explains, is home to the United Kingdom’s nuclear weapons, and houses the only place in Europe where the United States can dock its own nuclear submarines. That base, Creegan, would be the first European targets in a nuclear war with Russia, Grace explains, and should Scotland secede the country would be quick to close it.
Kate understands Grace’s rationale, but makes the decision to report her actions to the State Department. She enlists her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) to tell the secretary of state on her behalf, so that her record is clean when she steps into the vice presidency. As Kate assures Grace that she won’t tell anyone — and that she’s stopped pursuing the VP job — Hal goes rogue and skips over the secretary of state to go straight to President William Rayburn.
That backfires spectacularly, because Hal’s revelation is so uniquely upsetting that it causes the elderly president to die on the spot. Hal barely manages to give Kate the heads up over the phone before secret service members rush onto the lawn to collect Grace, the new president of the United States.
“I got chills and I threw the script across the room and I was like, ‘What the fuck?’” Janney told Vanity Fair of the ending. “It was the best moment I’ve ever had reading a script.”
The VP job is open, but it may not be Kate’s for the taking
Luckily for us, “The Diplomat” has already been renewed for a third season that’s already in production in New York. Russell told Rolling Stone that she’s already read all of season three.
“It’s so good in the way I want things to be good, and I just can’t believe that it’s still getting better,” she said.
Now that Grace is the president, the VP job is wide open — but it may not necessarily be Kate’s for the taking.
According to the twenty-fifth amendment of the United States Constitution: “Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.”
As you can imagine, Kate and Grace aren’t on the best terms. Just before learning of the president’s death, Grace told Kate in no uncertain terms that she needs to back off from her job. And of course, Kate threw Grace under the bus by way of Hal. Still, that crisis led to Grace not only retaining her job, but getting promoted — so perhaps, in a roundabout way, Kate’s stunt engendered some good will.
Ultimately, season two ending feels a bit on the nose, given that it premiered five days before the United States presidential election. It’s not hard to wonder if President Joe Biden’s age, itself a crucial issue before he stepped out of the race, influenced the show’s characterization of President Rayburn. Season two was written and shot when Biden was still the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for 2024, and Kamala Harris was an inspiration for Grace’s character, Vanity Fair reported.
Still, the timing and circumstances were a bit uncanny.
“It’s a little bit terrifying, because we didn’t want to really be doing a ‘rip from the headlines’ thing,” Cahn, the showrunner, told Deadline. “The idea is always to find a way into the headspace of the country and the audience, and what are we all thinking about right now, in particular the world of foreign policy.”
“The Diplomat” season two is streaming in full on Netflix.
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