The popular political thriller drama series on Netflix, The Diplomat, returns with its 3rd season, once again stretching to 8 episodes and thoroughly impressing with its slightly exaggerated but convincing plot and characters. After the explosive ending of season 2, in which the US President William Rayburn suddenly passed away from a heart attack, Vice President Grace Penn takes charge of the post while the protagonist, Kate Wyler, instantly tries to prove her importance and secure the position of VP. But numerous twists and turns keep Kate busy throughout the season, both professionally and personally, while The Diplomat season 3 eventually takes us into a highly intense situation that is about to shake up Western geopolitics.
Spoiler Alert
What is Season 3 about?
The Diplomat season 3 begins right where season 2 had ended, with Kate Wyler receiving a call from her husband, Hal, informing her of the shocking incident that had transpired. Kate had earlier come to know that the brutal terrorist attack aboard the HMS Courageous, which had claimed the lives of 41 British Navy officials, for which the Russians had been blamed, had actually been planned by the US Vice President Grace Penn. Essentially in hopes of getting the VP ousted so that she could take over the post, Kate had asked Hal to share this incriminating information with the Secretary of State, Miguel Ganon. However, when Hal managed to establish contact with President William Rayburn himself, he told him about this grand conspiracy, which had shocked the president so much that his weak heart gave up, and he died right there on the scene, in the middle of the call.
As fate would have it, Grace Penn now steps up to be the new President of the United States, while Kate and Hal are seemingly stuck in a very tricky situation. But Hal does not take long to decide that he needs to come clean to Penn about how his breaking the news of her betrayal had technically been what killed the president. Much to everyone’s surprise, Penn is not furious at him for having tried to sell her out, as she keeps claiming that someone needed to take a tough decision to curb the Russians from assuming more power, and she had done just that. Besides, Penn had merely suggested a false flag operation to Margaret Roylin, who had gone on to orchestrate it. As soon as the Wylers realize that the new president is not mad at them, they try to claim Kate should be appointed the new vice president, although Grace Penn has some very different plans.
Finally, when the time comes for Penn to select her VP, she calls the Wyler couple into her room and clearly states how it is Hal whom she wants to select for the position. Although Kate is heartbroken at this unexpected switch, her husband convinces her that it is all for the optics, as the US government still cannot accept two women running the White House, and so she sticks with the administration. Soon, Kate is appointed the US Government’s Special Envoy to Europe, but she eventually chooses to return to her old post as the American Ambassador to the UK, while also taking on her new role as the Second Lady.
Why do US-UK relations turn sour?
Diplomatic ties between the US and the UK start to become shaky from the very beginning of the 3rd season, especially over Margaret Roylin. After being investigated by the CIA and having been found to have orchestrated the fake Russian attack, Roylin had been held by the American authorities until further action was taken. At the beginning of the 3rd season, UK Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge agrees to take Roylin off the hands of the Americans, seemingly to deal with her internally, since she was a British national, and her conspiracy had not yet become public knowledge. But handing her over to the British at the moment was also a risky move for the Americans, particularly for President Grace Penn, as Roylin could have easily told her PM about Penn’s involvement. Therefore, Penn had agreed to Kate’s plan of offering refuge to Roylin, at least for the time being, despite knowing that she could not be protected once the public learned of her vile politics.
However, the most unexpected incident took place when Margaret Roylin took her own life, while in a CIA safehouse, by overdosing on her prescription medication. The elderly woman knew that there was no way for her to avoid facing the consequences of her actions and had figured out that she would always be stuck in the diplomatic tussle between the two countries, and so felt it best to just end her life. But this creates great panic among the Americans, as they have to not only take responsibility for the suicide but also reveal, in the first place, that they had been keeping Roylin hostage at one of their safehouses. All this leads to a situation in which the Americans have to officially tell Trowbridge and his government the real truth about the HMS Courageous and essentially tell the world as well. But in order to avoid obvious problems, Kate convinces Penn to omit her own name and instead tell Trowbridge that it was her deceased predecessor, President Rayburn, who had hatched the conspiracy.
Eventually, in an official diplomatic meeting, President Penn tells Prime Minister Trowbridge that the brutal attack, which had killed 41 of his Navy officers, had been orchestrated by the minister of his own country, Margaret Roylin, but only after a phone call with President Rayburn. As the official press briefing is prepared, in which both the leaders would be addressing the public and coming clean about the incident, it is ascertained that Trowbridge would mention Roylin’s name and hold her most responsible for the conspiracy. Grace Penn would then also mention Rayburn’s involvement, but only in passing, as if it were a less important footnote. Since both the ex-president and the minister are now dead, nobody would question these claims, and the matter would finally be put to bed.
However, Nicol Trowbridge has a very unexpected reaction to hearing about the conspiracy behind the attack aboard the HMS Courageous. He feels betrayed by the Americans, despite having always played along with their demands, and so he decides to show them their place. In the press conference, Trowbridge directly tells the world that it was Rayburn who had planned and orchestrated the whole conspiracy and was therefore directly responsible for the deaths of 41 sailors, all British nationals. This sudden move naturally has a wide range of reactions, with the diplomatic ties getting severely hurt and British citizens getting enraged at the Americans, even staging protests throughout the country. When Penn and her office try to get in touch with their British counterparts, they realize that all communication channels have been closed, making it obvious that Trowbridge is not ready to listen to anything, not even any official apology.
What happens to Stuart and Eidra?
The deputy chief of mission of the American embassy in London, Stuart Heyford, and the CIA station chief, Eidra Park, are inadvertently caught up in this problematic situation. It is Eidra who first faces trouble, because of the death of Margaret Roylin. Since the political advisor had passed away while being held at a CIA safehouse, it is Eidra who obviously has to face a number of questions from the authorities. It is very evident that Eidra will lose her job as well, as she will be scapegoated by the higher authorities. The CIA higher-ups will not take responsibility for the death of Roylin and will make her seem solely responsible for the negligence. Unlike a number of characters in the series, though, Eidra does not want to lose her job, and so she essentially gets Kate and Hal to fend for her, which ultimately seems to work as well, as she continues working as the station chief.
On the other side, Stuart Heyford does pretty well from the beginning of the season, as he is offered the prospect of either serving as an ambassador of the US government or working for Kate, the Special Envoy to Europe. Stuart ultimately chooses to stay on at the embassy in London, but he starts to question his choices after learning of President Rayburn’s supposed involvement in the cruel false-flag operation. Stuart has a very hard time believing that the president under whom he had served, and whom he seemingly had a lot of admiration for, had done something so vile. He tries to get it verified from multiple sources, like Kate and the White House Chief of Staff, Billie Appiah, both of whom lie to him, of course. Ultimately, Stuart seems disillusioned with his professional role and might even act on it in the future, but for now he is comforted by Eidra, as the two get back together once again.
Do Kate And Callum End Up Together?
Kate’s personal life and her ever-changing romantic relationships also become a major part of The Diplomat season 3, as the creators continue to stress how difficult and strained the personal relationships of such people in office can be. Towards the very beginning of the season, Kate and Hal decide to end their marriage, or put it on hold temporarily, although they would not make any of it public. The two allow each other to make any romantic advances that they might feel like, but decide to play out their parts as Vice President and Second Lady without failure, just to keep up the pretense of everything being absolutely fine between them. It is predominantly Hal who proposes such an arrangement and agrees to let Kate be with anyone, but he keeps getting jealous of everyone that she sleeps with, which is possibly meant to show that he still has genuine feelings for her.
At first, Kate makes advances towards the UK Foreign Secretary, Austin Dennison, with whom she had had a brief romance back in “The Diplomat” season 2. During a cocktail party at Dennison’s residence, Kate literally pulls him close and expresses her desire to get intimate with him, but he turns her down after realizing how she always makes space for Hal in her life eventually. Later in the season, Kate makes acquaintance with a man named Callum Ellis, who is actually an MI5 spy. Callum and Kate get sexually and romantically involved very quickly, getting on with each other whenever they can, even when there is a semi-violent protest going on outside the gates of the diplomat’s residence. But when it comes to her professional duties, Kate is ready to sacrifice Callum as well, as she later asks him to have a word with Prime Minister Trowbridge, a move that would surely get Callum fired.
It is in the final act of the season that Kate has a private conversation with Austin Dennison, who explains how he had decided to get married only after getting to know Kate closely and being inspired by her. These words make her realize how she does have a habit of ultimately adjusting and making space for her husband, Hal, not because she is bound to do so but because she does end up getting closer to him. Besides, it is Hal whose resourcefulness often saves the day for her, like it does at the end of this season as well. In all likelihood, Kate realizes that only someone as adjusting and willing as Hal would also make space for her in his life, owing to their unusual lifestyle and professional requirements, which often demand them to stay apart. Therefore, at the end of The Diplomat season 3, Kate ends up turning down Callum’s advances and instead chooses to be with Hal.
How does the Russian submarine become a threat?
Callum Ellis, who has some ties with the Kremlin, reveals to Kate a somewhat difficult situation that has been developing a few kilometers off the British coast with regard to a Russian submarine. The Russians had apparently lost a submarine, which had then been found in British waters. But as Callum explains, the latter do not have the means to go and retrieve the submarine, although the Americans have the required technology. Therefore, he asks Kate to broker a deal between the two countries that would allow the retrieval of the watercraft. Doing so becomes an extremely difficult task, though, as Prime Minister Trowbridge refuses to listen to the Americans at the time, and this is when Callum reveals the real danger of the situation. The Russian submarine is actually carrying a nuclear missile, called the Poseidon, which is powerful enough to destroy half of the UK if launched.
It is gradually revealed that while Trowbridge had been refusing to accept any calls from the Americans, he had been trying to establish a political alliance with the Chinese, essentially seeking the Chinese government’s help in retrieving the submarine. Now, when he finally agrees to sit down with the Americans and learns from them that the Poseidon missile is onboard the submarine, he simply refuses to believe it. Trowbridge feels that the Americans are trying to fool him, just so that they can get their hands on the Russian submarine and use it to their own benefit. The Americans fear that if the Chinese are involved in the matter, then they would get hold of the missile, which would be terrible news for global peace. This is when Kate comes up with a desperate plan to make Callum have a word with Trowbridge to convince him that the nuclear missile is indeed sitting dangerously close to the British coast. But doing so would reveal that Callum had approached the Americans first, over his own government, which would surely see him fired and even tried for treason.
Kate eventually comes up with a different plan—to send an American submarine down close to the Russian submarine, only to take photographs of it. If the Russian watercraft is indeed fitted with a nuclear missile, then its hull would look a certain way, which would be solid proof to show to Trowbridge. But executing this plan would also be risky, as the Americans would be sending their watercraft into British waters without taking due permissions and even hiding the matter from Trowbridge. Kate believes, though, that if they can get solid proof about the Poseidon’s presence, then Trowbridge would not bother about the Americans having broken the law and would rather be more concerned about dealing with the situation.
What is the secret that Hal keeps from Kate?
Ultimately, Hal convinces Grace Penn to pull off this risky move, and in a matter of just a few hours, the Americans present photographic evidence of the nuclear missile to Prime Minister Trowbridge. The latter still refuses to work together, as he believes that the Americans will simply take away the nuclear missile for themselves, while he seemingly wants to possess it instead. Kate now steps up to propose to him that the missile will be retrieved and then buried deep in the seabed, ensuring that none of the countries get hold of it. Trowbridge finally accepts this proposal, and a resolution to the lengthy negotiations is reached. However, at the very end of The Diplomat season 3, it is revealed that Hal has kept a crucial secret from Kate with regard to the missile crisis.
Turns out, Hal and Penn had secretly launched a mission to not just photograph the nuclear missile but to retrieve it as well. When Callum informs Kate that the radiation levels at the spot had suddenly dropped, she first fears that the Russians might have gotten hold of it, but then quickly figures out that it was her own husband and the president of her country who had secretly stolen it. In fact, it was by making this proposition, behind closed doors, that Hal had convinced Grace Penn to agree to Kate’s plan of sending American submarines to collect photographic evidence. However, this means that the Americans betray the British once again, which will leave Trowbridge absolutely livid, although there might be better efforts made to hide the truth this time around.
What to expect from Season 4?
Netflix has already renewed The Diplomat for a 4th season, where the consequences of this grand betrayal will surely be seen. Trowbridge agreeing to the deal in the end means that American and British submarines are soon going to be sent to the spot to retrieve the missile, and its absence at the spot will naturally create tension. Surely the Russians will be held responsible once again, but Penn and Hal would have to be careful to ensure that Trowbridge does not take any drastic steps again. Meanwhile, how Kate deals with the realization that Hal had hidden a massive secret from her will be interesting to watch. This decision might even push her into separating from him once again, and Callum might continue to play a part in this regard. Elsewhere, Stuart Heyford really looks close to questioning the reports and starting his own investigation into whether Rayburn had really been involved with the HMS Courageous. Him stumbling upon the truth will also have extreme consequences, and Stuart might even take up action against his government in The Diplomat Season 4.
