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| Image Credit: Netflix |
The season 2 finale of The Diplomat opens up all sorts of possibilities for The Diplomat season 3. Keri Russell leads the cast of The Diplomat season 2 alongside Rufus Sewell as her husband Hal, David Gyasi as Foreign Minister Austin Dennison, Ali Ahn as CIA agent Eidra Park, and Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge. The Diplomat season 2 picks up after the events of The Diplomat season 1 finale, revealing that Hal and Ato Essandoh Stuart survived the car explosion that killed Congressman Merritt Grove. Throughout The Diplomat season 2, both Kate and Hal get closer to the truth about Roman Lenkov and the government officials behind the false flag operation.
The biggest shocker in The Diplomat season 2 finale is that US Vice President Grace Penn was behind the attack on the HMS Courageous. Hal initially learns this information from Margaret Roylin, who was also involved in the elaborate false flag operation. It was Roylin who ordered Merritt Grove to hire Russian mercenary Roman Lenkov to attack the HMS Courageous. The attack was intended to inflict minor damage and was not expected to result in British casualties. Due to supply issues, the Lenkov Group used more powerful explosives in the form of submarine-launched missiles.
Grace Penn is now President of the United States in The Diplomat
At the end of season two of The Diplomat, Kate discovers that the Vice President was behind the attack on the HMS Courageous. She and Hal are unable to keep quiet knowing that Penn bypassed the President to authorize the attack on the HMS Courageous. Hal says he will speak to Secretary of State Miguel Ganon, with whom he has a difficult relationship and who holds the Cabinet position Hal secretly desires. Instead, Hal speaks directly to President Rayburn through a secure line at the London Embassy, telling him the truth about the Vice President, Margaret Roylin, and Roman Lenkov.
This shocks President Rayburn, who is known for his heart problems, to the point of killing him. Due to President Rayburn's sudden death, Vice President Penn will become President Penn at the beginning of The Diplomat season 3. Because of this, dozens of members of the Secret Service are seen running towards her at the end of the season 2 finale of The Diplomat. Penn's final words to Kate as Vice President are to keep the truth hidden for both their sakes. Penn takes a very stern tone towards Kate, revealing a formidable side that has not yet been seen.
Katherine Wyler can still become Vice President
Now that Penn will be the President of the United States at the beginning of The Diplomat season 3, she may aim to end Kate's career and silence her as she and Roylin did with Merritt Grove. It would certainly be dangerous for Kate to continue revealing the truth about the HMS Courageous, especially since the death of President Rayburn will be a much bigger story than the geopolitical information leaked. Kate would end up betraying her country by revealing the truth about the HMS Courageous, thus ruining the strong alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Kate will likely work closely with President Penn in season three of The Diplomat as Vice President. She will have to learn to live with the harsh realities of her new role, which was a rude awakening for her in season two, and understand the difficult decision Penn had to make, a decision Kate confirmed she would have made herself. Kate’s relationship with Dennison will likely be strained, especially if the truth ever comes out for him or Prime Minister Trowbridge, which would be disastrous. The Diplomat creator Debora Cahn told Netflix’s Tudum: “Season three flips the board. In season three, Kate has this particular nightmare of getting what you want.” This implies that Kate will end up becoming Vice President in season three.
Nicol Trowbridge and the British Government’s Investigation
After Trowbridge discovers that Roylin was behind the attack on the HMS Courageous (completely unaware that she was covering for Grace Penn), he becomes so enraged that he nearly strangles her to death. Trowbridge considers his wife Lydia’s suggestion that he resign as Prime Minister and reveal the truth behind the attack on the HMS Courageous and Lenkov’s assassination. Dennison also recommends the same thing. However, Trowbridge ignores their recommendations and remains as Prime Minister, meaning he will continue to serve in the role at the start of Season 3. His main goal will be to find out who else was involved in Roylin’s plan within the UK government, but he is dragging his feet for fear of the answers he will receive.
Eidra and Stuart's Relationship in The Diplomat
Eidra and Stuart are separated throughout the second season of The Diplomat and she struggles to maintain a purely professional relationship between them, in part due to Stuart's deteriorating health following the car explosion. Although Kate has softened towards Hal since the explosion, despite their continued disagreements, their marriage is still intact and Kate's budding relationship with Dennison is put on hold by the end of season two. As for Stuart and Eidra, Stuart's insistence finally begins to crack Eidra's impenetrable shield when he tells her that he thinks they should be together. The door is certainly open for Stuart and Eidra to become more official in season 3 of The Diplomat.
What's going on with the Russians?
Throughout The Diplomat, the Russians have mostly been out of the picture, save for mercenary leader Roman Lenkov. MI6 agent Tom mentions the Russians in the final scene of season 2, which could set the stage for a bigger Russian presence in season 3 of The Diplomat. With Dennison present, Trowbridge intended to inform Tom of the investigation into the British government and was supposed to explain that it wasn’t the Russians behind the attack on the HMS Courageous, but one of their own, Margaret Roylin. At the end of season 2 of The Diplomat, Trowbridge fails to tell Tom the truth.
Tom informs Trowbridge that the Russian Ministry of Defense has requested the SAS report on Lenkov’s “accidental” death, which the UK has denied. Since Trowbridge has been pointing the finger at the Russian mercenary leader on television, the Kremlin may be responding to the bad press and lack of transparency surrounding Lenkov’s death. Now that Trowbridge knows the truth, he will be forced to choose whether to cover up the whole affair, as Penn suggested, or escalate the issue to eliminate any potential friction with Russia and avoid an international conflict in the third season of The Diplomat.
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