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Here’s the question that is surely top of mind going into The Diplomat’s third season, which has been officially renewed by Netflix. What is to come of Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) after that huge end-of-season cliffhanger—is she out of a job, or is she next in line for the now-vacant VP spot?
It’s all up in the air following the shock death of the president (Michael McKean), given his replacement Grace Penn (Allison Janney) had just faced off with Kate for trying to out-muscle her out of the vice presidency. But Kate has some security: the knowledge that, as revealed at the end of the season, it was Penn who hired Russian merc Roman Lenkov to bomb the HMS Courageous in an attempt to unify the British public and block Scottish independence. Maybe Penn will want to keep her quiet with a little quid pro quo—her silence for a seat at the table.
Hold up. Why, exactly, would the Americans care about IndyRef? As Penn explains to Kate, Scotland hosts a U.S. sub base that is vital for America’s strategic deterrence and the detection of Russian nuclear submarines, and if Scotland were to go independent, the base would likely be closed. Forty-one sailors might’ve died in the false-flag hit on the Courageous, but as far as Penn is concerned, that’s better than the 40 million that would be “vaporized” in an undetected nuclear attack.
At the end of the finale, Hal (Rufus Sewell) took it upon himself to tell the president about Penn’s scheme; what Hal didn’t anticipate is the president literally dying of shock, resulting in Penn’s ascent to the throne. Such a twist is the sort of juicy, outrageous melodrama that makes The Diplomat delectable TV, evoking the best of late-stage soapy House of Cards.
What can we expect from The Diplomat season 3?
Well, according to showrunner Debora Cahn, next season “flips the chessboard” for Kate. “In season 3, Kate lives the particular nightmare that is getting what you want,” she told the official Netflix blog Tudum. What does that mean, exactly? Well, her goal at the end of season 2 was to take the vice presidency, and a route is potentially open now that Penn has been upgraded to the top job. The problem being…would Penn ever want Kate, who was pretty conspicuous in trying to muscle Penn out of the job before POTUS keeled over, to be her second-in-command?
