How Did The Diplomat Season 1 End? All the Thrilling Twists to Remember Before Season 2 (Including Who Survived That Car Bomb)

Warning: Season 1 spoilers Diplomat forward!

There was no shortage of shocking events and explosive cliffhangers in the finale of the first season of the Netflix series Diplomat.

The Emmy-nominated political drama series stars Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell as Kate and Hal Wyler, married American diplomats with extensive foreign experience. The season begins when Kate learns that she has been flown from Afghanistan to the UK after the British aircraft carrier, HMS Courageous, is bombed – killing 25 Royal Navy personnel.

During the season, Kate tries to prevent a world war from breaking out while the British try to find out who is responsible for the attack. The last episode of the first season follows Kate and British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) as they try to facilitate the arrest of the bomber, Roman Lenkov, while he is on holiday in France. But as Kate gets approval from the French for the British to detain Lenkov, she learns something that changes everything.

This extreme challenge at the end of Season 1 was a deliberate move by series creator Deborah Cahn.

“I wanted to make people want more,” Cahn, who also worked on Country and West wingTudum said. “I wanted to bring together all the different dynamics of political relationships and personal relationships in one event that separates everyone at the same time.”

All six episodes Diplomat season 2 was released on Netflix on October 31st. Before you dive into the new episodes, here’s a recap of everything that happened in Diplomat season 1 finale.

How is it Diplomat the end of the first season?

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in episode 108 of The Diplomat.

Netflix

Season finale Diplomat, titled “The James Bond Clause,” opens the morning after a plan to attack Lenkov’s troops in Libya is called off. Kate goes to a meeting at Dennison’s office, where she learns that Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (played by James Bond actor Rory Kinnear) has changed his mind and wants to arrest Lenkov while he is on vacation in France.

Although Trowbridge had called Kate a “disgrace” just the day before when she originally suggested the procedure, he is now fully on board with the idea.

In order to begin capturing the Lenkovs, Kate and Dennison must travel to Paris to ask the French Minister of the Interior, Brielle Fournier (played by Micky Sébastian), for permission for British special forces to make the arrest. Due to last-minute travel plans, Kate asks Hal to step in for her and give a speech at Chatham House, an international affairs institute in London.

Hal’s speech is well received and he phones Kate in Paris to tell her – and that he’s been approached by a Tory MP, Merritt Grove (played by Simon Chandler), for an urgent meeting. When Kate learns that Hal has accepted an invitation to dinner with Grove that evening, she is enraged to learn that her soon-to-be-ex-husband is potentially in the running for Secretary of State. She demands that Hal not meet with Grove and arranges for Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh) — her chief of mission at the embassy — and assistant Ronnie Buckhurst (Jess Chanliau) to come to the meeting instead. But Hal insists he come so they can do a five-minute “handover.”

Back in Paris, after a failed attempt to get permission from Fournier, Kate goes to an event at the Louvre, where she persuades Fournier to agree to have British special forces arrest Lenkov. But Fournier also tells Kate she’s surprised the US would agree and “lobby hard for an extrajudicial killing” – leaving Kate shocked. The plan was to capture Lenko alive, but Fournier says her intelligence revealed that the British intended to kill him.

Kate escapes from the Louvre and confronts Dennison about the assassination plot. He insists he had no idea, and also finds it hard to believe: if Lenkov is killed, the British won’t be able to find out who hired him in the first place. In addition, under the Intelligence Act, Dennison would have had to approve the murder request – and he didn’t.

This is the moment when everything starts to click for Kate. “A dead Lenkov is only good for the people who hired him,” she says, realizing that it was probably Trowbridge who hired Lenkov to blow up his own country’s aircraft carrier.

But that’s not the only explosive development: in London, Grove is livid when Buckhurst shows up to meet him instead of Hal. He dashed out to his car, where both Hayford and Hal hurried over to him. Grove gets into his car, but when he opens the door, it explodes — leaving the entire block in flames. In the final scene, Kate’s security informs her of the explosion in London, leaving her in tears.

Fans weren’t the only ones left shocked by the dramatic ending; Russell herself did not see it.

I was completely surprised, said the actress Deadline completion. “But Debora is such a veteran. She’s been doing this forever. She is a true professional. She knows what she’s doing. I guess she had that plan for a while, but I was completely surprised.”

Does Hal survive in the end Diplomat season 1?

Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler in episode 107 of The Diplomat.

Netflix

One of the biggest cliffhangers from Diplomat the first season finale is about who – if anyone – survived the fiery explosion. But the trailer for the second season Diplomat confirmed by at least one survivor: Hal. The teaser clip opens with the former ambassador, alive and well, accompanying Kate to a black-tie affair.

Official Netflix photos from season 2 Diplomat they also discover another survivor: Kate’s Deputy Chief of Mission Hayford. At the end of the first season, Sewell (who plays Hal) hoped that everyone would survive.

“I hope we all survive,” he told Tudumu. “What can I say? I mean, I loved the dramatic twist. And I just have to hope a) that there will be a second season and b) that everyone will be OK. But the drama has to be real.”

Why was Grove killed Diplomat season 1?

Simon Chandler as Sir Merritt Grove in The Diplomat.

Netflix

While Hal and Hayford survived the car explosion, it’s safe to assume that Grove – who was closest to the detonation – was killed. But why was he taken out?

Grove’s rush to connect with someone in the White House insinuates that he knew about Trowbridge and the plan to assassinate Lenkov, and was trying to inform the US before it failed.

The explosion, then, was potentially intended to silence him and his knowledge—but who officially orchestrated Grove’s death was still unknown before season two.

Where are Kate and Hal at the end of season one?

Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler, Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in The Diplomat episode 102.

Netflix

During the first season DiplomatKate isn’t just working on smoothing international relations — her own marriage is also in a precarious position. The couple planned to divorce, but with Kate expected to be vice president, she and Hal have to stay together for the sake of optics.

In the season finale, Hal seems to become jealous when he learns that Kate will be traveling to Paris with Dennison (whom she has been flirting with since arriving in London). Kate offers Hal to go with him and even seems to agree to a reconciliation – but everything changes when she thinks Hal is eyeing the Secretary of State job.

“I feel like the standard thing is to give a relationship every chance possible, right?” Kate says as she vents to Dennison in Paris. “I mean, that’s the whole fucking definition of my life’s work. There’s nothing you can’t talk about. But at a certain point, I’m a moron for failing to learn a lesson I’ve been taught a thousand times.”

Kate seems to have decided that she and Hal are done — but the turn of events at the end of the season one finale changes everything. As the pair head into season two, Kate will have to lean on Hal — “her only true ally,” according to Netflix — as she discovers who she can trust.

When Diplomat season two premiere?

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in episode 202 of The Diplomat.

Netflix

Only 10 days after Diplomat season 1 premiered on Netflix and jumped to number one on the Netflix Top 10 list, season 2 has been ordered. The decision to renew the political drama, which was one of PEOPLE’s Top 10 TV Series of 2023, was an easy one, according to Jinny Howe, vice president of drama at Netflix.

“Fans around the world are loving every minute A diplomat gripping and propulsive drama, and embracing Keri Russell’s powerful performance as Kate Wyler,” Howe told Tudum. “After that incredible cliffhanger, we can’t wait to see what the incredible visionary team… has in store for season two.”

Diplomat season 2 began filming in London in June 2023, but was delayed due to strikes by writers and actors. Production later resumed in December 2023.

All episodes Diplomat season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

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Source: HIS Education