The riveting London-set political thriller, The Diplomat<\/a>, returns with another high-stakes cliffhanger shaking up what fans may have expected in Season 3 for both Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell<\/a>) and her meddling husband Hal (Rufus Sewell<\/a>), as well for international relations. \u201cWe\u2019ve come back to a situation,\u201d says showrunner Debora Cahn<\/a>, \u201cwhere everybody\u2019s place in the world has flipped. Everything that we think we understand about their own jobs and their own relationship is suddenly upside down and then reestablishing itself in a new place.\u201d<\/p>\n In last season\u2019s final episodes, we learned that the devious U.S. Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney<\/a>) was the mastermind behind the two-seasons long plot to damage a British aircraft carrier and blame it on Iran and Russia. Penn, dragging in her own visual aids and using charcoal for a pen, was forced to explain her reasoning to Kate: Keep a secessionist Scotland in the U.K. so they\u2019d keep our bases there to ward off attacks by Russia on the U.S.\u2019s East Coast.<\/p>\n But the plan went too far, sailors died, and the rogue Brits who hit the ship also blew up a car killing a British MP and an American Secret Service agent. Penn may have apologized to Kate, but she believes it was worth the loss of life.<\/p>\n Allison Janney as Grace Penn, Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in ‘The Diplomat’ Season 3 Episode 1<\/p>\n Netflix<\/p>\n Kate and Hal debated whether Penn should\/could be fired \u2014 they basically called her a traitor to her face \u2014 and if she is, Hal pushed his wife to become Vice President.<\/p>\n But soon after, there\u2019s another big shock: The POTUS (Michael McKean<\/a>) keeled over with a heart attack while getting the news about his Veep from Hal over the phone.\u00a0 Shock number two: Grace Penn is the new President of the United States.<\/p>\n Season 3 opens as Penn quickly gets sworn in while she\u2019s in London. The question now is what she will do about Kate and Hal, who were about to expose her to the Secretary of State. Will she try to keep Kate close as the second in command Hal wants her to be or end her career? It\u2019s a pretty bad spot to be coming back from,\u201d says Cahn. \u201cThough Hal is undeterred and literally nothing will stop him from having Kate become vice president,\u201d she promises, \u201che\u2019s like \u2018Okay, a different president, no problem.\u2019\u201d How Kate feels about this tricky situation will shortly be revealed.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we learned about Grace Penn at the end of Season 2 makes the relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. a lot more complicated going forward now that she\u2019s president,\u201d continues Cahn. \u201cGetting rid of her is not really viable in the same way\u2026or maybe it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Several new characters show up this season to help with the machinations. Poldark<\/a>\u2018s dashing Aiden Turner<\/a> has a so far undisclosed recurring role leaving viewers to ponder\u2014 is he a romantic or villainous addition? \u00a0And there will be another nice surprise for The West Wing<\/a> fans when Grace\u2019s husband Todd shows up. He\u2019s played by Bradley Whitford<\/a>, who shared a previous administration with Janney on the beloved political drama.<\/p>\n Allison Janney as Grace Penn, Bradley Whitford as Todd Penn in ‘The Diplomat’ Season 3 Episode 6<\/p>\n Clifton Prescod \/ Netflix<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to make too much of a West Wing tribute act,\u201d says Cahn, \u201cso we were a bit concerned about having both of them together in the same place. But as soon as we saw the character that Allison was building, we thought that bringing in Brad as an actor in that dynamic was only going to feed [their story] with a lot more richness. I just have to say, we loved seeing the two of them together.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of what the show is \u201cexcited about,\u201d Cahn says, \u201cis taking another marriage and looking at Kate and Hal\u2019s next to that one and seeing how two couples in a similar situation handle the dynamics that are inherent to that world, differently.\u201d And we\u2019ll see how Kate asses the new First Gentleman.<\/p>\n Also back for international skullduggery: British Foreign Secretary Austin Denison (David Gyasi<\/a>) who has, you might say, a special relationship with Ambassador Wyler. \u201cThese are two people who trust each other,\u201d the showrunner notes.<\/p>\n As for the show\u2019s real-world topicality, \u201cWe try to be living in the headspace that the country is living,\u201d Cahn explains, \u201cbut right now, the headspace of the country changes so fast that it\u2019s hard to keep up with. We\u2019re not looking to mirror what\u2019s going on in the world; we\u2019re looking to get a window into the kind of work these people do \u2014 what it is, why it matters, and why firing thousands of them is probably a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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