🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐 

If meddling was a sport, there’s no doubt Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) would win the gold. His constant need to butt into the high stakes job his wife Kate (Keri Russell) has been unexpectedly assigned as ambassador to the United Kingdom in the midst of a delicate international crisis is second to none. 

That’s what we quickly learn in the series premiere of the Netflix original series The Diplomat from creator Debora Cahn (The West Wing, Homeland). 

While Hal seems to be ever in control, the twist of the first episode is that he’s drugged in the backseat of a mysterious vehicle by an unknown stylist — launching a whole new slew of questions as we dive into Episode 2.

Alex Bailey/Netflix

Where do we pick up after the series premiere cliffhanger?

It’s a tale of two Londons when the second episode opens. Kate is dressed to the nines for a British Vogue photo shoot at the entrance of the regal Winfield House, while Hal literally has his hands tied, waking up from a drugged state to find himself in a nondescript central London brick building. 

Hal was supposed to step in for photos with Kate — who can’t stand one more shutter click — and soon an investigation is in full force to figure out where he is. When footage of Hal getting into the backseat of the car with the “hot young thing” stylist is discovered, some guess he’s having an affair, but Kate knows her husband best and says he doesn’t cheat — though sometimes she wishes he would.

Who kidnapped Hal?

As the Americans try to piece together who has taken Hal, Kate reveals that she has some ideas, noting this isn’t the first time he’s been kidnapped.

Indeed, Hal is remarkably calm and confident for a hostage, as his abductors hand him a cell phone, with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rasoul Shahin (Bijan Daneshmand) from Iran on the line. There’s a familiarity between them as Hal starts by asking if he truly needed to be drugged and Shahin scolds his operatives for having gone to such measures, offering Hal an apology. 

But why did they kidnap Hal?

Shahin wants to make clear that Iran had nothing to do with the British warship bombing. As a gesture, his operatives show that after three years of planning, they held off on murdering retired US General Bradford Symes for his participation in the murder of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani. After all, they can’t kill him off if there’s a hint of blame that Iran is behind the attack.

The operative makes clear that if the US does take military action against Iran, it won’t be looked at as retaliation, but an unprovoked attack — and Iran would respond accordingly with all they’ve got. 

Alex Bailey/Netflix

How do they know the Iranian threats are real?

Returning back to Winfield, the Wylers sit with the Chief of the CIA Station in London, Eidra Park (Ali Ahn), to debrief, as Hal hands over the USB drive he was given. Kate has doubts about the veracity of it all, until Hal shares that Shahin said his stomach was “very bad.” She reveals that the Wylers helped Shahin get GI surgery in Geneva a couple of years back, but whenever he’s asked about his stomach, he always says it’s awful. 

Still, she contemplates that he could have had guns pointed at him and tells the CIA to continue their process — and that includes looking at Hal as a person of interest. 

What’s the state of Wylers personal life at this point?

For the first time in the series, we see Kate and Hal as a true couple, cuddling in bed to soft jazz music. Despite their romantic gestures, their pillow talk is all business, with Kate asking point blank if Hal was the one who called Shahin himself, reminding him that it would be a federal offense if he did.

As soon as Kate gets the answers she wants, she leaves the bedroom, denying Hal’s request for “sorry-you-were-abducted sex,” showing divorce is still in the cards. 

Who else is sharing a bed? Are Stuart and Eidra a couple?

The Wylers aren’t the only ones talking shop in bed. As hinted in the Episode 1, we now see Kate’s Deputy Chief of Mission Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh) and Eidra are indeed a couple off the clock, sharing a bed in a London flat. But they go out of their way to enter Winfield separately the next morning and greet each other as colleagues. 

So is Hal really a person of interest? 

Hal readily goes through the motions he needs to, but also keeps sharing valuable intelligence along the way — he reveals that Symes is valuable to the Iranians since he picks who the Americans target, and that focusing on him shows that Iran is reading the government’s e-mails. He also shares that the Quds Forces use meteorological terms to describe their opps since the weather doesn’t change much for them.

But Kate seems to still suspect her husband. While Eidra thinks Kate is overstepping into CIA’s territory, Hal spells it out and even offers up his phone revealing that his passcode spells “Kate.” But Eidra says it’s not necessary since she already ran a check on his phone. Kate seems to be the only one who has a shadow of a doubt that her husband is involved. 

Stuart thinks it might be because Kate is jealous of how popular Hal is, but she quickly turns that around, telling him that there are two sides to every story and that one of his “brave” acts back in Afghanistan prevented 322 people who worked for US forces from evacuating the area. “When it’s Hal, you have to be really fuckin’ sure,” Kate tells Stuart.

Alex Bailey/Netflix

Who does the British government think is behind the HMS Courageous bombing?

Kate attends the funeral for the victims of the HMS Courageous attack at RAF Brize Norton, running into Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) and Margaret “Meg” Roylin (Celia Imrie) on the way in, before Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) speaks.

While Trowbridge is offering condolences afterward, the wife of one of the victims  starts shouting that the Americans p—ed off Iran and two days later, Iran murdered the father of her child. Despite investigations still in progress, Trowbridge says, “If this was Iran, then mark my words, I will rain hellfire upon them” — a statement that goes viral immediately.

The fallout is fast:  Two people are killed in an Iranian hate incident at a mosque.

Why does President Rayburn make a surprise visit?

In light of the suspicion of Iran being behind the attack, the US president (Michael McKean), who planted the idea in Prime Minister Trowbridge’s mind to begin with, schedules an impromptu 90-minute visit on his way to Berlin, so that he can offer his condolences to the British. 

But having President Rayburn and Prime Minister Trowbridge stand together in unity after Trowbridge’s anti-Iranian rant is not a good look, especially if Shahin turns out to be right.

How does Kate get to the truth behind the Iranian call?

The president’s visit puts a serious deadline on Kate’s mission to corroborate the facts that Iran is not to blame. While out of the embassy cell tower range, she ducks out into a public restroom and calls a CIA analyst in Iraq to look into call records — and discovers  there was one seemingly innocuous call made on a burner phone to Rome.

She darts back to the embassy, laser-focused on Hal — making him admit he called a landscape artist, Niccolo, in Rome, who then was the one who called Shahin. So yes, Kate’s instincts were right all along about Hal’s meddling. She’s heard outside her office screaming and saying he made her look like a “f—ing psychotic.” 

What does Kate do to cancel the president-prime minister meeting?

Kate puts in a call to Secretary of State Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval), revealing it was Hal who got the confirmation that it wasn’t Iran. Despite Ganon’s distaste for her husband, he knows that means Iran is innocent. But he says it’s too late to cancel the presidential visit. 

Frustrated, she barges in on Dennison, telling him that it’s not Iran, and revealing Hal’s kidnapping. Dennison says the only way to stop the meeting now is to talk directly to President Rayburn, since he’s the one who put the idea in Trowbridge’s head.

Just before the president’s arrival, Kate puts her foot down, telling Hal that he needs to leave for good — not only are his actions inappropriate and making the investigations more difficult, but she can’t think straight if he’s around.

As the presidential helicopter lands in front of them, Hal drops the bombshell that she’s being groomed to be vice president — and that clearly means she can’t be divorced. Or can she…

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