🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐 

It’s one thing to have mere minutes to stop an international faux pas that could lead to war — it’s another to learn out of the blue that you’re being fast-tracked to the vice presidency. Between the two, the pressure is well past the boiling point, yet this is the kind of environment in which Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the newly minted United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, thrives.

With both situations at the brink, President Rayburn (Michael McKean) arrives via helicopter as Kate runs full force into crisis control mode in Episode 3 of political drama The Diplomat from creator Debora Cahn (The West Wing, Homeland). 

How does Kate convince the president that Iran is not the culprit?

Global tensions are higher than ever. UK Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear)’s comments blaming Iran for the bombing of the British warship HMS Courageous — that killed 25 sailors — have already gone viral. Now the president is in London to pay  respects to the families of the victims, but any show of solidarity will signal that the US also believes Iran is behind the bombing. 

But after the kidnapping of her husband, Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) and the ensuing fallout, Kate knows it wasn’t Iran. Rayburn remains skeptical until Kate calls on Hal, who reveals that Iran Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rasoul Shahin put everything on the line and called Hal to tell him the same thing. (We’ll get into the tricky part of this a beat later in the episode.)

Now Rayburn is convinced and says he should have canceled the trip. Hal says Kate had asked Secretary of State Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval) to cancel, but Ganon didn’t because of his grudge against Hal.

It’s far too late to cancel — how does the president’s meeting with the prime minister go?

As the two heads of state greet each other, Kate sends Hal off with them and pulls aside British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) to quickly figure out how to scale back on the press surrounding the event. After heated negotiations, they agree that the lunch will be just Rayburn and Trowbridge alone so that the president can have ample time to convince the prime minister Iran is not at fault.

Meanwhile, how is Kate reacting to finding out she’s being groomed to become veep?

While the two heads of state are dining, Hal suggests that White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) talk to Kate about the vice presidency. Billie reveals that the current vice president, Grace Penn, recently learned her husband misplaced a $6.3 million NIH grant — and the Wall Street Journal will soon reveal the news, which will force Penn out.

Billie admits there are others on the VP shortlist, most of whom are female legislators who will likely use the opportunity to campaign for the presidency. That’s why they’ve landed on Kate — campaigning is so not her style. But all Kate can focus on is the fact that all these people in her inner circle knew what was going on and didn’t tell her. 

How’s Kate getting along with her new London staff?

While Kate and Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh), her deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy) have continued to build a solid trust (with a few hiccups), CIA chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) is more skeptical. When Eidra finds out that a CIA analyst in Iraq who used to work with Kate put in a request for call signals in London, her doubt grows — and she asks for a secret meeting with her on the Winfield House grounds, out of earshot of everyone… and any potential bugs.

Eidra lets Kate know that the US and UK have a unique relationship when it comes to intelligence — they share everything. So Eidra knows that Kate put in that request which places Eidra and the CIA in an awkward relationship with MI6. That’s when Kate tells her that Hal’s the one who first called Iran via that logged call on a burner phone to a contact in Rome — and she needed the call record to find that out.

Kate and Eidra team up to reprimand Hal, with Kate emphasizing that he doesn’t work for the government and thus could go to jail for getting in touch with Iran. Eidra puts practicality over emotion and has Hal write down — on paper — every word of his conversation with Shahin. Eidra apologizes to Kate for not believing her doubts about her own husband. The women have attained a mutual respect and trust — for now.

What’s going on with the warship?

As the heads of state wrap up their private lunch, Billie catches the president’s ear and tells him that Iran has sent an infantry group to the coast. Rayburn is unconcerned, countering that he’s sending a carrier group to the Gulf to rescue the ship from sinking.

The sinking is news to everyone. When Dennison asks to speak to Kate in private, she calls him out for not revealing the sinking. The carrier group is a warship and now it will look like the US is waging war on Iran.

That’s when she realizes that’s exactly how Trowbridge wants it to look. Rayburn — and the US — have been played. 

How do they prove that Iran isn’t at fault?

In yet another clandestine outside-the-house meeting, Billie, Eidra and Kate talk strategy. Billie says they need backup and the best way to go about it is to reach out to Shahin since they can’t reveal anything about Hal’s call. 

But Kate goes on a passionate rant, saying that it would be too risky and that though sometimes there’s a “flimsy web of relationships,” “sometimes it holds,” and they need to use the information they already have and move forward. 

So how does Kate feel about the whole vice presidency thing?

After their savvy handling of that delicate situation, Billie and Kate have a drink. Stuart joins them, pointing out that five US presidents have been UK ambassadors — and the way Kate has taken care of business in the last few days shows exactly why she’s ideal for the role of vice president. 

After all, she’s ably handled Lebanon and Baghdad, and now she’s shown that she can handle the president. Unlike others who are motivated by personal glory, “you’d be doing it for the country, not the power,” Stuart says to Kate. Stuart and Billie attempt to further lure her by telling her they’d let her handle foreign policy. 

Admittedly, it’s starting to sound enticing. When Hal enters the room, suddenly Kate doesn’t seem so opposed to the whole idea. 

But what about Kate and Hal’s impending divorce? 

Kate’s been counting the days till she’ll be rid of Hal, saying, “This marriage is killing me.” 

But if Hal’s known about this veep thing for more than a month, why were they talking divorce just two weeks ago? They’d had conversations so emotional Hal was sobbing. He had her call a mediator to start initiating their divorce. All this, while he knew that the vice presidency was in the cards for her? 

Kate finally says she’ll consider the job if Hal answers one question truthfully: Did he really think they were done when he told her to call the mediator? He says no and instantly, she socks him. Like, really socks him. She lunges at him, heels are thrown, and they’re both taken down to the ground, as she keeps on slapping him. One thing’s for sure: Kate’s a fighter.

But what’s going on with the rescue mission?

There are just minutes left of the presidential visit, and Kate is completely disheveled when she’s called to a last-ditch effort to convince Rayburn to pull the “rescue” mission.  

Kate is nothing but blunt. Yes, there’s the evidence and there’s the foreign perception of the situation. But she also knows that the president’s own shortcomings are on full view here and she holds a mirror up to his true motivation: “You’re scared your enemies think you’re too old and frail to put Americans in the line of fire.”

She’s nailed it. 

“No ships, bring the car around,” Rayburn says.  But then he adds as an aside: “Someone should wash her, she looks ridiculous.”

So what does this mean for Kate’s future?

This is all too much — and not the right kind of drama — for Kate. She’s out. But that’s not what Billie or President Rayburn want to hear. 

We’re back where we started at the top of the episode, with the helicopter in front of Winfield House.  Just before the president boards, he shows his appreciation for Kate, telling her she’s doing “great.” Then he adds: “Just knock off that ‘I resign’ shit. It really pisses me off.”

And with that, he takes off, leaving Kate stuck as UK ambassador… for now.

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