‘The Diplomat’ Season 2: 2 Unanswered Questions Ahead of the Premiere, and 2 the Teaser Trailer Answered
The return of The Diplomat is on the way. After the Netflix political thriller ended on a big cliffhanger in season 1, here’s a look at what questions remain ahead of The Diplomat Season 2. Plus, a few that have been answered by a teaser trailer.
Unanswered: Is Allison Janney’s vice president a friend or foe in ‘The Diplomat’ Season 2?
New episodes of The Diplomat bring with them some new faces. Among the new additions to the cast is Oscar-winner Allison Janney. She plays Grace Penn, the U.S. vice president who Keri Russell’s U.S. ambassador Kate Wyler will replace, if all goes according to plan.
The question is, though, is Penn a friend or foe? The answer, as showrunner Debora Cahn told Entertainment Weekly, could surprise viewers.
“Grace Penn is a problematic figure on a bunch of different levels. But she certainly falls in that category of characters who will defy the expectations of the people in our story and hopefully of the audience,” Cahn said.
“It’s important to me to be able to look at the subject matter that we’re talking about in a multidimensional way,” she explained. “I think that we all want to look at the world and say, ‘These are the good guys, and these are bad guys.’ And once you really get in there, no matter where you go in the world, there’s a bunch of extremely complicated people leading complicated lives just trying to make things a little bit better.”
“There are a lot of corrupt politicians or evil politicians on television,” the showrunner continued. “And for me, it’s so much more interesting to think about: What if they’re not? What if they’re actually good, and we’re still as f***ed as we are right now?”
Answered: Did Hal survive the explosion in ‘The Diplomat’ Season 1 finale?
The short answer is—spoiler alert—yes. Kate’s husband, Hal, played by Scoop‘s Rufus Sewell, is alive after the explosion at the end of the season 1 finale.
The question’s answered in the first few seconds of the teaser trailer, showing Hal accompanying Kate to a special event—a state dinner, perhaps?—wearing a tuxedo as viewers get their first glimpse of Janney’s vice president character.
Unanswered: Where do Kate and Hal stand after ‘The Diplomat’ Season 1 finale?
This might just be a question that forever lingers between Hal and Kate on The Diplomat. Kate was, as Cahn said, “ready for this new relationship” with Dennison (David Gyasi) when the explosion went off in the season 1 finale.
But it seems Kate and Hal’s marriage may have gotten stronger in the wake of the explosion. “She was really ready to move on, and there’s nothing like a near-death experience for you to just cling to somebody and forget all of the stuff that was driving you apart,” Cahn said.
“It was over. They had reached a conclusion,” she added. “So when suddenly she’s like, ‘I’m back. I’m here now.’ Do you trust it? Do you trust her? A lot of the season is about trust and there is a line that comes later in the season, where Kate says to Hal, ‘Of course, I don’t trust you. This isn’t built on trust.’”
So, expect to wonder about where Hal and Kate stand with each other in The Diplomat Season 2.
Answered: When does ‘The Diplomat’ Season 2 premiere?
Last but not least is the date of the premiere. September 2024’s teaser trailer answered the question, ending the just under 60-second clip with the date of the show’s return: Oct. 31, 2024. Until then, all eight episodes of season 1 are available on Netflix.
