I honestly didn’t expect the ending of The Diplomat on Netflix to leave me so desperate for more (and with so many questions!). I really thought it was going to be a regular political series. Eight episodes later, and I’m on the edge of my seat. Obviously, there are going to be spoilers for The Diplomat ahead, so if you’ve finished season 1 or just want it all laid out in advance, let’s dig into that ending. And don’t worry, season 2 of The Diplomat is coming.
Everything happens at breakneck speed on The Diplomat. Kate Wyler, the protagonist played by Keri Russell, thinks she’s traveling to Kabul, Afghanistan to deal with an ongoing diplomatic situation. Then she ends up assigned to the United Kingdom after a mysterious attack on a British aircraft carrier. Then Kate and her estranged-ish fellow diplomat husband Hal forge romantic attachments to a pair of siblings. Political ambitions and alliances switch every two minutes. The British prime minister wants to attack Russian mercenaries in Libya. TL;DR a lot is going on!
Here’s where The Diplomat season 1’s ending leaves us:
Hal wants to be Secretary of State
Kate’s husband keeps crossing the line. But for him, “crossing the line” means making introductions between foreign dignitaries. Since Hal is not an acting ambassador, that’s a big no-no. This may seem small but it’s bad for her marriage, her job as a diplomat, her potential “promotion” to vice president, and world affairs in general. But that’s not Kate’s only discovery.
It was an inside job
Turns out, the British prime minister himself hired the Russian mercenary, who ordered the attack. They were all set to arrest Lenkov and then learned the shocking truth. Between this show and Black Mirror, Rory Kinnear is simply incapable of playing a PM who’s normal, huh? (Check out the first episode of the anthology series if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) So Kate is pretty paranoid in Paris, and rightfully so.
Hal is in a car bomb explosion
This is not the first time Kate’s husband has been in a dangerous spot. He was kidnapped early on in the season, but that time, the assailants just wanted to talk and let him walk away. Will he be so lucky next time? We don’t know! We’ll have to wait for season 2. Also, Hal wasn’t alone. Hayward, Ronnie, and Grove were also in the car. That means there are a lot of characters whose fates are up in the air. It also means that Hal was not necessarily the target of the attack. The car was Grove’s, and he may have known the truth about the prime minister.
There’s a post-credits tease
Everyone is doing these now. I’m shook! We don’t see anything in The Diplomat’s but hear a radio transmission that repeats the following phrases: “Any station this channel, this is Dolphin 3-6, transmitting in the blind. We suspected comms failure. Nothing heard. Out.”
The telecommunications term “blind transmission,” which refers to a message sent without knowing if anyone can or will receive it, is primarily used in aviation. However, as some have pointed out on social media, it could also be a submarine. The voice sounds British. And who is Dolphin 3-6??
It is most likely connected to the British aircraft carrier explosion in the Persian Gulf that we saw at the very beginning of The Diplomat. The show began with similar-sounding transmissions. So this is likely a previously missing or presumed dead survivor of the carrier attack who may have information. Perhaps in season 2, this person will be kidnapped. I could definitely see these characters tackling a POW exchange in the next season, couldn’t you?
WATCH ‘THE DIPLOMAT’ ON NETFLIX
Leah Marilla Thomas is an entertainment writer, UNC alum, and former Hasbro Toy Tester (yes, that’s a real thing) who loves The Good Place and Love Island equally. In her alleged spare time, she’s probably either at the theater, in a park, or watching basketball.
