The Diplomat Season 2: Series Creator Debora Cahn Breaks Down That Stunning Cliffhanger
The following story contains spoilers from Season 2 of The Diplomat — proceed at your own peril.
What The Diplomat's second season lacked in volume ( just six episodes ?) it more than made up for in killer cliffhanger twists. Actually, it was just one twist — but it packed a helluva punch.
In the closing moments of the finale, Hal (Rufus Sewell) — who took it upon himself to blab to President Rayburn that his No. 2, Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney), was the brains behind the deadly British aircraft carrier debacle — informs Kate (Keri Russell) that the bombshell news did not sit well with the Commander in Chief. It also did not sit with him long. Because it killed him.
President Rayburn is dead, which automatically makes Grace president.
How does this impact Kate's VP chances? Can Kate and Hal's already fragile marriage withstand this latest crisis? And does this mean we'll be seeing more of Janney — who appeared in just two episodes this season — in Season 3?
In an interview with TVLine, series creator Debora Cahn respectfully declined to discuss (read: spoil) the upcoming third season, although she did offer up this vague tease about Janney's level of involvement moving forward, cryptically maintaining that the West Wing vet "will play the kind of role you want her to play" in Season 3. We'll take it!
Cahn was infinitely more forthcoming when asked what, if any, comment she was making via the Grace/Kate POTUS/VP kerfuffle on the real-life political climate, one that — in a matter of days — could see Kamala Harris become the first female president of the United States. (Note: Season 2 of The Diplomat was written and shot long before Harris succeeded President Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.)
"I wanted to comment on this: What does it mean to be a really intelligent, capable, experienced woman who is a step away [from the presidency] — be that Kate when she's under consideration for the vice presidency, or Grace being in it — and being judged," Cahn explains. "Up until Rayburn dies, it's really all about, 'Who is Grace as a vice president?' For many years I have been interested in the tension between the things that make you qualified for office and the things that make you electable.
"It comes up a lot," she adds, "particularly around women."
One of the other big Season 2 developments involved the cessation of two key romantic entanglements — Kate/Austin and Stuart/Eidra. Cahn, however, is not ready to turn the page on either relationship — not yet, anyway.
Looking ahead to Season 3, "I don't see the Austin and Kate relationship as over, and I don't see the Stuart and Eidra relationship as over," the EP allows. "They're just in different phases now. Everybody's hit the rocks."
