🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐 

With the future of the US-UK alliance hanging by a thread, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), American ambassador to the UK, is pulling out all the stops. But her daring suggestion to the prime minister that the two nations go in together to bomb Russian targets could spell the beginning of nuclear war.

In the sixth episode of the political thriller The Diplomat from creator Debora Cahn (The West Wing, Homeland), the two nations’ delegations are scrambling to come up with an alternative bloodless Russian plan ahead of US Secretary of State Miguel Ganon’s (Miguel Sandoval) arrival in the UK for foreign policy talks. 

With intelligence still sparse, relationship wrought, and time ticking, everything’s on the line in Episode 6 as we dive back into the scene at Chevening House in the Kent countryside where talks are being held.

Was Kate serious about dropping a bomb on Russia?

Kate’s explosive — literally — tactic to start looking at Russian targets to bomb has sent the British delegation into full combat-prep mode. She stops them, saying it’s all talk, a strategy to work British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear), who’s dropped in early on the discussions. “We’re not bombing anything,” she says. “I gave him what he wanted so he could stop wanting it so badly.”

Despite her outward confidence, when Kate’s is in the privacy of the bedroom with her soon-to-be ex-husband — and former diplomat — Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), she admits that it was indeed a “d–k move” and the truth is that she doesn’t know what she’s doing since she lacks experience. Hal disagrees, playing the role of supportive husband.

How is Hal showing his support for Kate?

Hal notices that Kate hasn’t eaten and sneaks the two of them into the kitchen, where some large tarts are being stored. Showing his rebellious streak, he bites into one directly, and Kate follows suit. Playfully and furtively, they grab more late-night snacks and start to head back, when they realize they’re not alone. Trowbridge is also standing in the kitchen — with three bottles of wine.

The prime minister convinces them to have a drink with him, and they quickly start talking shop — quite bluntly. Kate points out Trowbridge’s team doesn’t trust him, and he admits the feeling is mutual. Kate points out that if there’s a good option on the table, the delegations won’t need to resort to a bad one, especially given that they’re dealing with a nuclear power like Russia. Trowbridge agrees, giving her a chance to come up with another Russian diplomatic package by morning. 

Back in the bedroom, Kate springs into action to work on an alternate plan, delegating tasks to Hal.  He pushes back, again saying he’s just the “wife.” The power play between the Wylers is as delicate as the situation with Russia. 

How are they going to come up with another Russia plan in the middle of the night?

The advantage of the talks being held at Chevening House is that everyone is just a door knock away. Despite sinking into the backseat, Hal does help out, by going to get Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh), Kate’s deputy chief of mission at the UK embassy. Stuart thinks Kate’s fiery strategy was reckless, but Hal explains, “That was a tactic, this is the strategy.”

Kate, meanwhile, knocks on the door of British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), intending to apologize — bursting into his room and telling him they make a great team, saying, “I need you.” Dennison interprets this in a romantic sense, admitting that he can “barely breathe” when they’re in the same room. Kate was referring to their partnership in a professional sense. Awkward.

Are the Russians aware that the UK and US know they’re behind the attack?

Meanwhile, back in London, CIA station chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) is sleeping alone at home when she hears an intruder downstairs and reaches for her gun. Turns out it’s Stuart, who has driven back to get some intel from her. He wants to know if the orders to attack the HMS Courageous came from the Kremlin itself or somewhere else down the Russian chain. 

Eidra doesn’t know yet, but reveals that Russian submarines have been spotted off the British coast — a sign that perhaps Russia knows that the Brits know it was them.

So what’s the alternate Russia plan they present to Trowbridge in the morning?

The slumber party-meets-late night foreign policy cram session worked: The US and UK come up with a solid Russian package that they’re ready to take to Trowbridge. Kate hands it to Dennison for him to pitch — he says he can’t. But Kate says she needs him to, adding that Trowbridge needs to be on board before the Americans can pitch it to Ganon. Dennison feels like he’s been played. But as they’re running down a staircase discussing this, Kate falls, hurting her wrist. Dennison asks if she staged the fall to get him to pitch the strategy. Either way, it worked. 

Dennison proposes the idea, which involves freezing the assets of a handful of Russians in the City of London and Crown Dependencies to put financial pressure on key personnel and in turn create tension in the Kremlin.  

Trowbridge quickly passes on the idea, saying they need to bomb something. His choice is Russian troops in the Aleppo-Raqqa-Hama triangle. Kate latches onto the fact that he pronounced the Syrian area “Hamo” instead of “Hama,” implying that he must have gotten the idea from someone else. 

Who could the prime minister possibly have talked to in the middle of the night?

Hal forces Kate to go out into the garden, where Cecila Dennison (T’Nia Miller) is sunbathing. She says that the whole reason that Trowbridge came early is because his former advisor Margaret “Meg” Roylin (Celia Imrie), who we first saw in Episode 1 and believed was a Tory operative, lives nearby and Trowbridge is likely meeting with her. She says that Roylin and her connections at the Daily Mail are the reason that Trowbridge is the prime minister and not Dennison.

Kate has no doubt that Roylin is feeding Trowbridge the info. But if they target Russians in Syria while they’re fighting ISIS, it will be both a provocation of Russia and a show of support for ISIS, so they need to meet with her. But Dennison puts his foot down — no meeting with Roylin. Somehow, in the midst of this conversation, Kate admits that she agrees there’s undeniable chemistry between the two of them, though she can’t focus on it now. 

So does Kate end up going to see Roylin?

Of course. Cecilia convinces Trowbridge to borrow his car, Kate jumps into the car further down the road, and they head to Roylin’s “charming” place down the way. Problem is, Kate was supposed to be meeting the Secretary of State at the airport. She sends Hal instead, but Ganon can’t stand the guy. He tells Hal that the only job the UK ambassador has is to greet him at the airport, and Kate couldn’t even do that.

On the drive to Roylin’s, Kate asks Cecila what the deal is between Dennison and Trowbridge. Turns out, Cecilia had lost a baby and her partner had locked her up inside their home, blaming her for the loss. She told her brother she would jump off a roof if she didn’t get oxy, so Dennison got it for her with an illegal prescription. Roylin had gotten wind of the pills and fed the info to the Daily Mail, which reported a story saying Dennison had a drug problem — ultimately costing him the election. But Cecila asks Kate not to allude to this around Roylin.

When they get to Roylin’s place, Kate explains to her that if Trowbridge suggests attacking the Syrian triangle, Ganon will leave immediately. That’s when Roylin reveals that the reason they need to attack is that Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all want independence and Trowbridge doesn’t want to be known as the prime minister who lost the UK. If there was an attack against another enemy, however, it would help unify the nation and get them past the Scotland referendum. 

So what are they going to do about Russia now?

Eidra’s still recommending that everyone err on the side of caution until it’s clear where the HMS Courageous attack orders came from. They may not know if the attack was ordered by the Kremlin directly, but they do know Roman Lenkov’s group was behind it. The best strategy may be to target Lenkov’s troops in Libya, who are trying to restart a war that the United Nations had settled. As a bonus, aiding the Libyans would look like a good move.

Kate is getting ready to present her plan to Ganon at the same time Dennison presents it to Trowbridge, but she also admits to Dennison that the idea came from Roylin. He’s instantly furious, but she reminds him that his prime minister is being guided by Roylin, so this is a surefire win.

Does Ganon sign off on the Russia strategy?

Ganon rejects the plan immediately. Kate thinks it’s because she didn’t meet him at the airport. But Hal thinks there’s more to it, latching on to the fact that Ganon says his flight from DC took longer than it should have. Turns out Ganon made a pit stop in South Carolina to accept an honorary doctorate — a sign that he’s eyeing the presidency.

It all makes sense. Ganon doesn’t like the plan because it’s a clever move that would make President Rayburn (Michael McKean) look good. Ganon would have no chance at winning an election if Rayburn is coming off orchestrating a successful deal between the Persian Gulf, Russia and Libya.

Hal reminds Kate that she has power now since she hasn’t said yes to the vice presidency, suggesting she use her upper hand. In the middle of the dinner, we see Ganon pulled aside, furious that the Libya plan is a go. Clearly Kate went around Ganon and straight to the top — and got the approval. 

So what does this win mean for everyone?

By the end of the episode, everyone is in high spirits from the successful negotiations. Eidra and Stuart have decided to go public with their relationship, ever since Hal accidentally found out (or rather, he tricked Stuart into admitting it). 

Kate is also on better terms with Hal than we’ve seen thus far, a sign that their marriage could potentially be salvaged. But at the same time, she’s got just as much chemistry with Dennison. Who will she choose? 

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