Plans can be dangerous, but ulterior motives can be explosive. In her short time as US ambassador to the UK, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) has already realized that trust building is the most politically challenging aspect of all, especially when she’s surrounded by power-hungry men. 

In the season finale of political thriller The Diplomat from creator Debora Cahn (The West Wing, Homeland), every doubt that Kate has comes to a head. Juxtaposed with the storybook setting of Paris at night — right down to a glorious ball at the Louvre — the “Cinderella thing” from the premiere episode seems to come to fruition. That is, until everything completely unravels both in the City of Lights and on the streets of London in a heart-pounding conclusion to the drama’s debut season. 

Alex Bailey/Netflix

How will the UK and US come together to make an arrest on French soil?

It’s morning now, and Kate is worried about what lies ahead. Just hours ago, Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) called her an “embarrassment” when she suggested pulling the Libya plan and only arresting one man, Lenkov. But by dawn, he seems to love the idea.

Since the arrest will happen on French soil, US Secretary of State Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval) and British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) are off to Paris to talk to the French minister of the interior, Brielle Fournier (Micky Sébastian) — and delicately ask if the British Special Forces can execute the arrest. 

Trowbridge’s complete 180 isn’t the only quick switch. Ganon asks Kate to go to Paris with Anu Kapoor (Bhav Joshi) from the foreign office. Kate feels the need to tell Dennison since she was just at his office, but her schedule is packed. 

How is Eidra and Stuart’s relationship going, mixing business and pleasure? 

CIA Station Chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) has a call with White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) because she wants to use Kate’s husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell) — a fellow diplomat, who’s currently unassigned — as a CIA asset. He just met with Lewis Quainton (Glenn Wrage), who might be working with the Saudis and could have solid info. 

But Billie says no. Eidra is baffled, but Billie says that Kate is short-listed for a high position. She says Eidra’s yet-to-be-revealed boyfriend, Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh), who’s the deputy chief of mission, can fill her in. But she can’t use Hal as a source. 

Stuart shares the plans to fast-track Kate to the vice presidency with Eidra, including his role in transforming Kate’s image for the position. At first, Eidra is impressed, but then she realizes this might mean Stuart would move to DC, after he’d told her to turn down an opportunity in Cairo. They’d also just decided to go public with their relationship. Furious, Eidra ends things with Stuart.

Who ends up going on this trip to Paris?

Stuart preps Kate for the Paris meeting, reminding her that when she’s talking to the French, she’ll want to remind them how they got routed by Lenkov’s troops in Mali. He also informs her that Dennison doesn’t want Anu going on the trip and he’ll be going with her himself. 

Hal walks in on Kate’s suitcase being packed by Pensy (Georgie Henley) and sees a red dress. He’s told there’s a formal event — and learns Dennison is going with Kate. There’s a hint of jealousy in Hal’s eyes.

Is Hal still gunning for a government position? 

It seems like the Wylers are trying to salvage their marriage. But Kate doesn’t want to play games. She asks Hal what’s going on between the two of them. Again, he puts on the passive act, though he clearly craves more. Kate invites Hal to go to Paris, but he says no. To make good, she offers him the opportunity to step in for her and give a speech at London’s Chatham House.

The theme of the speech is supposed to be “communication is key.” Hal asks to waive the Chatham House Rule, which states that everything spoken there can be cited but not attributed to anyone. He wants credit for these words — it clearly looks like he’s trying to build up his own reputation for a top post.

Hal’s a natural orator and the speech goes swimmingly well, except his take on it is that communication is not the key and that diplomacy doesn’t work — until it does. He says to talk to everyone, including terrorists, and to not be afraid of failing. 

How is Hal’s Chatham House speech received? 

The audience eats up Hal’s speech. He calls Kate in Paris and reveals that a Tory member of parliament, Merritt Grove (Simon Chandler), who was at his speech, urgently wants to meet for dinner. Kate can’t believe Hal’s agreed to it. He says he tried to put it off and even volunteered to put Grove on the phone with Billie. That enrages Kate — and makes it clear to her that Hal is trying for the secretary of state position. 

It’s all coming together. Hal tells Kate to take down Ganon — whose grudge against him is the only reason Hal doesn’t have a real government job now. With Ganon out of the way, Hal can weasel his way in as secretary of state. She demands Hal not meet with Grove.

Does Hal keep the meeting with Grove?

Kate calls her new confidante, Margaret “Meg” Roylin (Celia Imrie), to ask about Grove. Roylin says he’s a “compassionate conservative” and is always making things more urgent than they are. Kate asks if it’s OK to push off the meeting until she’s back in London, and Roylin says it’s fine. 

Stuart says, in the meantime, he’ll intervene with the Grove meeting, and aide Ronnie Buckhurst (Jess Chanliau) will come along to take notes. Hal insists on coming for a five-minute handover. 

Alex Bailey/Netflix

How does Kate and Dennison’s meeting with the French minister go?

At their formal meeting, Fournier turns down the request for the involvement of British forces immediately. Dennison acts like a chauvinistic jerk during the meeting, which he later admits was done on purpose. He did this so Kate would have an “unspoken bond” with Fournier at the event that night, so Fournier would sign off. 

It’s time to go big for the ball — Kate puts on the red dress she had resisted and makes quite an impression entering the party at the Louvre, as Dennison greets her. Fournier grants her time and they head off to an empty gallery. 

Fournier agrees to let the British special operatives make the arrest, but they’ll do it because of the French relationship with the US. She points out that it’s odd that the US would be OK with the assassination of Lenkov — Kate is shocked. It was supposed to be an arrest, but Fournier says her intelligence says that the Brits are planning to kill Lenkov. 

Did Dennison know the plan was to murder Lenkov?

Kate can’t believe Dennison didn’t tell her about the murder. And — in a real Cinderella moment — she runs out of the ball, taking off her shoes on the stairs. On a perfectly romantic Parisian bridge, Dennison runs after Kate and she asks if he knew about the assassination plans. Turns out, he’s been just as blindsided as she. 

Dennison finds it hard to believe — after all, it’s in Trowbridge’s interest to arrest Lenkov in order to find out who hired him. Plus a hit like that requires approval under the Intelligence Services Act that Dennison has to sign, and he hasn’t received the request. 

That’s when — suddenly — Kate puts it all together. In one swift move, she grabs Dennison’s phone and blasts music on her own phone and tosses it to her security guy. Aloud, she realizes, “A dead Lenkov is only good for the people who hired him,” which means — yup — Trowbridge hired Lenkov to blow up his own country’s aircraft carrier.

Holy s**t! But what’s going on back in London with Hal relentlessly trying to meet with Grove?

Stuart and Ronnie are on their way to meet with Grove, when Hal calls, asking for 30 minutes instead of five. As Stuart tries to mitigate the situation with Hal, he sends Ronnie in first. Grove is furious when he realizes Hal isn’t there and storms out. 

Out on the street, Stuart catches Grove’s attention from one direction, while Hal does from the other. Grove opens his car door — boom! — the car explodes. 

Just who’s engulfed in the fire? We see an entourage of police approach Kate and Dennison in Paris. There are tears in Kate’s eyes. But we’re left unsure who has survived.

The Diplomat Season 1 TrailerInternational affairs meet personal affairs. London's newest diplomat has arrived.

Stream The Diplomat now.