‘The Diplomat’ Season 2 Teaser Reveals Fate of Keri Russell’s Husband

Hilary Lewis
·3 min read

The first teaser for The Diplomat season two answers one of the questions from the first season’s cliffhanger finale.

Yes, Kate Wyler’s (Keri Russell) husband and fellow ambassador, Hal (Rufus Sewell), survives the near-fatal explosion at the end of season one.

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The preview shows Kate and Hal attending a glitzy evening event, walking arm in arm, suggesting a future for the pair after the first season featured them alternately fighting and making up as Kate sought to divorce Hal.

Both the season two synopsis and an article on Netflix’s Tudum updated Thursday confirm Hal is “very much alive” and suggests he’ll be an “ally” as she further explores the extent to which the British prime minister is involved in the attack on the British warship that started the series.

Here’s the full synopsis from Netflix: “A deadly explosion in the heart of London shatters U.S. Ambassador Kate Wyler’s world (Russell). Struggling to rebuild the lives that broke and the team that split apart, Kate’s worst fears unfold: The attack that brought her to the U.K. didn’t come from a rival nation, it came from inside the British government. As Kate chases the truth, her only real ally is her almost-ex-husband Hal Wyler (Sewell), very much alive, and very much involved. She faces a fraught marriage, a complex dynamic with British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), and a threatening visit from Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney).”

The Diplomat creator Debora Cahn previously teased the challenges in Kate investigating one of the U.S.’ closest allies in a Tudum interview. “The U.S. and the U.K. don’t spy on each other,” Cahn said. “In fact, they share all their intelligence. So how do you investigate the PM? Who do you trust?”

As for the season-one-ending explosion, which appeared to hit Hal and some of Kate’s colleagues, Cahn previously said the “politically motivated” attack “takes some lives and shatters the rest. The marriage she thought was over, the relationship she thought was beginning … all of it, in pieces.”

Ato Essandoh in 'The Diplomat'
Ato Essandoh in The Diplomat.

Cahn added that in season two, “everything we thought we knew about the Wylers changes, as does everything they think they know about each other.”

In the teaser, as the Wylers walk into the event, they come face to face with Allison Janney’s Grace Penn, the show’s beleaguered vice president, who didn’t appear in season one but viewers learned that there was an effort underway to replace her with Kate due to a possible scandal.

“The VP thinks Kate’s after her job,” Cahn previously told Tudum. “She’s not entirely wrong. Kate thinks she understands the VP. She is mistaken.”

The preview ends with an exchange of looks between Kate and Grace.

Allison Janney in 'The Diplomat'
Allison Janney in The Diplomat.

The Diplomat season two, set to start streaming on Netflix on Oct. 31, also stars David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear and Ato Essandoh, and is executive produced by Russell, Cahn, Janice Williams, Peter Noah and Alex Graves.

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