So you’ve finished The Diplomat Season 2 and are already wondering if and when the world will see The Diplomat Season 3. Well, we’ve got some good news for you.
Less than a week after the second season of the Keri Russell Netflix series premiered and welcomed newcomer Allison Janney to the cast, it looks like we can rest assured that a third season is in the works at Netflix.
The show — which follows an American diplomat named Kate Wyler (Russell) living in London amid contemptuous international relations — first premiered on the streaming service in April 2023 and quickly gained a devoted fanbase for its thrilling political plotlines.
**Spolers ahead for Seasons 1 and 2 of The Diplomat**
Russell, who previously starred in FX’s The Americans and received three Emmy nominations for her role in that show, also won herself an Emmy nod in 2023 for The Diplomat, solidifying herself as one of the best actresses in the political drama space in years. In Season 2, Ambassador Kate Wyler is investigating a car bombing that injured her husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), and her deputy chief of mission, Stuart (Ato Essandoh). The bombing also killed Ronnie Buckhurst, an American Foreign Service officer who worked with Kate and Stuart. It was all connected to the attack on a British ship that brought Kate to the U.K. in the first place.
While it seemed as though there could not be a more explosive ending (pun intended) than Season 1’s finale, Season 2 upped the ante and ended and had fans immediately wondering how soon Season 3 is coming.
In honor of Season 2’s wild end — which we get into below — we have compiled everything we know about Season 3, including what it will be about and just how soon it could come.
Yes. In October, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria confirmed during an appearance at the Bloomberg Screentime Conference that the Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell-led series will receive a third season, per Variety. The renewal came weeks before Season 2 released to the public.
At the time, showrunner Deborah Cahn told Variety that filming is already underway on the third season and taking place in both Britain and the U.S.
“After an amazing summer shooting in the UK, we brought London home to NY,” Cahn shared with the outlet. “Best of both worlds — filming in Brooklyn. We love doing this. We’re so excited to get to keep going.”
Season 2 ends with the shocking revelation that U.S. Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) is really the one who came up with the idea to attack the HMS Courageous, an operation that ultimately (and inadvertently) killed dozens of British sailors and kicked off the events of Season 1. Penn worked alongside Meg Roylin (Celia Imrie) to pull off an attack on the ship that would look like a Russian operation.
The realization means not only is a sitting United States VP responsible for killing dozens of an ally country’s citizens but that Kate — who has been apprehensive at best about being vetted as a vice presidential candidate — cannot let Grace stay in office. Hold on, it gets crazier.
Upon learning about the truth of the attack, Hal opts to call U.S. President William Rayburn and deliver the news to him, which appears to shock him so much that he keels over and dies. Yeah, you read that right. The final shot of the season sees Penn and Kate watching more than a dozen Secret Service agents sprinting toward them, signifying that Grace is now the Commander in Chief. Where does that leave Kate? Great question.
The season closer was so shocking that many of the actors on the project received scripts with redacted lines, according to Tudum. In fact, the only people who knew the full plot twist were Janney, Russell, and Sewell. Everyone else had to learn the truth at the table read for the finale.
“I literally got up, threw the script down, and screamed!” Essandoh told Netflix’s dedicated outlet. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, Debora Cahn is a gangster.'”
We can only assume Season 3 will pick up where Season 2 left off, following Ambassador Kate, Hal, and the rest of her team — including British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), CIA Station Chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn), and British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) — dealing with the fallout of the Penn discovery.
There are also sure to be some conflicting dynamics at play as Season 2 saw Kate finally accepting the possibility of becoming the next VP and seemingly giving in. Cahn says it will make for a new and complicated issue to explore with regard to Kate’s character and the series.
“Season 3 flips the chessboard,” she told Netflix’s Tudum last month. “In Season 3, Kate lives the particular nightmare that is getting what you want.”
It seems all but impossible for Season 3 of The Diplomat to move forward without Janney involved after the shocking divulgence made in the final scenes of Season 2. While Penn only appeared in a few episodes of Season 2, we would be surprised if she doesn’t play a major role and has some incredibly contentious scenes with Kate, Hal, and the others.
The Diplomat Seasons 1 and 2 are both streaming on Netflix.