After an explosive cliffhanger, it’s time to catch up with Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) in The Diplomat season 2. Here’s your recap of The Diplomat season 2 episode 1, “When a Stranger Calls.”
As the title card rolls, we hear the sounds of the immediate aftermath of the explosion in the season 1 finale. First responders are on the scene attending to Stuart (Ato Essandoh) and Ronnie (Jess Chanliau). Ronnie is conscious but Stuart isn’t.
In Paris, Kate and British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) are escorted to their war rooms. In the US, President Rayburn (Michael McKean) and Billie (Nana Mensah) receive news of the bombing. Austin is on a video call with several members of the cabinet trying to get information about the victims. He sends a note to Kate that MP Merritt Grove, the man Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) was going to meet before the bomb, is dead.
As Kate and Austin walk to their cars, he suggests that they keep their conversation from the bridge a secret. It’s hard to know who they can trust. Kate says it’s not their problem for the day. He says that Grove could have been the one trying to get to Lenkov.
Kate is briefed on her husband and her staff’s conditions as soon as they land in London. Everyone is in surgery. Alysse (Pearl Mackie) greets her and introduces her to Neil, her new liaison to the political office. Eidra Park (Ali Ahn) walks up, so Kate pulls her outside and briefs her on the conversation she had with Austin about the British being behind the car bombing and the bombing of the ship that started this whole thing. Eidra is hesitant at first, but when Kate insists that “the call came from inside the house,” Eidra agrees to lock down the hospital.
Austin arrives at his office and is briefed. No one has taken responsibility for the bombing yet, but the bomb doesn’t have any hallmarks of the Russians. Prime Minister Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) calls for Austin to appear at Number 10, but Austin takes his advisor Tom into his inner office and says that the French intel believe that Lenkov is going to be assassinated, something Tom denies. Austin points out that only Lenkov can say who hired him, which means they need him alive.
Kate sits through a report from Hal’s surgeon, who says he is in the middle of surgeries but has to wait to see what happens. He’s pulled away suddenly as a second bleed opens and Hal returns to surgery.
When Austin arrives at Downing Street, Trowbridge is yelling about not knowing who did this, which is going to send Parliament into hiding and will shut down the government. When he keeps ranting and snapping at his staff, it’s Mrs. Trowbridge who issues a two word statement that reins him in: “Sit down.” The briefing continues, and when he notices that Tom isn’t there, Mrs. Trowbridge tells him to “call a COBRA” to get the advisors together. Before he leaves, Austin informs him that the French agreed to the plan about Lenkov, thanks to Kate.
Eidra pulls Kate aside in one of the hospital rooms. She wants to know more about what Kate told her earlier, but Kate worries that the room could be bugged so they use a patient whiteboard to talk without revealing names. Kate explains that the French think Lenkov will be assassinated, not arrested, by the British. Eidra says the brits don’t kill, they ask the Americans to do it. Kate points out that they don’t want the US to do it because they hired Lenkov in the first place and Trowbridge is at the center of all of it. Kate wants them to surveil the PM, but Eidra says that the last time they did that it almost ended NATO. Neil arrives to let Kate know that Hal is out of surgery. She hurries down the hall to find him sleeping in bed. She approaches his bed and pulls back his gown to see the wound. When his eyes open, Kate asks if he can hear her. That’s when she breaks down, climbing on top of him and holding him close.
The next day, Eidra wakes up and gets an update on Stuart, who is still in surgery after bleeding out. She asks about Ronnie, who is still in the operating room. Downstairs, Frances (Penny Downie) and Pensy (Georgie Henley) arrive with flowers and provisions, but they’re denied entry because of the lockdown so they set up camp on a couch in the lobby.
Austin meets with Tom, who confirms that Lenkov would be killed in the arrest attempt. They’re interrupted by Mrs. Trowbridge, who walks right in and grabs Austin for a private chat. She says Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie) can’t be found, then she gets into a story about how she met her husband. She was his lecturer in school. She calls him a collaborator and says he had a tendency to call Roylin to help him solve problems. After she leaves, she tells Tom to find Roylin.
In the hospital, Kate gives Hal the rundown. He can’t understand why the British would bomb their own ships. She asks about Grove and he insists he never talked with him. He wants to know if they’ll be informed about Ronnie and Stuart, but Kate wants to talk about what Grove said to him. When she realizes that she called Roylin about Hal’s meeting with Grove, Kate calls for Eidra and the three of them discuss it. That’s when they learn that Trowbridge has called a COBRA and wants them to attend. Hal insists that Kate go.
Trowbridge brushes past Philippa, his advisor, who needs to speak with him, and heads to Kate, offering her his condolences. He begins the meeting, blowing off his advisors by saying that this is the Russians. Austin tells him that two attacks by the Russians would be a call for war. This isn’t their work. Philippa stands up and asks for a word in private with Trowbridge, who tells her to speak up. She tells the room that the bomb fragments are British in origin. He calls her to his office, leaving Austin and Kate to exchange looks across the table.
Before Kate leaves, Austin asks to see her and Eidra accompanies her to their meeting. When Kate walks in with her, she tells him that Eidra knows. He asks about her team and she says Hal is awake but Stuart and Ronnie are still in surgery. Kate is surprised by how much Eidra knows about Stuart. He tells them that Roylin is missing; the PM was unable to find her and he sent people to her house. Her phone is missing and she’s not with her cousin in Southampton.
Neil walks into Hal’s room and Hal asks about Stuart and Ronnie. Neil says he’s there to show him the statement the embassy is putting out about the bombing. Neil reveals that he joined the service because of Hal. When he goes to show him the website, Hal sees a photo of Kate and Austin and he grows quiet.
Kate and Eidra get out of their car and walk so they can talk openly. Eidra suspects that Grove set them up with Lenkov. Kate wonders if Roylin is dead and Eidra says that they’re trying to clean house. Eidra tells Kate she wants to create some distance between Kate and the investigation, given that people who investigate the Prime Minister will be fired.
Back at the hospital, Alysse gives her the phone. It’s Billie, calling from the White House. She needs to hear from Kate directly so she can call Stuart’s mom because they’ve known each other for 23 years. She’s also in the middle of picking up Rayburn’s messes. Kate ends the call and finds Eidra questioning Hal. Kate fusses over Hal’s ice pack as one of the guards comes in and says that the surgeon needs to speak with them. Hal tells Kate to hang back because Stuart is Eidra’s guy. Kate had no idea they were together and can’t believe he knew before she did. She asks how “the geometry” works considering Stuart is so tall. When Eidra walks back in, Kate gushes over their relationship but Hal can tell something is wrong. Stuart is unconscious but the procedure went well, she says. But Ronnie didn’t make it.
Kate gets on a video call with Secretary of State Ganon (Miguel Sandoval). They have to call Ronnie’s parents. They try to lighten the situation by talking about how they’ve both tried to get rid of Hal. Ganon has always admired Hal’s dedication to people he’s never met.
Neil gives Kate a phone. When she enters a room, the whole room clears out so she can call Ronnie’s family. Her mother gushes over Kate, making it all the more difficult to deliver the horrible news. Outside, the flags are lowered. Alysse sees Pensy and Frances sleeping in the lobby.
When Stuart wakes up, he tells the doctor he calls Eidra “Pi” and he goes on to say they had a fight and he’s in the dog house. He thinks he was in a car accident and she says it wasn’t an accident at all. Outside the room, Kate gets an update on Stuart’s condition while Eidra gives Stuart the news about Ronnie. Because of his head trauma, Stuart insists that Ronnie wasn’t on the street when it happened. He gets frustrated, saying that Ronnie was inside and he was the one talking to Grove.
Neil is by the nurse’s desk when a call comes in for Kate. The person claims to be a friend, but when he gives Alysse the person’s name, Alysse says that the name given is someone who died years ago. He tells the nurse to keep the person on the line, and we see that it’s Margaret Roylin.
All episodes of The Diplomat season 2 are available to stream now on Netflix.
