During this interview with Collider, Russell and Cahn discussed why Kate needed to step away from Hal, losing out on becoming vice president, propositioning Dennison, that finale moment between Stuart (Ato Essandoh) and Eidra (Ali Ahn), the decision to end on a cliffhanger, and what it could all mean for Season 4, which has already been picked up.
Collider: This has been one of the most complicated marriages on television since this series started. Why did this push-and-pull feel like it got to a point this season where Kate and Hal finally needed to split up?
DEBORA CAHN: Kate carries around this idea that the things that she loves about Hal and the things that she hates about Hal are different things, and if she can just find somebody who gives her the good parts without all the baggage, she can have a more peaceful life. It was really important to take the character through the process of realizing that she chose this. She chose the whole package. You don’t get the kind of highs that you get with Hal without the kind of lows that you get. To be able to see her make the step that she’s always been scared to make, which is to step away, and then be able to actually take responsibility herself for recognizing, “Oh, it turns out that’s what I wanted,” was important.
Keri Russell Loves the Complicated Relationship Between Kate and Hal in ‘The Diplomat’ Season 3
Keri, what was that journey like for you this season? Do you think it helps Kate to have this job that she can distract herself with instead of fully dealing with what’s going on?
KERI RUSSELL: I loved it. I loved losing that spectacularly. When Hal becomes vice president, that was comically devastating, at the end of that episode. When I read that, I was just dying laughing, sad laughing. I like what it does. I like how contemplative it makes her. It’s like, “How did I get here? What are all the steps that I chose to put me in this place, in my career and in my life?” It is helpful that she has this whole other career to go back to, and that she’s good at that. She controls that whole other world, outside of Hal’s world. And also, distance makes it easier to find some other cute guy that’s around. That’s nice too. But reality always comes back. I also really love, in the writing, when Hal comes to London to visit, I like the complication of it. It’s not just like, “Oh, he’s back.” It’s painful. It’s like, “Shit, I don’t want to hurt him.” That wouldn’t be the goal. They’re tied for life, and I like the complications of that.
Keri, I loved the scene in episode four, with Kate propositioning Dennison. What was it like to finally go there? Were you disappointed at all that they didn’t fully go there?
RUSSELL: You wanted full naked sex. You wanted the full deal. It felt so fun and so funny. I loved every aspect of it. She has the worst day of all time at her job. Everything is such a shitstorm that the guy you’ve had this work crush on for so long walks in and you’re like, “Fuck it! What do I have to lose? Hey, you want to make out?” It’s so great, and embarrassing and wonderful. It’s all of those things. I loved it. And then, he’s like, “Oh. No.” And you’re like, “Oh, okay. Don’t worry about it. I’m good. Everything is great.” I loved it. It was a total delight.
Debora, I loved the moment in episode eight when Stuart is talking about quitting and asking Eidra to say she wants him to stay. What do you love about that moment? Did you always want to get them back together?
CAHN: I think that the thing that was most satisfying about it is how strongly Eidra goes in with a principled, professional, moral, ethical argument for what is going on. It’s all about the country. It’s all about the future. And she is so reticent to let go of that, even for a second. It’s just a delight to see Stuart see right through that and watch her double down on her conviction. “It’s terrible for the country, and then you’re just going to kill yourself and everybody will die and you won’t have healthcare. Why do you want to go on living?” It just feels very true to me, in terms of the kinds of justifications that are there to try to protect us from just baring our hearts and saying, “I’m going to die if you go away. Don’t.”
Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 3 of The Diplomat.]
Summary
In Season 3 of the Netflix series ‘The Diplomat,’ Kate Wyler steps away from her husband Hal, choosing her ambassador role and autonomy over their marriage chaos.
Hal becomes VP to Grace Penn when the current POTUS dies, and their secret finale move lands a gut-punch cliffhanger for Season 4.
The season digs into power, duty, desire and messy alliances, as two powerful women with one man stuck between them.
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The Netflix series The Diplomat, from creator/showrunner Debora Cahn, is back for Season 3 and Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) is delivered a gut punch when Grace Penn (Allison Janney) has to step into the role of president and picks her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) as VP. When that happens, Kate decides to stay on as Ambassador to the U.K., living separately from Hal while putting on a happily married face at public events. With Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), First Gentleman Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford), and Callus Ellis (Aidan Turner) complicating her already complicated life, Kate is left reeling when she realizes that Hal and President Penn have made moves that will have ramifications that carry over to Season 4.
During this interview with Collider, Russell and Cahn discussed why Kate needed to step away from Hal, losing out on becoming vice president, propositioning Dennison, that finale moment between Stuart (Ato Essandoh) and Eidra (Ali Ahn), the decision to end on a cliffhanger, and what it could all mean for Season 4, which has already been picked up.
Collider: This has been one of the most complicated marriages on television since this series started. Why did this push-and-pull feel like it got to a point this season where Kate and Hal finally needed to split up?
✕
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DEBORA CAHN: Kate carries around this idea that the things that she loves about Hal and the things that she hates about Hal are different things, and if she can just find somebody who gives her the good parts without all the baggage, she can have a more peaceful life. It was really important to take the character through the process of realizing that she chose this. She chose the whole package. You don’t get the kind of highs that you get with Hal without the kind of lows that you get. To be able to see her make the step that she’s always been scared to make, which is to step away, and then be able to actually take responsibility herself for recognizing, “Oh, it turns out that’s what I wanted,” was important.
Keri Russell Loves the Complicated Relationship Between Kate and Hal in ‘The Diplomat’ Season 3
“Distance makes it easier to find some other cute guy.”
Kerri Russell as Kate Wyler with David Gyasi as Dennison standing across from each other in The Diplomat
Image via Netflix
Keri, what was that journey like for you this season? Do you think it helps Kate to have this job that she can distract herself with instead of fully dealing with what’s going on?
KERI RUSSELL: I loved it. I loved losing that spectacularly. When Hal becomes vice president, that was comically devastating, at the end of that episode. When I read that, I was just dying laughing, sad laughing. I like what it does. I like how contemplative it makes her. It’s like, “How did I get here? What are all the steps that I chose to put me in this place, in my career and in my life?” It is helpful that she has this whole other career to go back to, and that she’s good at that. She controls that whole other world, outside of Hal’s world. And also, distance makes it easier to find some other cute guy that’s around. That’s nice too. But reality always comes back. I also really love, in the writing, when Hal comes to London to visit, I like the complication of it. It’s not just like, “Oh, he’s back.” It’s painful. It’s like, “Shit, I don’t want to hurt him.” That wouldn’t be the goal. They’re tied for life, and I like the complications of that.
Keri, I loved the scene in episode four, with Kate propositioning Dennison. What was it like to finally go there? Were you disappointed at all that they didn’t fully go there?
RUSSELL: You wanted full naked sex. You wanted the full deal. It felt so fun and so funny. I loved every aspect of it. She has the worst day of all time at her job. Everything is such a shitstorm that the guy you’ve had this work crush on for so long walks in and you’re like, “Fuck it! What do I have to lose? Hey, you want to make out?” It’s so great, and embarrassing and wonderful. It’s all of those things. I loved it. And then, he’s like, “Oh. No.” And you’re like, “Oh, okay. Don’t worry about it. I’m good. Everything is great.” I loved it. It was a total delight.
Debora, I loved the moment in episode eight when Stuart is talking about quitting and asking Eidra to say she wants him to stay. What do you love about that moment? Did you always want to get them back together?
CAHN: I think that the thing that was most satisfying about it is how strongly Eidra goes in with a principled, professional, moral, ethical argument for what is going on. It’s all about the country. It’s all about the future. And she is so reticent to let go of that, even for a second. It’s just a delight to see Stuart see right through that and watch her double down on her conviction. “It’s terrible for the country, and then you’re just going to kill yourself and everybody will die and you won’t have healthcare. Why do you want to go on living?” It just feels very true to me, in terms of the kinds of justifications that are there to try to protect us from just baring our hearts and saying, “I’m going to die if you go away. Don’t.”
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Hal Is Like a Drug for Kate in ‘The Diplomat’
“Work is their life.”
After everything that happens during the season, in the season finale, Kate decides to go back to Hal and to D.C. with him. What do you think got her to that point? Have they just been together for so long that she can’t let go of how they click as a team?
RUSSELL: That’s the goods with them. Debora always calls it the drug. I feel like that’s the specialness of them. For these people, work is their life. They don’t have kids. The country and doing this work and helping people is their life. That’s what gives them meaning. To be able to do it at this level, moving policy and affecting countries and people is intoxicating, and they’re both really good at it. Regardless of how badly behaved they can both be at times, when they do work, they work really well together, and it’s amazing. I think she tried it, and it was necessary, and it’s hard to beat.
Kate doesn’t even get back on the plane to D.C. with Hal before she realizes what he and Grace have done. Debora, what made you want to end the season where you did? Did you just want to leave us with this big moment that could have huge ramifications for Season 4?
CAHN: It is nice to feel like you want the story to keep going. It’s the natural conclusion of having a rush of feeling that brings you the sense of, “We’re so good together that I have to recognize and embrace the good.” The idea that that’s also not going to come with its equal opposite is magical thinking, and it’s the kind of magical thinking that we all indulge in, all the time, which is beautiful in its own way. It creates a certain amount of optimism. Hal is in a different relationship right now. He has a very, very potent and important relationship developing and succeeding with another woman who happens to be the President of the United States. The idea that that was not going to change the chemistry of the marriage was also magical thinking.
Keri, how did you feel about where things were left at the end of the season? When something like that happens, does it reinforce why she was right to have maybe left Hal in the first place?
RUSSELL: I think it’s a pretty significant gut punch, for sure. Of course, it brings into question what she thinks about Hal morally. Those are big questions. It’s not like, “I don’t like the way you eat.” Those are big questions and character issues. We’ll see. I haven’t read Season 4 yet, but I’m all in.
Season 4 of ‘The Diplomat’ Will Explore the Dynamic Between Kate, Hal and President Penn
“How do those relationships impact each other and change each other?”
ebora, what would you say to tease where things would go in Season 4? I would imagine that when you leave on a moment like that, you have some sense of what happens after that moment?
CAHN: You do have some sense of that. But then, when you see it play out, all of that immediately changes. Every season, in the writing of this show, we’ve started out with a plan, but then once the storytelling unfolds, it completely upends what we think we’re headed for. We are certainly interested, going forward, in the dynamic of, what does it mean to have two powerful women with one powerful man stuck in the middle of them? How do those relationships impact each other and change each other?
Source: https://collider.com