Warning: This post contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Season 4 of “The Diplomat.”
“The Diplomat” threw a massive curveball at us in the Season 4 premiere — and in a strange way, it might have actually been a good thing for Kate and Hal’s marriage.
Their marital bond was hanging by a thread as Season 4 of Netflix’s political thriller opened on Thursday, with Kate wary of Hal because of his secret plan with Grace to steal the Poseidon weapon from the Russian submarine, and him wary of her because of her dalliance with Callum. But then President Grace Penn was shot and wounded by a sniper bullet, and as vice-president, Hal was suddenly granted presidential powers in Episode 2 — and he and Kate started contemplating a life together in the Oval Office. So was Grace’s shooting actually a balm for their relationship?
“Well, yeah, it’s the closest they’ve been to what they cared the most about,” Keri Russell, who plays Kate, tells TVLine in the video above. “It’s the closest they have been to what they both really wanted: to be that close to power, to be in the room.” It’s the kind of change that can quickly mend a marital rift, she adds: “You can be at odds with a long-term partner, and maybe on the brink of going your own ways… and then they get the job of their lifetime, and you go, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll be here for that. I’m going to help you through this.'”
Kate and Hal’s reconciliation is like ‘putting on an old coat’
Rufus Sewell, who plays Hal, says the prospect of him becoming President “really does unite them, because that’s what gets them back in the trenches together.” When Kate is prepping Hal for his new duties, “they’re doing what they do best. They’re working out problems. They’re putting their heads together. They’re troubleshooting.” But he warns that “Hal actually becoming and staying President is a different prospect dramatically, and for their relationship. I’m not sure what that would mean if it happens.”
The crisis puts Kate and Hal “back in what is a very comfortable and familiar dynamic,” showrunner Debora Cahn points out. “It’s the dynamic they were in when they met. He’s in a position of huge responsibility, public-facing, and she is in a position to be able to shape how he navigates that and the decisions that he makes.” For them, returning to that dynamic is like “putting on an old coat, and it just feels great, and it’s warm, and they both know what their jobs are, and they’ve been without that sense of security for so long, and it wreaked so much havoc on their relationship… They’re in the middle of a terrible, terrible, horrible crisis, but it feels great.”
Press PLAY at the top to hear more from Keri and company, and drop your thoughts on “The Diplomat” Season 4 in a comment below.
