The first episode of “The Diplomat” ended with the understanding that with Kate taking up the post of Ambassador to the UK, the first day has been hectic and nonstop, with her going back and forth having negotiations and talks with her government and the people representing the UK. It has been chaotic so far, and it became even crazier when Hal was kidnapped. Is he a hostage now? Who is behind his kidnapping?
Spoilers Ahead
It Was Not A Kidnapping
As the news of Hal’s disappearance spreads across Kate’s home in London, which is Winfield House, there is again added chaos and panic. Stuart, Kate, and Eidra can only hope the situation does not blow up with Hal not on the premises. From the CCTV footage, it is revealed that Hal was indeed kidnapped, and they have no clue if this was some sort of retaliation of some sort by Hal’s big list of enemies from across the world. Kate is calm, but she knows losing Hal would be the end of everything as she knows, however she also knows that Hal can take care of himself, and whoever has taken him might not have gone too far. Knowing Hal, he is a tough cookie to crack, and she knows he will not divulge anything.
Hal now realizes that he has not been kidnapped but pulled away by the Iranians so that he can speak to Rasoul Shahin, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, an old friend of Hal and Kate. Shahin lets him know that the attack on the aircraft carrier was not Iran’s work. He apologized for having to let Hal know like this, but he had to let Hal and Kate know so that there was no further escalation against Iran due to this terrorist attack. The Iranians also revealed that they had planned to assassinate General Bradford Symes, but Iran backtracked on the assassination attempt as well. Hal is just glad that he is fine and that there is nothing more than this. He is sure Shahin is a trustworthy source, and that he will make sure Hal or Kate won’t be harmed in this process.
Hal comes back to Winfield house only to be bombarded with questions by Kate, Stuart, and the CIA about what exactly happened. Hal reveals the information given by Shahin, and he also reveals why he is sure it was Shahin who spoke to him. Kate is convinced that Shahin contacted him to let all of them know of Iran’s non-involvement, but the CIA will have to do their job of questioning Hal because he had a conversation with a country that has no diplomatic ties with the USA. Hal is being scrutinized, but he is calm and quiet as if he has nothing to lose. Hal divulges all the information as it was said to him, and he makes sure to stay truthful. Though Kate believes Shahin’s words, she doesn’t entirely trust her husband’s words. She is sure there is more to the story of how and why Shahin contacted Hal out of the blue.
The CIA here must do a lot of nitty-gritty work first to find out who brought in horse sedatives and further criminal proceedings against the stylist, who was an Iranian operative but somehow got clearance. Does that mean there is someone from the US Government who helped him get clearance just so that Hal could be kidnapped, though it was technically not a kidnapping? It is plausible but cannot be confirmed without any solid proof. Hal calls this incident more of a pull-aside than a kidnapping because a kidnapping would mean there would be a ransom that would be asked for, and a phone call would be made to either Kate or the US government to make some demands. None of that happened. Even though the US has substantial evidence from bigwigs in Iran, they will keep mum about Hal as the source who was contacted by Shahin, as this will not go well with many in the US Government, especially the Secretary of State, who is waiting for a moment to discredit Hal and the work he has done in the past.
‘The Diplomat’ Episode 2: Ending Explained – Why Did Rasoul Shahin Of Iran Call Hal?
As Katherine and Hal attend the memorial for all the soldiers who died in the blast, Prime Minister Trowbridge does the impossible when he calls out Iran in his statement to a bereaved widow. He lets her know that if Iran is found to be behind the terrorist attack, the PM will make sure to rain hellfire on the country. Kate is taken aback by the statement because she and her team know that Iran is not responsible for the attack, but with this statement being made, there is collective hatred against that country. Kate is not sure how to let the PM know that Iran should not be targeted, directly or indirectly. But by the looks of it, the British PM had everything going against him until the terrorist attack happened, and now his popularity has surged with this statement.
Things go out of hand for Britain when the statement made by the PM leads to an attack on a Muslim family just outside a local mosque. This creates more tension as to why Kate’s information is not being used to stop the Islamophobic attacks on the innocent citizens of the country. Kate, though, wants Hal to be investigated, not because she feels jealous of his popularity but because he has a tendency to come across as a hero in times of adversity, something he showcased in Afghanistan, and she is not a fan of this side of her husband. The CIA revealed that they did investigate Hal’s phone records, but they found nothing alarming. Kate is sure Hal is somehow involved, but she has no clue how to find out how.
The embassy is told that the President will be arriving in the UK as a show of support and solidarity to their ally Britain. The embassy goes into chaotic mode yet again. Meanwhile, Kate contacts her old CIA friend in Iraq to do some snooping to find out about any calls made to Iran. The friend does not get any call records for Iran, but she learns of a call made to Italy through a burner phone. This is the confirmation Kate needed to confront Hal. After doing so, Hal lets her know that he has contacted his Italian counterpart and asked him to let Shahin know that Hal and Kate are in London. This stunt pulled by Hal again puts him and Kate in jeopardy because he tried to contact a hostile nation in a stunt that would guarantee him a jail term. Kate does not want that on her table as of now. She wants the investigation into Shahin’s words to take place before the President comes to the UK to sanction any war on Iran. Kate tries to rope in UK Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison to help her reason with the PM. Austin is helpless at this point because he is sure the PM will not back away from his words. He asks Kate to speak reason with the President because he seems like a person who would understand the situation and make a logical decision.
Kate is furious to see Hal acting recklessly and being defensive of the act he committed. With the President on his way to the UK, Kate decides she has had enough of Hal snooping around and doing all the things he is not supposed to. She is done with whatever he has done for himself and Kate over the years; she lets him know that she is done with the marriage and cannot make it work from now on, knowing what Hal has done. Kate is mentally and physically done with her husband’s antics because she can no longer put her mind to why Hal is the way he is. Out of desperation, Hal reveals that Kate is being considered for the post of Vice President of the United States, and because of that, she cannot consider a divorce right now. Kate is in a state of shock because she did not see this bomb falling on her. With the President’s helicopter approaching the Winfield House, Kate has a lot to talk about, think about, and decide, and she is again livid at Hal for not keeping her in the loop about the vice president job.
