Did President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) and Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) really think they could steal Russia’s most powerful weapon without Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) finding out?
If the trailer for The Diplomat’s Season 4 is any indication, Kate not only knows exactly how reckless the Penn administration has become but also has some serious questions about her president’s competence. “Your tolerance for risk to human life seems higher than it was,” the ambassador to the UK tells an icy and unmoved Penn.
White House Chief of Staff Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah) responds with equal ambivalence to Kate’s alarm. “You made a covert military incursion into an allies’ territory,” warns Kate. “It’s over the line.”
“The line moves,” Appiah replies.
As the delicate relationship between the UK and US threatens to implode in the fourth season — which begins streaming Oct. 15 — First Gentleman Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford) adds fuel to the fire when he encroaches on Kate’s job.
“This season is built on the foursome that is Kate, Hal, Grace, and Todd,” says creator, showrunner, and executive producer Debora Cahn. “They’re two couples strapped together in one car on a crumbling roller coaster. Each of them has a professional, public role that’s upending their ability to function as a married person. And there’s a change-partners thing that happens, where the growing bond between Grace and Hal creates a not-so-functional alliance between Kate and Todd.”
Working with the foursome is like an “insane bag of candy,” Cahn shares. “I’m so excited about Season 4,” she says. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. We get to the end of a season and I always think, ‘Well, there’s no way that we can do this again.’ And then we dig back into it, and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, we have to keep going.’”
As the Wylers torpedo into their next chapter, there’s bound to be even more cutthroat power plays and dramatic twists and turns ahead. The showrunner warns that fans should definitely be “worried” about what’s to come.
“There’s plenty to worry about,” says Cahn. “It can be pretty chilling when you see who takes power and get the sense that they may be horrifically misusing it.”
Stream all three seasons of The Diplomat now. And be sure to brush up on Season 3’s cliffhanger ending with our recap.
The Diplomat Season 4 arrives Oct. 15.
