Keri Russell understands the assignment on The Diplomat. The former Felicity star was once known for a series-ruining haircut (not her fault) and moved into period-drama spy territory with The Americans. She draws a loyal audience, who flocked to Netflix‘s dramedy series about a frazzled ambassador who alternately mops up international incidents and the antics of her attention-seeking, former-diplomat husband while occasionally telling him to smell her pits. As Kate Wyler, Russell leans into the unruliness of her character who cannot be bothered to tame her hair, especially while hungover.

The Diplomat is not without controversy, though. After the series upset fans with an abbreviated second outing, the good news is that not only will the third season return to normal length but it will push Kate into new heights of frustration. Let’s trip over ourselves on what expect from the third season.

Cast

More of The West Wing flavor will arrive this season with Allison Janney still being a holy terror, now as President Grace Penn. She will be joined by Bradley Whitford as the First Gentleman.

Keri Russell will of course be back as Ambassador Kate Wyler, who might be juggling an apparent new title with Rufus Sewell still irritating the hell out of her as Hal Wyler. More confirmed returns include David Gyasi (as British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison), Ali Ahn (was Eidra Park), Ato Essandoh (as Stuart Heyford), and Rory Kinnear (as British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge). Oh, and Hal’s mysterious ability to incite a heart attack definitely means that Michael McKean will not return as President Rayburn.

Plot

About that heart attack. Viewers know that the most recent season finale saw Hal take it upon himself to reveal VP Penn’s treachery (i.e., the warship attack) to President Rayburn. The episode ended with Grace learning that she will be U.S. president just as Kate disclosed her intent to go after Grace’s pre-existing VP spot after all. The question remains, however, whether Grace will choose “keep her enemies closer,” so to speak, with Kate as her VP? That appears to be the case, according to a newly released Netflix synopsis:

“Ambassador Kate Wyler lives the particular nightmare that is getting what you want. She just accused Vice President Grace Penn of hatching a terrorist plot and admitted she’s after the VP’s job. But now the President is dead, Kate’s husband Hal may have inadvertently killed him, and Grace Penn is leader of the free world. None of this slows Hal’s campaign to land Kate the vice presidency. Kate steps into a role she never wanted, with a freedom she never expected, an increasingly complicated friendship with Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, and an unnerving bond with First Gentleman Todd Penn.”

As for Kate’s apparent ascendancy to VP (?), that information runs counter to what Deborah Cohn previously told Keri Russell in reiterating, “The show’s called The Diplomat, not The Vice President.’” So perhaps that means Kate will return to “ambassador” in the long term, which jibes with Netflix recently announcing a fourth-season renewal for The Diplomat.

What will remain consistent, though, is that Kate and Hal will still rage at and be “madly in love” with each other, as executive producers Alex Graves and Janice Williams duly warned Screenrant. And if anyone expects Hal to feel awful about what he did, then Rufus Sewell is already laughing. “Guilt-schmilt,” Sewell explained to Tudum. “[Hal] made the right call for him and it turned out wrong. This is the truth with high-risk strategies. Sometimes things go wrong, but you look back on it and think, ‘Well, with the information that I had, did I make the right decision?’ It was a fair guess. I respect the decision he made.”

As for Russell, she will remain thrilled to inhabit this rather feral character. “I so appreciate coming to work and working on snappy, sassy dialogue, and being a mess, and dropping the F-bomb all the time,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s full of substance, but it’s also fun, and that is fucking unbelievable to do something like that right now.”

Release Date

The The Diplomat returns this fall. Fingers crossed for a specific date soon.

Trailer

Until Netflix gives us a trailer, we’ll have to make do with Kate admitting that even diplomats need to pick wedgies.