Netflix's stellar political thriller The Diplomat returned for its second season on October 31, 2024, bringing viewers another season of intense, must-watch TV led by a captivating cast. Starring Keri Russell and created by Debora Cahn, the six-episode sophomore season follows the U.S. Ambassador to Britain, Kate Wyler (Russell), as she continues to unfurl the conspiracy behind the attack on a British warship, as she uses diplomatic efforts to avert World War III.
Season 1 of The Diplomat premiered in 2023 and quickly became a hit, with 173.46 million hours viewed in the four weeks following its premiere. Luckily, fans won't have to wait four weeks to learn the series' fate after that jaw-dropping season 2 finale cliffhanger. Read on for a breakdown of everything we know about The Diplomat season 3.
Has 'The Diplomat' been renewed for season 3?
Yes! Netflix announced that The Diplomat will return for season 3 on October 10, 2024—three weeks before season 2 arrived on Netflix. If the early renewal wasn't enough of a sign that the streaming giant is going all in on the political thriller, the renewal announcement also revealed that filming for season 3 was already underway in London and N.Y.C.!
"After an amazing summer shooting in the U.K., we brought London home to New York," series creator Debora Cahn told Variety. "Best of both worlds—filming in Brooklyn. We love doing this. We’re so excited to get to keep going."
When will 'The Diplomat' season 3 be released?
The Diplomat had a delightfully quick hiatus between its first two seasons, compared to Netflix's other mega-hit series that keep fans waiting for two or three years. Season 1 premiered on April 20, 2023, and filming for season 2 reportedly began that June, with the new episodes eventually making their debut 18 months after the series premiere. With production on season 3 already underway, the next batch of episodes could arrive in the first half of 2026.
How many episodes will 'The Diplomat' season 3 have?
When The Diplomat season 2 arrived, fans were surprised that the sophomore season only had six episodes, compared to eight in season 1. Viewers who can't get enough of the thriller's political intrigue will be happy to know that creator and showrunner Debora Cahn has confirmed season 3 will include all eight episodes.
As for season 2, Cahn told TVLine that the shorter length was her decision. "[Netflix] was not happy. They wanted the full eight," she told the outlet, explaining that the streamer initially planned for an even shorter hiatus between seasons. "I was really tired. It was a time thing. It felt like there wasn’t enough time to turn around eight of them. It was a lot to do in what appeared to be a short period of time.”
Cahn added, "Had we known it was going to be a year and a half before we got back on the air, it would’ve been different.” She then confirmed, "Season 3 will be eight episodes."
Which of the cast members will return for 'The Diplomat' season 3?
Spoilers for The Diplomat season 2 ahead. Viewers who have already binged through season 2 know that not everyone makes it out of the new episodes alive. (R.I.P. Ronnie.) Of those remaining, the cast members who are highly likely to return for season 3 include Keri Russell (Kate Wyler), Rufus Sewell (Hal Wyler), Ato Essandoh (Stuart Hayford), Ali Ahn (Eidra Park), David Gyasi (Austin Dennison), and Rory Kinnear (Prime Minister Trowbridge). The rest of the cast is up in the air based on that wild season 2 ending (more on that below), however, season 3 may include more of the series' U.S.-based characters, including Nana Mensah (Billie Appiah) and Secretary of State Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval).
Of course, there's also an important guest star who ends season 2 as the leader of the free world: Allison Janney as Grace Penn.
What will 'The Diplomat' season 3 be about?
Who's ready to attend the inauguration of President Grace Penn? The Diplomat's season 2 finale ends with the jaw-dropping reveal that President William Rayburn (Michael McKean) has died of a heart attack, after learning the full extent of the British false-flag attack from Hal Wyler.
Yes, Hal kind of killed the president—but he had good intentions! The Wylers discovered that the attack on the HMS Courageous was plotted by Penn herself to stop Scotland from voting to leave the U.K. and subsequently closing a nuclear base, which is the only place where the U.S. can detect a Russian sub headed for New York. Kate had intended for Hal to tell Secretary Ganon so the justice system could decide what happened to Grace, but Hal went straight to the president instead... and the news shocked the prez so much it killed him.
At the same moment that Hal is making the call, Kate and Grace have a standoff where Grace, who had previously planned to leave her position quietly, assures Kate that she's now going to fight to stay the VP and that Kate has made a low-key enemy by blatantly going after the position. Now that Grace is president, there are so many questions. Is Kate completely screwed? Could she become Grace's vice president? Will she stay in London to repair her working relationships with Dennison and Trowbridge? Since the series is filming in London and N.Y.C., we can assume she isn't being shipped off to Kabul, or some far-flung outpost. But, now that the warship attack is wrapped up, what will become the central conflict of the series?
What has the cast and crew said about 'The Diplomat' season 3?
Speaking to Netflix's Tudum for The Diplomat's season 3 renewal, creator Debora Cahn gave a very cryptic tease of what Kate will face in the upcoming season. "Season 3 flips the chessboard," she told the outlet. "In season 3, Kate lives the particular nightmare that is getting what you want."
In a Rolling Stone interview, Keri Russell shared her excitement for the new season. "I’ve already read everything of season 3," she told the outlet. "It’s so good in the way I want things to be good, and I just can’t believe that it’s still getting better."
The star also noted the possible dilemmas Kate might face as she's forced to step into the public eye in an interview with Harper's Bazaar.
"What I’m not as interested in is the person who gets to become Vice President, has perfect hair, and gives perfect speeches," she told the outlet. "I like the girl who was devastated about the failure of Afghanistan, who can’t keep her clothes clean before going into the Oval Office, and who has a messy, passionate, sexy relationship with this nut job, mess of a husband. That is who I’m interested in, and those are the stories I want to tell. Introducing someone like Janney and everything she embodies to the show only creates better problems, which is good for the story."
Meanwhile, speaking with The Wrap, Rufus Sewell shared his insight into Hal's state of mind and explained that the former ambassador wants Kate in the VP seat for his sake, and for the sake of the world.
"He wants her to be in power," he told the outlet. "He wants to be in the best position to do the things that he wants to do. But he really wants that for her... He thinks she’s really very much the best person for it because they have things that they believe are important, not just love of country, but for the world... He has his personal ambitions, but it’s not some secret Machiavellian thing for his own game. I keep on returning to this, but if events had unfolded in such a way as the best play was for him to be vice president, then they would have both worked towards that happening. But this is the door that opened."
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Cahn described season 2's central theme, shared by Kate and the rest of the characters, as "good people taking actions that might still result in negative consequences."
"I want to show everybody in that way,” she told the outlet. “The idea was that we talk about this person who is absolutely evil and untrustworthy... And then eventually we sort of wrap our way around to understanding the situation that she was in and feeling like, ‘Oh God, I might have done the same thing.’ And that was the plan in the beginning. And that’s absolutely the plan with Kate. Everybody who we sort of meet and we think is bad, ultimately, hopefully that opinion flips, and then it flips again. And the same thing with Kate, the kind of things that we would ascribe to villains in a different kind of narrative, Kate is absolutely making those moves and making those choices and mistakes."
