‘The Diplomat’ star Rufus Sewell opens up about the ending of season 2 and *that* infamous call

Rufus Sewell was the first to hear the end of season 2 of ‘The Diplomat’.

“I thought the end of season 1 was a big shock. I really didn’t expect that,” he tells TODAY.com. “No one could have predicted the end of this season.”

He and co-star Keri Russell, who play a married couple of ambassadors forever entangled in their own game of craft, were the only cast members to get their hands on the final scripts in advance. Other cast members’ finale scripts had portions edited until the final reading.

“It was on the day of the readthrough that people went to that page. You could see, as they turned that page, the responses jumped like a series of explosions across the readthrough tables. And people said, ‘No!’ “It was a really good, exciting indication of what the public reaction will be like,” he says.

While Season 2 of “The Diplomat” premiered on Oct. 31, Sewell says he’s “stuck” in Season 3, which is currently filming.

“It’s dangerous,” he says. “There are things I can’t say that are old news to us and that no one knows yet.”

He admits that he “kind of likes” the feeling of having secrets. “Luckily I’m so forgetful that I can’t remember most of it,” he jokes.

In that regard, he says he’s very different from his character in “The Diplomat.” Hal Wyler is the husband of the American ambassador to Great Britain, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), and also an ambassador himself. He is a loose foreign policy genius.

“You need killers who are on the side of good. He’s one of those people,” Sewell says. “He says, ‘Okay, this has to be done. I have to get in here. I have to do something drastic.’ Unfortunately, the consequences of this are incalculable.”

What happens at the end of ‘The Diplomat’ Season 2 – and what does his character have to do with it? Read below to find out.

What happens at the end of ‘The Diplomat’ season 2?

The final moments of Season 2 of ‘The Diplomat’ end with a shocking revelation: the President of the United States has died – apparently from shock caused by a phone call with Hal.

Over the course of the season, the Wylers unravel the conspiracy about who was behind the British warship attack in Season 1.

It turns out that Grace Penn (Allison Janney), the US Vice President, orchestrated this with the help of British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge’s former advisor, Margaret ‘Meg’ Roylin (Celia Imrie).

Grace hired a mercenary to attack a British ship in an attempt to give the United Kingdom something to unite over. She did this so that Scotland would not vote yes for independence and the US could retain control of a military base in Scotland. The intention was not to hurt anyone, but there was a glitch they couldn’t have predicted that left people where the rocket hit, Trowbridge explained.

Kate and Hal go back and forth about what to do with the information. They decide to tell Miguel Ganon (Miguel Sandoval), the US Secretary of State. But then Hal, in classic Hal fashion, goes rogue and calls the president instead.

The show skips the phone conversation between Hal and the President and instead moves on to what he says to Kate on the phone.

Keep in mind that at this point, Kate just got out of a tense conversation with the VP where she confirmed she was coming for work.

“Kate,” Hal says sadly. “I haven’t spoken to Ganon. I spoke to the president.”

Breathing, he says, “Kate, he really got upset.”

“What does that mean?” Kate asks.

Before you know it, a group of Secret Service agents are running towards Grace and Kate.

“He died, Katie. The president is dead. Grace Penn is president,” he says.

The last shot is of Grace looking at the Secret Service agents.

Reflecting on the twist, Sewell says, “I think it’s great that it’s happening. I know it seems a little grim, but it’s just dramatic.”

What does Hal say to the President on the phone?

Sewell says more of the exact conversation will be revealed next season.

‘I have to explain to people what happened. Why were you talking to him? What were you talking about? There’s not much I can say, you know,” he says.

Sewell understands Hal’s decision to go rogue and call the President instead of the Secretary of State; it was his original plan.

“The only way he could fully control the outcome was to tell the president directly. Through someone else they were able to use it to their advantage and use gamesmanship against them,” he says.

His intentions were in the right place, Sewell says: This was intended to be another Hal Wyler special.

“The fact is that what he is famous and infamous for is accomplishing feats that no one else would have the courage or intellect to pull off,” he says.

Hal, he says, has always been aware of the risks and moved forward anyway.

‘Sometimes there are victims. What we do is for the world and will benefit an enormous amount of people. But sometimes, when something goes wrong, there can be bad results. This is one of those things. He was right when he did that. Who could have known this could happen?”

What will happen to Kate’s bid for vice president – ​​and will ‘The Diplomat’ go to Washington?

Kate has been thinking about the position of vice president all season. After her husband’s financial scandal, Grace’s time as vice president was in jeopardy, creating an opening for Kate to maneuver in — if she dared.

Given her fraught history with Grace Penn, Kate may not be Grace’s first choice for the role. (According to the 25th Amendment to the Constitutionthe new president may appoint a vice president of his choice).

That said, Sewell says the show’s story is “kind of bifurcated,” so the cast will spend time in London and New York and find themselves “between places.”

However, he makes no promises about where the story, or Kate’s career, will go in light of the new appointment. The Wylers will definitely be on Grace’s radar; they know her biggest secret.

“There will always be a piece of Washington in here – I don’t know where it will end up,” he says.

Grace Penn is now the president – ​​which Sewell personally took as good news for him, even if it brings complications for his character.

“It’s so fantastic because you think, ‘Oh great, we’re going to work with Alison again,’” he says.

“I like anything that brings new difficulties, and not just difficulties in terms of dramatic problems, but also things that change the balance sheet, the billing and the relationship in a way that needs to be navigated. As for me and Keri, I think I think we are the same: we want the opposite of what you want in life. You want problems.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com