Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ follows the story of Kate Wyler, who is assigned as an ambassador to the UK during a very critical situation in the country. A British naval ship called HMS Courageous is blown upon, which leads to the death of 27 personnel on board. This puts the UK, especially its PM Nicol Trowbridge, on high alert. As Kate and her team try to figure out the real culprit behind it, they discover some very shocking secrets. The first season ends with a car explosion that almost claims the lives of people close to Kate. However, it is the second season that serves a truly explosive revelation. SPOILERS AHEAD
Trowbridge Turns Out to be a Red Herring
The first season of ‘The Diplomat’ ends with Kate and British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison discovering that the attack on HMS Courageous was not arranged by any foreign power, like Iran or Russia. Rather, it was someone from the British government who did it. At the time, they are in Paris, ready to move against Roman Lenkov, who has a clear link to the blast. He is the one who executed it, which means that he can point fingers at the people who hired him. For this, he needs to be caught alive. But then, Trowbridge passes an order that Lenkov should be shot dead if he presents any problems during the arrest. This is code for shooting him on sight.
Trowbridge’s decisions raise suspicions with Kate and Dennison, and they start to think Trowbridge’s sudden decision to have Lenkov killed stems from the fact that he is the one who hired the Russian mercenary to destroy his own ship and kill his people. Another person who could have cleared it up was Merritt Grove, who’d set up a meeting with Hal, most likely to tell him the truth. But then, his car is blown up, and he dies before being able to say a word about what really happened to the ship. The second blast makes it clear that whoever is behind the first blast is desperate to tie up all loose ends and prevent the truth from coming out. The more they think about it, the more Kate and Dennison are convinced that it is Trowbridge.
They turn out to be completely wrong. While it seems logical to turn suspicion towards Trowbridge, Kate and Dennison hold him guilty even before properly looking into the matter. Dennison is blinded by his dislike for Trowbridge and his desire to have the PM removed from office. Kate’s thoughts are influenced by Dennison’s, mainly due to the connection they seem to have formed over the short amount of time they have been in each other’s company. Eventually, however, it becomes clear that Trowbridge never had anything to do with it. The only reason he wanted Lenkov dead is because he was advised to do it so he could turn into the hero that the country needed in this difficult time. The assassination, though leading to some blowback from the government, eventually brings the approval from the public Trowbridge had been vying for, which turns the tide in his favor.
The Blowing Up of the Ship Had Roots in the Geopolitics of the Region
While Kate and Dennison may have been wrong about Trowbridge’s involvement in the matter, they are not wrong when it comes to the involvement of the British government in the incident with HMS Courageous. Some high-ranking politicians and officials were involved in it, but they did all of this without Trowbridge’s knowledge. In fact, the idea was brought forward and executed by Trowbridge’s trusted advisor, Margaret Roylin. At the time, a wave had been emerging in Scotland where they seemed to be heavily leaning towards secession from the UK. One of the reasons behind it was Trowbridge’s image as a weak leader. If Scotland’s movement picked up, it would lead Northern Ireland and Wales to back its demands while coming up with their own. This would mean that the UK would dissolve completely, and Trowbridge would forever be branded as the PM who messed up beyond repair.
Due to the high stakes for Trowbridge, it seemed logical that he would do anything it took to make things right for himself. An attack like the one on HMS Courageous would give him the opportunity to band the whole country together, leading the citizens to throw away any thoughts of secession while they focused on the enemy outside. This is exactly what happens as the issue of secession dissipates soon after Lenkov is killed. However, it isn’t until much later that Kate discovers that Trowbridge and the UK aren’t the only ones who have a lot to lose if the secession happens.
Vice President Grace Penn tells Kate that if the secession came to pass, the USA had as much, if not more, to lose than Trowbridge and the UK. The breaking down of one of its most important allies into four separate states would not only weaken the democracy in the area, but it would also heavily impact the US interests. She reveals that one of the places where the US is allowed to dock its nuclear subs is in a location called Creegan in Scotland. Because the UK is intact for now, the US has no problem maintaining the arrangement, which also helps keep forces like Russia at bay, which has a history of heavily increasing its presence in all the areas that the US either retreated from or never had access to. However, if Scotland were to become a free country, then it would be a huge problem for the US because the Scottish government doesn’t favor having another country’s nuclear warheads at its ports. This means that the US would have to leave the base in Creegan, which would make it open season for its enemies.
The Real Culprit is Much Closer to Home
It is this complex geopolitics that led Grace to come up with the only solution she could think of. She approached Roylin, knowing that Roylin was connected enough to get it done but had enough distance from Trowbridge to keep him out of the loop and prevent him from causing problems for the plan. She shared the idea with Roylin, who then hired Lenkov to do the deed. A couple of other high-ranking people in the British government were let in on the plan, but Trowbridge remained entirely unaware of it. The idea was to cause minimal damage to the ship, but enough for it to become a huge issue for the country to focus on. However, Grace, Roylin, and their accomplices didn’t anticipate the damage that one mistake could cause. The ship blew up, leading to the deaths of the people on board.
While this was never the plan to begin with, now that it had happened, Grace and Co had no option but to keep going. They knew that the situation wasn’t ideal, and if found guilty, they would pay dearly for their crimes. Their best bet was to shove it under the rug and let the politics play out. But then, people like Merritt Grove started to have cold feet. When he set up the meeting with Hal, no one knew about it, and it would have stayed that way had Kate not called Roylin. Once Roylin discovered what was about to happen, she and her accomplices agreed that Grove needed to go, which led to the car bombing. The other loose thread was Lenkov.
To get him out of the way, Roylin advised Trowbridge to kill him. When word got out about the plans for the assassination, Roylin got scared that an inquiry might ruin the plan. So, she surrendered her to Kate and manipulated the situation such that Dennison put the inquiry on hold. This was enough for Roylin and sure enough, the next day, Grove was dead, and her job was done. However, she didn’t anticipate that the CIA would continue holding her even after Lenkov was gone. Eventually, she is forced to tell the truth, outing not only the people in the British government but also the mastermind of the plan, Grace Penn.
Read More: Netflix’s The Diplomat: All Shooting Locations of the Show
