'The Diplomat' Season 3 First Teaser Introduces The First Gentleman

It's not every drama that has the nerve to end its second season cliffhanger on the announcement that the President of the United States is dead, but Netflix's The Diplomat isn't your typical series. Dreamed up by former The West Wing scribe Debora Cahn, who went on to write for Showtime's Homeland, the series is a bit like if you mashed the two shows together and then reset them in the U.K. One part political intrigue, one part weirdly earnest populism, with a giant "unraveling marriage" as the sticky toffee center, the show is irresistible even as it is ridiculous.

Initially, the series started as a "Portrait of a Political Marriage in Unfortunately Hilarious Turmoil." American actor Keri Russell (The Americans) plays Kate Wyle, who is appointed the ambassador to the U.K., ironically, a position her insanely ambitious husband, Hal, had in mind for himself. Played by British actor Rufus Sewell (Victoria), Hal's scheming is only one of the many things causing the Wyle marriage to unravel, but as Season 3 starts, his refusal to let up on getting Kate promoted to Vice President may backfire.

Pushing Kate from the useless job as U.K. ambassador to the even more useless job of VPOTUS may not seem like Hal's worst mistake... until people get a load of the new man who walks into Kate's life: the very married-to-her-new-boss First Gentleman, Todd Penn.

Here's the synopsis for Season 3.

In Season 3, 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.

Alongside Russell and Sewell, The Diplomat stars British actor David Gyasi (The Sandman) as U.K. Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, Rory Kinnear (Ridley Road) as British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge plus American actors Allison Janney as President Grace Penn, Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid's Tale) as her husband and First Gentleman, Todd Penn. 

Ali Ahn (Agatha All Along) also returns as CIA station chief Eidra Park, Nana Mensah (Elementary) as White House chief of staff Billie Appiah, Michael McKean (Good Omens) as the late POTUS William Rayburn, Miguel Sandoval (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) as U.S. Secretary of State Miguel Ganon, and Ato Essandoh (Altered Carbon) as Stuart Heyford.

Debora Cahn will once again serve as showrunner on Season 3 and lead writer for the series' scripts. Alex Graves is expected to helm multiple episodes again. Cahn, Graves, and Russell also executive produce alongside Janice Williams and Peter Noah.

The Diplomat Season 3 will premiere in the Fall of 2025. Seasons 1 and 2 are currently streaming on Netflix.