(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
Establishing clear ground rules in The Diplomat is crucial when dealing with strong political personalities. It is also a helpful skill in the bedroom. Sometimes wearing socks is non-negotiable.
Okay, there isn’t even a bed in this steamy socks-off scenario, but it is the first time U.S. ambassador to the UK Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) and new beau Callum Ellis (Aidan Turner) have sex outside of the shower. Dealing with an international crisis and depicting the special relationship between Britain and the United States has never been hotter.
It is all change for the Wylers in Season 3 of the Netflix political drama from Debora Cahn. Hal (Rufus Sewell) is no longer playing the house husband who can’t help but insert himself into one emergency after the next. However, saying yes to becoming Grace Penn’s (Allison Janney) VP is the final nail in the volatile Wyler union. Now, Hal and Kate maintain a public marriage and private separation. It is conscious uncoupling with a twist: a handful of people know the truth, and only one half of this duo is happy with the arrangement.
Presenting a perfect couple image is easier to maintain with Kate keeping her UK role and Hal spending most of his time stateside. Adding a new man into the equation is aided by a midseason time jump to five months into Grace’s administration. Kate faces a unique challenge juggling her secret boyfriend and playing second lady when she has to.
The Diplomat has never shied away from showcasing how sex, desire, power, and love overlap. Hitting pause on Kate and Hal resolves the slow-burning tension with British Secretary of State Austin Denison (David Gyasi). Still, fans of this will-they-won’t-they pairing might feel short-changed. Kate and Denison come close to consummating their attraction, but are thwarted by a sequin dress and bad timing. Much like Hal, I was surprised this coupling never came to pass. Instead, we are thrust into the midst of a fledgling romance, a bold choice that pays off.
Like Hal, the audience learns of this recent development thanks to the intimate ease of Kate’s lingering hand on Callum’s chest in the middle of a daytime function. You don’t need to be a body language expert to know they have seen each other naked. Unlike Hal, I am giddy to see this match-up.
Any disappointment that Kate and Callum’s arc skips their first meeting quickly subsides after a couple of scenes. The excitement of the early days is still palpable, and this unorthodox love triangle has oodles of tension. Playful banter is supercharged because they have already crossed a line.
Across three seasons, The Diplomat’s casting has been pitch-perfect. Turner immediately feels at home with the snappy dialogue alternating between global catastrophes and eyebrow-raising flirting. We don’t need to see how Callum and Kate went from working to sleeping together because their characters’ attraction is palpable.
Turner has long made audiences swoon. Netflix wisely capitalizes on Turner’s appeal by adding BBC period drama Poldark to its library (he takes his shirt off a lot). The raven-haired Irish actor is brooding in the BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, scene-stealing as the hot dwarf in the Hobbit trilogy, and a moody mustache-sporting highlight in Hulu’s delightful ‘80s romp, Rivals.
The Diplomat offers Turner the chance to play charming and mischievous before matters turn nuclear war serious. A Russian nuclear submarine has gone missing, and Callum is running point to find the vessel.
While he isn’t quite a spy, Callum is a man whose job title is as vague as he is attractive. He has sources in the Kremlin, worked in foreign affairs for a previous Labour government, is an asset who can negotiate with other powers, and closely works with an MI6 agent using a cover story of being a bird expert. Hal is immediately threatened.
Of course, Russell is an expert in playing a layered, sticky marriage, but unlike in The Americans, I am not rooting for the Wyler marriage to survive. Hal’s pettiness is thinly disguised as anger at Kate’s recklessness. I was already Team Callum, but Hal’s insistence that Kate tell him where they have sex (for national security reasons) reduces my sympathy levels to zero. The answer? A shower in the private bathroom in a defense ministry annex.
Knowing they have found a go-to spot only increases Callum and Kate’s heat levels. Ditto when Callum says goodbye with this missive: “Pleasant to f— you. I’ll see myself out.” At this point, we haven’t even seen them kiss, but the verbal foreplay and Russell and Turner’s chemistry paint a vivid picture.
Luckily, the pair makes the most of their rare time alone before everything falls apart in Episode 7. No words are needed when the pair realizes circumstances at the ambassador’s residence mean they won’t be interrupted. The preamble of locking the doors, chatting about how they’ve not had sex in a space this large (or horizontal), and making sure Callum removes his socks adds to the hot, fun scene.
Given their usual hook-up venue, they can’t help but marvel that this is the first time they are having sex lying down. Not that they even bother to move to one of the couches. Then again, the floor is probably as comfortable as the ornate furniture.
Afterward, they eat semi-dressed in that very sexy, casual way that television loves to depict. But Kate asks a question you don’t hear very often on TV anymore: “Where’d the condom go?” The answer will surprise you. A coy Callum admits that he put it in a freezer bag. Russell does such a great “huh” expression that I had to rewind (“You carry a baggie for used condoms?”). His explainer makes the choice seem less bonkers (it was for almonds), and tossing a used condom in the ambassador’s trash could raise more questions.
So far, so good. Unfortunately, the current volatile US and UK relations pierce Kate and Callum’s romance bubble. They verbally spar, leading to Kate comparing Callum to Hal. Kate has diplomatic weak spots, and mixing professional and personal exposes those problem zones. The relationship isn’t dead in the water before the finale, but it will need delicate negotiations to survive.
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