Who Is Hal Wyler in The Diplomat? His Full Arc, Explained

Kate later asks Hal to travel to London and help negotiate burying the submarine in concrete, and there Hal tells Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear), the British prime minister, that the US took the Poseidon. Trowbridge has just learned of the death of his foreign secretary, Austin Dennison (David Gyasi). Hal also authorises Kate to use what the Americans know about Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie), the prime minister's late adviser, to blackmail Trowbridge, who then resigns.

Trowbridge's successor, Bethan Vaughn (Jodie Whittaker), freezes the Americans out. Russia has found its submarine and wants to recover its dead, which would expose that the Poseidon is missing. Grace orders Kate to tell Vaughn to call Russia off or face US warships, and Kate reports back that she has done so when she has not. In Italy, at a tense dinner with the Penns, Kate admits she never delivered the threat, and Grace sends both Kate and Hal away from the table.

Hal Wyler at the G7

In the finale, Hal tells Kate she will keep her post, but Todd will speak at the G7 instead of her. He accuses her of knowing a political blow was coming and using their reconciliation to soften it. He presses Vaughn with threats of military action and refuses Kate and Stuart's argument that the US should tell Russia the Poseidon is gone.

Then Grace addresses the summit, admits the US took the Poseidon and signals that it will fire on interfering countries, allies included. Kate kisses Hal, tells him she loves him, and resigns as ambassador in front of Grace. Hal tries to stand and is told by Grace to sit down, which he does. Sewell told Tudum: "He tries to stand up [in the summit], and he gets sat down by the president."

Billie Appiah (Nana Mensah), the White House chief of staff, resigns and follows Kate out, and Ganon does the same. Outside, Hal emerges to join them. Without exchanging a word with him, Kate addresses the press, saying the vice president has something to say, but the season ends before we hear what Hal says.

Does Hal Wyler resign in The Diplomat?

Hal is never shown resigning in the finale.

Hal walks out of the G7 after Kate, but he never says on screen that he is resigning. Sewell doubts there is a way back: "I don't think you get to walk out and then walk back in again," he told The Hollywood Reporter. TheWrap reports that Sewell sees the vice presidency as something Hal is willing to give up. Asked by TV Guide about Hal's speech, Cahn replied: "Stay tuned, my friend."

Is Hal Wyler a villain?

Not in any simple sense. What follows is ShatteredBulbs' analysis, not something the show confirms: among the four people at the centre of Season 4 (Hal, Kate, Grace and Todd), Hal is the cleverest. He is also a master manipulator and a loose cannon at once, and the two do not contradict each other. The secret call to Iran, the confession to Trowbridge and the blackmail he signs off on are reckless steps, each taken by a man who knows what he hopes to gain.

He also helped take the Poseidon and told his wife to keep it quiet. Against that, he reported Grace's role in the warship attack to the president. Asked why Hal follows Kate out of the G7, Cahn told TV Guide: "I don't think he chooses his wife; I think he chooses right versus wrong as he understands it." Sewell is blunter, telling Tudum: "If there's any nobility in what he does, it comes out of having been humiliated."

Sewell also told TheWrap what drives Hal: "The idea of being in the room, having access, is paramount." Our interpretation is that his eye is on the presidency. What makes him hard to read is how rarely it is clear which he is protecting: his marriage, his access to power or his next move.