The Diplomat ending explained: Who bombed the aircraft?

Netfli's latest political drama, The Diplomat, recently premiered on the streaming platform. Arguably one of the best shows that has come out in recent times, The Diplomat mixed elements of politics, diplomacy, marriage dynamics, and sexism very effectively to create an exceptional premise with very little breathing space.

Coming from Debora Cahn (well-known for Homeland), this political drama starred the acclaimed Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, a career diplomat who is sent to the United Kingdom after an aircraft explosion kills dozens of sailors. The series follows her and her husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), the rather strange husband who is deeply affected by the change in their marriage dynamics after his wife gets a more important position.

The synopsis for the eight-episode series reads as:

"Amid an international crisis, a career diplomat juggles her new high-profile job as ambassador to the United Kingdom and her turbulent marriage to a political star."

Throughout the run of The Diplomat, there were lingering questions about the blast and who ordered it. Moreover, the series ended with another big question with another big blast. While not everything was revealed properly at the end of the Netflix show, adding to the suspense, the finale did resolve some questions.

Disclaimer: Major spoilers ahead.

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The Diplomat ending explained: What happened to Hal and Stuart?

The Diplomat saw Kate struggle considerably with official affairs and figuring out the person behind the explosion. The breakthrough did come for her, but it was perhaps a bit too late in the season finale.

Interestingly titled The James Bond Clause, the finale kicked off with Dennison calling Kate into his office to discuss something. Surprisingly, Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) had several changes of heart during this time, leading to a suspicion developing in people around him.

Meanwhile, Hal and Kate shared a bitter moment with the former visibly jealous of his wife being sent to France. After some drama with the former's speech, the latter tried to go rogue and discover more about the Lenkov deal. She found out that Trowbridge had issued a kill order for Lenkov. She also cleverly noted that the only person who would benefit from killing Lenkov is the person who hired him, hence hinting that Trowbridge was behind the attack.

But before any action could be taken, the series concluded with another major event, leaving little clarity over whether it was really Trowbridge who was behind the attack. This was also an extremely smart move from the creators of the Diplomat.

Anyhow, the final scenes saw Hayford and Ronnie (Jess Chanliau) arrive at the restaurant for a meeting. However, after Grove decided to walk out, he encountered Stuart and Hal near his car, which blew up shortly after.

Kate heard the explosion from their post, but the episode concluded before showing the results of the explosion, leaving fans on yet another cliffhanger about Stuart, Hal, and Grove, all of whom were potential victims of the blast.

The series also left the mystery of the car bomb unsolved, with no potential suspect on the list. In short, the finale of the show left a lot for a possible second season with the story still left incomplete.

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All the episodes of The Diplomat are now streaming on Netflix.