The Diplomat (2023) s01e02 Episode Script

1
Kate, they want a briefing.
I gotta go.
White House wants Hal to brief.
Not me. You.
The president is asking you to serve
as ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Gonna tell you something five people know.
We're gonna lose the vice president.
So we need somebody else.
I have a few ideas, but one of them
I want you to check her out.
Welcome to London, Ambassador Wyler.
You need to lean
into the Cinderella thing.
I'm not Cinderella.
I'm here for 30 funerals.
- Eidra Park.
- CIA chief of station.
We can't see markings, but looks like
the kind Iran's been stockpiling.
- Means it's Iran.
- Means it's an Iranian boat.
Wasn't I sending you to Kabul?
- Ganon's trying to get rid of you.
- Know who you can't fire?
- Cinderella.
- Wow.
Is Mr. Wyler leaving?
He will get me on my feet
and then he will go.
- You're getting divorced.
- No, we're not.
Billie says you're good at this.
And I'm good at this.
We can get her there.
You're perfectly safe. This is very mild.
You'll be yourself in no time.
- Really good.
- Oh, yeah, magic.
Like that one there.
I think we're done. We're good.
Portraits with Mr. Wyler.
Just a couple with you and Hal.
Little more formal.
We said candids.
- Yes.
- Which I have done. For over an hour.
Just a couple more.
Quickly.
- He's nowhere.
- I'm so sorry.
Look harder.
Oh, uh, ma'am. Ma'am.
I'm taking this dress off
for five minutes.
- I really wish you wouldn't.
- Well, I'm going to.
Free his hands.
He's here.
Ma'am?
You should come with me.
Did you call the RSO?
Is that what they call it here,
the head of security?
Yes.
I realize it looks like he's slinking off
with a hot young thing,
but Hal doesn't cheat. Something is wrong.
I realize that is what women say
who have husbands who cheat.
Mine for some reason does not.
I've often wished he did.
It might have made things easier.
You don't have to believe me,
but if I were in your shoes,
I would find the RSO.
Seal the grounds, please.
- Miss Bassett.
- We need to check if the guard
- Yes, all right.
- We were fine
This isn't Charm School, right?
- What?
- You would tell me.
You think this is a training exercise?
The ambassador and her husband didn't have
time to do the safety course at State.
Maybe Chet asked you
to throw something together.
One, the fact that State
does kidnapping drills is bullshit.
They don't have the sac to hold people
long enough to simulate a real event.
- And two
- But you would tell me if it was a drill.
I mean, I wouldn't.
But this isn't one.
We've got CCTV from outside the gate
that tracks the car down here to Culworth,
but then they pull over
and ditch the license plate.
We lose them at the next light.
There's a parking facility at the end of
that block. Probably switched out the car.
- Do we have cameras in that garage?
- We're getting surveillance footage.
- So these are professionals.
- Yeah.
The woman was cleared
as part of the stylist's crew,
but the company doesn't have
a record of her.
Driver doesn't show up anywhere at all.
- We're gonna bring in MI5
- I don't want to bring in MI5 just yet.
- That'll just generate more hysteria.
- Ma'am, you said you had some names?
Mr. Wyler's been taken before.
Yeah. Hezbollah held him for a week.
State has the name. I only know
the aliases, and they're out of date.
There's an ISIL commander
who really does not like him.
Let me write down the name.
Spelling is tricky.
He's abducted Mr. Wyler before?
Yeah, but Hal escaped.
Made the guy feel like an idiot,
so he won't let it drop.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Rasoul Shahin.
In Tehran.
- Hi there.
- Hal, can you hear me?
Yeah, was the hypodermic
absolutely necessary?
- What?
- They drugged me.
With a needle.
- Please put my colleague back on.
- Sure.
Yes?
You drugged him?
For operational security.
It was supposed to be a casual approach.
In a heavily guarded environment,
with no time to prepare.
This is extremely unprofessional.
My thoughts precisely.
Put him back on.
Hi. How's your day going?
You have my deepest apologies.
These are operatives not of my choosing.
I'm getting that.
I have Naziri's support in this,
but Farhad Mashkour
and his band of doorstops
remain impervious to reason.
Rasoul.
This man is going to give you
some information.
This is highly unusual,
and it's meant to communicate
our profound concern
that the situation may grow catastrophic.
How's your stomach?
Very bad.
Please assure me
you will make it clear to your people.
Yeah, I will.
Iran had nothing to do with the attack
on the already incapacitated
British warship.
To impress this upon you,
I have been ordered,
by Deputy Minister Shahin
to make a gesture.
Over my strenuous objection.
Over the objection also
of the IRGC Intelligence.
It's controversial. I get that.
The man
is retired U.S. General Bradford Symes.
His home.
His office.
His daughter, studying at King's College.
His arrival at Heathrow last evening.
His hotel,
whereupon emerging from
at precisely 7:45 this morning
to meet his daughter for breakfast,
he was to be assassinated.
By me.
For his participation in the murder
of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.
A retaliation wholly proportional,
and three years in meticulous planning,
which I cannot now execute,
because of the assumption
that Iran has engaged
in a reckless act of war at sea.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Mr. Wyler, military action against Iran
will not be considered a retaliation.
It will be seen as an unprovoked attack.
Iran will then respond,
as your country would
to an unprovoked attack,
with every tool at our disposal.
Sorry, sir. Visitors are not being allowed
at this time.
- Uh, they may make an exception for me.
- I've worked at Winfield for eight years.
I've learned
every American is exceptional.
- A lot of action in there today, huh?
- Indeed.
I'm the one they're looking for.
Sir, we're so relieved.
- Do we have a doctor?
- I don't need one.
Sir, what can we get you?
- Coffee, water and scotch.
- I don't love their coffee.
Sit the fuck down.
Doctor's on her way.
- Where did they dose you?
- Uh
- Ow!
- Jesus fucking Christ.
Well, if you don't stab it, it's fine.
- Do they do banana bags here?
- Someone's gonna show up with a banana.
It's an IV, with vitamins.
- Good for a hangover.
- Let me check.
- Does your head hurt?
- Hey.
Hi.
Hi.
I'm okay.
- Air-gapped?
- Yeah.
- This is the only thing they gave you?
- Yeah.
We picked up the general and his daughter.
We'll keep them at the embassy
until we get them on a plane.
- Need someone on his house when he's back.
- Yeah.
Howard will take down
a description of the operatives.
We'd like to find them
before they disappear.
It was a pull-aside. You can't.
She won't waterboard them.
You gotta verify the story.
They're probably feeding you
a load of shit.
- Those the shoes he wore?
- Take off your shoes.
If they're gonna bug the residence,
the shoes are not the way.
- If it's disinformation, it's inefficient.
- Take off your shoes. Give them to him.
We confirmed
Deputy Minister Shahin's in Tehran,
- so if it was him
- It was him.
You have no idea who was
on the other end of that phone.
Christ, Kate.
I asked him how his stomach was,
he said it was awful.
I think we're drifting.
We got Shahin a GI surgery in Geneva
two years ago.
He was genuinely grateful,
but ask how his stomach is,
and without fail,
he'll say it's worse than ever.
They're terrified that British sailors
are gonna start washing up on their shore.
They tried backchannels.
They told the Swiss there's no way
they'd shoot at a British warship.
But no one was buying, so
How do we know Shahin didn't have
five guys with guns pointed at his head?
We don't.
That's why they're gonna investigate it.
All right.
Come on.
If it's all right, we'd like to bring you
into the station tomorrow.
- Sure.
- Sorry.
It's an awkward pivot,
from you as a guest to
- Person of interest. Don't apologize.
- Go.
Yeah.
Nobody who was at the gate
during the breach is still here.
We got guys on the roof, every door
to the house, all over the perimeter.
Who hears about this?
Until we vet it, no one.
Not gonna whisper it up the chain?
I don't whisper unverified information.
- Makes me look like a dumb broad.
- Ma'am, I am so sorry.
This is my fault.
We were rushing the photoshoot.
- Security didn't have time to check
- You should offer to resign.
In writing.
Of course.
Oh, Jesus, look at your face.
Not a real one.
You write it, I refuse to accept it.
Makes you look like a stand-up guy.
- I would fire me.
- I would too.
Get in bed.
If Shahin was calling from Tehran,
a lot of people were listening.
Yep.
Which means he had buy-in
from somebody with a lot of wasta.
The guy who picked me up was not a fan.
Shahin took a huge risk doing this.
I told you it wasn't Iran.
You did.
The economy's a wreck.
They want us lifting sanctions.
Neither an attack at sea
nor an abduction of an American diplomat
- It wasn't an abduction.
- Whatever it was.
- It wasn't. It was a pull-aside.
- Yeah, well, with sedatives.
- Short-acting.
- Sounds like an abduction.
But if you call it that,
all hell breaks loose.
It's the opposite of what Shahin's
trying to achieve.
Shouldn't have stabbed you in the neck.
Shahin agrees. He was upset.
Tell him to fuck himself. I was upset.
You were worried?
Yeah. I was.
- Should've planned it myself.
- You're funny.
Did you call Shahin?
No.
You sure?
- Yeah.
- If you did
- I didn't.
- If you freelance lob a call
to a country with whom
we have no diplomatic relations
- I didn't.
- it's a federal offense.
Neither of us
would work for the government again.
Well, the pay is shit.
It might be worth it.
I didn't call him.
Why not? It's what I would have done.
- No, you wouldn't.
- Maybe.
It'd be a smart move.
You think I'm that shallow,
you throw "smart" out there, I roll over?
You are absolutely that shallow.
I didn't call Shahin.
Stay.
Get some sleep.
Get a little sorry-you-were-abducted sex?
It wasn't an abduction.
Do we need to have a conversation?
- About what?
- Cairo.
Taking it up a notch.
You said no. I think
that's the end of the conversation.
It wasn't a blanket no.
- It's just not a great time.
- Yeah. I got it.
We're supposed to go
to Brize Norton tomorrow.
Meeting the caskets?
Looks shitty to bail,
but I don't want her out of the embassy
until we know what happened.
She's gonna be bubble-wrapped.
Double the security, twice as visible.
And she's going to a military base.
It's totally safe.
That's what we said about Winfield.
You are not responsible
for a security breach at Winfield.
- Okay.
- You're not.
Security had to clear too many people
in not enough time.
It's your job to ask.
If they can't handle it,
it's their job to say no.
Morning, sir.
Good morning, Mr. Hayford.
- Good morning.
- May I take your coat?
Oh, I'm good. We're gonna head out soon.
- Thank you so much.
- Sure.
- Good morning, Ms. Park.
- Good morning.
Hello.
And hello to you.
Do we know anything?
We know Rasoul Shahin was in Tehran.
Sources tell us that revenge
for Soleimani is a live issue.
They were waiting for the right time,
which yesterday would've been,
had it not been on the heels
of the carrier attack.
- Has this gone to State?
- Not yet.
They have to vet it. Thoroughly.
I say that, he never believes me.
There's a guy at the embassy in Beirut
who can speak to Shahin's relationship
with the Supreme National
Security Council.
Verify that this is information he'd have.
I'll call him
as soon as we get to the office.
- You're going straight to Brize Norton.
- Shit. Okay.
Anything from here?
- Hmm?
- Phone records?
Someone helped a freelance
intelligence operative onto the property,
with a horse sedative in her purse.
That's Regional Security's area. Or FBI.
Sure, but you'll have an easier time
getting a call list from GCHQ.
- FBI's gonna get a run-around, right?
- Yeah.
So maybe help them out.
- Good morning.
- Morning, sir.
I wanna call Danny in Beirut,
but I won't be at the embassy
till this afternoon.
Is that something Mr. Wyler could do?
If it's someone you both know
This is a guy who can help confirm details
of Hal's story.
You want Hal making the calls?
The deputy minister's story
is what we're focused on.
You should be treating Hal
like any other source.
Ganon is gonna hate
that they approached you and not him.
If this story's gonna hold,
we have to verify it with a third party.
We should go.
Ganon doesn't like him.
At all.
Noted.
Howard will take you to the embassy,
talk through what happened.
- My interrogator.
- Yes, sir.
You're getting your own car and driver,
but until then
- You have me.
- Your own car?
I was kidnapped.
I'm a high-value target.
Excuse me.
He goes to the embassy and back here.
- Nowhere else.
- Just nod.
Walk away.
She likes to get involved.
- She does.
- She knows she's not CIA, right?
- Steady.
- It all happened fast,
maybe nobody told her.
The boat itself
is a 13-meter-long attack craft
with a rocket strapped to its back.
Lines up with what we've seen
coming out
of the Shahid Mahallati Shipyard.
You can spot there,
a flash coming off the fast boat.
Probably a short-range anti-ship missile.
Is this ours?
India's.
They had a satellite trolling for
- They won't tell.
- They won't.
But it caught the launch.
The Iranians have reverse-engineered
the Chinese 802 missile.
That's probably what we're looking at.
It'll have the Quds Force initials
on the side, if it's theirs.
Thought they wrote "Death to Israel"
on the side.
Room for both.
We're still hunting for fragments.
We'll keep an eye out for all the above.
If it's Iran
and they've signed their own missile,
why bother with a denial?
- Habit.
- Or it's not Iran.
A counter-indication surfaced.
If it's credible,
I'd love to share the news.
Too raw to report,
but it came in through a credible source.
As would any disinformation ploy.
This one got my attention.
It's under-baked, but if it holds up,
I'll bring it in.
It quacks like a duck, Ms. Park.
We must consider the possibility
it might be one.
Is the duck Iran?
The United States
commandeered an Iranian oil vessel,
and they'd rather retaliate against us
than the Americans.
- The duck is Iran.
- Thank you, gentlemen.
Moving on.
Shahin and I
worked on the Iran Deal together.
He was your counterpart?
Lot of time spent hanging out while
our principals talked past each other,
in rooms we felt
would've benefited from our presence.
- It's bonding.
- Has he done this before?
Nothing like this, no.
Tried to get a hotline going,
once upon a time,
like the red phone with the Soviets.
Died on the vine.
Uh, tell her the thing
about General Symes.
I was saying
Iran doesn't assassinate people in London.
- Karachi, maybe.
- London's unusual,
but Symes is worth the risk.
- Is he?
- No one knows who he is.
He's not standing behind the president
when announcing a troop surge,
but when they ask for three targets,
Brad Symes
is the one who picks the targets.
Tehran wants us to know
they're reading our e-mail.
Mr. Wyler was also saying
Quds Force likes using meteorological
metaphors when talking about an op.
They're convinced it's vague,
but they live in a place
where weather doesn't change a lot,
so it jumps out.
Hey, call NSA, see if they caught anything
in Quds Force comms
about the weather last few days.
Inconsistent with the actual weather.
Do you want to use the facilities?
Did Ambassador Vayle
need to be reminded to pee?
- Absolutely.
- So good of you to come.
Good to see you.
- Ambassador Wyler.
- The foreign secretary's talking to you.
- To me?
- Can I show you where you'll be?
- Yes.
- We want you both visible.
A personal thanks
for lobbying the president on our behalf.
I'm not sure a one-day moratorium
on American bluster merits thanks.
It does.
- Are you speaking?
- Here? No.
- The PM is, actually.
- Oh, great.
Yeah. Wordsmith.
Excuse me.
Cuts a figure, doesn't he?
- Hmm?
- Pardon?
- Sorry, I thought you were
- Margaret Roylin.
We nearly met yesterday
but you were abruptly needed elsewhere.
Oh, God.
Meg, among friends.
Kate Wyler.
You shouldn't, with all the cameras.
Your deputy was not entirely wrong.
I always find clasping hands
behind the back,
along with a vague head tilt,
gets the job done.
Polite but illegible.
It really is.
Your husband can reach me
if there's anything I can do
to be of help.
It'll be Christmas before you get
anything from this government
beyond bromides so assiduously scrubbed
of meaning,
you'll think you were hearing the wind.
I'm prepared to interpret.
Provide you with some background.
- I thought you were
- On the Naughty Step?
They revile me in public,
but I can't seem
to get them off my telephone.
Very kind offer. Thank you.
You should go in.
They'll have a seat for you in the front.
- Oh, I'd rather stand.
- You can't.
You have a place. It means something.
And fix your blouse.
Ambassador.
Yes. Coming.
The men and women
aboard the mighty Courageous
honored us with their service
and defended us with their very lives.
In their honor,
in their defense,
we shall give no quarter.
We shall not flag nor fail
as we hunt down
the source of this barbaric attack.
Let no man question our fortitude
or our fury.
Our cowardly enemies
shall not rest between air and earth,
but we shall find them.
And justice shall be served.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm sure you'll make
your father very proud.
He's a fucking disgrace.
- You're a disgrace.
- Madam, please.
You know who did it.
My husband was blown to bits.
For goodness' sake.
You know exactly who it is.
- It's shameful.
- That's enough.
It's all right. Leave her be.
She has a right to be angry.
The Americans piss off Iran.
Two days later, this happens.
- I understand, but
- Iran murdered this child's father.
You don't even have the spine
to say their name.
I can assure you that I am sickened
and enraged by this brutal crime.
And
If this was Tehran, then mark my words
I will rain hellfire upon them.
- What the fuck happened?
- You heard?
- It's all over Twitter.
- I will rain hellfire.
Hellfire.
Jesus Christ. Fucking great.
Shit.
- Call State. Give them a heads up.
- About?
My thing, Shahin. This guy's throwing
gasoline all over the fire.
- Do you have enough to report?
- To State?
We're getting there.
This is from Forensics.
Preliminary.
- If you're not done with it
- No, I'm good.
Hellfire. Hellfire. Hellfire
Hellfire
How are we doing
on the local investigation?
You were gonna have the FBI
look into possible contact
between the operatives and Winfield?
I was speaking
to Ambassador Wyler earlier.
Call him Hal.
He rightly pointed out that treating
a diplomatic pull-aside like a felony
- is a bad move.
- Did he?
Ma'am, I understand you come here
with a great deal of experience
collaborating with the CIA
in your previous posts.
But you need to let me handle
the investigation.
She's concerned
you're not sufficiently investigating me.
You have my phone number.
Did you get the NSA
to run a check on my phone records,
make sure I didn't call Tehran myself?
If you need to look at my text messages,
- code's 5283. It spells "Kate."
- It's not necessary.
- Yeah, it is.
- Ma'am
I ran a check on his phone.
I'm going back to my gracious home.
The Vogue spread's online.
Look how cute you are.
Nobody's firing that gal.
Facing a distraught
mourner as he left the ceremony,
Prime Minister Trowbridge
vowed to "rain hellfire" on Iran
should the nation prove to be responsible
for the attack on the carrier.
The PM appears to have met the moment.
It's no secret that there are those,
even among his party,
who have harbored doubts
about his fortitude, his resolve,
about, frankly, his backbone.
As in, did he possess one?
He's resoundingly answered that
in the bellicose affirmative.
- He was a punch line. Now he's Churchill.
- The country's finally seeing
a bolder Trowbridge.
But what about his party?
In a moment,
we'll be joined by Will Johnston
of the Hagan Institute for his thoughts
- Fuck.
- What?
Some asshole ran over a family
outside New Peckham Mosque screaming,
- "Go back to Iran."
- Fuck.
Morning, ma'am.
- It was a car?
- A van.
A family of four.
- Ambassador.
- Ma'am.
Mom was killed.
The other three are in the hospital.
- Morning, ma'am.
- Hello.
Howard will brief you
on the attack at the mosque.
I need to get on the phone with Langley,
feed some of the details
of Mr. Wyler's encounter
into the pipeline.
- Now?
- Yes, given the circumstances.
The circumstances may be different.
That doesn't mean we have any facts.
I think we have enough.
- Where were you in 2003?
- Norway.
I was watching Colin Powell
talk about aluminum tubes at the UN.
And then me and 175,000 of my friends
invaded Iraq.
I have pretty strong feelings
about undercooked intelligence.
I'm not taking it to the press.
Once you name Hal Wyler as your source,
this gets a life of its own.
Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.
Ma'am
It can't be easy having a spouse
that attracts that much attention.
And the idea that in a crisis,
he was tapped
Are you concerned I'm jealous?
Of my husband's star power?
Intelligence is a story.
Even she will tell you that.
A story based on incomplete facts.
Life or death decisions turn
on whether people buy the story.
Sure.
Some members of the administration
have had mixed experiences with
jaw-dropping stories that come from Hal.
- Just because Ganon doesn't
- It's not just Ganon.
Half of State will tell you
about Hal Wyler,
bravely flying from Kabul
to Mazār-e Sharīf, middle of the night,
convincing Taliban leadership to hold back
the seizure of Kabul by one more day.
The other half will tell you he did that
by commandeering a plane
that was meant to evacuate Afghans
who worked for U.S. forces.
People we swore we'd protect.
Three hundred and thirty-two people
who didn't get on a plane because
Hal Wyler went to do something brave.
A lot hinges on whether we believe this
is Iran or we believe it's someone else.
When it's Hal,
you have to be really fucking sure.
Yeah?
Sorry. Excuse me.
Um
How's it going there, pal?
The president's coming.
Of the United States?
- Ma'am. Ambassador Wyler.
- I'm taking a walk.
- The ambassador would like to take a walk.
- I don't need a chaperone.
Uh, Byron is suggesting this afternoon.
Tell Byron to fuck himself in the face.
Byron, I think she'd rather go now.
President Rayburn,
on his way to his formally scheduled
two-day Berlin trip,
will, and I quote,
"stop by" for a visit
with Prime Minister Trowbridge
to express his solidarity in the wake
of the attack on the HMS Courageous.
The president will spend 90 minutes
on the ground, 70 at Winfield.
Most of his 800-person entourage
will remain on the planes at Heathrow,
while Marine One brings the president
and a handful of lucky winners
to Winfield for lunch with the PM.
So, Don, Christine, Joanne, Paul,
we're talking to Heathrow in half an hour.
Ronnie, Bruce, Jen, and Mike,
you'll liaise with the prime minister's
office about security en route.
And Gary, where's Gary?
Gary. Is Gary here? Ah.
This is gonna be the longest
70 minutes of your life.
- I need to pee.
- Heading back.
Badly.
Ma'am, give me a moment.
Sorry. Hello. Thank you.
- Just through to the left, ma'am.
- Hello.
- Hey.
- Carole.
Rodney says that you're in London.
Is that some kind of a joke?
It is not a fucking joke. London, England.
Should we check on her?
Can you get into GCHQ from there,
or do you have to go through NSA?
Oh, give me a second.
- Ma'am?
- I'm not done.
- Everything all right?
- I could use some privacy. Thank you.
- I'm gonna kill myself.
- They don't let you crap on your own?
I'm in a deli. I had to get out
of the embassy cell tower range.
Now they're worried
I'm having an aneurysm on the terlet.
- This is gonna be a long tour for you.
- Yeah.
We're in the phase
where everyone wants a selfie with Hal.
It'll be easier when he's gone.
Been hearing that one for a long time.
This time it's true.
Kabul tipped the scales.
- For real?
- Yeah.
Oh, honey. Well. Good for you.
Good for me. You find anything?
- You know what helps? When you rush me.
- I'm sorry. You're pretty.
- You're the prettiest.
- Better.
Okay, there was a call
from the zone in question,
uh, the day of the approach.
On a burner.
A call to the belligerent nation?
No. A call to Rome.
Fuck.
Mr. Hayford.
- Hi.
- Are you okay?
Thanks. I went for a walk.
They're asking
if they should call an ambulance.
- No. Why are you calling an ambulance?
- It was 35 minutes.
- Is it maybe something you ate?
- I need to see my husband right away.
If you could have somebody
go to the residence.
He's here at the embassy,
helping the folks down the hall
get in touch with a contact in Uzbekistan.
Of course he is.
I'm not doing anything other than
trying to be helpful at the margins.
Okay. Hey.
What are you?
You called Niccolo.
Do us both a stupendous favor
and don't waste time denying it.
Yes.
And he called Shahin.
- To let him know we're here.
- I asked you 12 times.
If I called Shahin, which I didn't.
Niccolo did.
Italy has diplomatic relations with Iran.
No one will raise an eyebrow.
It took me exactly one phone call.
Only you know a call to an Italian
landscape architect from a burner
in Regent's Park is a red flag.
I didn't tell you because if it gets out,
I wanted you insulated.
Meanwhile, it fucking paid off.
You don't want the White House near it.
Now the president's on his way.
I knew something was off.
And I knew when a hot tip comes from you,
it cuts more than one way.
No one knows how until they know,
but then
"They definitely know."
Don't fucking act like it doesn't matter.
Shahin put his neck on a rail.
- We blow this, he'll get executed.
- Yeah.
So. Now you know. I called Niccolo.
He called Shahin,
or sent him a smoke signal, I don't know.
That's the whole story.
- Is it?
- Yeah.
So onward.
- Oh, that's it?
- Uh-huh.
I just march out and say,
"Hey, I rethought it. Let's go wide."
- Yeah.
- Based on what?
My husband snuck out and called Iran?
And then lied to me about it?
- How do you think that fucking looks?
- Who cares?
I care! I am supposed to run this place.
I was almost fired
by the secretary of state on day one.
Hat tip, Hal Wyler.
And day two, I'm a Vogue model
at the mercy of tidal hormones.
Smart people listen to other smart people,
and change their minds.
I told the chief of station
she was like Colin Powell selling WMD.
My DCM thinks I'm so upset
you've eclipsed me,
I actually shit my pants.
Thanks to your intervention,
I appear, to the two most important
colleagues I have in this mission
like a fucking psychotic!
I'd like to speak
to the secretary of state, please.
Ambassador.
Iranian denials haven't convinced since
I'm trying to remember a time.
Calling off an assassination
is a not-insignificant gesture.
I find it very moving.
The source was compelling.
On both ends of the reach out.
- CIA is still vetting it.
- That's my fault.
It's why I contacted you myself.
I'm hoping you can put
some stock in my word.
My wife says that Vogue
named you the future of diplomacy.
So I'd better listen.
Sir. It was Hal.
Wyler.
Jesus.
Knowing it might be greeted
with some skepticism,
I asked them to dot all their I's
before they brought it to you.
Shit.
- Tell the president he shouldn't come.
- Are you kidding?
The optics of him and Trowbridge
shoulder to shoulder
after the hellfire rant
The optics are that it looks like
the president is ready to march on Tehran.
If your husband's right, 24 hours later,
we'll have to roll that all back.
The optics of that are
he looks like an idiot.
Around here, we call that Tuesday.
- Muslims are being attacked in the street.
- Is that on me too?
The president wanted to look like a hero,
throw his arm around the Brits,
show everyone we're the ally we used to be
before we lost interest
in the whole fucking world.
That's my job, if it's anyone's.
But he wanted it, so he's got it.
Sir. I'm not sure "he made his bed,
now let's let him lie in it"
is the best thing for global stability.
Canceling the trip,
that's good for global stability?
It's not ideal.
If you'd come to me
before we announced the visit, maybe.
Now, it's too late.
They're for you. What did Ganon say?
I need to talk to the foreign secretary.
Ganon said that?
No. I'm saying that.
You'll see the foreign secretary tomorrow.
At the lunch, to which the president
is wearing a charcoal suit.
So you can't wear charcoal.
- Any of these grab you?
- No.
Ma'am, I don't love me
in this conversation either,
but the stylist
is now a person of interest
in the biggest security breach
we've had at Winfield.
- We'll have to muscle through on our own.
- Alysse?
After the Foreign Office.
Car. Cars.
You can't drop in
on the foreign secretary.
You've spent more time with the guy
than your predecessors did in a year.
It's been a big day.
You've got to stop.
Foreign secretary's office.
How may I help you?
Tongues will start to wag.
- Sorry to barge in. I know you're swamped.
- Not at all.
I wanted to touch base
about President Rayburn's visit.
A moving show of support.
The atmosphere around the meeting
might be improved from our standpoint,
with a clarification of
the prime minister's remark about Iran.
As I understand it,
the prime minister was repeating
what he'd heard from President Rayburn.
What was the phrase?
- That was one head of state to another.
- "Light the place up."
On a private call.
This was dropped
into a sea of microphones.
Sympathy for a grieving widow,
sadly misconstrued.
We are way past sad.
Four people were mowed down
in the street, two are children,
- their mother is dead.
- As is their father.
About half an hour ago.
I'm sorry.
Look, no one is more disturbed
about violence in our streets
- than Prime Minister Trowbridge.
- Of course.
But an unprovoked attack on our troops
from a nation
with a history of aggressive
It's not Iran.
It's not Iran.
Well, then, our mistake.
You're going to ask me how I know
You won't say, but fortunately,
I have your word.
They kidnapped my husband
and called off a hit.
They were going to assassinate
an American general and didn't.
It was an offering,
like a dead squirrel on the doorstep.
It wasn't Iran.
The president of the United States
can't stand next to a prime minister
who has just hocked up
an Islamophobic war whoop.
He has to walk it back.
Ambassador,
Number 10 will walk back nothing.
Nothing.
If you're concerned, I urge you
to speak with President Rayburn,
who clearly has a great deal of influence
over the prime minister.
Thank you for coming.
Right after lunch. I have the time
Oh, to the dining room.
The mantel, not the table.
I always gave Mrs. Vayle a copy
of the menu on the day of a formal meal.
She liked to put them in her memory book.
Should I give one to Mr. Wyler?
Mr. Wyler does not keep a memory book.
You can salvage this.
Buttonhole the president
as soon as he arrives
and you talk him out of the lunch.
At the very least out of the photo op
with him and Trowbridge side by side
like some dark acid flashback
of the road to Iraq.
You need to leave.
- Eat something. You've been bottoming out.
- Leave this country.
As soon as this lunch is over,
get on some plane going someplace
- and not be here anymore.
- What?
You made an inappropriate outreach
to a hostile power
with whom we have no diplomatic relations.
You made an investigation
exponentially more difficult.
You have so thoroughly fucked
with my head, I I can't think straight
or analyze information
or provide objective counsel.
I can't do the fucking job
if you are within a 100-mile radius.
I am begging you. Go.
Katherine.
Katie.
Oh, come on. Let's talk about it later.
I'm not discussing it ever again.
The president will greet Hal first,
then you.
Unless he does it the other way around.
Just basically go with whatever.
Thank you.
Katie, I can't leave. I'm so sorry.
I don't want to hear this shit anymore!
- You can't divorce me.
- Get a fucking grip!
We decided that months ago.
Katie, the vice president's gonna resign.
They want you to replace her.
You can't be divorced.
Close your mouth.
Turn your head.