The Diplomat Season 3 Episode 7 Recap: What Does Callum Reveal About The Russian Submarine?

The HMS courageous conspiracy that has been dictating the plot of The Diplomat since season one has completely blown out of proportion in the last episode. While Nicol Trowbridge, the British Prime Minister, was upset enough to know that his MP and long-term advisor Margaret Roylin was behind the attack, he was further humiliated to know that it was none other than Britain’s longtime ally, the US, who was pulling the strings! In hindsight, naming Grace would have been the worst mistake, and I would not have been surprised if it had ended in a brawl between the two leaders of the nation. Well, the situation at hand seems no less than that, with Britain going no-contact with the American embassy. The Americans have quite some damage control to do, but what is the way? Episode 7 of The Diplomat, titled “PNG,” or Persona Non Grata, stands true to its meaning—the US is no longer welcome on British soil. Let’s see if our diplomats could change the situation.

Spoilers Ahead

What is Happening at the White House between Hal and Billie?

The White House has been taken by a storm after the press conference went terribly against the US government. No one was prepared for it, neither Grace, nor the administration, nor even the handful of people who actually knew the truth. Nicol has in a way declared a situational war on the US. Protests and mobs are surrounding the American buildings in London, and a faction of the US Cabinet thinks it is wiser for Grace to issue a public apology to the UK in order to deescalate the situation. The global market is affected; Turkey, Hungary, and, moreover, Germany have declined to buy weapons from the US anymore. The economy will nosedive anytime if it has not already. Hal Wyler thinks Grace apologizing would be a rookie mistake; he does not want the President to be at the mercy of Nicol Trowbridge, who will inadvertently use this situation in his favor to shell out important foreign policy decisions. Besides, technically, Grace’s hands are not bloodied, and she tried to stand strong beside her ally while revealing a critical secret, and the ally actually stabbed her in the back. Hal thinks it is Grace who should hold Nicole accountable for his move, rather than the other way around.

Billie Appiah has prepared an olive-branch sort of document for Kate’s briefing, which she should ideally be relaying to Nicol to get the situation in hand, but all attempts to establish connection with Number 10, which is 10 Downing Street, fail. It’s like the UK is ghosting the US. Only one channel is open, that is Eidra Park’s intelligence channel; in her own words, even if you stop talking to your enemy, if Al-Qaeda is at their back, you will inform them, right? Eidra has some phenomenal takes in this episode, this being one of them!

The White House comes up with a second strategy. They have decided to float the news that if Nicol is unresponsive, they will go forward and break the news that Margaret Roylin was the one who orchestrated the attack and more UK government officials were involved in it. They are doing the courtesy of involving Nicol in it, but if he refuses to be a part of it, America will go forward on their own. Nothing sounds peaceful between the two countries anymore, and this is definitely not deescalation! Meanwhile, Kate has an unexpected guest at the Winfield,  which has been cleared except for Frances and the Secret Service, but this guest brings sensitive information that changes the entire situation between the two countries and the overall geopolitical situation.

What Does Callum Reveal about the Submarine?

Kate’s houseguest is none other than Callum Ellis. From their rendezvous at the Ministry of Defense’s annexe building, he has made it into the interiors of the Second Lady’s residence. Callum is MI6, and every moment they spent together, I tried sniffing for the slightest hint of a hostage situation. Looks like it was not, but Callum did come with extremely sensitive information about the lost submarine. The purpose of his visit was to ask Kate to convince Nicol to salvage the submarine floating twelve miles from the British shore with the help of the US government, because the UK government cannot do it on their own. If Callum suggested this, Nicol would feel humiliated asking for help, so it is upon Kate to make it look like Nicol is doing them a favor. Well, in some time we learn that Nicol is a step ahead; he is convening with the Chinese and asking for China’s help to salvage a Russian submarine, which must mean an all-encompassing Communist threat to the world, which is supposed to be so lethal that the show does not even name it. It is apparently better if the US does it. However, Callum does point out that the US has a tendency of stepping into situations when it is convenient for them, like in Afghanistan, and then escaping when it is no longer convenient. Callum reveals that he was in Afghanistan and had experienced this firsthand. The two have multiple back-and-forth conversations about the situation, mostly disagreeing on most things, but they do agree on one thing: there is a ticking time bomb in the oceans, roaming unclaimed.

What is Poseidon?

Russia has a plethora of nuclear arsenals whose existence has been confirmed to the rest of the world only in rumors and legends. Poseidon is one of them; it is an autonomous nuclear-powered vehicle that can deliver conventional and nuclear warheads with efficiency. And yes, it in reality exists beyond the show. President Putin spoke about six nuclear weapons in 2018 (accidentally, in a leak, but the CIA thinks it was intentional), Poseidon being one of them. The show fictionalizes it to the situation’s advantage, calling it a “salted bomb” that can increase radioactive damage, and everybody can understand this common threat. If Russia or China detonates it or even owns it, the chessboard is going to topple. 

Does Grace Apologize to Nicol?

Callum wants Kate to call the vice-president and urge the president to have some sort of understanding with the prime minister at the earliest before he goes to China for help. Otherwise, the consequences may be out of hand. Previously, Kate tried to convince Billie Appiah to get an unconditional apology from Grace to Nicol and had failed, but after learning about Poseidon’s existence, she calls Hal. Husband Hal is being fussy and finicky learning about the source, but the vice president knows better. The three of them, Billie, Hal, and Kate, get into a call and unanimously decide that Grace should issue an apology to Nicol.

Who Does Kate Apologize To?

What makes The Diplomat a beautiful, layered narrative is how it has a surface-level political drama going on for the majority of the audience, but deep down, it also has that allegorical tone where every move becomes a symbol. Kate’s personal life and her personality in this episode are symbolic of the US as a state. In multiple occurrences, Kate is avoidant of her mistakes, defiant, and reaches conclusions—especially about Hal. When Kate learns that Callum had known about the Poseidon for two months, she bursts out, saying that she feels like she is dating a man once again who thinks he is an exception to the rule. She compares Callum to Hal and tells him off. In some time, Kate realizes that she may have gone out of her way and goes to apologize to Callum. She tells him that she is used to holding Hal responsible and justifies her behavior as a reaction to Hal’s behavior; however, she did not realize that it is also she who is seasoned to behave in that way. Kate’s statement sounds awfully a lot like the US’ arrogance. As the two were discussing previously, Kate said that the US goes to violent countries to herald peace and thereby justifies its action as a reaction to all that violence. However, perhaps all of it is not reactionary. Maybe some of it is just how Kate and the US are. While the leaders have a conversation, Kate apologizes quietly—as a US citizen to a British citizen, as a lover to a friend, blending the personal and the political together. She also apologizes to Frances, who is the one to anticipate her persona non grata status in the country and the only one to speak about it out loud; when Frances says that she is not to be held responsible, Kate goes, “Who else will be?”

With the apologies in place, it can be assumed that the two nations will once again unite as allies, especially given the grave threat lurking just by the shore. Besides, Eidra Park makes a phenomenal statement in this episode, which I would like to use to conclude the article. She tells Stewart that despite what they do, there is only one CIA in the world and one America; people will forget about the mistakes when they need America again. Some days they would think it’s a good thing, and on the others, they have Gin!

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