Poseidon In 'The Diplomat' Season 3: Will Kate Tell Callum The Truth About The Russian Submarine?

Amidst the growing tension between the UK and the US, the third season of Netflix’s The Diplomat brought in another conflict to charge up the drama and increase the stakes for both countries. In season 3, Kate had been working “closely” with Callum Ellis, a foreign national who trades secrets with the Russians. Through one of his Kremlin contacts, Callum had found out that Moscow had lost contact with a nuclear-powered submarine presumed to be in distress. This was why Callum contacted the North Sea nations, including England, to pool their marine sensor data in order to pick up any spikes in radiation level.

Spoiler Alert

In the penultimate episode, Callum eventually revealed that it wasn’t just any submarine, it was one carrying a doomsday weapon called the Poseidon, a nuclear-powered underwater drone armed with a nuclear warhead capable of contaminating an unusually large area with radioactive fallout. The Poseidon was lying some 12 nautical miles off Britain’s northeast coast, but they didn’t have the tech to retrieve the submarine, which was why the US offered to help them even though their relationship with Great Britain had turned sour after the recent revelations about the terrorist attack on Britain’s HMS Courageous. The UK’s PM, Nicol Trowbridge, was of the opinion that the Americans were lying to them again in order to restore their image as the world’s protector, and therefore he refused to be their stepping stone. He was considering enlisting the help of China to remove the radioactive submarine from their coast, compelling POTUS Grace Penn to send an American submarine to click pictures of the Russian submarine. Well, actually it wasn’t Penn’s idea. Her VP Hal Wyler and his wife, Kate, had come up with this outlandish plan. As per their assumption, a submarine carrying nuclear warheads should have a modified hull, which would convince Trowbridge that they weren’t lying about the presence of the Poseidon, and if he would let China retrieve the submarine, he would only be dropping a doomsday weapon into their lap, thereby disrupting the whole political dynamics of the world.

But even though this plan looked doable on paper, it came with the risk that if Trowbridge considered American submarines spying on their shores an act of war, then the US could lose the support of the entirety of Europe. Hence, Penn wasn’t sure if this was the strategy that they needed at such a tumultuous time, but Hal convinced her anyway. He asked her to send a submarine not only to click pictures but also to steal the Poseidon, which would give the US an upper hand in nuclear warfare. I mean, they can easily do their R&D on the doomsday weapon and replicate it so that their most powerful nemesis, Russia, could no longer threaten them with the Poseidon. But trust me, the show isn’t about the Poseidon, submarines, or HMS Courageous. It’s not a spy thriller but a political drama, leaning more on foreign policy and the interpersonal relationships between characters and their nations. The Poseidon is just a plot device, and we may not even hear about it a lot in the upcoming season. The reason I am stating this is because many people may want to consider this article clickbait, expecting me to tell you how “Poseidon” works or if it is real or not (it is not). 

As mentioned earlier, the Poseidon is a smoking gun, which plays an important role in the next season. You already know that America’s covert operation to steal the nuclear warhead won’t remain a secret for long, as Callum had already received some marine sensor data according to which the radiation levels around the submarine had dropped 62 percent, which means someone had removed the nuclear dispersion missile from the vessel. He believed it was the Russians who might have retrieved their weapon, but in reality, it was the Americans. Callum didn’t want to report to Trowbridge until he was 100 percent sure that the data was accurate, but we know that he would eventually have to share his findings. So the question here is, how is an impulsive PM going to react to these new revelations?

The thing is, the Americans can easily blame it on the Russians, as they have been doing so far, and the Russians will have no other option but to deny any claim that such a weapon exists. So even though Trowbridge considers himself the smartest person in the world, he won’t be able to do much in this matter. He can call off the deal with the Americans and bring in the Chinese to clear the radioactive mess, but it won’t bother the US anymore, as they have already removed the doomsday weapon from the submarine, and now the vessel is nothing but a radioactive wreck.

However, there’s one more person whom this information is going to bother more than the rest of the characters in the show. And that’s Kate Wyler. She is in more of a fix than Trowbridge here, because she has a lot more to lose. In the season 3 finale, Kate has already made her decision to give her marriage another chance, but this happened shortly after she realized that she and Hal make a great team and can solve any political issue through their shared expertise. But alas, it was all a lie. Her newfound victory in convincing Trowbridge to join hands with the Americans and work together to get rid of the submarine was nothing but a ruse. Hal played her, just like Penn played Trowbridge and his officials. In short, Kate was nothing but a mere pawn in Hal’s intricate plan for “world domination.” And now that she knows the truth, will she still try to redeem her marriage with Hal? Throughout season 3, Hal had pointed out multiple times that both of them were married to the American people before they were married to each other, which means their loyalty lies first to their country and then to anyone else. But Kate has a new lover. She’s not bothered about Trowbridge or anyone else as much as she cares for Callum and wouldn’t want to keep him in the dark. But if she does communicate such intel with a foreign national, then she will not only lose her job but will also jeopardize her career forever. You see, it’s not about Hal anymore. She knows that’s what Hal does, make decisions that are better for the country, but she cannot live the rest of her life in his shadows being his puppet. Even Hal doesn’t want that. Hence, in the end, Kate will have to make a decision about what’s best for her. She will have to choose between her lover and her career, and she had made this mistake once by choosing Hal over her own professional growth. And somewhere back of her head, she knows it was a mistake. So is Kate going to make the same mistake again? The choice is between being a diplomat or being a human. It’s the question her chief of staff, Stuart Heyford, had been asking throughout the season, but for a show whose title is “The Diplomat,” I think you already know what Kate is going to choose for herself.