by Bryce Olin for ShowSnob
The Diplomat season 2 episode 2, “St. Paul’s,” begins with a funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral for Merritt Grove’s funeral in London.
After calling Kate and the Americans at the end of episode 1, Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie) is there with Eidra Park (Ali Ahn). She’s making an appearance in public for the first time since the bombing happened. As it appears, the CIA has made it look like many people look like Roylin in attendance to cause a distraction. We don’t know why exactly, but it’s to keep her away from Trowbridge’s men and the British government.
As we learn, they want people to stop looking for Roylin. She’s at the funeral, so she’s not missing, of course.
In exchange for protection, Eidra and Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) want information from Roylin. They want to know what she knows, and probably most importantly, who she is afraid of.
During his speech, Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) notices Margaret Roylin. Before he can reach her, the CIA makes their move to extract Roylin from the funeral. Roylin is escorted under and out of St. Paul’s after a quick outfit change to a CIA car where she’s taken to a safe house.
Hal learns that Kate and Dennison were likely going to have an affair
This is a pretty crucial revelation from Kate. After the funeral, Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) asks Kate if she and Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) were going to have an affair, which she admits to. Nothing happened because Hal was blown up, obviously, but it’s a turning point of sorts in their relationship.
Where will it lead? We don’t know yet, but it’s going to be interesting to watch this love triangle for the remainder of the season (and probably series!). Remember, The Diplomat season 3 is already happening!
When Hal goes to the restroom or the loo, as the Brits call it, Dennison also reveals to Kate that Margaret Roylin was at the funeral, which Kate already knew obviously. Kate also apologizes for the night in Paris, but Dennison shakes off the apology and mentions that everything is okay. Is it, though, Austin?
Anyway, Kate continues the pressure to get Dennison to stop the Lenkov assassination. Kate wants him alive, so they can find out who exactly hired him. She still thinks it’s Trowbridge.
Read the rest of the recap, HERE.