The Diplomat creator and showrunner Debora Cahn approached the Netflix series’ key season three episode, “Amagansett,” with all the trepidation of someone hosting a diplomatic summit. “There was a lot of flop sweat,” Cahn says of her experience writing the pivotal hour.
Taking place at the private home of Allison Janney‘s President Grace Penn, it was a point the series had been building to for three seasons: the dissolution of long-term relationships both for its central couple (Ambassador Kate Wyler, played by Keri Russell, and Rufus Sewell‘s Vice President Hal Wyler) and the U.S.-U.K. diplomatic arrangement central to the narrative.
Amid this double breakup, another strained marriage emerges between Grace and the frustrated first gentleman, Todd, played by season three addition Bradley Whitford. Cahn says she was able to unlock her latest character by writing a scene in which he unknowingly bleeds on a platter of oysters — and serves them to the other three, creating an awkward situation. Cahn says she was so pleased with the farcical, play-like scene, it gave her the confidence to explore more dynamics among the quartet in season four, for which Janney and Whitford were upped to series regulars. “I remember groaning with pleasure when I read that scene,” Whitford says, with Sewell adding, “The dialogue was so on point, the story was so clear, it was so subtle. What was funny about it was also incredibly real.”
