In "The Diplomat's finale episode, we see Hal Wyler walking towards Sir Merritt Grove (Simon Chandler), still trying to talk to the man despite Kate and her office attempting to shut down the meeting. With Kate and Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) just making the discovery that the Prime Minister was behind the attack that killed British sailors, it seems likely Merritt had information related to the news to share. But as Hal walks towards him from one side, Stuart Heyford (Ato Essandoh) and Ronnie (Jess Chanliau) come from the other. Of course, it is just at this moment that Grove's car explodes.
While the look on Kate's face at the end of the episode when she's obviously told what happened led viewers to jump to the conclusion that Hal had died, it's possible she was being told that Ronnie died, and Stuart and Hal are badly hurt. It seems improbable that Ronnie survived the blast as she was standing closest to Grove, but the camera captured Heywood flying back from the blast, and viewers barely saw Hal in the shot at all.
On Reddit, some fans have expressed doubt that Hal was killed in the explosion. "It'd be a crime against humanity to kill Rufus Sewell (Hal) off so early," u/ApparentlyIronic wrote on the show's subreddit. "He's excellent in every scene he's in." Another Redditor, u/Cholla2, wrote, "Funny, i only assumed it was Hal that was injured/killed but then something I read pointed out that it could have been stuart."
Hal surviving to return in Season 2 may be wishful thinking, but until "The Diplomat" returns, fans are going to hang onto their hopes.
