WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for season 2 of The Diplomat.
The person behind the car explosion that killed Ronnie and Merritt Grove at the end of The Diplomat season 1 is finally revealed. Keri Russell leads the cast of The Diplomat Season 2 along with Rufus Sewell as her husband Hal, David Gyasi as Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, Ali Ahn as CIA agent Eidra Park and Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge. The series begins after the events of The Diplomat the first season finale, which left the lives of Hal, Ato Essandoh’s Stuart and Jess Chanliau’s Ronnie up in the air.
Keri Russell received an Emmy nomination for her role as US Ambassador Kate Wyler in The Diplomat season 1. The series introduces a handful of new characters, most notably Allison Janey’s vice president, Grace Penn, while narrowing its focus on those responsible for the car explosion that killed Merritt Grove and the missile attack on H.M.S. Courageous, two of the biggest obstacles in The Diplomat season 1. The Diplomat was created by Debora Chan (The West Wing, Grey’s Anatomy, Homeland).
Stendig detonated the car bomb that killed Merritt Grove and Ronnie Buckhurst
Margaret Roylin instructed Stendig to prepare the explosion to silence Grove
A far-right Member of Parliament named Lenny Stendig was the one who set up the Merritt Grove car bomb. Clearly, Stendig intended only to eliminate his fellow deputy Grove, not Ronnie or any other member of the American diplomatic staff, in order to silence Grove once and for all. Stendig feared that Grove would tell Hal and the Americans everything about Roman Lenkov’s plot.which also involved Margaret Roylin (Celia Imrie) pulling strings behind Prime Minister Trowbridge’s back.
As Grove began to develop a guilty conscience, Stendig (who has yet to appear on screen in the series) had no choice but to stop him from revealing the truth. Although Stendig staged the Grove coup, it was Roylin who orchestrated it in the first place.. Initially, it appears that Roylin is taking orders from Prime Minister Trowbirdge or is acting independently to protect his false flag operation to unite Scotland and England to gain political favors. Ultimately, Trowbridge was left completely in the dark as Roylin’s orders came directly from US Vice President Grace Penn without the knowledge of US President Rayburn.
Why Merritt Grove Was Killed in Diplomat
Grove would inform the US of Roylin & Penn’s Lenkov plot
Member of Parliament Merritt Grove was one of the co-conspirators who hired Roman Lenkov to attack the HMS Courageous. Grove and Stendig were involved in this with Margaret Roylin, who was working with US Vice President Grace Penn for the greater good of Western nations. Grove would leak this information to Hal, who would have told Kate and ended up at the White House, which is exactly what ended up happening at the end of The Diplomat season 2. The real mastermind of Lenkov’s plot was Grace Penn, who will be sworn in as US president in The Diplomat Season 3 after Rayburn’s death.