Who is Merritt Grove in the Diplomat and what does he want

The Diplomat The Season 1 finale left viewers with uncertainty about who Merritt Grove is and what he wanted. Grove appeared midway through the finale and only had brief on-screen appearances before an explosive final scene. Grove was confirmed as a former Member of Parliament in the United Kingdoma detail that was told to Kate Wyler after she called the troubled Margaret Roylin asking for information about Grove’s background. Kate instructed Hal not to meet with Grove as he is an unofficial and unverified source of diplomatic intelligence, a boundary Hal has crossed before.

Grove originally wanted to speak to Kate, as she is the official US ambassador to London, but opted for Hal, who asked Stuart – deputy chief of mission and Kate’s loyal assistant – for more time to speak to Grove. Kate reluctantly told Hal to keep it under 5 minutes, but Hal, who was late to the meeting, asked Stuart if he could increase it to 30 minutes. Hal’s delay may have been the only reason for his survival after the explosion that killed Grove and presumably Stuart’s office worker Ronnie, an event with major implications for The Diplomat season 2.

Diplomat’s Merritt Grove

He is a member of the British parliament

Merritt Grove was probably aware of the information Kate and Foreign Secretary Dennison discovered in The Diplomat the end of the first season, so he emphasized the urgency of meeting Kate. Grove probably figured he could offer Hal the confidential information he knew, which he could then transfer to Kate.

Being a former Member of Parliament, Grove could still have had access to confidential information about the British government or connections who could have shared the confidential information he was trying to convey to Kate and, later, Hal. The car bomb that killed him was blamed on Iraqi terrorists seeking to disrupt the government.

Did Merritt Grove know about Trowbridge and Lenkov?

Grove may have been the only whistleblower

Kate and Foreign Secretary Dennison came to the conclusion that Trowbridge was the one who hired Roman Lenkov, a Russian war criminal and mercenary, to attack the Royal Navy aircraft carrier, which claimed the lives of more than 20 of his own soldiers. in The Diplomat episode 1. Grove was probably trying to leak this information to the Americans through Kate and Hal, but was killed before he could transfer it.

Grove’s decision to go to the Americans with the information, rather than to Dennison, implies that he could have acted as the sole whistleblower of Prime Minister Trowbridge’s true intentions, and that Dennison could have known this all along. When Kate and Dennison discover that it was Trowbridge who hired Lenkov as he planned to assassinate him, Dennison appears surprised, stating that an assassination could not be authorized without his signature.

Merritt Grove running through his own government to reach him suggests that everyone on Trowbridge’s side was always aware of his motivations, including Roylin and Dennison. Grove was killed by Trowbirdge to cover his tracks, but Dennison could actually know a lot more about Lenkov than he’s telling Kate. It’s unclear when Season 1 ended, but Stuart and Hal managed to make it out of the explosive alive, ensuring that Kate has some allies in Season 2.

What happens to Merritt Grove in Diplomat Season 2

Merritt was crucial to the story despite his death

Merritt Grove’s death means he’s not really in The Diplomat Season 2, but as expected, the explosion set the stage for some important aspects of the story. The second season picks up immediately after the explosion, which led to many theories and was used by the conservative government to frame Iran as the aggressor. The idea was to gain influence over British citizens through fear and distract them from tensions within the government.

There was also an indication that Grove was planning to share crucial information that would put him at odds with Hal and other members of his party. It was also implied that Grove’s death resulted from a call Kate made asking about him, setting off the events. Grove’s death was actually very convenient for those in power, making it unclear at first who was behind it.

Ultimately, The Diplomat revealed that Margaret Roylin was behind everything. First, she called on Merritt Grove to hire Roman Lenkov, a Russian mercenary, to attack the HMS Courageous. When it was discovered that Grove was planning to talk to Hal about the false flag operation, Roylin acted again. She had Lenny Stendig set up the car bomb that killed Grove, out of fear that the Americans would find out everything about the HMS Courageous attack.